Page 87 of Keeping Kate

“You could have told me all this,” Kate murmured.

“I had to be sure. It all came clear today,” he replied quietly. “Just now.”

“Interesting indeed,” Rob said. “How can we help, Captain Fraser?”

“Alec, please. I hope we can find those Spanish weapons and then do what we can for Ian Cameron and your kinsmen, too, who may be in an Edinburgh dungeon as well.”

Connor nodded grimly. “Do you know where this cache of weaponry is?”

“I do not,” Alec said, “but I suspect Kate knows something that may help us.”

“A few weapons have been found, apparently,” Rob went on. “The Camerons got hold of some from the original cache. Ian said his father had them. He gave three or four to our lot, and said he would find the rest and come to me when he discovered where they were stashed.”

“Andrew and Donald were given a couple of arms from one of the Camerons,” Allan said. “But no one seems to know exactly who found them or where the weapons are now. Ian had that news.”

“I spoke to Ian Cameron,” Kate offered. “He did not know exactly where the weapons are hidden, but he gave me a message for you. He said that a hermit has them,” she went on. “A hermit somewhere near Glen Carran.”

“There have been no hermits in this region for centuries.” Rob frowned.

“Could he mean hermitage?” Connor asked.

“Aye, that might be,” Rob said.

“Hermitage?” Alec asked.

“The old name for what we now call Ossian’s Hall,” Connor explained. “It is a small, hidden spot not far from Glendoon. There is a waterfall near there, and a wee building, a folly that Blair of Atholl partly built at one time and left unfinished. It is quite remote. There are caves behind the waterfall. I wonder—”

“The caves! Of course!” Kate brightened. “I should have thought of it earlier. When we were children, we heard stories about a saint who lived in that area. Could that be the hermit?”

Rob nodded. “It may be indeed. The lads and I will go see if anything is hidden there.” He glanced at Connor. “When we return, we had best be off to Edinburgh to see if we can help the ones held there.”

“Fraser, are you with us in this?” Connor asked. “Likely, we will not spring them free of that dungeon through legal means.”

“I am with you. You will do better with an officer along,” Alec said grimly. He pulled Kate close. She could feel the tension in him. “But Kate should stay here.”

“I am going with you,” she insisted.

“We need to get those lads out of prison, not see you put in there,” he said. “If you come to Edinburgh with me, you will be expected to report to the Court of Justiciary. I am not unknown in Edinburgh, Kate. Your presence with me would be questioned. There would be no avoiding your appointment.”

“Did you not say the Lord Advocate was one of your uncles?”

“Aye,” he growled. “He is the meanest of the lot on that court.”

She smiled, despite the anxious feeling in her stomach. She felt strongly that she had to be with Alec no matter the risk. What he and her kinsmen wanted to do was dangerous and she would not stay home worrying about them. “Perhaps he can be charmed,” she said brightly.

“I doubt it,” Alec said.