At some point, Anna send a servant to fetch them some food, which Helen was grateful for. It was likely that Niall would be in the dining hall, and she didn’t want to face him just yet. Not until she’d had time to calm down a little, to get her head on straight and plan the conversation she wanted to have with him. Besides, she admitted to Anna with a tipsy giggle, she was a little too drunk to worry about all those stairs right now. Anna cackled, admitting that that had been her exact motivation for ordering dinner upstairs.
They both put their best sober faces on for the servant who brought them dinner — a stern-faced woman who raised a single eyebrow as Helen fought to suppress a fit of the giggles. They both fell about themselves laughing when the servant was gone, Anna wheezing for breath.
“I’m the Lady of this castle,” she forced out through gales of laughter. “I ought to have more dignity than this!”
It was a wonderful evening, overall — and she was delighted when Anna suggested she stay the night. There was a spare bed in the chambers — it was in a little room that they intended to move their daughter Gwyneth into when she was big enough, but for now she was still sleeping in a crib in Anna and Donal’s room. It was comfortable enough as she settled herself in (with a big glass of water by her bed — Anna’s recommendation to avoid the next day’s hangover) but she couldn’t help but feel a stirring of wistfulness. She liked her room in Niall’s quarters… more to the point, she especially liked sharing Niall’s bed. If only he hadn’t decided to be such an oaf, she thought crossly. They could be having a perfectly nice evening together.
She drifted off to sleep eventually, distracted by half-delirious dreams of Kelpies leaping from lakes, turning into wine bottles on the way and dashing themselves into pieces on the docks. When she woke, she was confused for a moment about where she was before the memories of the previous night rushed in. Of course — she’d spent the night chatting with Anna. And now… she gritted her teeth, sitting up carefully before discovering to her delight that she barely felt hungover at all. The slightest hint of a headache, perhaps, but she could deal with that. She took another sip of water for safety, then dressed quickly and headed downstairs, realizing Anna was already up and about.
There was a somber mood in the dining hall. She asked around quickly, frightened of what might have happened overnight. It seemed that the guards had reported a significant increase in Kelpie sightings, and that there were hoofprints all over the beach… but she was deeply grateful to hear that nobody else had been killed. That was something, at least — it was awful that they had so many deaths already, but if they could just stay the course, if they could keep everyone safe until the Monster was healed… well, then what? The threat was still there. She was beginning to feel hopeless… but she forced herself to keep her mind on one thing at a time. First, breakfast. Then, she’d head down and have a serious talk with Niall about the life they could have together if he chose to stop being such a fool.
Feeling depressed but functional, she finished her breakfast, found Anna to thank her again for putting her up last night, then headed resolutely toward the docks, having procrastinated more than enough already. But to her surprise, they were completely abandoned. No trace of any men working on the docks, or any fishermen doing any fishing — she sighed, realizing that Niall must have put a stop to any kind of waterside work at all. She supposed it made sense… still, she worried about the fishermen not having food for their families. Hopefully the supplies had been distributed and they were all faring okay. For now, she’d better go and confront Niall.
When she stepped into the quarters, she realized that he wasn’t up yet. The cup she’d given Eamon water in was still sitting on the dining room table, and nothing else had changed — she sighed a little, exasperated that he wasn’t ready to talk with her. Still, hopefully he’d gotten a good night of sleep. Maybe a sleep-in was just what he needed to get himself into the right state of mind to talk about all this. At any rate, she hoped he’d had time to calm down.
But on her way to his room, something caught her eye. She frowned, realizing that Eamon’s door was hanging open a little. Had Niall reneged on his promise that Eamon was to stay in his room for the indefinite future? Or had he just opened the door a little? She pushed the door open, remembering as she did that Niall’s front door had been a little ajar when she’d come through it, too. She’d assumed it was because Niall was already up and about, but he wasn’t, that much was clear… so why were the doors open in the house? Where was Eamon? He certainly wasn’t in his bed — the sheets were rumpled, showing clear signs that the little boy had gotten up. She put her hand against the sheet, checking for warmth, but it was as cold as if Eamon had never come to bed at all. That was odd.
