The Inheritance (13 page)

I turned to the smug face of Bonnie Prince Charlie on the mug by my bed, thoughtfully provided by Linda in case I wanted some tea. 

“What would you do?” I asked him. 

I turned off the lights and crawled into bed.  The window was open, and a fresh breeze was blowing off the mountains.  In the distance I could hear the whinnying of the shaggy Highland ponies I’d seen grazing by the fence.  I suddenly realized that I didn’t even miss New York.  This life was so different, but I felt a sense of peace here that I never experienced at home.  Whether I decided to sell or not, I now had the means to leave my hated job and do something else, but what?  I was still thinking about the Will when I drifted off to sleep. 

The insistent ringing of the telephone woke me up around 3
a.m.  My heart was thundering in my chest as I picked up the phone.  No one ever called in the middle of the night with good news.  It was my mother.

“Katie, I
’m sorry to wake you.  I know it’s the middle of the night, but I couldn’t go to bed until I told you.”  She sounded a little anxious, but not panicked, and I began to relax.

“It’s
okay, Mom.  Told me what?”

“I was telling your father about our conversation earlier
, and something popped into my head.  I haven’t thought of this in years, but once I remembered I had to tell you.

My mother didn
’t agree to sleep with Angus and there was no plan.  They didn’t trick her — he did.”

“Did she tell you about it?”  Now we were getting somewhere.

“No, but I remembered a man coming to see us when we lived with Aunt Grace in Prospect Park.  I was about six at the time.  He was introduced to me as Uncle Gus, and he brought me a stuffed bear wearing a kilt and a bonnet.  I used to love that bear.  Uncle Gus had dinner with us, then I was sent to bed.  It was a small apartment, so I heard them arguing. 

I remember my mother yelling at him
, calling him a “deceitful swine” and swearing that she would never forgive him for what he did to her, and more so to James.  She said “You will never see her again.  Is that understood?”” 

“He was gone in the morning
, and when I asked my mother what a deceitful swine was, she just told me that he was a bad man and we would never see him again.  So, you see?  She didn’t know and neither did James.  They must have thought it was a miracle.  That’s why she never forgave him.  I think the reason he left everything to you was to make amends.  He must have known that your grandmother had died, but he wanted to do something for his only surviving family.”

“So why didn’t he leave it to you?  You are his daughter, after all.”

“He didn’t know what my mother had or hadn’t told me about him, and was afraid that I’d reject it out of hand, so he left it to you, hoping that your curiosity would at least bring you to Scotland where you could find out about him and his life.”  She seemed relieved now that she’d told me. 

“Makes sense, I guess. 
We’ll never know with 100% certainty, but the theory seems to fit the facts.  I am glad you remembered, Mom.”  I put my hand over my face to stifle my yawn.  My mom laughed.

“Go back to sleep.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.  Stay away from the whiskey, Katie.”  With that she hung up and I
went back to bed.  Well, that was one mystery solved — sort of — now I wanted to find out what happened to Isobel.

July 174
5

When morning came, Isobel and Rory didn’t head back to Kilmaron.  There was no rush to return to the castle since no one knew they had left Grant, and they decided to spend the day together. 

The rain had stopped
during the night, and everything smelled clean and fresh.  Rory left the horses to graze in the meadow, and called to Isobel to come out.  There was a stream in the clearing behind the house, and she took a drink of the clear, sweet water before wading in to wash.  The water was refreshing, and she called for Rory to join her.  He picked her up and held her on the water’s surface.  Isobel spread her arms and allowed herself to float, looking up at the summer sky above, and Rory’s face watching her tenderly.  Her hair floated all around her, making her look like a water sprite.  Eventually they came out of the water and lay down in the shade of an old oak.  The sunlight was filtering through the leaves, the gentle breeze caressing their faces as they made love again. 

Before they knew it
, it was late afternoon, and they were starving. Rory made a spear, and waded back into the stream to try and catch some fish.  After much splashing and laughing, he managed to get some trout, and they built a fire on the bank and impaled their fish on sticks, holding them over the fire. 

Rory and
Isobel sat companionably by the stream waiting for their fish to cook over the leaping flames.   The purple shadows of twilight were gathering around them, the first stars appearing in the dusky sky.

“Rory, tell me about y
er childhood,” Isobel asked.  She knew very little about his early life.  “Alan had told me that ye are his son,” she added, just in case.

“
Aye, that I am.  My father, Arthur that is, married my mother when she was already three months gone with me.  He dinna have to do it, but he loved her, and hoped that in time she would come to love him too.  He loved me as much as any man can love a son, and I was named for his best friend who had been killed in a hunting accident at the age of fifteen. 

