“What are ye doin’ here?” growled the man. His hand was so close to Ethan’s face that Ethan could see the metal ring with etchings on it that the man wore. It looked to be some kind of cross on it. “Ye dinna belong here. What do ye want?”
“Get away from me,” shouted Ethan, stabbing at the man with his dagger, still clutching the wooden torch in his hand. With one mighty blow, the dark image knocked Ethan’s dagger from his hand and he heard his weapon sliding across the floor. Ethan used the torch to hit the man across the face.
“God’s eyes!” spat the man, his hand going to his face. When he looked up, a beam of moonlight spilled into the room at that moment, illuminating the man’s face as well as a section of the stone hearth behind him. “Ye drew bluid, lad. Ye’ll pay for this.”
Ethan saw the long gash above his eye. Blood trickled down his face. He drew his sword and Ethan realized it was time to run. He threw down the torch and darted out the door, nearly breaking his neck as he stumbled down the stairs in the dark. He ran as fast as he could back to the boat, where his friends were starting to row away without him.
“Wait!” he cried, sloshing through the cold water, throwing his body over the side of the boat. “Did ye hear the ghost?” he asked, his body shaking. “She floated right through me. And I saw a man who wanted to kill me. I think it was Mad Murdock. He was with me up in the tower room.”
Clyde and Bram exchanged glances, looking shaken if he wasn’t mistaken.
“Nay. Nay, we didna hear anythin’,” said Bram.
“That’s right,” said Clyde. “There is no ghost.”
“There is, I tell ye,” he tried to convince them. “And I was up in the tower and I saw it all.”
“Ye werena there,” said Clyde. “If ye were, we would have seen yer torch in the window.”
“That’s right,” added Bram. “Ye were too scared and turned around.”
“Nay, that’s no’ true. I was there I tell ye, but the wind blew the torch out. I saw the ghost and I saw Mad Murdock. I was lucky to escape with my life.”
“We dinna believe ye,” said Clyde, rowing back to shore.
“Ye’re just a whelp afraid of yer own shadow,” said Bram.
“I thought ye were my friends,” said Ethan. “Why dinna ye believe me?”
It was that day that Ethan realized he would never be free of his reputation. If his friends didn’t even believe him, no one would. And from this day forward, he would never be able to shake the image of the ghost from his mind.
Pushing his thoughts of the past aside, Ethan climbed the spiral staircase leading up to the tower, taking the steps two at a time. There were a few torches lit in the corridors that cast eerie shadows on the walls, but he tried not to think of them as he made his way to the door and stopped at the threshold.
He drew his sword with one hand and with the other, he reached out and pushed open the door. That same bed was still there. It was probably the wedding bed that was used by Mad Murdock before he killed his bride. Swallowing deeply, he stepped into the room, looking one way and then the other. He had no torch in here, and the only light came from outside, through the one window.
He knew that window well. A shiver went up his spine as he remembered it clearly. He had actually felt a light pressure and a cold chill push through him that day as the ghost passed right through him.
“There is no ghost,” he said out loud, for naught more than comfort since he was alone. “Alana fooled me. She was the ghost. That’s all it was.” He passed by the hearth and, once again, heard a scratching noise and a small squeak. He looked down and saw a mouse disappearing into that part of the wall. He took a step closer and when he did, a floorboard moved and lifted slightly. He bent down, pulling the board up, his hand going into the floor and his fingers closing around cold metal. He lifted out the object, realizing it was a dagger. Holding it closer, he saw that it was his dagger that he’d lost here when he was ten.
“My dagger!” he exclaimed, happy to have it again, but wondering how it got into the floor. He started to get up, but then the light from the window illuminated a spot on the hearth. It looked different in the light. It was getting late in the day and the light wasn’t that strong but, still, he thought he saw an odd shadow. He took a step closer, reaching out for a brick that looked to be sticking out more than the others.
And right when he was about to touch it, he heard the bloodcurdling scream of a woman. He jumped back up to a standing position, spinning around with both hands gripped to the hilt of his sword, to find a dark figure standing in the doorway.
