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“Great, thanks. Would there happen to be a restaurant around here that’s still open and delivers?”
“Well, there’s the pub in town. If I call, I could probably convince them to deliver if you’d like. My cousin owns it.”
Paige smiled and waved her phone in the air. “Oh, that’d be perfect. Umm, is there a menu or a website?”
“I dinnae think he’s got a website,” she answered, “but let me see if I’ve got a leaflet here.” She dug around in the papers on the desk and retrieved a trifold paper, printed in blue ink. “Here we are.”
Paige scanned the menu, wondering if Dewey liked bangers and mash. After a moment, she handed it back. “Two orders of the fish and chips and two butterscotch puddings.”
The woman smiled and nodded before her brow crinkled. She held up two fingers and wiggled them. “Eh, did you say two, lassie?”
“Yep. I’m really hungry. I missed lunch.”
The woman flicked her eyebrows up and down as she nodded again, an expression of confusion still on her features. “I’ll charge it to your room and bring it up once it’s here.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Paige said.
The woman pulled a key from a row of them and handed it to Paige. “Take the main staircase up and go to the left. Go down that hall until the first branch on the right, take it, and keep going to the end. Hang a left, and you’ll be at the bean-nighe suite. Can’t miss it.”
“Left, right, left. Got it.” Paige gave her a sharp nod and waved the key in the air, jiggling the tassel attached to it.
“I’ll bring that order up as soon as I’ve got it,” she called as Paige strode to the steps and stared up them, her feet sinking into the thick red carpeting.
She wandered through the halls of the castle, eyeing the paintings, coat of arms, and full-sized suits of armor decorating them.
She arrived at the suite with no trouble and stuck the heavy key into the door, then she turned it and pushed the door into the room. A blazing fire warmed the space, and the proprietor had switched on a few lights for her.
She stepped into the generously sized sitting area and tossed her bag on an armchair before she set Dewey’s carrier on the sofa.
She unzipped it, and he popped out, his eyes scanning the space.
“Wow, a real Scottish castle!” He darted around the room, rubbing his paws over the thick bedding on the four-poster bed before studying the landscape painting next to it.
“Hey, watch how much you’re flitting around. Helen will be coming up with our food, and the last thing we need is for her to catch you flying around the room.”
Dewey buzzed over to the window and tugged the sheer curtain toward the red tartan drape, glancing out. Lights glowed from the nearby town of Loch Larny, glittering off the loch in the distance.
“We can see the town from here,” Dewey said. He shifted his viewpoint. “And part of the driveway. We can watch for the car to drive up.”
“Good,” Paige said as she pulled the bedspread down on the canopy bed and slipped her shoes off.
Dewey waved her over to the window.
“What is it?” she asked, peering out into the growing darkness.
“Watch for the food,” he said, handing the sheer off to her and darting away to explore the room further.
“You’re lucky I’m partial to the scenery up here, or else I’d have stuck you back in your carrier so I didn’t have to stand guard here,” Paige called over her shoulder before returning her attention to the growing darkness over the rolling hills.
“Do you think there are any secret passages in here?”
She set her gaze on the waters of the loch, sparkling as the moon rose in the dark-blue sky. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“There could be,” Dewey argued. “There was in the werewolf mansion.”
Paige perched on the windowsill, staring out at the driveway. “That’s all myth. There aren’t any secret–”
A scraping noise interrupted her statement, and she snapped her head in its direction. Dewey stared at her, his jaw hanging open and an amused expression dancing across his teal face. One of the candelabras sat askew against the burgundy wall. A hole gaped in the wallpaper next to it.
