Page 25 of Promises to Keep

Lochinvar said, “I saw her inside with Agnie, Lady Mairead looked distressed. They were headed up in the…?”

Quentin said, “The elevator?”

“Aye, I think they planned tae jump from the roof. I tried tae follow them, I began tae climb the stair, but then the museum began tae rumble. I worried the building was too tall, and it was goin’ tae fall down around me.” He glanced uneasily at the windows.

Fraoch said, “I was going in through the back, but then the explosion happened, and a fire erupted from the boiler room. Twas a mess.”

Hayley said, “Does this mean we can’t rescue her? I mean... I’m not that sorry —” She glanced at the kids. “My apologies, I know she’s your grandma… but she has been kinda mean and I... but that wasnotnice of me. She is still a member of your family and we ought to rescue her, no matter what, but we haven’t. What options do we have now?”

Magnus said, “We hae nae options, everyone but Beaty, Zach, Sophie, and Emma hae now gone—”

Zach joked, “And the kids.”

“Aye, we daena want tae get tae the point where we hae tae send the kids, and we canna go again, we would all be loopin’ and—” Magnus gestured toward Fraoch, “as ye can see, he barely escaped.”

Fraoch grinned, white teeth in the middle of a smudged dark face. “This was just smoke, I was fine. I just had tae race up some steps, duck when stone was crumblin’ down on me, skirt a fire, climb a fence and drop down ten feet ontae a city street where all the people were runnin’. Twas a little like the battle on the shores of Loch Awe, ye remember, Og Maggy?”

“I remember, except there was mist and rain and mud and swords swinging nae smoke and fire.”

Fraoch said, “Twas verra alike, insomeways.”

Lochinvar dug in his ear with his finger. “M’ears hurt, the explosion was verra loud and I canna get Lady Mairead’s shrieks out of m’mind.”

I asked, “Was it pain or fear or—”

“All the art was gone.”

“Every last piece?”

Lochinvar nodded solemnly. “Twas all confusin’ though, I saw one of the paintings, I daena understand why she was so distressed over smears of color.” He shook his head. “The sculptures were all toppled and broken. Black ink running down the paintings.”

I said, “That happened when we were there too, but we were outside in an opulent sculpture garden. It was tragic how she shrieked while they destroyed the art.”

Emma said, “It sounds as if there was less art the second time, right?”

Zach said, “And this sounds dangerously like Lady Mairead was looping. She was young outside and older inside? That’s the kind of thing that makes the world go kerflooey.”

Magnus said, “Och aye, it verra much went kerflooey, ye hae captured it perfectly, Chef Zach.”

Everyone was thoughtful for a moment then Chef Zach said, “Well, Magnus, you missed dinner.”

“Och nae!” Magnus hugged Isla and asked, “Did ye save me some, wee Isla?”

She giggled, “No Da, I didn’t think you wanted the sad bit of food I had, you need a big proper meal.”

Hayley said, “Fraoch needs to wipe down, but then how about we go around the corner to the pizza spot?”

The kids all yelled, “Yay!”

Chef Zach said, “Hey, I already fed you! From a fancy restaurant with a real, not junk, meal.”

James said, “That was baked chicken with potatoes, that was not at all pizza and you know it.”

Chef Zach laughed. “Fine, everyone go get your shoes on!”

He tossed Fraoch a damp bar towel. “For your face and hands.”

Fraoch grumbled, “I think this is goin’ tae require a visit tae the washroom or the towel will just rub more dirt on me.”

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