Auggie smiled. 'It isn't the size but the experience, son,' he said. 'Skill is what matters. Nosing can be taught, but the best are the ones who have a natural talent for the task. There's a noser up near the Isle of Islay we could send for, assuming he's still alive, and I heard tell of another noser living in the south, close enough to the Lowlands to make me think he might be a MacDonnell.'
'We can't have an outsider coming here,' Calum protested. 'As soon as he sees the treasure, he'll go back and tell his laird. The MacDonnells will all come running then.'
Johanna wasn't paying much attention to the discussion now. She was busy thinking about her joyful condition. She would tell Gabriel about the baby tonight when they were in bed together. She would make certain the candles were still burning so she could see the look of surprise on his face after she gave him her announcement. Her hand moved to her stomach. Dear God, she was going to have a baby.
'Then it's settled?'
Gabriel asked the question. Everyone was shouting aye when Johanna happened to catch Father MacKechnie's horrified expression. He was staring at her; and as soon as he had her attention, he tilted his head toward her husband.
She guessed whatever had just been decided didn't sit well with the priest.
'What have you just settled?'
'Haven't you been paying attention to the discussion?'
'No.'
'MacBain,' Calum called out. 'We can't just send a messenger to request the noser. His clan will become suspicious.'
'Aye, they'd wonder why we wanted a noser and would surely follow him back,' Keith interjected.
'We'll have to snatch him,' Auggie suggested.
'How will we know which one to take?' Lindsay asked.
'If we go after Nevers, I'll go along and point him out to you.'
'Nevers? What kind of name is that?' one of the Maclaurins asked.
'Gabriel, will you please explain what was just settled?' Johanna insisted.
'We settled the question of what to do with the noser,' Calum answered for his laird, 'after he's selected the best of the brew for us.'
'Aye, we did,' Keith added.
'Are we all in agreement then?' Auggie asked. 'We snatch Nevers?'
Everyone shouted his opinion of Auggie's plan to kidnap the noser while Johanna impatiently drummed her fingertips on the tabletop.
'Please explain…' she began again.
'Shouldn't we move the barrels into the hall?' Bryan asked at the same time.
'Where is the cave?' Keith wanted to know.
Johanna wasn't going to wait for an answer any longer. Father MacKechnie still looked worried. She was determined to find out why.
'Just one minute, please,' she called out. 'Keith, you said you had decided what you were going to do with the noser…'
'We all decided,' he corrected.
'And?' she prodded.
'And what, m'lady?'
'What are you going to do? The noser will go home, won't he?'
'Good Lord, no, lass,' Auggie said. The very idea made him grimace.
'He can't go home, m'lady.'
'And why not?' she demanded.
'He would tell his laird about the barrels,' Keith explained.
'We can't have the noser talking,' Bryan interjected.
'Sure as certain he would tell,' Niall agreed. 'I would tell our laird.'
Keith tried to turn the topic then. Johanna wouldn't let him. 'You still haven't answered my question,' she persisted. 'Exactly what is it you intend to do with the man?'
'Now, Johanna, this doesn't concern you,' Gabriel said. 'Why don't you go over to the hearth and sew for a spell.'
He was deliberately trying to turn her attention. Her suspicion grew. 'I'm not in the mood to sew, m'lord, and I'm not going anywhere until someone answers my question.'
Gabriel let out a sigh. 'You're a stubborn woman,' he remarked.
The soldiers all nodded, for they were obviously in agreement with their laird's evaluation.
The priest decided it was his duty to tell his mistress what had been decided. No one else seemed inclined.
'They're thinking to kill him, lass.'
She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She made the priest repeat himself. Then she let out a gasp, bounded to her feet, and vehemently shook her head.
'Were you in favor of this solution?' she asked her husband.
'He's laird, m'lady,' Calum said. 'He didn't voice an opinion.'
'Our laird waits, you see; and after we've all given our suggestions, he decides for or against.'
'He'll veto your sinful idea then,' she announced.
'Why would he do that, m'lady? It's a sound plan,' Michael argued.
Gabriel had every intention of denying the vote to kill the noser, for he didn't think it would be honorable to gain the man's assistance and then repay him in such a foul way, but he didn't like the idea of his wife instructing him in his duties. He was also trying to come up with a viable alternative to the problem.
'No one is going to kill the noser.'
Several soldiers groaned in protest over her dictate. 'But, m'lady, it's the truth this is the very first time all the Maclaurins and all the MacBains have ever agreed on anything,' Keith remarked.
Johanna was incensed. She kept her gaze on her husband. 'Do I understand correctly? You plan to use the noser's skill; and when he's finished helping you, you're going to kill him?'
'It seems we are,' Calum answered for his laird.
The MacBain soldier had the gall to smile after admitting his future sin.
'So this is how you men repay a favor?'
No one responded to her question. She scanned her audience, then turned back to her husband. He nodded. He was obviously agreeable to the foul plan.
Johanna decided to try to use reason to sway him. 'Gabriel, if stealing is a sin, what do you suppose killing is?'
'Necessary,' he replied.
'It isn't.'
She was getting all riled up, and he knew he should calm her by telling her he wasn't going to let any harm come to the noser, but Lord, she was such a joy to watch when she was angry. How had he ever thought her timid? He remembered how she had behaved the first day they'd met. She had been timid then, terrified, too. His gentle little bride had come a long way in a very short while. The changes were all for the good, of course, but he liked to believe he was partially responsible. She hadn't felt safe when she first came to the Highlands, but she certainly felt safe now. She trusted him, too. She wouldn't be ranting and raving at him now if she still feared him.
'I cannot believe you're smiling, Gabriel. Have you lost your senses?'
'You make me smile, Johanna. You've certainly changed since you married me. The traits were all there, but you kept them well hidden behind your shields of indifference. God's truth, you make me proud when you stand up to me. Aye, you do.'
She couldn't believe he was giving her compliments now when they were in the middle of a heated debate she was determined to win. He was using trickery, she thought to herself. Aye, that was what he was doing. He wanted to turn her attention with a bit of praise.
She wasn't going to accommodate him. 'You make me proud, too,' she snapped. 'But you still aren't going to kill the noser. I'm putting my foot down, husband, so you'd best give in to me. I won't let up until you do.'