Was it possible that he’d crept in to sleep with his dad? He wasn’t in her chambers — she’d poked her head into that room to check that Niall hadn’t had a fit of pique and gotten rid of all her belongings. Nothing, of course, had changed in there — he wasn’t that much of an oaf — but there certainly hadn’t been a four-year-old hiding in there, that was for sure. Worry beginning to prickle at her chest, she headed down the hallway for Niall’s room, bracing herself to see the man she’d been thinking about since the night before.
There he was, fast asleep, still in the clothes he’d been wearing last night — it looked like he’d come straight into the room and passed out, barely even pausing to pull the blankets over him. She scanned the room with worry pounding in her chest. No sign of Eamon. Surely, Niall knew where his son was. Had someone volunteered to babysit him for the day? Was she panicking for nothing?
“Niall?” she said gently. She had to repeat his name a few times before he woke up, and the look he gave her was, to her satisfaction, contrite. He sat up in bed, rubbing his forehead reluctantly.
“Helen, I wanted to —”
“We can get to that in a second,” she said, impatient to confirm that Eamon was safe before they got into their issues. “Where’s Eamon?”
Niall blinked at her. “In his room. Why?”
“No he’s not.” Her heart, which had settled a little at the realization that Niall wasn’t angry with her anymore, was suddenly beating at double speed. “He’s not, Niall, I checked.”
“Then he’s playing in the main room.”
“No, Niall. He’s not in the house. Are you saying you don’t know where he is?”
And then Niall was on his feet, the panic on his face matching the panic in her chest. Not even pausing to put his boots on, he strode from the room, Helen flying out of the way just in time before she followed him down the hallway. He slammed Eamon’s door open, stared wildly around the room — he checked under the bed — her heart leapt — but he shook his head as he strode quickly to the door. Following the path she’d taken when she’d realized the boy was missing, he searched the house, including her little room. Then he walked straight out onto the dock in his bare feet. Rolling her eyes a little, she ran back to his room to grab his boots before following him. He was halfway down one of the damaged docks, calling Eamon’s name… and she turned a worried eye to the gently lapping water of the Loch.
“Niall — Niall, he’s not on the docks, come back,” she called, terrified that a Kelpie would choose this moment to leap out at him. “Niall!”
He strode back, grabbing his boots out of her hands with a quick word of thanks and dragging them onto his feet as quickly as he could. She’d never seen him like this — moving like a machine, frighteningly fast, his eyes almost blank with the sheer force of his focus on his task. The overwhelming need to find his son. She was beginning to feel it, too — the absence of Eamon was like a physical presence, driving her on. But they had to be smart about this. They had to work together. She grabbed at Niall’s arm as he turned to go, and he looked back at her, frowning.
“I have to find him —”
“Let me help, you daft old man,” she snapped with a venom that surprised even her. He raised an eyebrow in shock,
and she raised her chin, defiant. “You heard me. Two heads are better than one, aren’t they? We’ll find him together.”
He opened his mouth. “Helen, about last night —”
But she held up a hand, not wanting to get into any of that. “No. That conversation is one we’ll have once we’ve found Eamon. I don’t want to rush it. We find Eamon. Then we talk.”
He nodded curtly, his eyes resolute. “Thank you, Helen,” he said softly. Then he turned, and the two of them set off in search of the little boy, both fighting with panic that threatened to overwhelm them.
Because what both of them knew, deep in their hearts, was that it might already be too late.
