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Page 43 of A Rogue in Twilight (The Whisky Rogues #2)

Soon they went down to the shore of the loch, where some boarded the boats, and James, Elspeth, and Donal set out on the track to the mountain slopes.

The wind was brisk, and clouds glowered over the mountain peak.

Donal produced gnarly, sturdy walking sticks, and James took one in lieu of his usual cane.

Though his leg often ached in chilly or rainy weather, he had noticed lately that his knee had given him less complaint, perhaps due to the refreshing Highland air.

Patrick turned to James. “We will meet you here in the late afternoon for the return drive. Best of luck with your rock hunting.”

“Bring back souvenirs,” Philip called. “Diamonds and sapphires!”

James laughed. “A few crystals if we are lucky. Ready?” he asked Elspeth.

“Aye,” she said. James heard a tremor in her lightsome voice.

They walked together over heathery moors up into the foothills, then climbed steadily, saying little.

Elspeth paused to rest her ankle, relying on the walking stick, and looked out at the magnificent view.

The steely surface of the loch stretched below, fringed by heathery moorland with blazing autumn trees against the dark slopes of the mountain.

Above towered the mountain peaks, obscured at the top by a thick cloud ring.

James shaded his eyes with a hand. “Mica and schist up there,” he said. “That makes the slopes so dark and shiny. There is a good deal of that with shale scree in streaks down the sides. So much schist indicates massive heat early in the mountain’s formation. A good sign for my research.”

“We are here for more than your research,” Elspeth said with a half-laugh.

“I know.” Shouldering his leather pack, he walked ahead to catch up to Donal, who stood above them now.

“Why are we here, if not for the lad to find rocks?” Donal called.

“We are looking for the Goblin Cave,” Elspeth said.

“Ah, Coire nan Uruiskin,” Donal said. “Why do you want to go there?”

“We are looking for fairy treasure, Donal MacArthur.”

“Are you! Well then!”

Elspeth looked at James, who seemed to immediately understand her question, for he nodded. “Grandda, we have something to tell you,” she said then. “Lord Struan asked me to marry him, and I agreed.”

Donal broke into a grin. “Excellent! When are you taking her to Edinburgh?”

“We have not decided on that yet,” Elspeth said quickly.

“Elspeth accepted on one condition,” James said. “We must find the fairy gold.”

“Do you think it is here?” Donal asked. “Do you know what they call it Coire nan Uruiskin? The urisks are small goblin creatures who haunt rocky slopes and caves and cause great mischief. But they can be helpful to humans if they are treated politely.”

“What about the Fey?” Elspeth asked.

“The ancient Sidhe are sometimes up here too, so they say. Caves can be portals to their realm in the Otherworld.”

“It may be a good place to search for the treasure, Grandda,” she said.

“Would their treasure be under their noses in their own parlor?” Donal huffed. “Then it would not be missing. It must be elsewhere.”

“Grandda,” she said. “Perhaps we should tell Struan why this is so important.”

James held up a hand. “First let me tell you what I read in my grandmother’s fairy manuscript. She writes of a weaver and his son and their meeting with the fairies. And she tells of the infant girl given into the weaver’s care.”

“Did she now,” Donal said, and did not sound surprised.

Elspeth stared at him. “Tell me.”

James explained quickly what he had read, and Elspeth looked at her grandfather, who was listening without comment. “Grandda, that is the story you told me.”

“So Lady Struan wrote it in her book,” Donal said. “I told her some of it. And it is true, Lord Struan. What do you think of that?”

“I am not sure,” James said. “But I trust you. If you say it is so—then I will do my best to believe it.”

“Aye, then,” Donal said.

“So Elspeth’s birthday is coming soon,” James said.

“Aye, four days from now,” she said.

“I think you will not be happy until you see the twenty-first of October and find yourself still in this realm, aye?” James asked.

“I would feel relieved, that is certain.” She shivered and pulled her plaid closer against the chill wind. “Which way is the Goblin Cave?”

“There,” Donal said. “But I tell you the treasure is not there.”

“I would like to see it,” James said. “Even if there is no treasure, there will be something of value for my work.” He reached into the leather knapsack and drew out a stone. “We may find more stones like this one.”

“The blue stone! You brought it!” Donal reached for it and turned it in the light.

“Keep it,” James said. “You found it. Agate of that quality is rare, and finding a deposit of it could be important for the science of Scotland’s past.”

“To be truthful, I did not find it, exactly,” Donal said. “It was given to me by a queen of the Fey years ago. It is a key to their realm.”

“To the fairy world?” James asked.

“He tried to tell you at Kilcrennan, do you remember?” Elspeth asked.

“Aye. We were a bit fou, I think,” James said.

“I have seen similar stones in this mountain and near Struan House,” Donal said.

“Then let us proceed, sir.”

As they went up the slope, Elspeth saw that James walked steadily but with the uneven gait common to him. Yet she noticed that he never complained even where the walking was strenuous. Her heart went out to him to see his steadfast courage.

The sky clouded over in a cool mist, and Elspeth felt raindrops on her cheeks.

She looked up as they went higher, following a narrow dip between two slopes, a natural path like a tuck in a quilt.

A slim runnel of water trickled downward, and ahead she saw a vast piling of rock and scree, tumbled eons ago from the mountain’s massive black shoulders.

Now and then, James stopped to pick up rocks and examine them, sometimes dropping small chunks into his satchel, other times setting them back in place reverently.

