Charlie grimaced. “Sorry,” she said to Kade.
“Don’t be. We’ll talk later.”
She nodded and made her way forward with a glass and the port.
Kade joined his niece on one of the benches in the center of the boat. Tira had come aboard with Angus and was keeping quietly out of the way but observing everything with a sharp eye. Angus, meanwhile, had plopped down in the stern and was indulging in a fortifying glass of ale while chatting with the boatmen.
“How did you manage to escape your parents?” Kade asked Tira.
“Papa was organizing things for one of the other boats, and Mamma was helping Mr. MacMillan take care of Melissa. So I thought it made sense to get in with you and Grandda.”
He glanced at the boat on their port side, several dozen yards away. Melissa was leaning against her husband’s shoulder, while Ainsley waved what Kade assumed were smelling salts under her nose.
“You dodged a bullet there, lass,” he said.
“Melissa thinks that Johnny fell because of the curse. That’s why she’s so fashed.”
“Because of the lost brooch?”
The girl nodded. “Losing the brooch means the whole family will suffer bad luck.”
“You do realize there’s no curse, sweetheart. It was just a bit of bad luck that Johnny fell.”
Tira scrunched up her face. “I’m not so sure, Uncle Kade.”
He studied her for a few moments. “I’m beginning to think you got into this boat for a reason, and not just to avoid Melissa’s hysterics.”
“You’re awfully smart, Uncle Kade. How did you know?”
“I used to be a spy, remember? Now, out with it, lass. What’s bothering you?”
She glanced around before leaning in close. “I think Sir Leslie pushed Johnny off that cliff.”
“Tira, why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me everything,” he replied, keeping his voice low and level.
“I was on the beach looking for shells. Papa and Mamma were farther down,pretendingto look for shells.” She rolled her eyes. “They were kissing.”
“Good Lord, how revolting of them.”
“They’re always doing that. Anyway, when I heard people arguing, I went up the beach and saw Johnny and Sir Leslie standing on top of the cliff. Sir Leslie was doing most of the talking, though. He seemed very mad, and he kept jabbing Johnny in the chest.” She scowled. “I don’t think Sir Leslie a good person at all.”
“I agree with you, pet. Then what happened?”
“Johnny yelled at him to bugger off, and then he turned around and left. Sir Leslie followed him, but I lost sight of them because of the trees. So I went back to looking for shells. It was almost right after that when I heard Johnny scream. Then he fell and landed on the beach up ahead of me.”
Kade gave her a little hug. “I’m so sorry you had to see that, sweet girl.”
“It was scary for a minute, but when I ran up to Johnny he was cursing a lot, so that was good. When he saw me he stopped cursing, though, and started to look upset.”
“Where was Sir Leslie?”
“He came running down the path to the beach a couple of minutes later.”
“Think hard, pet. Was it really a couple of minutes, or less than that?”
She shook her head. “No, it was a couple of minutes, because Papa was already running up by then, too.”
“And what did Sir Leslie do?”
