Arsenic and Old Armor (33 page)

Marion shook her head. His loyalty to her
aunts was more stubborn than hers. “Iain, they have murdered
nineteen men prior to this. I think they should be able to handle
it.”

Iain gazed at her for a moment, and then
left the window seat open. Perhaps, she thought, he was finally
trusting her.

Margaret and Judith were carrying on a
conversation and not paying any attention to them.

“
I last saw the broach in
the earl’s chamber,” Margaret was saying.

“
It’s not there any
longer,” Judith countered. “I think William has it.”

“
Then he must have taken it
from the earl’s chamber,” Margaret responded. She was carrying a
ceramic bottle with a stopper in the top, and she placed it in the
cupboard. “He should give it back.”

Judith returned to the arched doorway. She
peered up and down the dark stairwell. “I think he is wearing it
under his armor,” she called over her shoulder. “He won’t give it
back.”

“
But he must. That is a
wedding gift to Iain.” Margaret looked at the door to the
courtyard. “Didn’t we bar that door before?”

“
Oh, did we? The wind must
have blown it open.”

“
We barred it,” Margaret
repeated, sounding exasperated. “To keep Marion and the laird
out.”

“
Oh, yes,” Judith said
brightly, coming back in.

“
Now, why would you want to
do that?” Marion asked from the corner by the window
seat.

“
Safe outside, dead
inside,” Judith answered cheerfully.

Margaret turned around and saw them. “Oh,
you are back from your walk.”

Marion tried to think through what Judith
might have meant, but the two women were already coming toward
them, and there were more pressing questions that needed to be
asked.

“
We had to take the dishes
back to the kitchens. I hope you’re not hungry anymore,” Margaret
asked, going directly to Iain.

“
Hungry?” Judith
questioned.

He shook his head.

The dead body was only a step away, but
neither woman appeared to see it, as they each took one of Iain’s
hands.

“
Judith and I talked,” the
older sister said.

“
We talked.” Judith
nodded.

“
And we don’t think you and
Marion should stay here for the night.”

Judith shook her head from side to side.
“You shouldn’t.”

“
You should take her and go
now, in fact,” Margaret suggested.

“
Right now,” her sister
agreed.

“
And don’t come back
tomorrow morning, either.”

“
Not tomorrow,” Judith
agreed.

“
Or even the day after,
perhaps.”

“
Definitely not the day
after,” the younger sister asserted.

Although Marion was ready to scream, Iain’s
voice was gentle.

“
Is it possible that your
desire for us to leave tonight might have something to do with
him?” Iain motioned toward the window seat behind him.

Marion was glad Iain asked the question. The
sisters always seemed to hear him when he spoke. They both looked
that way.

“
Oh, my heavens,” Judith
said with surprise. “That isn’t very nice.”

“
No, indeed,” Margaret
exclaimed. “He is soiling my mending.”

They let go of Iain’s hands and walked
toward the window seat for a closer inspection.

“
Who can this be?” Margaret
asked, poking him.

“
We’ve had no introduction,
I’m certain,” Judith answered.

“
An Englishman, wouldn’t
you say?”

“
Definitely.”

Marion stepped between them.

“
Are you saying that you’ve
never seen this man before?” Marion asked skeptically, looking at
the dead body again.

“
Never,” Judith said,
obviously surprised at the question.

“
He has never joined us for
pastries,” Margaret said, sounding insulted.

“
Or shared a cup of wine,
either,” the younger sister added.

“
Who does he think he is,
coming in here without an invitation?” Margaret huffed.

“
With no invitation,”
Judith said indignantly.

“
Perhaps Sir William
invited him in,” Marion suggested.

The two sisters didn’t respond. Marion
wondered if they’d heard her.

“
Perhaps Sir William
invited him in,” Iain said, repeating Marion’s words.

“
Oh, no.” Margaret shook
her head adamantly.

“
Never,” Judith
concurred.

“
Sir William doesn’t like
company.”

“
No guests.”

“
How does he raise his
army, then?” Iain asked.

“
We recruit them,” Margaret
said proudly.

Judith nodded. “We do it all.”

“
And we know who it is that
we bring in.”

“
Absolutely.”

“
The last one was Sir
George Harington,” Margaret told him.

“
I invited him in,” Judith
said with a giggle.

“
He is down training with
the men as we speak.”

Judith pointed to the floor. “In the
dungeon.”

Marion appreciated the look her husband sent
her over the two women’s heads. There was no doubt that he was
finally starting to believe what she had been telling him.

“
If this young man thinks
he can simply go around us and join William’s army by just showing
up here, he is very wrong,” Margaret stated.

“
Dead wrong,” Judith
affirmed.

“
If neither of you two nor
William is responsible for inviting this man in here, then who is?”
Marion asked.

The sisters continued to look at the
body.

“
Would one of you answer
Marion’s question?” Iain asked them.

They looked at him and smiled.

“
Of course,
dear.”

“
Let me see,” Margaret
began thoughtfully. “There are others who might have brought him
in.”

“
Other people.” Judith
nodded.

“
Who else has been here
tonight?” Iain asked.

“
Cardinal Bane could have
done it,” Margaret suggested.

“
Definitely,” Judith
agreed. “Cardinal Bane.”

“
And who is Cardinal Bane?”
Marion asked before realizing her mistake. She motioned to her
husband, and Iain repeated the question.

“
Why, Cardinal Bane is
Jack’s spiritual adviser,” Margaret answered.

“
Jack Fitzwilliam?” Iain
asked.