“Limestone with marine fossils are signs of the Old Red Sandstone layer,” he said at one point, then later, “there are volcanic traces here.” He made notes in a small journal, muttering to himself. “Granite and basalt. Fascinating.”

Donal looked at Elspeth. “I do not understand why he loves old rocks.” She laughed.

More than once, James picked up small stones and handed them to Elspeth. She gasped at the glitter of perfectly formed crystals, clear and peat-colored.

“Rock crystal and cairngorm,” he explained. “For you.” She tucked the crystals in her skirt pocket, delighted.

“The Goblin Cave is over here,” Donal said, leading them across a slope covered with turf and broken rock, so that they went carefully, offering a helping hand as needed. Overhead, mist gathered and rain spattered their heads.

Cut into a cliff among the widespread scree was a dark, deep opening in a fold of rock. Elspeth went toward it.

“We cannot go inside. It is not safe,” Donal said.

“Grandda, we came all this way. We have to go inside.”

“The power of the Fey is strong here. We should stay away. But you two have more protection against them than I do.”

“Why is that, sir?” James asked.

“Love,” Donal said. “That bond guards you, and can break their hold. Though it would be stronger if—well.” He stopped, shrugged. “You will think me mad.”

“He thinks both of us a little mad already,” Elspeth said. “What is it?”

“If you were wed already, and securely bound in love.”

Elspeth glanced at James, who looked from one to the other soberly, silently. The rain began in earnest as she reached out to take his hand. “Grandda, come with us. We will search together for the fairy gold together.”

“Mr. MacArthur, may I see the agate again?” Taking the rock, James held it up to the light and turned it. Then he held out the stone. “Look here. Do you see the resemblance to the slope and the cave?”

As Elspeth studied it, the shapes and points seemed to form an image. She gasped. “It looks like a miniature of the cave opening! How could that be?”

Donal frowned. “I have held this stone many times and never noticed that.”

“Elspeth spotted the cave in your son’s painting, and when I compared the agate geode to the picture, I saw the similarities. Perhaps this is the place to look, sir.”

“Why would Niall paint this cave in the picture?” Donal was still frowning.

“Perhaps he wanted to leave a clue to lead you to the treasure.”

“To break the spell! Oh, Grandda,” Elspeth said. “What if James is right?”

“He left us a map? Huh,” Donal said. “There is nothing in that cave but rock, and signs of the smugglers who come here now and then. And possibly a fairy portal, so we should stay away.”

James shouldered his pack and grasped his walking stick. “I intend to go inside. I promised Elspeth I would search. You two can wait here.”

“I am coming with you,” Elspeth insisted.

“If there is any danger here,” he said, “you should stay with your grandfather.”

Elspeth grabbed his coat sleeve. “I am coming with you!”

“Aye then, go,” Donal said. “Take the stone. I will wait here.” He sat on a boulder, leaned his back against the cliffside, and tugged his flat bonnet low as if to sleep.

Elspeth could not bear to leave him, but knew he would not come inside. “Go back down, Grandda,” she said. “Do not wait here alone. We will be fine. We will meet you at the ferryman’s house.”

“True, the Daoine Síth might find me here. But you could be in danger too.”

“I am safe with James. Go on.” She hugged him and stepped back.

“Eilidh,” Donal said. “You must guard yourself.”

Surprised, she turned. Her grandfather rarely used her Gaelic name. “How so?”

“You should have married the man already. He is a good man, and love will protect you and lessen their hold. If only you had married him before this.”

“That will come soon enough,” she replied quietly.

Donal stood, took up his walking stick. “Marry him now, lass,” he said. “Take his hands in yours and wed him now, here, in the old way, before you enter that cave. With or without a witness, you can make a marriage here and now. It is a custom in Scotland that is old and respected.”

She stared at James, then at her grandfather. “We would want a wedding where all can celebrate with us.”

“Do that later. Give him your forever pledge and forge your bond before you go in that place.”

The wind whipped hard and cold at her back. “That is not necessary. But thank you. Go down the slope, Grandda. I am more concerned about you than me. We will meet you at the inn by the loch.”

Donal looked at James. “You take care of her. You marry her. See to it.”

“I will,” James said quietly.

Elspeth hugged her grandfather and turned to go with James as they proceeded up the slope toward the cave entrance in the cliff. Her grandfather’s odd insistence seemed to haunt her, and she glanced back to see the old man descending carefully.

Thunder grumbled overhead as they approached the cave opening, which loomed and looked foreboding. She stood listening to growls of thunder, seized with quick fear.

“James,” she said. He knelt to examine some rocks and waved, unbothered.

She paused to wait, thoughts racing. When James came back, he pointed.

“Much of this is limestone with excellent patches of granite,” he said. “There are traces of chalcedony and obsidian, with mica and quartz as well. Granite is a composite rock,” he went on, “and the mix here indicates there could be agate here too.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said. Her heart was beating strangely fast.

“There could be real geological significance in that cave. The limestone layer over a layer of granite hints at a marine era a long time ago. Well, I will not bore you, my lass. I am glad your grandfather agreed to go back down. It is better for him.”

“Aye, there is no need for him to wait alone where he feels uneasy. He said that you and I would only be safe if—” She hesitated, watching him.

About to use his magnifying lens on a rock, he looked at her. “If we marry before we go inside there? I heard him.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it is your decision, my dear lass. Whatever you want, I will do.”

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