I saw things through the eyes of a child, but my parents seemed happy to me.  They laughed a lot
, and my father always asked my mother to sing him a song after supper.  She had a beautiful voice, and used to sing me to sleep when I was a bairn.

They longed for another child
, but my mother had two miscarriages afore finally carrying a bairn to term.  I was so excited.  When the labor pains came, she sent me to fetch the midwife, and all I could think of was that I would be playing with my brother the next day. 

Well, the next day came and there was still no brother.  I could hear my mother’s screams echoing through the house
, so I hid in the kitchen, putting my hands over my ears to muffle the screams.  The babe was breeched; the cord was around its neck, so neither one of them ever stood a chance.  It took my mother three days to die, and my sister died with her.  My father and I were shocked to find ourselves alone, and it took a long time for my father to learn to smile again. 

He never told me that I
wasna his son.  He dinna want me to think ill of my mother, so it took a while for me to understand why John hated me so intensely.  When I learned the truth from the factor’s son, I beat him to a pulp, calling him a filthy liar.  I came home furious, with a black eye, complaining to my father of the horrible injustice of such an accusation. 

He told me the truth then.  I was
shocked and angry with him and my mother for a long time.  I dinna care about being the next Laird, or about Alan.  I just felt betrayed that my beautiful mother could have been so wanton with another man, and had lied to me all those years; my father along with her.”

“Did y
e forgive her?”  Isobel could see the old hurt in his eyes.

“Of course.  As I got older I understood the nature of love.  She loved Alan
, and took from him what she could.  I picked some wild flowers, and went to her grave and begged her forgiveness.  I think she heard me.”  He smiled at the memory.

“My father died a few years later
, and I came to live at the castle.  Alan never publicly admitted that I was his son, but I think everyone kent the truth.  They never mentioned it out of respect for Alan and my dead parents.  He had me share John’s tutor, which John resented bitterly.  Alan pitted us against each other all the time, in the schoolroom and outside of it.  He gave us sword fighting lessons, and had us fight each other.  John always lost because his fury made him careless.  He would have liked to kill me, I think.” 

“Did y
e hate him as much as he hated ye?” Isobel asked.

“Aye, I did for a time.  But then I began to pity him.
”

“Why?” 
Isobel was shocked by the idea of John being an object of pity.

“Dougal and I became fast friends when I came to the castle.  He was an apprentice to his
father, Simon.  I used to spend a lot of time at the forge, partly because of Dougal, and partly because of Simon, because he reminded me of my own father.  Sometimes, when the weather was fine, Simon would take us fishing after he finished up for the day.  He never caught much, but he enjoyed being away from the bustle of castle life, sitting on the riverbank, the wind rustling in the trees and the birds singing their hearts out.  We often talked. 

I told him once how much I hated John
, and he told me that John deserved my pity.  I think I was actually speechless for a moment.  Simon said that despite the circumstances, my parents made the best of their marriage, and created a loving and stable home for me.  Alan was as proud as Lucifer, and never even tried to make amends to his wife.  She was bitter and angry, and used the only weapon she had against Alan — John.  She made sure that John knew the truth and hated his father.  John never got much affection from either parent.  All they taught him was hatred.

I realized that Simon
had been right and decided that I would forgive John his animosity, but would keep my distance nonetheless.”

Isobel
sighed.  “I suppose if ye look at it that way, ye can see how he turned out such a bastard.” 

              Rory broke off a piece of fish, and promptly dropped it, blowing on his burnt fingers.  He licked them and pronounced supper to be ready.  The fish was a little burned and bland without any salt, but to Isobel it was the best meal she ever had.  Sitting in the gathering dusk with Rory, she felt unbearably happy, and wished this moment could last forever.  She still felt terrible about Mary, but there was nothing to be done.  She was sure that her father would do right by her, and either find her a man to marry, or make sure that she and the bairn would be taken care of.   Mary’s mother and sister would care for her in the meantime. 

She leaned back on her elbows and looked up at the sky.  The sky was going from purple to inky
-blue, and the moon cast a silvery light on the stream and the woods around them.  Rory lay down next to her, and pulled her close.  Tomorrow they would have to return to Kilmaron, but they still had tonight, and she refused to think about what lay ahead.

Isobel twirled her finger through Rory’s curly chest hairs.  His body was so beautiful.  She liked the feel of his muscular thighs against hers, and when his strong arms encircled her, she felt like nothing in the world could hurt her again.  For the first time in her life, she understood what it meant to be a woman, and the wedding vow “with my body I thee worship” finally made sense.  She lifted her head from Rory’s shoulder and looked at his face.  The face in question was looking at the moldy roof of the cottage, deep in thought.  Isobel was about to ask what he was thinking about, but she already knew.  They couldn’t stay in this broken-down shack forever.  They’d had two days of bliss, but they had to return to Kilmaron, and decisions would have to be made.

