He nodded. “Ye asked for all the information we had relating to these pirate attacks. We’ll, here it is.”
Oh. Right. Yes, she had asked for that, hadn’t she? But she hadn’t expected there to be quite so much of it. There were several maps marked with various symbols, a pile of hastily scrawled bits of writing that might have been eyewitness testimony, documents that appeared to be lists of times and dates, and thick ledgers that contained goodness-knew-what.
Her stomach sank. How was she supposed to find anything in this? She had never exactly been the academic one of the family. That had been Rose. While her elder sister had been busy doing extra study during break times, Elise had preferred to hang around the bike sheds, smoking cigarettes and talking to boys. She eyed the piles of documents. Where was she supposed to even start?
She plastered a smile onto her face and looked at Phillip. “Thank you. That’s very…er…helpful.”
“Glad to be of service.” He climbed to his feet and made to leave, but Elise grabbed his arm.
“Wait! Aren’t you going to help me?”
“I would love to,” Phillip replied, spreading his hands. “But I’m afraid I have urgent business for the laird.” He gave her a short bow, then turned and strode away.
Elise sighed. Putting her hands on her hips, she turned to look at the table. Her stomach sank even further.
Still, if she wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on here, she was going to have to start somewhere. Fine. If wading through half a ton of parchment was what it took, so be it.
She glanced over her shoulder to where the serving staff were still busy clearing away breakfast. “Is there any porridge left?” she called over.
“Aye, I’m sure I can rustle some up for ye,” a maid replied.
“Thanks.” Elise sat down on the bench and pulled the nearest document closer. “Because I think I’m going to need all the fuel I can get,” she muttered to herself.
Bending her head, she began to read. The document was written in Gaelic but by weaving a tiny spell, she was able to translate it into English. In only moments though, her attention wavered. This was just a catalog of shipments from the mainland, although whether these were shipments attacked by pirates or not, she couldn’t tell.
She tossed the document aside and began another. This looked a little more promising and was a list of the dates and locations of the attacks. As Jamie had already told her, they had started about a year ago, but their frequency had been gradually increasing and now they were at their highest level. Jeez. No wonder Lir had brought in outside help. How were Jamie and his people supposed to cope with this?
The locations made less sense. They were written as coordinates that would probably make sense to someone of a nautical bent, but to Elise they were just a useless string of numbers. She leaned back on the bench, putting her hands on her head in frustration and glaring at the numbers as if by sheer force of will she could force them to give up their secrets.
“My, that’s a look of contemplation if ever I’ve seen one,” Andrea said as she placed a bowl of porridge down on the table in front of Elise.
Elise huffed out a frustrated breath. “Contemplation? More like downright bloody annoyance. I can’t make head nor tail of this.”
Andrea leaned over and examined the list of coordinates. “Ye need to plot them on a map. Then ye can see where they are.”
“How on earth do I do that?”
Andrea seated herself on the bench next to Elise. “Here, I’ll help ye.”
While Elise began tucking into the porridge, the housekeeper pulled over a large map of the Kingdom of the Isles and spread it out on the table, pinning it in each corner with candlesticks. Taking a piece of metal apparatus that looked to Elise like the kind of compass you used at school and a sharpened piece of charcoal, she studied the list of coordinates and then began making marks on the map.
Elise put down her spoon and leaned forward, intrigued. “How do you know how to do that?”
Andrea laughed. “My da was a fisherman. I learned how to sail a boat and plot a course almost before I could walk. But in truth, most people on Islay would know how to do this. When ye grow up on an island, being able to plot a safe course through the treacherous reefs and rocks can save yer life.”
“Could you show me how to do it?”
Andrea looked at her in surprise. “Of course.” She tapped one of the coordinates on the list. “Let’s start with this one.”
The rest of the morning passed quickly. To her surprise, Elise found herself engrossed in her work and Andrea was a patient teacher. They had soon reached the end of the list of coordinates and ended up with a map covered in little crosses, each marking a location of a pirate attack.
Finally, as they marked the last one, Elise leaned back and examined their handiwork.Nowthe locations made sense. The map showed the whole of the Kingdom of the Isles, not just Islay. It included Skye and Barra as well, and the myriad little islets that dotted the ocean between.
Looking at the map, something jumped out at Elise immediately. All the attacks centered on Islay. There was nothing near Barra or Skye, or any of the smaller islands. The crosses formed a tight circle around Islay itself like a noose. There was no concentration in any particular area and instead they were spread evenly around the island’s coastal waters.
Elise frowned, crossing her arms. “Can you measure distances using this map?” she asked Andrea.
“Aye,” the housekeeper nodded, picking up a metal rule. “What do ye need to know?”
