Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) (16 page)

“Methinks you are not feeling too bonny,
lassie.” The woman came closer and put her large hand beneath Sofia’s
elbow.”Come and sit in my tent for a rest and I will get you some ale.”

Sofia’s head was spinning and she was no
longer listening to the kind woman.

What was happening to her?

Where was she— or of greater
importance—when was she?

She reached out and grasped the woman’s arm
and spoke urgently. “What is the date…please?”

“It is the first of September,” was the
slow reply.

“In what
year
?”

“Why in the year of our Lord, eighteen
forty two.”

The last thought in Sofia’s mind before the
world went black was that if it was eighteen forty-two, she was only ten years
old

Not only had the murdering bastard faked
her death, he had taken her back in time.

* * * *

Dougal shared a meal with Edward and the
knights despite his anxiety to return to the island …and Sofia. The Council had
moved to the sanctuary of Edinburgh and the danger was gone…for the present. It
was time to tell Sofia of the details of her kidnap and the use of the
Astrolaberors to navigate her to the past. It was imperative she understood; it
had been the only way he could ensure her absolute safety but he had a feeling
it would take some sweet talk to convince her of this.

He set forth in the midmorning and guided
his horse westward to the coast under a watery sun. Thoughts flitted through
his mind as the horse followed the deserted path and a warmth filled him as he
thought back to the night they had shared.

She must understand.

Over the months she had been in the castle,
his admiration had grown for this woman.
Slight of stature, but strong in
spirit.

He smiled and reached up to touch the black
jewel at his breast.

She would understand
.

His fingers touched the jewel and with his
free hand he pulled on the reins. The horse whinnied in protest at the sudden jerk.
Dougal slid to the ground and pulled the black stone from the pouch slung
around his neck. It was burning hot…and making a sound. Curiously, he turned it
over and around and narrowed his eyes as he noticed a small hand on the back of
the stone moving from side to side. He hadn’t noticed it before. Shaking it
from side to side, the hand continued to move and the humming sound became
louder.

It was not a necklace; it was some sort of
device. He had removed it from Sofia’s neck when she first slept in his castle,
before she awoke from the effects of the Astrolaberors travel. The stone
vibrated in his hand and he looked at it for a long moment, before remounting
and heading for the coast road.

Another question for Sofia…

Indigo de Vargas y Irausquínno and her
husband the Sherriff of Cornwall stepped from the dirigible in a field just
south of Carlisle. Indigo had wanted to ignore the Scottish regulations which
prohibited the flying of the steam-powered airships across the border however
had listened to the calm words of her husband and they now awaited the arrival
of the carriage that would deliver them to Kilmarnock. “It is best if we draw
no attention to ourselves until we arrive at the castle of the Earl of
Rothmore.”

Indigo looked at her husband with affection
as he spoke. Always the calm and considered partner in their joint decision
making, he had rescued her from many a scrape since their marriage ten years
before. Now in his position as Sheriff of Cornwall, he was privy to information
from the parliament and had recently received word of some nefarious activities
in Kilmarnock related to the Earl of Rothmore. They had decided it was time to
travel north from Cornwall.

Indigo blinked away the tears threatening
to fall. It was three months since Sofia’s death in the Alps and the grief was
permanently lodged in her chest. She had fought to hide her despair for the
sake of the four boys and Mr. Grimoult who blamed himself for the tragic death
of Sofia.

Jory and Jago were still quiet but were
beginning to lose a little of the raw grief they had carried when they returned
from the Alps. As much as she had wanted to travel immediately to Scotland and
confront the Earl of Rothmore on his isolated island, Zane had convinced her
she was needed by their boys.

Also Sofia’s assistants from Vienna, Johann
and Genevieve had arrived unannounced at their manor two weeks ago unaware of
Sofia’s death. They explained Sofia had sent them on a quest to investigate the
strange happenings in Vienna and had been inconsolable when Zane had told them
of her death and the fire in the laboratory in Vienna.

The information Johann and Genevieve had
gathered and the intelligence that had come to Zane in his position as Sheriff
continued to point to Scotland and the town of Kilmarnock.

“We will draw no attention to ourselves
until I meet this man.” Indigo said as they waited for the carriage in the
early morning chill. “I will kill him with my bare hands.”

A brisk wind blew across the bare fields
and a smell of snow drifted down from the hills.

“Slow and easy, my dear.” Zane reached over
and tucked her coat high around her neck. “We will talk to the earl before we
make any decisions. I don’t like the feel of this whole investigation. Duke
Lorca is involved and you know he cannot be trusted. It does not sit
comfortably with me”

“Better than most,” she said with a cynical
laugh. “But, Zane, I will see this man pay for the murder of my sister.”

“Yes, my dear. When we establish he is
involved in her death. Too much information has just appeared without
explanation. I remain to be convinced of his responsibility.”

“He pushed her over the Alps.” Indigo’s
voice rose and Zane put his finger over her lips as heads turned. There were
other passengers waiting for the carriage which would go onto Edinburgh after
Kilmarnock.

“Come.” He took her hand and led her away
from the small group. “Now that we are closer to Scotland, we shall try the
device one more time.”

When news had first reached them of Sofia’s
demise, Indigo had refused to believe her sister was dead. At all hours of the
day and night for the first month, she had tried to raise her through the
communication device Zane had given Sofia to wear around her neck.

A slim hope was lodged deep in her heart,
but she knew if Sofia was alive she would have contacted her long before this.

“Very well.” She sighed. “We may as well
fill in the time we must spend waiting for this…this archaic transport.”

