Page 84 of Undercover Savior

Fallon looked at her watch. “It’s been fifteen minutes. I’d say it’s unlikely.”

I stood and looked out the window. An older man was walking across the bridge, headed toward the castle. He turned when he reached the walkway that led to the entrance. “Who’s that, I wonder?”

Fallon stood. “Perhaps Ash’s uncle, Ambrose? I’ve heard stories about him from Con. None that were terribly interesting.”

“He appears to be scowling.”

“Hard to be the spare, I suppose. Then having it all passed down to one’s nephew.”

“You’d think he would’ve gotten over it by now.”

“Does one ever?”

I returned to the table where my computer sat open. “I guess not. So, what should we be working on?”

Fallon glanced around the room as if she was looking to see if someone might overhear her. “I’ve been dying to tell you what I found in the monastery records.”

“I’d forgotten all about those.”

“Come over here, and I’ll show you.”

She pulled an image up on her laptop.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Drawings. Of tunnels.”

My brow furrowed. “Tunnels?”

“They run beneath the three estates—Ashcroft, Glenshadow, and Blackmoor.” More images appeared on the screen. “It’s quite fascinating, is it not?”

“How old are these?” I asked, pointing at the screen.

“From what I read, they date back to the Jacobites.”

I wished I was sitting in front of my computer, so I could quickly look it up. I was sure it was, or they were, something I’d learned about in history class.

“While most of the rebellion’s battles took place closer to the Cairngorms in the eastern highlands, according to this, there was quite a stronghold here, in the west. It makes sense, given the proximity to the sea.”

“I know it makes me sound like a bampot, but can you refresh my memory?”

Fallon smiled. “No worries. I had to look it all up too.” She typed something into her computer, then turned the screen toward me. “Here, it’s easier if you read it, which is all I’d be doing.”

The article said that the Jacobite Rebellions were a series of uprisings that took place in Scotland between 1688 and 1746. While the time span was over several years, the rebellion’s focus was first to restore James II, part of the Catholic Stuart dynasty, to the throne after William and Mary—Protestants—were crowned as co-monarchs of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

After James II’s death, the rebellion continued in support of, first, his son, then his grandson.

“How does this relate to the tunnels?” I asked.

“Most believed they were urban legends, so to speak, but according to what I found, they were quite real. Perhaps they still are.”

Fallon brought one of the maps back on the screen. “They were more commonly talked about in Edinburgh, where there are allegedly many vaults and passages, most of which predated the rebellions. There are several other castles that are purported to be connected to places that could serve as an escape route.”

I raised my head. “Like Loch Fyne.”

“Precisely.”

“Err, do you think this relates to Weber and Tower-Meridian somehow?”

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