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Eoghan heaved a deep sigh and turned to her. “They sneaked away and went down to the beach.” Again, his jaw clenched. “I’m sorry. I bet ‘twas Bonnie’s idea. She’s…a bit wild, at times.”
“But…” Kate felt her head begin to spin; yet she forced herself to remain calm. “What now? Will they…? Do you think they’re lost?” Kate interjected; her gaze fixed upon Eoghan. “What if they…?” She bit her lower lip to fight back tears as well as a fresh wave of panic.
Eoghan’s hand settled upon her shoulder, warm and reassuring. “They’re not lost,” he assured her, his voice suddenly ringing with conviction. “Bonnie is an island lass. She willna lose her way.”
Kenna nodded in agreement. “They probably just forgot about the time,” she remarked, then grinned at her brother. “I canna even count how often that happened to us when we were little. We sneaked away all the time. Do ye remember?”
Eoghan nodded, yet the expression upon his face was far from carefree. “I’ll go look for them.” Then he spun around, and quick steps carried him out of the great hall. He weaved his way through the many people streaming in, laughing and chatting, hungry for food after a long day’s work.
“Dunna worry,” Kenna urged, grasping Kate’s hand and gesturing for her to sit back down. “He’ll find them. I’m certain they’re already on their way back.”
“I’ll fetch ye some tea,” Brenda offered, and quickly hurried away.
Kate nodded to her, her mind elsewhere, for it needed to believe in that moment that there was a chance her daughters would come rushing back into the hall any second now. After all, what was the alternative?
As hard as Kate tried not to think of it, her mind would not heed her. Instead, it kept whispering in her ear, urging her to contemplate the possibility that her husband had found a way onto the island after all.
“I cannot lose them again,” Kate murmured as fear buried her under a boulder of ice. “Not again.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
A DISTRACTION?
The moment Keir walked into the great hall, Sarah upon his arm, he knew that something was wrong.
The drone of voices usually carried a cheerful note as people sat down to supper. Now, though, tension lingered in the air, and one look into Sarah’s eyes told him she had noticed as well.
“Magnus, send someone to the village,” Duncan called above the noise, one arm gesturing toward his younger brother. “I’ll organize a search party of the castle grounds.”
Keir saw Magnus spin upon his heel and rush out of the hall. “What is going on here?” he murmured, then quickened his steps, pulling Sarah long, as he hastened toward his brother. “Duncan!”
In that moment, Katherine charged toward them, her green eyes wide and her face pale, Frederica clutched in her arms. “The girls are missing!” she exclaimed, her voice barely audible, weighed down by fear. “Do you think… Do you think…?” She broke off, her teeth sinking into her lower lip.
Keir saw Sarah’s still, her face paling, and he felt his own heart clench against the possibility that despite all their precautions, Lord Birchwell had found a way to his family.
“Now dunna be hasty,” Mrs. Murray cautioned as she moved to Katherine’s side, one arm wrapping around her shoulders while the other settled upon her fluttering hand. “Ye dunna know what happened. There is no use in conjuring demons.” She nodded to Frederica, her eyes open, the expression upon her little face one of agitation. “Yer wee lassie needs ye to remain calm.”
Shaking her head, Sarah recovered her senses and stepped toward her sister. Her gaze, though, moved to Keir. “Do you think it possible?”
Keir willed himself not to shrug. In his experience, very few things were truly impossible. “Stay with yer sister,” he told her calmly. “We shall find the girls. I’ll go speak to Duncan.”
Swiftly, Keir weaved his way through the throng of people gathered in the great hall until he reached his brother’s side. “Duncan, what happened?”
The look upon his brother’s face was a dark one. “I doubt the lassies are anywhere in the castle,” he remarked, his gaze calm as it held Keir’s. “We think they went to the beach, but we’ve already looked there. It lies empty.” He took a step toward Keir, concern in his dark green eyes. “Ye know yerself that when we were young, we would often go places we were not supposed to go.” He shrugged. “They could be anywhere.”
Keir nodded, calmly absorbing the information provided to him. Mindless panic served no one. “Do ye think it possible that someone took them?”
Duncan paused and shook his head. “I dunna think so, for I see no way someone could have sneaked in here.” Still, a glimmer of doubt shimmered in his eyes. “If I’m wrong, though, the longer we delay, the smaller our chances of retrieving them are.” For a long moment, he held Keir’s gaze. Then he nodded. “I’ll have the ship readied, just in case.”
For a moment, Keir considered whether he ought to share this information with Sarah and Katherine; yet they had a right to know, and he could not keep this from them. As expected, Katherine almost fainted, fear etched into her eyes. “Take her upstairs,” Keir told Sarah, grasping her arm and pulling her close for a moment. “I shall join the search. Try yer best to keep her calm.”
Sarah nodded, her blue eyes wide; still, she did not crumble, her jaw set in determination. “Do not worry about us,” she told him, her hand settling upon his cheek, her eyes imploring. “Take care of yourself.” She surged forward and pressed a kiss to his lips before once more turning to her sister and joining Mrs. Murray in ushering Katherine out of the great hall and up the stairs.
On horseback, Keir and Duncan raced down to the village and the harbor. There, they met up with Eoghan, the expression upon his face the mirror image of Katherine’s—only more controlled. “Anything?” Eoghan demanded, raking his hands through his hair in agitation.
After bellowing orders to the ship’s crew, Duncan turned back toward them, his gaze going back and forth between the two of them. “Let’s think about this,” he said calmly, his gaze slightly narrowed in thought. “Let us assume for a moment that Lord Birchwell did find a way onto the island. Why would he take the children? I thought he needed his wife.”
Eoghan gritted his teeth, fighting to remain calm. “Well… they’re his children.”
