“I’m sorry, Tess. I am very sorry. That wee lass hadto be you.” He pressed his lips against her hair. His hand caressedher back. The strong surge of protectiveness rushing through himwas as unexpected as it was powerful. There had to be an attack onwherever it was that she lived. But for her to remember and revealthe painful memories made him realize how truly great her trust inhim had become. “How did Garth and Charlotte find you?”
“Washed ashore in the same place where I found you.Unconscious.”
“Wearing these?” He pointed to the child’sclothing.
She nodded and pulled out of his embrace. “Thethings in this box are the only things I have left of that life.”Tess clutched the cross in her fist and brought it to herchest.
“This cross must be what you are holding in yourdream.”
Her dark gaze met his. “Nay, ‘twas something else.The nightmares are so real that I can almost feel it. I am holdinga brooch in the palm of my hand.”
A spark of hope ignited in his mind. With his thumbhe wiped the tears from her ivory cheeks and looked into herface.
“Is there any way you can describe this brooch tome? Did you ever see it…in your dream, I mean?”
She nodded. “Aye, a few times in my dreams I’ve seenit. And then later…” She stopped and searched inside the old seachest again. From the bottom, she slowly withdrew a flat objectwrapped in leather.
Colin’s gaze followed her hand’s movements as sheopened the packet.
“I didn’t find this until a month ago, after Garthand Charlotte were both dead. They had it hidden up here at thebottom of the chest.” In her hand she held a brooch. Even in thedim light he could see the red stone set in the engraved silver.“This is the brooch I have been seeing in those dreams. ‘Tis thesame one the wee child has in her hand.” She handed it to him.
On the brooch’s broad sturdy pin, a swan rising froma coronet had been engraved. Colin read the motto on the circle ofsilver, and his breath caught in his chest. ‘Endure Fort.’ Herecognized it. The words meant ‘Endure with Strength.’
“I think…I think I might have been holding this orwearing it when I washed ashore. But what I don’t understand is whythose good people hid it away for all these years. They never saida word about it to me.”
“Lindsay.” Colin whispered. “This is the coat ofarms of the clan Lindsay, in the Highlands of Angus.”
“How do you know this?”
“Lindsay lands lie directly to the east ofMacpherson holdings. They are near the coast, with only the land ofthe clans Farquharson and Gordon between us.”
Colin thought back in time. There was somethinggnawing at the edge of his memory. Eleven years ago. He had beennine years old.
“It must have been about the same time that youdisappeared that Sir Stephen Lindsay, the laird of Ravenie Castle,was killed in an attack.”
He looked into her dark eyes, at her auburn hair.There were similarities, to be sure. Then, suddenly, the memoriespoured in. The stories he’d heard.
“Aye, on the same night and during the attack, hisonly daughter was whisked away by some of the laird’s warriors andservants.” Their gazes locked. “The lass was never seen again. Somethought she was killed, too. Others assumed she’d been hidden awayfor fear that those who had murdered the father would harm thechild. The identity of the attackers was never discovered, Ithink.”
Tess’s eyes were wide. The teardrops shone on herskin. A look of disbelief continued to play across herfeatures.
“But I believe there are many who are still hopingfor the daughter’s return.” Colin cradled her face and looked intoher eyes. “Like your mother, Tess.”
CHAPTER 8
Tess was certain she had heard him wrong. “What didyou say?”
“Lady Evelyn Lindsay, who was Evelyn Fleming beforeshe married your father, survived that attack and the burning ofthe castle. I remember what happened now. Your mother is alive andwell. She is living somewhere in the Lowlands—or the Borders—nearher own family.”
The sudden flash of hope was so unexpected that shedidn’t know how to react. “How…how do you know all of this?”
“Every Highlander knows what goes on with the otherclans. Word travels on the wind there, and this was no wee bit ofnews. Besides, as I told you before, only the Farquharson andGordon clans separate us from the Lindsays. We’re practicallyneighbors.”
“You are not just saying all of this to…to make meleave this island with you?”
“What doyouthink?”
His large and gentle hand was still cradling herface. Tess looked into the blue sea of Colin’s eyes and had heranswer.
