Page 139 of Every Day of My Life

James MacLeod stood behind him.

“Did you slay him?” she asked in surprise.

He held up a longish tube that was very small. “Straw,” he said succinctly. “Tranquilizer dart.”

I know, she almost said, but she had no idea how she knew so she set that aside as something to think about later. That list was growing uncomfortably long, but perhaps she would start her own book like Oliver’s and continually add things to it for study when she had the time for it.

She watched Oliver and Derrick catch Kenneth before he could flee, then truss him up with some sort of sticky rope. Oliver did them all the favor of wrapping a bit of the same over Kenneth’s mouth which contributed greatly to the peace of the afternoon.

“Thank you, my lord,” Oliver said to Jamie, making him a low bow. “Your aid was vital.”

Jamie shrugged with a faint smile. “I think you and your companions had things well in hand, but I thought a little aid with that vile man couldn’t go amiss. I’ll leave it to you to sort young Kenneth, though. He knows too much.”

“I’ve got that,” Ewan said, stepping up and making Jamie a bow. “If I might offer my services as a hypnotist?”

“A what?” Mairead asked.

Ewan pulled a gold disc out of his pocket. “This, my lady, is a magical tool I will use to send him into a trance where he will be amenable to any suggestion you might have. When he wakes, he will feel compelled to do as you’ve suggested but have no idea why.”

Mairead was happy to have Oliver come stand next to her. “Is he daft?” she murmured.

Oliver shook his head with a smile. “Ewan is a man of many talents. I’ve watched him do this before—not, however, to me.”

“That you know,” Ewan said lightly.

Oliver glared at him, but Ewan only laughed lightly in return. He turned to her and inclined his head.

“Your wish is my command.”

Mairead considered all the things she could have wished on her cousin, but discarded them one by one. He would either become a decent man or continue on to his own bad end, but she wasn’t going to decide that for him. Though if she could, as Ewan might have suggested, point him in the right direction, perhaps there was no sin in that.

“What if every time he sees fire, he feels the need to make certain everyone around him is safe?” she asked. “That would keep him busy.” She paused. “He could also insist on a diet made solely from offal, but that might be unkind.”

“He probably wouldn’t live very long,” Ewan agreed. “Let’s do as you suggest with the other, though, as well as inspire him to stick to all that do-gooding. Peter, what’s in your backpack?”

“Beyond tape and zip ties? Only things to entertain the children after supper.”

“You can do that later. Show me now.”

Mairead watched Peter pull out things from his pack and stepped back in spite of herself. The sight of gossamer wings that shimmered and sparkled with an unusual purple light when Peter put them on was unsettling enough, but the mask hepulled over his face was another thing entirely. She groped for Oliver’s hand.

“The wings I understand,” she managed, “but what is the creature on his mask?”

“The same thing that’s on your pajamas.”

She considered, then looked at him. “The ones on my pajamas are very adorable. That thing is not.”

Oliver smiled. “Perhaps not, but Kenneth absolutely deserves the nightmares he’ll have from it. Don’t watch Ewan whilst he’s about this first part.”

She looked away until Ewan announced that they could turn back. Kenneth was staring up at Ewan, slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

“Now, Kenneth,” Ewan said in remarkably good Gaelic, “you’ve been naughty, haven’t you?”

Kenneth started to weep, but Ewan shook his head.

“None of that,” he said sharply. “Be a man. And as a man, this is what you’re going to do. Every time you see any sort of fire, you will rush around and make certain everyone is safe. If you do not, this creature here—”

Mairead watched as Peter swooped over to Kenneth, causing his wings to flutter furiously. He hopped up and down several times, growling, then fluttered away, giving vent to very unnerving moans and baying.