“Rory, what shall we do about John?”
she asked almost afraid to hear his answer.  Catholics didn’t divorce, even if proof of adultery or cruelty existed.  There were only two ways to end a marriage — annulment or death.  John might be willing to obtain an annulment, since it would permit him to marry Joan, but there would need to be sufficient grounds and proof.  The only reason that Isobel knew of that guaranteed an annulment was failure to consummate the marriage, and that certainly wasn’t the case.  Besides, the marriage was contracted to end the feud between the McBrides and the Grants.  Having it annulled wouldn’t do much for clan relations, in which case, her father would never let her marry Rory and she would probably be forbidden to ever see him again.

“Kill him,” Rory said simply
, and flipped her onto her back as he rolled on top of her.  “This time he’s gone too far.  I’ll call him out, and we’ll settle this matter once and for all.” He silenced her protest with his lips, and Isobel was only too happy to put murder out of her mind for the moment.  She hated John, but she didn’t necessarily want to see him dead.  She knew that Rory had meant what he said.  He would fight him, and this time it would be to the death. 

They approached the castle in the afternoon
, and even from a distance they could see the commotion within.  The gates were wide open; everyone seemed to be rushing around, a sense of great excitement permeating the air.  No one paid attention to them as they trotted through the gates.  There were wagons being loaded in the courtyard, and clansmen seemed to be pouring into the castle.  Everyone was armed to the teeth and battle-ready.  The women were scurrying through the courtyard, bringing supplies to the wagons, and babbling excitedly as they went about their tasks. 

“What’s happened?” Rory called out to Dougal, who seemed to be besieged by men
needing him to mend something in a hurry.

“His Majesty Prince Charles has landed in Scotland.  The messenger arrived this morning
— he is at Eriskay.  There were two ships, but only one made it through.  The other ship turned around after suffering severe storm damage.  Our king awaits us and we ride within the hour.”  Dougal’s eyes were alight with excitement, and he was gesturing with the sword he’d been working on as he spoke, scattering the men around him in panic. 

Rory turned to
Isobel.  “I must go.  I’ll send word.  I promise ye that we will be together when this is all over.  Just bide for now.  At least John willna be here to trouble ye.”  With that he ran off to the Hall.   Isobel went in search of Anna; she would know more.  With any luck she wouldn’t see John at all before he left. 

Isobel
saw Anna rushing through the gates a few moments later.  She’d prepared a pack of food for Dougal, and a new sark that she’d sewn for him.  She was excited about the king’s arrival, but had a hard time hiding her disappointment.  She and Dougal were to have been married next week.  Now, she would have to wait for months, possibly even years until she could be his wife. 

“
Isobel, ye are back!” she gushed.  “Have ye heard the wonderful news?  His Majesty is in Scotland.  He will reclaim the throne, and we’ll finally throw off the hated yoke of British rule.  We will be free, and governed by our own true King.”

 
Isobel felt the excitement coursing through her veins.  This is what everyone had been waiting for, planning for.  She knew that Rory had spoken to her father about this while he was at Grant.  Would her father and brother, and their clansmen, be joining the king as well?  She wasn’t sure what her father’s political views were, but she couldn’t imagine that he wouldn’t support his king.  Everything would be different now. 

Some of the women were preparing to go with the men.  She wishe
d she could go as well, to be close to Rory, but that would also mean being close to John, and that wouldn’t be wise.  Besides, John wouldn’t allow his wife to be a camp follower.  She would have to stay here and do her duty at home.  The women would look to her for guidance as the wife of the Laird. 

The activity in the courtyard became even more frantic as the hour of departure approached.  She saw Rory from a distance supervising some men.  He had his sword at his side and
a dirk in his stocking.  He saw her and mouthed, “I love ye,” over the heads of the men.  She knew she would have to say goodbye to John.  Now was not a time to take him to task over Mary.  That would have to wait — everything would have to wait. 

Isobel
saw him emerging from the castle.  He was dressed for war, shouting orders as he made his way toward the cluster of men getting ready to leave by the gate.  John saw her standing there, and instructed the men to go on as he walked toward her.

“We
’re leaving to join His Majesty Prince Charles.  Ye are to stay here and act as Laird in my absence.  If ye need help, ask Dougal’s father.  He’s too old to come with us, but he is a wise and experienced man.  I’ll send messengers back with news when I am able.  God keep ye.”  With that, he turned and walked off toward the men.  Isobel stood there until the men began to ride out of the castle gates, followed by the supply-laden wagons and women who refused to be left behind.  She stood there until the cloud of dust settled and she could no longer see them in the distance.

“Dear God, keep him safe,” and she didn’t mean her husband.  Isobel turned around and went inside.  She was in charge now.