“Stay away or I’ll kill ye. I swear I will,” he commanded.
“Ethan? What’s the matter with ye?” Alana hurried into the room, the last of the setting sun falling on her face.
“Alana?” he released the breath he’d been holding and slowly lowered his sword. “I dinna ken it was ye.”
“Aye, I suppose no’,” she said. “And next time, I guess I’ll announce myself or risk ye takin’ off my head. What is the matter with ye?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down and sheathing his sword. “I suppose I was a little spooked. I found my dagger that I lost here as a child.” When he held it up to show it to her, once again came that bloodcurdling scream. “It’s the ghost!” He ripped his sword from the scabbard, holding it with two hands and making a full circle as he scanned the room.
“God’s toes, put that down before ye poke out my eye,” said Alana.
“Didna ye hear that?” asked Ethan, half-expecting to see old Murdock coming at him with a blade. “It was the scream of the murdered lassie.”
“That’s no ghost!” spat Alana. “That is Kirstine havin’ contractions.” Ethan released a breath and sheathed his sword. “I came up here to tell ye the search for the treasure is goin’ to have to wait. I think she is startin’ to deliver her bairn, even though it is too early.”
“Och,” said Ethan, now feeling like a fool. “That’s no’ guid if it is too early.”
“Exactly,” she said. “My sister has already birthed a stillborn and lost two other unborn children. If she loses this one, too, I’m afraid she will go mad.”
“We need to be there with her,” he said, heading for the door. He had wished he could have been there for Alana when she’d birthed their baby. Family meant everything to him, just like it did to her. If he couldn’t be there to support Alana, then he swore he would be there to help Kirstine birth her bairn instead.
He headed down the stairs, leaving Alana standing there.
“Hello?” said Alana, feeling like someone else was in the room. Ethan had left the tower, so no one should be there. “Is someone here?” she asked, not seeing anyone, but hearing a low whisper that gave her gooseflesh.
“Give up searchin’ for the treasure,” the male voice warned. “If ye dinna, ye will all die.”
Frightened out of her mind, Alana bounded out of the room, following Ethan back to the solar.
Chapter 16
“Alana, help me,” cried Kirstine when they entered the room. “I can feel the bairn comin’. Dinna leave me, please.”
“Call for the healer,” said Ethan, pushing into the room. “Oh, wait. Ye dinna have a healer. I dinna suppose ye have a midwife on hand?”
“Nay, we dinna,” said Gil, hobbling back and forth. “We havena had one since we left Ireland.
“Then who is goin’ to deliver the bairn?” asked Ethan.
“I guess we didna think about that,” Alana answered, her thoughts still preoccupied by the voice she’d just heard in the tower room.
“Mama, I’m scared,” said Isobel, running to her. Alana scooped her up in her arms.
“Well, now’s a fine time to discover we have no one to help her,” spat Ethan, rolling up his sleeves.
“What are ye doin’ Ethan?” asked Alana.
“I’m goin’ to help yer sister birth her bairn,” said Ethan. “And ye are goin’ to help me.”
“Of course
,” she said, having planned on delivering the baby herself if she had to. But if Ethan wanted to help, so be it. She could use his support.
“Aaaaaah,” screamed Kirstine, gripping at the bedcovers in the chamber she and Alana shared.
“I dinna want to see this. I canna watch,” said Gil, heading to the door.
“Da, take Isobel down to the great hall,” said Alana, handing her father his grandchild. “And send the servants up with boilin’ water and lots of rags.”
“Bring whisky, too,” said Ethan, hurrying over to the bed. “Mountain Magic if you have it.”
“Do ye think the whisky will help her pain?” asked Alana.
“I dinna ken,” answered Ethan. “The whisky is for me. Gil – send someone down to the cove to get Caleb and Finn as well.”
Trapper heard Caleb’s name and started barking. Kirstine started screaming in pain again.
“Never mind,” said Ethan. “Trapper, go get Caleb.”
The dog continued to bark but didn’t go.