Chapter 53
A scouring of the beach turned up no sign of the little boy, and Helen suggested they head up to the castle. He may well have just gone up to breakfast by himself — and even if he hadn’t, on the way up they could alert the castle folk to the fact that Eamon was missing. More eyes on the lookout for Eamon would be better, after all. Niall nodded, his long legs already carrying him in great strides toward the castle, and Helen hastened to catch up, regretting fiercely that she never did quite get as tall as her brothers. They searched the docks again as they went, and Helen tried not to think about a Kelpie lunging out of the water to grab a little boy and drag him to the depths of the water…
On the way up to the castle, they ran into a few people, all of whom gave anxious negative replies to their questions about Eamon. When they reached the top of the stairs, Niall shouted up to the guards on top of the wall, letting them know about the boy’s disappearance. Captain Brendan shouted down that he’d spread the word, a worried look on his face visible even through the helmet he was wearing, and even at this distance. Still, it felt good to have the guards on side. As she watched, Brendan gave orders to a nearby few, who set off with purposeful looks toward the various staircases and nooks and crannies of the wall.
“If he’s hiding in the walls somewhere, they’ll track him down,” Niall said with satisfaction. He was emanating a sense of calm, but Helen could recognize that kind of calm a thousand miles away — it was the calm that came over people when they were on the edge of panicking completely. This was his worst nightmare come to life. She reached out impulsively and squeezed his hand — and after a brief hesitation, he squeezed hers back. Then they were off again, half-running across the courtyard, ready to search the whole castle if they needed to.
“You check the kitchens and Hall, I’ll head upstairs to talk to the scholars and herbalists?” Niall said as they crossed the entrance hall.
She nodded, resisting the bizarre urge to snap off a salute — then Niall was gone, taking the steps of the spiral staircase two at a time. Risking his neck, she thought, shaking her head. That was just what they needed. The injury he’d sustained saving the Monster was still healing — she hoped fiercely that he wasn’t going to fall down the staircases. Still, she had to focus on what she was doing.
Breakfast was still in full swing, which meant the kitchens were chaotic — she scanned them a little, unsuccessful in making out much of anything, before she became aware of a blue-eyed stare. Blair was nearby, a huge tray of plates in her hand and an inquisitive look on her face.
“Helen? You seem worried.”
“Eamon,” she gasped, still breathing hard from the climb, the exertion of the sprint across the courtyard, the adrenalin of the morning. “He’s missing. Since this morning — have you seen him?”
Blair frowned — a momentary tightening of the muscles around her eyes. “I haven’t. I’ll spread the word among the servants. You checked the beach?”
“Yes, but he could be anywhere—”
“If he’s here, we’ll find him. Go. The Laird and his men are still at breakfast. Tell them. And check the stables. Small boys like hiding in haystacks.”
She nodded, grateful for the tip — she’d have missed the stables entirely in favor of searching the Keep itself. And it made sense for Eamon to go and hide where the horses were — he did love riding. She saw Blair moving across the kitchen, pausing to murmur in a few servants’ ears — their eyes widened, and they immediately turned and scurried off, spreading the word. Helen felt comforted a little by that — at least the word was spreading. It wasn’t just her and Niall searching for a needle in a haystack.
They hadn’t made a plan for where to meet up, but she headed for the stables anyway, after a brief stop at the high table where the Laird was dining with Malcolm and their wives. Nancy and Anna looked horrified when Helen gave them a shortened summary of what had happened.
“I’ll help you look,” Anna said immediately. “Where haven’t you checked yet?”
“We’ve searched the shore of the Loch, the docks, the courtyard — Brendan and his men are checking the walls — Niall’s upstairs talking to the scholars, and I’m headed to the stables now.”
“I’ll check the servants’ quarters,” Anna said immediately. “They’ll be uninhabited at the moment, he might have crept in there to find somewhere quiet to hide out. Nancy?”
The two women ran off in the direction of the quarters, and Helen took a steadying breath. Donal and Malcolm were hastily finishing their breakfast, promising to head up to help Niall search the upper levels of the castle — Malcolm said he’d check the castle roof, which was where he’d always loved to hide out as a child. Local knowledge, Helen thought faintly — you just couldn’t beat it. Grateful to all of them, she headed outside for the stables, her heart beating hard.
