Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (17 page)

Suddenly, she heard the
beep telling her that the other side was picking up. She held her
breath as she waited for the familiar voice to come
through.

“’
Allo, Brian here,” the
male voice on the other end said.

Ruby’s throat went tight. She swallowed, feeling so odd
that she couldn’t find her voice to speak.
Speak!
She
shouted at herself silently.
Speak, you ninny! It’s Brian!

With a deep breath, she
forced herself to reply. She said, her voice barely a whisper,
“Hello, Brian.”

A momentary pause. Then Ruby heard a loud sucking in of
breath.
“Ruby?”

She could tell he was
shocked by the tremor in his voice. She, too, was shocked to hear
his voice.

“
My God, where have you
been?”

“
Brian, how are you?’ she
said, her voice shaking, her hand gripping the phone
tightly.

“
Ruby, what’s going on?
The reception phoned me three days before I was to pick you up. She
said you left. My God, Ruby, what are you doing?”

She could tell he was very
upset, and she didn’t want him to be upset with her. She bit her
lip. It was ridiculous, of course, to tell him that she was
kidnapped by a stranger, for a stupid reason she still didn’t
know.

She took a shaky breath and said, “I, er, I—” She didn’t
know what to say. She closed her eyes and wanted to cry.
What could she tell him?

Tell him, you ninny, tell
him what happened. Tell him about Alec.

“
I’m sorry, Brian. I’m
sorry this happened. I’m very, very sorry.”

Now, why am I sorry that
this happened when it isn’t my fault?

She heard him sigh.
“Ruby, please don’t do this to me. Look, where are you? I’m
coming to get you.”

Ruby closed her eyes.
“Brian?” she began, then she paused. She simply couldn’t go
on.

Tell him, Ruby, tell him!
The voice in her head shouted.

“
Ruby, are you all right?
You don’t sound all right.”

“
Brian, I’m fine. Please
don’t come and get me. I’m leaving soon.”

“
Ruby, I’m sorry I didn’t
come down to Scotland with you. That stupid business meeting. If I
had come down with you, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry,
Ruby. Were you upset with me? Was that why you left before I got
there?”

“
No, no, Brian. It’s
nothing like that at all. I enjoyed Edinburgh every much. But
something happened.”

“
What happened?”
he
asked, his voice sounding more urgent.

Ruby tried to think of a reply. Her grey cells, however,
seemed to be dead.
What
happened?
The question kept
screaming in her head.

“
Please, Brian, I just
phoned to tell you that I’m all right.”

“
No, Ruby. You’re
obviously not all right. I’m in Scotland so I’m coming to get you.
Tell me where you are.”

“
I can’t,” she said, her
voice quivering.

“
Why not?”

“
Because I don’t know
where I am.”

No, Ruby, you’re in
Hasting Manor. Tell him! He’d come and get you. He’d take Alec to
the police. You’d be free. You’d never have to see Alec
again—ever!

Her heart skipped a beat.
Alec!
She’d never see
Alec again. Or Westies, or Lizzie, or Mr. and Mrs.
McKenzie.

“
My God, Ruby. What
happened? I can’t believe this. Are you lost or something? Honey,
just tell me where you are. Wait, you don’t know where you are. Is
there anyone there that you can ask?”

Ruby looked around the
room. She bit her lip and said, “No.”

“
My God, Ruby, you must be
very afraid. Look, just describe what the place looks like. I’ll
try and figure out where you are.”

“
Brian, I’m in a castle. But I’m
fine
.” She
emphasized the word
fine
so he’d
understand.

“
A castle? Okay. Do you
know the name of the castle? Is it old and neglected?”

“
Brian?” she asked
nervously. “I need to ask you a question.”

“
Just describe the castle,
Ruby. I will figure out where you are. Do you know that I haven’t
been able to sleep since that receptionist phoned? I was so
worried.”

“
Brian, I need to ask you
a question.”

“
Okay, fire
away.”

“
Hypothetically speaking,
if I were to say, um, get taken against my will, what would you
do?”

“
What’s this? Has some
maniac taken you against your will, Ruby? My God, this is—who is
he?”

“
Brian, please just answer
my question,” she begged, her whole body shaking with
worry.

“
I’ll come and rescue you,
of course, and take that menace to the police. Ruby, you must be
very afraid. Are you all right? Has someone taken you against your
will?”

“
No, no, nobody has taken
me against my will, Brian,” she said, biting her lip. “I was
invited here as a guest. I thought I had better come now before the
chance slipped by.”

“
And what about me?”
He sounded very upset now.
“I asked you first to come to Westwick Castle. Ruby, I just
don’t know what’s going on.”

Ruby sighed, looking heavenward, and prayed to God for
help.
What must I
do?

“
Brian, I’m sorry. I just
wanted to tell you that I’m all right and that I will be going home
soon. I will miss you.”

“
Then just tell me where
you are so I can come and get you.”

“
No, no, Brian, if I have
time, I’ll come to you.”

“
And do you know where Westwick Castle is?”
he asked, though he knew very well
that she didn’t.

“
No, but I’m sure, er, the
taxi driver will know. Brian, I have to go now. Please look after
yourself.”

“
Ruby, honey, don’t go. I
want to come and get you.”

“
No, no, Brian. I have to
go now. Bye,” she said quickly.

“
Ruby, wait!”

Ruby hung up the receiver. She felt like crying.
How could she have been so cruel to
Brian?

She should have told him
that she was at Hasting Manor. But what if he came, and found Alec
and took him to the police? She was sure Brian would have no mercy
for Alec.

