"Calla is missing. I need help finding her."
Lachlan frowned. "Of course. Where could she be?" Already wearing a long shirt, he grabbed his plaid from a chair and belted it about his waist.
"I wish I knew. Will you ask Alasdair to help, too?"
"Aye."
Next, Rebbie pounded on his father's door. Grumbling sounded from inside and a few curses. Moments later, his father yanked open the door, his long hair mussed. "What is it?" he snapped.
"Lady Stanbury is missing. I need everyone to help look for her."
"Well, she's not inhere!"
"I didn't think she was," Rebbie growled. "But she could be in danger and we need to find her." He headed off along the corridor.
Calla wouldn't be hiding somewhere in the castle. Why would she? How could she have gotten outside the castle, and why?
A quarter hour later, Calla still hadn't been found.
"Has anyone seen Lady Stanbury?" Rebbie asked the crowd gathered in the great hall. Some murmurednay, while others shook their heads. Arms crossed over his chest, his father frowned and eyed him critically. But Rebbie didn't care what his father thought.
"Who was the last person that saw her? Mistress Hillman, you took her supper up to her, aye?"
"Indeed,m'laird. And then one of the maids, Lila, went and fetched her tray."
A young woman standing beside her nodded.
"Did she say anything to either of you?" Rebbie asked.
Lila shook her head, while Mistress Hillman said, "Naught out of the ordinary."
Damn, but it made no sense. Rebbie rarely felt fear, and he hated the icy cold of it gripping every muscle of his body. "Was she dressed to go outside?"
"Nay, when I saw her, she was ready to retire for the night," Lila said.
"The whole situation is madness," Lachlan muttered.
An alarming thought sliced through Rebbie, and he searched the faces around him. "Where is MacFadden?"
"I saw him going into the steward's lodgings a few minutes ago,"MacDadesaid.
Rebbie charged toward the exit and outside into the courtyard. Damn the man! If he had something to do with Calla's disappearance…. "MacFadden!" he yelled, the night wind whipping his voice away.
The man stuck his head out of the steward's chamber. "Aye,m'laird." His voice echoed across the courtyard.
Rebbie strode toward him. "Where have you been?"
"O-out here." He motioned to the rooms behind him.
"Have you seen Lady Stanbury?"
"N-n-nay, m-m'laird," he stammered, then fidgeted.
Rebbie frowned. The man seemed damned nervous. "If you're lying to me…." Rebbie pointed at him.
"Rebbie!" Lachlan approached. "One of the guards found this in the back garden." Lachlan handed him a squashed red rose. "Could it be a clue?"
He'd given her a rose yesterday, but surely this wasn't the same one. "On the ground?"