The stables were more extensive than she’d thought — she hadn’t actually been inside yet, only to the outer areas where the horses were prepared to be ridden. The stables weren’t busy this morning, to her relief — not many people were going riding. It took her a moment to realize why that must have been — she’d been so distressed about finding Eamon that she’d almost forgotten about the Kelpie threat facing them. That made her laugh a little, and she felt decidedly unhinged as she moved carefully through the stables, calling Eamon’s name in a low voice designed not to spook the horses. She kept glancing at them, a little unsettled by the similarity they bore the creature she and Niall had dragged into town… what if a Kelpie was in here, hiding from them, waiting to strike? Pretending to be a regular horse until… she shuddered, annoyed with herself.
It took some time to search the stables — she checked each stall in case Eamon was hiding inside one and frowned a little when she reached a huge stack of hay at the back. Was it possible that the little boy was hiding in there? She turned, hearing footsteps behind her, to see Nancy running in, a worried look on her face. In her hand… Helen’s heart almost stopped. A little boot, Eamon-sized. She recognized it instantly as one of his.
“Where was it?”
“The servants’ quarters,” Nancy gasped. “He must have been there… it was outside a room that one of the servants told me belonged to one of the grooms who didn’t turn up for work this morning.”
Helen’s heart sank. “Could he have kidnapped Eamon?” What would a groom be doing kidnapping a child? But things got even more complicated when they headed outside — because around the back of the stables, groaning a little as he woke up, was none other than the missing groom. Nancy ran to his side and knelt down, checking the wound on his head — blood had trickled from it onto the bedclothes he was still wearing.
“Are you okay?” Helen asked, kneeling beside him, torn between her concern for him and her fear for Eamon. “What happened here?”
“I — he — “ The groom touched his forehead, clearly still woozy. “He came to my room in the middle of the night… said… said I had to tack a horse for him...”
“Who did? Who hurt you?”
“Perry MacCullen,” the groom said, wincing as he struggled to a sitting position. “How long have I been out? He struck me with the butt of a spear, I think… must have dragged me here, we were inside when it happened… where’s the kid?”
Helen’s heart dropped further t
han it had even when she’d heard Perry’s name drop from the groom’s lips. “The kid?”
“Yeah, he… he had a kid with him. The Harbormaster’s kid, I think. Eamon, I think? Yeah, he … he wasn’t happy about it.” The groom winced. “Sorry, I — I should’ve tried harder to fight him…”
“Don’t be silly. You were unarmed, unarmored. What could you have done?” Nancy was chewing her lip, looking worried. “You said Perry wanted a horse. Do you know where he went?”
“He must have gone through the gate,” Helen said, turning. “The guards would have seen him. Wait — why didn’t they recognize him? He’s a wanted man… hardly the most popular man in the castle…”
The groom was shaking his head. “He said — he said he knew another way out of the castle. Old way, down through a passage to the docks…”
“I’ll ask Maeve,” Nancy said immediately, leaping to her feet. “Any old passages in this place, she’ll know for sure. I’ll be back, Helen.”
Helen nodded, her heart pounding as she comforted the groom, waiting for aid to arrive to carry him inside to be treated for his wounds. So Perry MacCullen had returned… had he crept into Niall’s quarters to steal the boy in vengeance? She felt sick at the very thought… and worried about what Niall was going to say when he found out. His anger was going to be terrifying… and for once, she had no interest in making any kind of defense for Perry’s actions. Kidnapping a child… a small child, a frightened child… that was utterly unforgivable, no matter how many brothers you’d lost. No — the benefit of the doubt could only extend so far, and as far as she was concerned, Perry was beyond forgiveness. He was a monster, and he deserved what was coming to him… even if that was a swift death at Niall’s hand.
Needed By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Forever Book 5) Page 32