They turned their back to the group and
Zane pulled back the frilled white cuff of his sleeve and opened the top of the
chronometer on his wrist. He flicked one of the small cogs on the edge and a
faint humming began. A smile spread across his face as Indigo stared up at him.

“We have located the device, my dear.”

“Where…how far… can you raise her?” The
excitement built in Indigo’s chest and her words ran into each other. She
grabbed Zane’s arm and dropped her gaze to the device which was hummed as the
cogs spun furiously.

“I can plot the co-ordinates if you give me
one moment.” He shook her hand off his arm impatiently. “Keep calm and do not
raise your hopes. It may be that whoever took her life removed the device and
has it on their person.” He frowned as he tapped away with one finger on the
side of the device.” Although it is strange that we did not pick up the signal
before. The only way the signal may be obscured is if it is in the proximity of
a time slip device.”

Zane tapped away for a few more minutes and
Indigo paced the road, the stony ground crunching beneath her feet. Finally he
beckoned her across.

“Approximately fifty-five degrees north and
five degrees west,” he said, the satisfaction evident in his voice. Indigo
looked up at him and for the first time in three months she could see Zane had
allowed a glimmer of hope into his thoughts. “The device is close by to us. By
my calculations—and I sent a message to Mr. Grimoult and he has confirmed it on
your analytical engine— the device is currently moving west past Dundonald
Castle.”

“And where is Dundonald Castle?” she asked
impatiently.

“It is situated on a hill overlooking the
village of Dundonald, between Kilmarnock and Troon not far from here.” Zane
looked at her. “It is heading at a slow rate directly for the Isle of
Rothmore.”

“We are soon to have answers.” Indigo dared
not let hope enter her mind again. She could not stand to be disappointed and
she steeled her resolve as the clatter of horse’s hooves approached.

“Come. The carriage is here.”

* * * *

Dougal decided to cross to the island
before using the Astrolaberors to return to the time where Sofia waited. The
co-ordinates were set for midday and there was two hours to wait, so he
tethered the horse in its enclosure and made his way down to the shoreline and
entered the small cave where his boat was hidden.

As he pulled it onto the shingle, the
drumming of hoofbeats from the road above the cliff top reached him and he
secured the boat behind a rock arch. Stepping into the shadows at the base of
the cliff, he waited for the horse to reach the top of the cliff.

Perhaps Edward had more news about the
disappearance of the Council to Edinburgh, but he doubted it. It was most
unusual for anyone to come to this part of the coast unless they had reason to
visit his castle.

Voices drifted down to him.

“A boat—there is a boat on the sand,” a deep
voice called out.”Look down beneath that arch.” There was a softer reply which
sounded like a younger man’s voice but the wind carried the words away.

Dougal pressed his back into the cliff and
removed the dirk from his waistband as a premonition of doom enveloped him.

Something was wrong.

Walking quietly, he edged along the base of
the cliff toward the cave as small stones rolled down the cliff path ahead of
the two people talking. He had only heard the hooves of one horse, so was
certain there were only two.

The voices continued to drift to him and
snatches of words drifted down.

“—row across.”

And the reply. “— safe water?”

Dougal reached the entrance of the cave and
slipped behind the large rock on the northern side just as the sound of feet landing
on the shingle carried across to him.

“Are you sure it will get us to the
island?” It was a woman’s voice

Carefully peering around the rock, his
cautious gaze locked on a man and a woman standing next to his boat.

His mind worked furiously. If he let them
take it, he would have to wait till midday anyway to get back to the island
using the Astrolaberors, but he preferred to cross now. If they took his boat,
he would have to wait.

He tucked his dirk out of sight and stepped
from the cave. One man and one woman were nothing to do with the Knights and he
was curious as to their intent.

“Good morning,” he called and sauntered
across the sand toward them. “Are ye lost?”

Coal-black eyes fixed on him and he
recoiled at the sheer hatred on the woman’s face. Dark curls tumbled onto her
shoulders and her face was pale, devoid of any color.

The man placed his hand on her arm to hold
the woman back as she began to step toward him.

“Are you going to the island?” the man
enquired. The Cornish lilt to his voice hit Dougal immediately. He now knew he
looked into the face of Indigo de Vargas, Sofia’s sister.

By all that was holy, he didn’t need
this yet. Not until he had been to get Sofia.

He stepped forward and bowed as the stare
of the woman he had heard so much about, remained fixed on him.
“
I am
Dougal, Earl of Rothmore.”

The Sherriff of Cornwall held tightly onto
his wife and looked at Dougal. “You have much to explain, sir.”

He inclined his head. “Yes, there is much
to explain. We will travel to the island together.” Dougal reached his hand out
to Indigo. “Madam, it gives me great joy to be able to tell you…finally…your
sister is alive and well in my castle.” He gestured to the boat. “I will row
you across the firth and explain all to you.”

Sheeting rain began to fall as Dougal rowed
them the short distance to the island. Indigo sat in the middle of the small
boat and her husband held his cloak over her in an attempt to protect her from
the rain. Small waves splashed against the side of the boat as a brisk wind
began to blow and the short journey was fraught with tension. As they followed
him from the rocky beach to the courtyard, not a word was spoken. Dougal was
concerned for Sofia’s sister. Despite the joy in her expression, her face was still
colorless and she gripped her husband’s arm.

Mary stood at the open door and looked at
them curiously.

“We have guests,” he said to the
middle-aged housekeeper. “Can you heat some broth, please?”