Ruby sighed.
Brian,
I’m so sorry.

She picked up the receiver again, and closed her eyes,
taking a deep breath.
I’m
very sorry, Brian.

She dialed the numbers she
remembered so well. She didn’t have to listen to the continuous
ringing sound at all before the receiver was snatched
up.

“
Hello?”
a female
voice said.

Ruby calmed herself down
and said, “Hello, sis.”

“
Ruby?”
the voice from
the other side screamed.
“Oh,
Ruby! You phoned. Mum is so freakin’ worried you haven’t phoned for
nearly two weeks. What happened? Why didn’t you call?”

“
Emm, please calm down.
I’m phoning now, aren’t I?” Ruby said.

Then she heard another voice saying,
“Who’s that, Emm?”

“
It’s Ruby.”

Ruby could hear Amethyst saying,
“Give that to me!”
and then,
“Hey, sis,
what’s going on? Why didn’t you phone? Mum is very worried. You
know how she is. We don’t like it when you don’t phone. So the same
date, right? The date that you’re back? Oh look, Mum’s here. Mum!
It’s your daughter.”

Ruby heard the receiver changing hands before her mum’s
voice came to her ear.
“Ruby,
darling. How are you? Are you all right? Are you eating well?
You’re not sick?”

Ruby really wanted to cry
now. My God, how she missed her family; all their noises and over
protectiveness. On cue, tears began to brew in her eyes.

“
I’m fine, Mum. Yes, I’m
eating well. How are you? Are you well?”

“
Of course, love, we are
fine. It’s you we are worried about.”

Ruby could hear her mum
sniffing as though she were holding back tears. “Mum?”

“
Yes, love?”

“
I love you. I will be
home soon. So I’ll see you then.”

“
Yes, I love you, too.
Don’t forget to look after yourself. You know how you are; always
worrying about other people and not caring for yourself. I won’t be
in peace until you are home.”

“
Yes, Mum, I am looking
after myself as best I can.”

Then Ruby heard,
“Mum, Mum, I want to talk to Ruby.”
That was Emerald, the youngest
daughter.

“
Hold on, Emm. Ruby? I love you. Bye,”
her mother said.

“
Yes, Mum, I love you,
too. Bye for now.”

Then she heard Emm on the line.
“Hold on for a sec. I’m going into the
study.”

“
How are things,
Emm?”

“
Good. Guess
what?”

“
What?”

“
Mum’s not very happy. She
dreamt about you like a week ago.”

“
She dreamt about
me?”

“
She is very upset. I
heard her crying the night she had the dream. She whimpered
something like ‘don’t take my Ruby’ in her sleep’.”

“
What does she
mean?”

“
Well, I didn’t know back
then. But you know how she could never hold onto that type of
burden by herself for long. I forced it out of her, of course. She
told us that she dreamt of this—I don’t know—this really big, white
serpent kidnapping you. She told us that it bit you and you bled
like hell.”

Ruby heard another voice from the other side.
“Emm, give me the phone.”

Emm said,
“But I’m
talking to Ruby.”

“
Just give me the phone,”
Amee, the oldest sister said. Then Ruby heard Amethyst’s
voice on the line.
“Gee, it
takes you that long to ring again, eh? What happened? You know very
well that Mum doesn’t like not being in contact.”

“
I am phoning now, aren’t
I?” Ruby said defensively.

“
Of course, love. You are.
Family first. Very important. Now, about that dream. I think it was
pretty bad. Mum said you bled like hell when that serpent bit
you.”

“
Amee, I’m in Scotland. I
don’t think there’re any snakes around here.”

“
Gee, Ruby, it’s not that literal. It’s a dream. It has
another meaning. In our Khmer mythology, the serpent usually means
a change in circumstance or,”
she paused for effect.

There she goes again;
Amethyst and her Khmer history and mythology.

“
Or?” Ruby
prompted.

“
A male admirer,”
Amee
said.

“
Yes?”

“
Well, usually the
appearance of the serpent itself kind of represents the admirer.
And the bleeding? Blood usually symbolizes your health. I think
it’s not so bad. It bit you. Mum told me that when Dad proposed,
she dreamt of a white serpent biting her, too.”

“
Yeah, she told me that,
too. But Dad didn’t believe in that type of stuff,” Ruby said,
thinking about their father.

“
Oh well.”

“
How is business?” Ruby
asked.

“
Good, just finished
painting the house. Putting it up for rent soon.”

Ruby pricked up her ears
as she heard faint footsteps near the door. Her heart did another
somersault.

“
Hey, Amee, kiss Mum for
me, won’t you? I have to go now,” she whispered, looking at the
door.

“
Why are you whispering? Sure, see you back here
soon,”
Amee said.

“
Bye,” Ruby replied
quickly before hanging up.

The door opened suddenly
and Mrs. McKenzie came in with Westies at her heels. “Well, now,
Miss Ruby, Lizzie told me ya are not feelin’ too well. I brought ya
some aspirin.”

Ruby moved guiltily away
from the phone.

Mrs. McKenzie eyed her
with interest. She also noted Ruby’s eyes were red.

“
Thank you, Mrs.
McKenzie,” Ruby muttered under her breath before taking the two
tablets in the housekeeper’s hand. “I’ll be upstairs in the
bedroom,” she said as she walked out the door.

WESTWICK CASTLE

Brian McArthur knew something wasn’t right. He sensed Ruby was
hiding something.

He looked at the number of
the last call on his cell phone. The number that appeared on the
screen looked oddly familiar. He narrowed his eyes.

The door
opened.