Page 37 of The Highlander’s Kilted Affair

CHAPTER TWELVE

She couldn’t remember when she had last had it, but upon waking that morning, Evelyn discovered her necklace was gone. She had pulled the covers and pillows off her bed, but to no avail. It wasn’t there.

“Did ye still have it in the tavern?” Yvaine asked, helping her sister search the bedchamber.

“I dinnae ken,” Evelyn replied in a panic. “Och, Yvaine. What am I tae dae? What if I cannae find it?”

“All right. Try nae tae fret. I’m going tae help ye look.”

The sisters searched the bedroom, but after a half hour of tearing the room apart, they were still empty-handed.

“What am I tae dae?” Evelyn cried.

A frown of concern danced on Yvaine’s brow. “Where are all the places ye went?”

“We went tae the tavern, and then we came back tae the castle. That’s it.”

Of course, it wasn’t it, but Evelyn could not bring herself to tell her sister about last night. What she and Benedict had done was wrong, even though it had felt so very right. In fact, she had never felt sensations like it in her life.

“Then we’ll retrace yer steps through the castle,” Yvaine said calmly. “We’ll nae be able tae go tae the tavern. Faither will want tae ken our reason fer doing so, and he cannae discover what happened last night.”

“All right. But first, I want tae go and find Benedict. Perhaps he might remember when I last had it. Ye go down fer breakfast. I dinnae want Faither getting suspicious. Tell him I’m still sleeping or something. I’ll join ye as soon as I can.”

Evelyn then spent the next hour searching the castle high and low, being careful to watch out for where her father might be. She knocked on Benedict’s bedchamber, but got no answer. She ran to the great hall. He wasn’t there either. She went to the library, the laird’s study, she even went down to the kitchen, but there was no sign of either Benedict or Killian anywhere.

Where the devil is he?

Eventually, Evelyn gave up looking, and instead, went out to the stables. From there, she retraced the exact steps she and Benedict had taken last night. With her eyes peeled, and concentrating hard, she covered every inch of the courtyard, and then, the corridors of the castle.

In desperation, she asked passing maids if they had heard of anyone finding a necklace with two pendants, but the answer was always the same.

“I’m afraid nae, me lady.”

It was nearly lunchtime when Evelyn met up with Yvaine again.

“Well?” Yvaine said, asking a question she already knew the answer to.

Evelyn shook her head. “I cannae find it anywhere. I’ve walked the exact steps we took last night from the stable to the castle. I’ve asked the maids. And I’ve searched high and low for Benedict, but I cannae find him.”

“Ye mean, Audor,” Yvaine said knowingly.

“Nae, Yvaine. I mean Benedict. I told him last night that I kent who he was.”

Yvaine’s face dropped. “Och, me God. What did he say? Where ye drunk? Did ye forget what ye were doing?”

Evelyn shook her head, but minded her words. “Actually, I wasnae drunk.”

“And what did he say?”

Evelyn lifted her shoulders. “He was surprised, as ye can imagine. And then he wanted tae ken how long I’d kent, so I told him.”

Yvaine smiled. “And dae ye nae feel better now that he kens?”

“I’ll feel better when I find me necklace,” Evelyn replied bluntly. “I need ye tae dae something fer me, Yvaine.”

“Anything. Ye ken I’ll always dae anything fer ye,” Yvaine said, gazing at her sister intently.

“I need ye tae distract Faither this afternoon. I’m going tae take a couple o’ guards and return tae the tavern. I willnae be able tae rest until I’ve found me necklace.”