Chapter Twenty

 

 

The hall was a hive of activity. The tables that were usually pushed to the side of the room except during meals had been left in place for days, covered in letters coming and going, maps and charts filling the remaining space. There had not been a single moment when people were not entering or leaving the castle on the most urgent business.

Beth sat at the top table, realizing she was doing exactly what her mother used to do. She had the locket around her neck and was squeezing it so tightly in her hand her fingers had turned white.

Scouts had been sent in every possible direction to look for Janet. Each day reports came back but none of them positive. It was as if she’d vanished off the face of the earth.

Each morning Beth awoke with a new found hope but as the day wore on, she would become more anxious, feeling a dread rise up in her that the report when it came would tell her they’d been too late.

She hated the thought of her mother dying somewhere far from her, not knowing where her daughter was.

It had been a week since she’d been to the old hall. In the time that had passed she had waited anxiously for news. Andrew had taken charge of the search, gathering men to him from the moment they returned to the castle, telling them to drop everything and start looking.

Duff MacLeish had sent a dozen of his own men when he’d heard. Boats had been sent to the islands, monks had taken messages to monasteries in England. All she could do was wait and it was killing her.

Another messenger came in, running straight up to Andrew and Beth. “Yes?” Andrew said, looking up from his maps.

It was Gillis looking back at him. “You have news?”

“I think you should come down to the infirmary,” Gillis said, his face pale. “At once.”

Beth was already running, darting between people and out, reaching the bottom of the stairs in moments. She looked about her, seeing only the faces of the castle inhabitants she had come to know so well.

James had his back to her, helping someone into the infirmary. Whoever was with him was wearing a huge winter cloak, the snow settling on their shoulders and turning them white.

“Mom?” Beth shouted, sprinting across the courtyard. The figure with James turned around and then Beth began to cry. “Mom! It’s you.”

Her mother looked back at her, a smile breaking out across her face. “Beth.”

Beth threw her arms around her mother, holding her tight to her for a very long time as both of them began to cry.

Eventually James separated them. “She is exhausted,” he said. “We should get her into the infirmary.”

“I’m all right,” Janet replied, staggering slightly as she spoke. “I’m just not used to horse riding.”

“Come on,” James said, taking her arm and leading her into the infirmary. “Let’s get you sat down at least.”

Beth followed closely behind, watching nervously as her mother was helped into the nearest bed. She looked pale and drawn, her eyes still filled with tears.

“Where have you been?” Beth asked. “What happened?”

“Not now,” James said. “She must rest. Here, Janet. Drink this.”

He held a horn cup to her lips and she sipped the thick green liquid within before falling back on the bolster, her eyes closing.

“We should give her some time,” Andrew said, appearing next to her. “She is exhausted. Come, we’ll wait outside.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied, kneeling next to the bed. “I’m staying right here.”

The next few hours were the tensest she’d ever known. Andrew stood silently beside her the entire time, saying nothing. James brought a damp cloth for Janet’s forehead, replacing it now and then.

Sitting beside the bed, Beth looked at the face of her mother. She felt a huge relief that she was still alive and yet mingled with that relief was fear that Janet would not again wake up, that she would never know what had happened to her during the time they’d been apart.

The bells had been rung for dinner before Janet opened her eyes again, turning to look at Beth as she did so, a smile once again spreading across her face. “I feared I had dreamed that I was here,” she said, running a hand across her daughter’s cheek. “Is it really you?”

“Yes, mom. It’s me. What happened to you?”

“I will tell you all about that later. First I want to know what happened to you. It looks as if you’ve been here all your life. I hardly recognized you.”

Beth told her everything. From stepping through the doorway to seeing the hall burn down. She glossed over being accused of starting the fire, moving onto finding her way to the castle.

She talked about the building work, fixing the battlement walls, rebuilding the chapel, not mentioning the collapse for fear of upsetting her. “And who is this?” Janet asked, sitting up slowly in the bed, examining Andrew from behind a furrowed brow.

“This is Andrew, laird of the MacIntyres.”

Andrew nodded. “A pleasure to meet you at last. You’ve given my men some trouble tracking you down.”

“Here,” Beth said, holding out the locket. “Take it back.”

“You found it?” Janet said, sitting bolt upright. “I thought I’d lost that forever.” She shook her head. “You should keep it. It was going to be yours anyway once…” Her voice faded away then she smiled again. “Not that it matters. I can’t tell you how much better I’ve felt since coming back here. I swear I might live to be a hundred.”

She swung her legs out of the bed, getting slowly to her feet. She stood in front of Andrew, looking him up and down. “Well, well. Andrew MacIntyre. I always dreamed about meeting you and now it finally happens. I hope you’ve been good to my daughter.”

“Mom!” Beth said. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

“I see the look in his eyes. I’ve been around long enough to know what that look means.”

“And what does it mean?” Andrew asked, looking amused by her anger.

“It means you better propose to her before this goes any further. I wondered which Dagless you were going to marry and now I know. I never would have guessed it would be my daughter, not in a million years.”

“As a matter of fact I have proposed,” Andrew said, smiling. “Though she said no.”

“And what did you go and do a stupid thing like that for?” Janet asked, turning her attention to Beth.

“I couldn’t marry him. I needed to find you.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. You have the chance for happiness with a man who clearly worships you and you turn him down to babysit your own mother. You turn around right now and agree to marry him. Go on.”

“Mom!”

James could hide his laughter no longer, he walked rapidly away, his hand covering his mouth.

Beth blushed wildly. “Sorry about her.”

“She’s right,” Andrew replied. “You should marry me.”

“Is that what you call a proposal?” Janet asked. “You’re not too old to be spanked yourself Mr MacIntyre so you just ask her properly before I drop dead of old age.”

The sound of James’s continuing laughter echoed from the far end of the infirmary.

Andrew turned to Beth, sinking to one knee, his hand held up to hers. “Will you marry me?”

“Of course I will,” she replied, jumping into his arms and almost knocking him over.

“There,” Janet said, rubbing her hands together. “That’s settled. Now where can I get something to eat? I’m absolutely starving.”

Beth turned to look at her. “You still need to tell us what happened to you.”

“Plenty of time for that later. First we need to start planning a wedding. Tell me you have a decent kitchen for me to make the cake.”

She walked out of the infirmary into the courtyard, beckoning for them to follow.

“Are you glad you found her?” James asked over Beth’s shoulder, still chuckling to himself. “She seems quite the woman.”

“That’s mom,” she replied, shaking her head. “We better go after her before she starts redecorating the entire place for you.” She looked up at Andrew. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I thought I had lost you forever and instead you just agreed to marry me. Am I not allowed to look at you?”

“Come on you two lovebirds,” Janet called back to them. “Lots to do.”

“Coming,” they said in unison, heading out of the infirmary and following her across the courtyard.

Andrew’s hand slipped into Beth’s as they walked. She looked down at it briefly. It felt exactly right, as if that was what she’d always been missing without even knowing it, the hold of the highlander.