Page 64 of Highland Spy

“I was about to greet them with the end of my blade at their throats when Slink ran out and scared them. I didna want Slink to get hurt, so I held back.”

“What’s that?” asked Bridget, pointing to the floor. Sticking out of one of the bags was a hand drill used for making holes in wood.

Caleb picked it up to inspect it. “I see now that the saboteur keeps plantin’ evidence on the contestants to make them look suspicious.” He threw down the drill.

“We need to go after them,” she told him.

“I will go after them, but this is gettin’ too dangerous, Bridget. Ye need to go back to yer chamber and look after yer faither. Lock yerselves into the room and dinna open the door for anyone. Do ye understand?”

“But I want to help ye.”

“Nay. I dinna want to have to worry about ye. Now, keep yer eyes open for Slink as well. I am goin’ to try to follow them. Go directly back to yer chamber, lass, and I will see ye in the mornin’.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and darted out the door.

Against her wishes, Bridget headed back to her chamber. She entered the room and closed and bolted the door behind her. After checking on her father, she went over to the table to write a few more things into the Highland Chronicles about the games. The king had told her she’d have to read the events to him aloud in the morning and she needed to be ready. How she tired of this charade and wished she no longer had to do it. If only her father was not going mad, she could talk to him about all this, as well as share with him the feelings she had for Caleb.

She missed her mother, and wished she were here now to tell her how to care for her father. Besides Caleb, Bridget had no one to talk to and felt so alone. Would her father end up being executed when the king found out their secret? And would she go to prison for the rest of her life for her part in this deceitful game?

Pulling out her chair, she was about to sit down when she looked down to the desk and her heart almost stopped. There, on top of the Highland Chronicles was a missive. And on the parchment were the words, I ken yer secret. Meet me tomorrow durin’ the sword competition in the mews. Come by yerself. If ye dinna come or if ye bring another or tell a soul, yer loved one will be in danger.

Her hand shook as she held the parchment. Someone had been in her chamber and for all she knew, could still be here. They could have killed her father. Fear coursed through her and she jumped up and ran over to the fire, grabbing the poker and holding it in front of her with two hands. Slowly making her way around the room, she checked in every nook and cranny but, thankfully, didn’t find anyone still there. Running back to the door, she pushed a heavy trunk in front of it, and then hurried back to the bed and lay down next to her father.

She wanted to run and tell Caleb, but she didn’t want to leave her father alone and unprotected. Whoever wrote that note might come back and do something to her father as he slept. She didn’t know what to do, but decided she should stay there until the morning, like Caleb told her. Then she and Caleb could figure it out together. Totally exhausted, she put her hand over her sleeping father and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Caleb spent most of the night lurking in the shadows, following each of the men who were in the finals, but couldn’t find any evidence that any of them was the saboteur. He also couldn’t find Slink anywhere and that bothered him. Oftentimes, Slink went off on his own, but he’d always stayed close to Caleb. Hopefully, his little pine marten was just hiding somewhere, trying to stay away from the crowd.

Caleb regretted not confronting the two men in his solar, but if he had, he’d been sure Bridget would have tried to help him and he didn’t want that. She could have been hurt or possibly even killed. It would have only put her in danger. He didn’t want her involved in his mission at all. Now, he regretted asking her to help him. At the time, he’d been trying to make her forget about her worries, but now his decision only added to his problems instead. He walked the battlements, hoping to clear his head in the cool night air.

“Caleb? What are ye doin’ up here?”

He looked down the wall walk to see his father.

“Da,” he said, not having seen him much during his time here. “I was tryin’ to clear my head before the end of the competition tomorrow.”

“Ah. I often walk up here to clear my head as well. But are ye sure what ye’re thinkin’ about is the Leaders of the Lairds Competition?”

“What do ye mean?” he asked, not understanding what his father meant.

“Yer mathair and I have noticed the way ye light up brightly when ye’re around that chronicler’s daughter,” he said with a smile. “I just thought mayhap ye were thinkin’ of her instead.”

“Well, mayhap I was . . . a little. I really like Bridget, Da. I think when this competition is over, I’m goin’ to ask her to marry me.”

“That’s my boy,” said Ian, with a slap to Caleb’s back. “I always kent that someday ye’d find the right lassie for ye. Bridget seems like a fine, honest, respectable girl, even if her faither is a little odd. Still, if he’s the king’s chronicler, then it’s obvious he can be trusted. We’ll welcome them both with open arms into the MacKeefe family,” he told Caleb.

“Thank ye, Da,” said Caleb, not knowing what his father would do if he ever found out the truth of how Bridget and her father were deceiving their king. He wanted to explain things to him, but perhaps this wasn’t the right time. He needed to stay focused on finding the saboteur.

“Is there somethin’ else on yer mind, Son?” asked Ian.

“I’m lookin’ for someone, but I dinna ken who,” he told his father.

Ian chuckled. “I thought ye found someone. That is, Bridget. Are ye lookin’ for another lass as well?”

“Nay, Da. I’m helpin’ the king flush out the saboteur of the contest, but I’m no’ doin’ a very guid job at it.”

“Saboteur?” His father’s dark, craggy brows dipped down. “Are ye sayin’ there is a threat inside the walls of Hermitage Castle and ye didna bother to tell me about it?”

“The king asked me to keep it a secret,” explained Caleb. “And Storm kens all about it, so please dinna say a word to anyone until I can figure out who it is.”