“Go get Slink,” he said this time and the dog’s ears perked up. Then it turned and ran out the door.
“I’ll be in the great hall if ye need me,” said Gil, leaving with Isobel in his arms.
“Have ye ever done this before?” Alana asked Ethan.
“Nay. Have ye?”
“Nay.” She shook her head. “But I’m sure it canna be that hard. Can it?”
“We’ll find out,” said Ethan. “We dinna have time to wait for those rags. Start tearin’ up the bedsheet. And find a soft blanket to put the bairn in once its born. We need to keep it warm.”
As Alana rushed around the room getting things ready, she smiled inwardly watching her husband. He was brave and jumped right in when family was in trouble. She loved him more than anything. This proved to her that she could always count on him. He would help her and her family be free of Diarmad and also clear their names. She didn’t know how he’d do it, but she was sure he would. Now she wondered why she hadn’t told him about her problem the first time she saw him.
“Alana,” said Kirstine holding out her hand. “I dinna want my bairn to die. I dinna want to die either.”
“Shhhh, Sister. Ye willna die.”
“Oooooh,” she cried out in pain, squeezing Alana’s hand. “I will die, Alana. I do no’ deserve to live, bein’ Diarmad’s wife. His child will die, too, because it should have never been. This bairn is unwanted.”
“Haud yer wheesht!” said Ethan. “I willna hear talk like this again. I was an unwanted child, too. What ye need to remember is that the bairn had no choice in the matter. Ye need to be strong. Ye need to be strong for yer bairn, Kirstine. Dinna let this child live with guilt because it was born. It might be of that cur’s seed, but dinna forget that the bairn is part of ye, too.”
“Aye, he’s right, Kirstine,” said Alana. “Think of Mathair. She is watchin’ ye and wants her grandchild to live. She loved children.”
Kirstine sniffled. “Yer are right. Both of ye. I will be strong. For Mathair . . . for my bairn.”
“Guid. Now that we have that settled,” said Ethan, positioning himself at the foot of the bed, “I ask that ye forgive me for this, but just think of it as if I’m naught but a midwife.” He flipped up her skirt and Kirstine and Alana exchanged glances.
“It’s all right, Kirstine. Ethan would never do anythin’ to hurt ye or yer bairn.”
“That’s right,” said Ethan, examining the situation. “But I need to ask ye two to stop talkin’ now. And Kirstine I need ye to push.”
“Already?” asked Alana in shock.
“Alana, where is that blanket?” asked Ethan. “And I need those rags.”
* * *
A half-hour later, Ethan’s efforts were rewarded when he snipped the umbilical cord, holding Kirstine’s little baby in his big hands.
“Ye’ve got yerself a fine lookin’ daughter,” he told Kirstine with a smile. The baby had trouble getting out but between Ethan and Alana, they did it.
“Kirstine, she is beautiful,” cried Alana, taking the baby from Ethan, wiping it down and wrapping it in a blanket. The soft whimper of the newborn filled the room.
“Sister, is she really alive?” asked Kirstine, her body trembling.
“She is and so are ye,” replied Alana. “Just like Ethan said.”
“Let me hold her.” Kirstine reached out and Alana handed the baby over to her.
“Yer sister will need to be cleaned up and she might need a few stitches,” Ethan told Alana, feeling a wave of emotion and satisfaction surge through him. He walked over to the washbasin and rinsed his hands as the servants stepped in to help Kirstine.
Looking back to the bed, he watched as Alana and Kirstine smiled, cooing over the baby. His heart went out to them. Was this the way it was when Alana birthed her baby? Had she felt scared and all alone? Ethan wished he could have been there for her.
Suddenly feeling the need to see his own daughter as well as to have a good swig of whisky to soothe his nerves, Ethan left the room and headed down to the great hall.
“Da!” cried little Isobel, running to him as soon as she saw him. He scooped her up, cradling her in his arms and kissing her on the head.
“Is the bairn here?” asked Finn, rushing over with Gil.
