Page 52 of Highlander Unraveled
I snickered at that last one, and winked at my wife. She was asking legitimate questions and getting a barb in there, too. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited to see just how this was going to play out.
Mrs. MacDonald let out a short bark of laughter, rolling her eyes as though Emma were the biggest idiot in all of Scotland. “Oh, honey, ye’ve so much to learn.”
Emma put her hands on her hips, cocked her head and jutted her chin. God, how I loved her strength.
“And I’ve time to learn it right now.”
Mrs. MacDonald shook her head, pursed her lips, returning just as much attitude as she was receiving. “Ye dinna actually. Out.” She waved the gun toward the door. “I will follow the both of ye downstairs.”
Emma glanced at me, and I indicated she should go first. I’d put myself between the two women. Emma nodded and I followed her to the door, ducking beneath the frame. She walked slowly, methodically, buying us both some time to figure out a way to stall the crazed woman.
“You still didn’t tell me what happened. I thought I heard you fighting with Mr. McAlister,” Emma said as we walked.
The barrel of the gun poked into the middle of my spine. Mrs. MacDonald was very close behind me. If I fell backward on her, as we descended the stairs, there might be enough time for Emma to get away. The woman would be stuck beneath my weight—mydeadweight, as the sudden fall would likely cause her trigger finger to pull.
But it was worth it. I’d gladly give up my life to save my wife’s. And then she could steal the black box from Mrs. MacDonald’s crushed body and return to our son.
“We were fighting,” Mrs. MacDonald said.
Emma paused on the stairs to straighten a framed portrait along the wall leading down, and I also stopped in turn. The faces of Moira and Shona stared back at us from behind glass.
“But why?” Emma asked. “I thought the two of you were on the same side.”
Again, the gun poked into my back, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t going to run my wife over. Not a chance in hell.
“I am on nobody’s side,” Mrs. MacDonald said. “Especially notthatidiot.”
There was such derision in her tone. I wanted to meet the man who seemed less worthy of her respect than even me. I chanced a glance behind me to see the old crone’s scowl.
“Idiot?” Emma clucked her tongue and continued down the stairs, and I followed. “Mr. McAlister seemed pretty smart to me.”
Another groan from the wench. “He knows next to nothing. The man is a glorified babysitter.”
“Has he more than one charge?” I asked.
“The twins, ye dimwit.”
Shona and Moira. This man was their guardian. No wonder the MacDonald woman didn’t like him. He was protecting yet more treasures their blasted kin couldn’t get their hands on.
“More than they?” I asked out of curiosity. Just how many secret babies were there in the realm, spanning hundreds of years?
“I’ll not be telling ye that,” she bit out sourly.
“What will ye be telling us?” I asked, unable to hide my impatience. “Perhaps how that little black box works?”
Mrs. MacDonald laughed. “So ye know about the box.”
I shrugged, and ignored the glare from Emma.
“Well, ye were holding it very obviously in the chamber up there. ’Tis fascinating,” I said. “That ye simply turn a wheel—”
“A wheel?” Mrs. MacDonald scoffed.
“Well, I dinna know the name for things here…” I trailed off, hoping she’d just fill in the blanks, where my pretended ignorance bloomed. For certes, I didn’t know the names of everything, but I most assuredly didn’t know how to use that damn box, and if I had to use trickery to get the answers, then so be it.
“Button.” I could practicallyhearthe roll of her eyes. Little did she know the jest was on her. “And ye press it, not turn it.”
I kept up the dumb act, finding it quite entertaining that she was falling for my ruse. “But how do ye make sure ye get to where ye want to go? That is just amazing… Do ye will it with your mind?”
