Page 66 of Highland Spy

“Logan, did ye tell them everythin’?” asked Caleb.

“Aye,” answered Logan. “I told them about the saboteur.”

“Have ye found any evidence yet of who it might be?” asked Hawke.

“I dinna need evidence. The fact that Clement MacLean is the only one who has no’ been sabotaged, proves that he is the guilty one.”

“Clement MacLean?” asked Ethan. “He’s no’ usually a man who would stoop so low just to win a competition.”

“I didna think so either,” Caleb told him. “And I dinna think he’s workin’ alone since I heard two men talkin’ in my chamber.”

“Ye heard two men or saw them?” asked Ethan.

“Just heard them. I didna see their faces.”

“Why no’?” asked Hawke. “I thought ye were in the room.”

“He was hidin’ behind a tapestry,” Logan blurted out.

“What?” both Hawke and Ethan said together. Then they burst out laughing.

“It’s no’ like it sounds,” spat Caleb, knowing they weren’t going to give him a chance to explain.

“If it were me, I’d have killed them both without a minute’s hesitation,” said Hawke.

“Ye and me both,” agreed Ethan.

“I was protectin’ Bridget, because I didna want her to get hurt or possibly killed.”

“She was hidin’ in the trunk,” Logan mumbled into his tankard as he lifted it to his mouth. “Plus, he was protectin’ his weasel.”

“Caleb, cowerin’ behind tapestries isna goin’ to get ye mentioned in the Highland Chronicles,” Ethan pointed out.

“Och, dinna worry about that,” said Logan with a grin. “Caleb wrote himself into the book, and then Bridget wrote things about him, too.”

“Caleb wrote himself into the book?” asked Ethan.

“And Bridget wrote about Caleb, too? I dinna understand,” said Hawke.

“Logan!” said Caleb through gritted teeth. “Ye werena supposed to say anythin’.”

“Bid the devil, Caleb, Hawke and Ethan are our friends,” Logan told him. “We always share secrets between us. What’s the problem?”

“Each of ye better take that secret to yer graves, or I swear I’ll have yer heads,” threatened Caleb.

“Calm down, Caleb,” said Logan. “Ye can trust us.”

“Have any of ye seen Slink?” asked Caleb, his eyes searching the floor and the beams overhead.

“Nay, but I saw Jack out by the stables when we rode in,” Hawke told him.

“I’m goin’ to look for Slink,” Caleb told them, rushing from the great hall, wanting to get away from everyone and everything.

Chapter 22

Caleb awoke the next morning to the sun’s rays shining against his closed lids as he slept in the hayloft once again. He heard a rustling beside him and turned his head and smiled when he saw Slink next to him.

“Slink!” He shot up to a sitting position, grabbing his pet and giving it a hug. “I thought Jack ate ye for sure when I couldna find ye last night. Where the hell have ye been?” He noticed something in the hay and realized his pine marten had been playing with it. Reaching out, he picked up a missive and read the words upon it. 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.