“Is my grandchild alive? Is it all right? How is my daughter?” asked Gil sounding concerned as well as excited.
“Everyone is fine and Kirstine has birthed a wee girl,” Ethan announced to everyone in the great hall.
“Can we see the bairn?” asked Finn.
“Go ahead,” said Ethan. “But right now, all I want is some Mountain Magic.”
“Here ye go,” said Caleb, handing Ethan the bladder of Mountain Magic. “Did I hear right? Ye helped to birth the bairn?” he asked.
“I did,” Ethan said, taking a swig of whisky.
“I want to see the bairn, too,” said Isobel. “Put me down, Da.”
He put her down and she ran to catch up with Gil and Finn.
“What did ye find down at the cove?” asked Ethan.
“No treasure if that’s what ye mean.” Caleb held out a piece of bread for Slink.
“It’s no’ there. It’s up in the tower, I’m sure of it.”
“How so?” asked Caleb.
“I remembered somethin’ from my past. Somethin’ I think I blocked out of my mind because I was so upset by what I saw when I was ten.”
“The ghost?” Caleb picked up a tankard and took a swig of ale.
“No’ just that. There was a man who guarded the treasure, I’m sure of it.”
“A man? Who?”
“I’m willin’ to bet it was Mad Murdock. And somethin’ tells me that he is still here.”
* * *
When morning came, Ethan was headed for the tower before he even broke the fast.
“Ethan, where are ye goin’?” asked Alana, hurrying after him.
“To get the treasure. Do ye have the key?”
“I do,” she said, following him to the tower.
“Guid, then ye can come with me.”
Ethan’s plan had been for Caleb to take the girls and Finn to the mainland. But now that Kirstine’s baby was born, things had changed. Kirstine was in no condition to be riding across the water. Especially since today’s weather changed for the worse. He also didn’t feel good about bringing little Gavina out into the elements. Gavina is what Kirstine named her baby, after their mother.
“Mayhap it can wait until later,” said Alana, sounding as if she were trying to stop him from going up to the tower. “Let’s go break the fast first.”
Ethan stopped and held out his open palm. “Give me the key,” he said. “I ken where the treasure is hidden.”
“Ye do? How can ye?” This seemed to pique her interest. She didn’t hand the key over.
“I remembered something from when I was a child.” He continued up the steps and Alana followed, both of them stopping just outside the door.
“It was Mad Murdock,” he said, pushing open the door and drawing his sword before he stepped inside. “He’s guardin’ the treasure. I realize that now.”
“Mad Murdock? The murderer?” she asked, a shiver going up her spine.
“It all makes sense now, Alana. He is the one tryin’ to scare us all away. I wouldna be surprised if there never was a bride who died. The more I think about it, mayhap I never even saw a ghost. He must have faked it, the same way ye’ve been doin’.”
Just as he said that, Alana felt an icy shiver go up her spine. She was no longer sure about that. “Aye, I . . . guess so,” said Alana, clinging to him so tightly, her fingers were digging into his arm. “I’m still a little scared.”
“Dinna be afraid, lass,” he said, pulling Alana into his arms and giving her a quick hug. He led Alana over to the hearth. “It’s here,” he said. “I ken it is.”
“The treasure?” asked Alana. “Nay, I checked this tower many times and –” She stopped in midsentence, when Ethan pulled out a brick and then pulled open a secret door next to the hearth.
“Ethan! What is that?”
He reached into the enclosure, sliding out a large wooden box with a locked latch.
“I am willin’ to bet we just found yer Templar treasure.”
“Let me see,” she said, kneeling down and running her hand along the carved wood. There was a Templar’s cross on the box as well as symbols that she couldn’t decipher.
“Open it,” said Ethan, nodding at the box. “I want to see what’s in it.”
With a shaky hand, Alana pulled out the key that her mother had given her. She put it in the lock and slowly turned it until it clicked. “My mathair died to protect this treasure,” she said. “So did my uncle. It must be very valuable.”
Highland Spirit: Highland Chronicles Series - Book 2 Page 18
