'Then perhaps your sister will. Bring her in, Edwin,' he called out, then grimaced in pain and put his hand to his forehead again.
Because Alford was watching her closely, Gillian tried to hide her surprise and confusion. Bring her sister in? What in Gods name was he talking about?
'Ah, there she is now,' Alford crooned.
Gillian whirled around and nearly fell over as Bridgid sauntered into the hall. Dear God, what was she doing? The soldiers must have found their hiding place, Gillian decided then, and if that were true, what had happened to Proster and Ker and Alan?
She took a panicky breath. Bridgid smiled at her and then asked loud enough to be overheard, 'Which one of the pigs is Alford?'
Alford lunged forward, bracing his hands on the table to support himself. 'You will guard your tongue,' he shouted, 'or I'll have it cut out.'
Bridgid didn't seem the least impressed by the threat. 'You'll die trying,' she shouted back.
Gillian grabbed her hand to get her to be silent. Inciting the beast in his cave was dangerous and foolish.
'Where is my uncle, Alford?'
He waved away her question. Then Hugh drew his attention with his comment. 'I'm not disappointed in the way Christen turned out. She still has her yellow hair.'
Edwin joined his friends at the table and snapped his fingers to alert the servants to bring food and more wine. 'They don't look like sisters.'
Alford studied the two women. 'They didn't look like sisters when they were young. Christen was always the pretty one, and Gillian was the mouse.'
'She isn't a mouse now,' Hugh chortled. Reaching under the table he began to rub himself. 'I want her, Alford.'
Alford ignored the demand. 'What clan did you live with?' he asked.
'The MacPhersons,' Bridgid answered.
'And what name did those heathens give you, or have you always been called Christen?'
Gillian's heart started pounding, because she couldn't remember if she had told Bridgid the name Christen was given by the Highlanders.
'I'm called Kate,' Bridgid answered. 'I much prefer it to Christen.'
'She has the same sour disposition as Gillian,' Hugh remarked. 'They're sisters, all right.'
'Yes,' Alford drawled, but the furtive look in his eyes said he still wasn't completely convinced. Impatient, he stood up and came around the table. 'Do you have my treasure with you, Christen?' His beady eyes darted back and forth between the women as he waited for her answer.
He was so vile he made her skin crawl. She boldly faced him and summoned forth her most defiant look. 'I thought the treasure belonged to your king.'
'
Bridgid quickly recovered from her blunder. Forcing a shrug of indifference, she said, 'I'm a MacPherson now, and I have lived in the Highlands for many years and have become loyal to the king of Scotland. I don't consider England my home.'
'What about your Uncle Morgan? Do you consider yourself loyal to him?'
'I don't remember him,' she said. 'I'm merely helping my sister.'
His eyes were piercing as he studied her. 'I plan to see that the king gets the box back,' Alford snapped. 'Do you have it with you?'
Edwin came rushing forward to join his friend. Scratching his triple chins, he remarked, 'Surely she was searched before she was brought in.'
'Search her again,' Hugh called out, snickering. 'Take her to one of the chambers and give her a thorough examination, Edwin. Start with the neck and work your way down.'
Gillian intruded before the situation got completely out of hand. 'My sister doesn't have the box, and she doesn't know where it is.'
Alford slapped Edwin's hand as he was reaching for Bridgid.
'You can have her later,' he promised. Sidling close to Gillian, he asked, 'Do you have the treasure?'
'No.'
'You may take Christen upstairs now, Edwin. Do what you want with her. Hugh, would you like to join them?'
With a hoot of laughter, Hugh drained his goblet and shoved his stool back as he stood. 'I believe I will join them,' he called out.
Alford was watching Gillian closely as he made his suggestion. She didn't show any reaction, but when Edwin lunged for Bridgid, she moved with amazing speed and shoved him back.
Incensed by her interference, Edwin lashed out and slapped her across her face. The force was enough to knock her into Bridgid, who grabbed her to keep her from falling.
'If you touch her again, I'll kill you,' Bridgid shouted.
Alford raised his hand to let Edwin know he was to wait.
'Please, go and sit down,' Gillian ordered Bridgid.
She wanted her out of harm's way, and Bridgid didn't have to be told twice. She backed away from Edwin and then hurried to a chair against the far wall. Her heart was pounding from fear and shame because she realized now that she was far more of a deterrent than a help to Gillian. Too late she understood what her friend had meant when she'd told Proster that if he went with her, the baron would use him to get what he wanted.
'This is between you and me, Alford,' Gillian said. 'It began in this hall, and it will end here. I know where the treasure is hidden, and I'll show you where it is as soon as Uncle Morgan and my sister are given safe passage out of here. I suggest you bring my uncle to me as quickly as possible, for I will not tell you anything more until I see for myself that he is well. Do we understand each other?'
'Did you notice, Edwin, that she doesn't ask safe passage for herself?'
His friend nodded, and realizing he wasn't going to get Bridgid upstairs now, he rejoined Hugh at the table. Reaching for the jug of wine, he called out, 'Why didn't she include herself?'
'Because she knows I will never let her go.' He stepped closer to Gillian and said, 'You and I have been playing our game for years now, and one of us must lose. I swear to you the day will come when I will break that spirit inside you and you will learn to cower in my presence.'
A shout disrupted his train of thought, and the brute came running into the hall pulling another soldier along in his wake.
'You know better than to interrupt, Horace,' the baron snarled at the brute.
'We have good cause,' he called out. 'You'll want to hear this, milord.' Turning to the soldier, he commanded, 'Tell him, Arthur.'
The pock-faced soldier nodded, swallowed loudly, and then blurted, 'We have just returned… We went to Baron Morgan Chapman's holding to fetch him here for you, milord, just as you ordered, but when we-'
Alford cut him off. 'You were told to go to my home first.'
'Yes, milord, but it seemed quicker to us if we-'
'Did you bring me my favorite cloak?'
The question seemed too difficult for the soldier to understand. Horace shoved him. 'Answer your baron,' he commanded.
Arthur frantically shook his head. 'No… no, we didn't think to look for your cloak.'
'Where's Morgan?' Alford demanded then. 'Bring him inside.'
'I can't, milord. I can't. You don't understand what's happened. We went to his estate, and it was… empty. They're gone. All of them gone.'
'What are you stammering about? Who's gone?'
'The soldiers,' Arthur wailed, terrified because he knew that when the baron was given bad news, he often lashed out at the messenger. Stepping back to put some distance between them, he continued, 'Morgan's home was empty and your soldiers have vanished.'
'What do you mean, they've 'vanished'?' he roared.
