When she saw a scruffy man outside the tavern in the village, she paused. "Can you tell me how to get to Acharacle?"
"Aye, 'tis to the south." He pointed. "Just follow the trail about three miles. Turn right at the fork and cross the bridge."
"I thank you." She easily found the well-worn trail not far from the cliffs and walked as briskly as possible and sometimes trotted, but could she reach the village before dark?
***
Where the devil was Anna? Neacal's gaze searched the great hall as the rest of the musicians played the third song of the night. Anna should've been here by now. That morn, she'd seemed fine, recovered from whatever illness she'd had. But he had not seen her since then.
After excusing himself from his guests who sat with him at the high table, he arose from his chair and went in search of either Anna or Tavia. Dunn followed closely on his heels. Anna's room was empty and so was Tavia's.
Where could they be? Had Anna gotten worse? A prickle of unease crawled up his spine, telling him something was amiss.
In the servants' corridor, he saw no one. He entered the kitchen where several sat around a table eating. Eyes wide, they all shot to their feet when he entered, then bobbed curtsies.
"Where is Tavia?" he asked.
"Seeing to wee George, the son of one the clansmen. He has a fever," one of the maids named Ivy answered.
"Has anyone seen Mistress Douglas?"
"I saw her pass through the kitchen earlier," another maid said.
"Did she go outside?"
"Aye, but I don't know if she came back in."
Damnation. She was going to get herself into trouble again. After thanking them, he exited the kitchen and proceeded to the shed behind the stables, but 'twas empty.
"Where is she, Dunn?"
The dog sniffed the ground, then perked his ears and glanced around. Obviously, she was not here.
In quick strides, Neacal crossed the bailey and when he reached the guard tower, he went inside where two guards were stationed. "Did a woman leave within the last hour or two?" he asked the one everyone called Badger, because of his bushy black and white beard.
"Aye, chief, several women did. Servants who live in the village."
"Was one of them Mistress Douglas?" Neacal could not believe how tense his shoulders were. They were starting to ache from his old injuries combined with his unease over finding Anna before she got into another scrape.
"Who? Oh, the lass what sings so pretty?"
"Aye."
Badger shook his head. "I don't reckon. She's so bonny I would've noticed."
"Wait… there was one," Miller, the younger guard, said. "I didn't see her face. You were gone to relieve yourself," he said to Badger.
"What did you see?" Neacal asked, his heart rate accelerating.
"She wore an old, tattered cloak, had her head covered and was bent like an old crone. She carried a sack over her shoulder."
"Damnation. I wager that was her." Why was Anna being so deceptive and sneaking around?
"What should we do? Send out the garrison," Badger asked.
"Nay. That would frighten her. How long ago did you see her?"
"About an hour ago," Miller said. "She said she was going to the village."