“
Of course, dear,” Margaret
replied.

“
We think he may be a bit
of a fraud, though,” Judith added.

“
But the two of them travel
together.”

“
Always together, it
appears.”

Iain’s hand was on his dirk. “Is Jack
here?”

“
Oh, yes. Of course, dear.
That is why we want you to take Marion and go.”

Pressed against the curved wall of the
stairwell, David Bane listened to the voices coming from the great
hall. He heard his name mentioned and strained to hear more.

The Armstrong laird was here. By the devil,
he wished he’d taken that drink now, in spite of Jack’s order.

He listened to the voices. The young woman
speaking must be Marion, he supposed. He could hear the old McCall
crones. He wondered if Jack knew the two people he was after were
already here.

Inching up to the landing, David knew he had
to find his leader right away, as there was so much he needed to
tell him.

He peered out into the darkened hall. The
four of them were standing on the far side of the room, near one of
the window seats. He scurried across the opening, letting out a
sigh of relief once he was past the doorway. Taking the stairs two
at a time, he was breathless by the time he reached the second
floor landing. Looking around him, he realized he knew nothing of
the layout of the ancient house. There were doorways, hallways, and
more stairs, and he didn’t know if it was safe to just poke his
head into the rooms searching for Jack. The old madman, Jack’s
father, could be anywhere.

Nonetheless, he approached the first door he
saw. As David put his hand on the latch, though, he heard the sound
of banging in the distance. Going back to the stairwell, he
realized it was coming from farther up.

As David climbed the stairs, the banging
became louder. He passed another floor and continued to the next.
It was nearly pitch black up here, but above him was another
landing. He could just make out an oak door. The pounding coming
from the other side of the door was fierce now, and as he reached
the landing, he recognized Jack’s voice as the outlaw leader cursed
and beat on the stout oak.

He quickly unbarred it, and Jack charged
through it like a wounded boar.

“
I shall kill those two old
women with my bare hands,” he bellowed. “They locked me out on the
bloody ramparts.”

“
You might want to keep
your voice down,” David said quickly, plucking at his sleeve and
trying to get him to slow down. “Jack, wait. Please. You don’t want
to go down there.”

At the floor below, Jack whirled on him.
“What are you saying?”

“
You don’t want the people
down there hearing you.”

“
What people? Who is down
there?” he asked, moving toward him.

The torchlight filtering down from the
parapet made Jack’s face look almost diabolical, and David
shuddered, in spite of himself.

“
Iain Armstrong and your
cousin, Marion,” David told him in a hushed voice.

Jack drew out his dirk with one swift motion
and turned toward the steps. “This is all too perfect.”

David knew it was a foolish thing to do, but
still he moved into his master’s path. “Wait. You’ll want to hear
what I have to say first. I have so much to tell you.”

Jack glared at him menacingly. “Very well.
Tell me quick…and it had better be good.”

“
About time we heard
something!” The voice came out of nowhere and suddenly an armed
phantom was standing beside Jack, glaring at David. “Out with it,
man. What do you have to report?”

David shrank back against the wall, pressing
his fist to his chest and staring at the strange old man.

“
Sir William McCall, my
father,” Jack told David before turning to the old man and barking,
“Go keep watch for the English.”

“
No shirking of duties
here, lad,” Sir William retorted. “This is
your
watch.”

“
No, it’s
yours
,” he drawled
threateningly.

“
Who do you think you are
to order me about?” the old man asked fiercely.

“
I’m your son.”

David watched Jack turn slightly. The blade
of his dagger flickered as it caught the light of the torch.

Sir William put a hand on Jack’s shoulder
and looked carefully into his face. “If it isn’t my son. Jack
Fitzwilliam. You look well, lad. Tell me, how is your mother?”

“
She is coming at the head
of a company of Englishmen,” Jack said impatiently. “Go keep watch
for her.”

“
I’m elated to hear it.”
Sir William nodded and turned to David. “Carry on, my good
man.”

As they watched the old man climb the steps
and disappear out onto the parapet, it occurred to David that this
explained a great deal about why Jack was the way he was.

“
Is your mother really
coming with the Englishmen?”

Jack cuffed him hard on the
side of the head. “She’s
dead
, you idiot.”

David rubbed the spot on his head. “That’s
right. I forgot.”

Jack pointed down the stairs with his dirk.
“How many men are down there with him?”

“
None. It’s only the
lair--only Iain Armstrong, your cousin, and your two aunts.” David
put a hand on Jack’s shoulder again to stop him. “But you should
hear the rest of it.”

“
Make it quick.”

“
Dorset is
missing.”

“
What?” He grabbed David by
the collar, lifting him off the ground. “What did you do with
him?”

“
Nothing! I don’t know what
happened to him,” he whined, struggling to get hold of the giant’s
hand. “But I have more to tell you.”

Jack let him back down. “What is it?”

David stretched his neck from side to side.
“I found the men where we left them at the far side of the glen.
The two that we left at the inn had just arrived when I reached
them.”

“
They left the inn?” The
muscles in Jack’s jaw clenched and unclenched.

“
It’s all right,” he said
soothingly. “They brought word that Dorset’s troops had already
left the inn. They’re heading this way. They discovered he was
missing and questioned the innkeeper. The serving wench you paid
was worth the coins you gave her. She told them it was an Armstrong
plaid on the men she’d seen talking to Dorset.”

Jack nodded, then slashed at the air with
his blade. “None of that is any good to me with Dorset’s body
missing.”