Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
D anielle found herself pacing her room again after hardly eating anything at supper that night. Her stomach was too full of knots. It was infuriating that she had evidence of Graeme and Danny’s innocence, and yet it was not enough for the stubborn Laird to let the men return to their rooms. Maria said it was more for their protection than anything, but that didn't make her feel any better.
“I have to do something,” she whispered. “But what? What would a private investigator do if I hired him?”
A light bulb went off in her head. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? Quickly, she got dressed again, wrapped a heavy shawl around her shoulders, and left her chambers.
She went to the kitchen to search for Anna, hoping she had not yet gone to bed.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Danielle said.
“Me? How can I help you, my Lady?” Anna said with wide eyes.
“I need you to do something for me. I want to go into the larder and stay there tonight. It is the only way I can find out who is stealing the food.”
“That sounds very dangerous, my Lady. We do not know who is doing this. They could murder you,” Anna said.
“I have been around worse criminals. It's a chance I'm willing to take for justice to be served,” Danielle said.
“And the Laird has said you could do this?” Anna said.
“Not exactly. He is aware of our investigation, but he doesn't know I am doing this. I would like to keep that a secret,” Danielle said.
Anna took a step back as though Danielle had just told her the most shocking gossip possible. “Oh, no, my Lady, I cannot be going against the Laird. I will be thrown from the castle. I cannot do it.”
“Please. I am begging you. It will set Graeme... and Danny free if I can find out who is doing this,” Danielle said.
“I do want them to be free,” Anna said softly. A blush touched her cheeks.
“If things go wrong, I will say that I took the key from the wall, and you will not be implicated. It will all be on me,” Danielle said.
“I understand. But I worry about your safety, my Lady. I do not want you to get hurt. What will you do when the thief shows up?” Anna asked.
“Good point. Let me think. I guess I should take a kitchen knife in with me, just in case, and I need some way to alert you that something is going on.”
“How about this, my Lady?” Anna said picking up a small bell. "Heigl uses it to call me when I'm in the larder. If I can hear it in there, then surely, I can hear it out here."
“That will do. Hopefully, it will be loud enough.”
“I will stay nearby, my Lady. I could not in good conscience allow something to happen to you. I will stay here and come to you if I hear the bell.”
“Maybe you shouldn't, Anna. This is my fight, and I will not have harm come to you.”
“I want to do it. I will do it. There's not much you can do to stop me,” Anna said.
Danielle admired the girl's courage. "All right, just be careful."
“Here is a lantern. Take it with you,” she said.
“Thank you, Anna,” Danielle said.
She watched as Anna gathered a pitcher of water, a chamber pot, and the kitchen knife, and headed to the larder, setting them by the door. Danielle was impressed with all the readiness this young girl was taking. Then, Anna unlocked the larder and took the items inside. “These should set you for the night. Let me grab you a blanket,” she added, walking up the steps and back toward the kitchen.
Danielle stepped inside and set up her little camp. She put the pitcher of water and the lantern on a shelf. Then put the chamber pot in the corner far away from any food supplies. She staked out where she would be sitting, it would have to be in the front room so that the bell could be heard. When Anna reappeared with the blanket, Danielle folded it and placed it on the ground so she could sit on it.
“All right, that should set me for the night. I'm obviously surrounded by food if I should get hungry, but I'm so nervous, I doubt I could eat.”
“Do not forget to use the bell, my Lady, and I will come for you.”
“You must lock the door from the outside. I cannot have the thief opening an unlocked door, or they will know that something is amiss,” Danielle said.
“I understand, my Lady. Good luck to you.”
“Thank you, and thank you for helping me as well. You are doing the right thing, even though it feels wrong,” Danielle said to the young girl.
With that, Anna locked Danielle inside the larder and then, Danielle supposed, headed to the kitchen to set herself up for the night.
Danielle sat on the blanket with the knife to her right side and the bell to her left. She knew she would have to ring it vigorously to get Anna's attention. She hoped to God she would not have to use the knife, but it was good to have for protection. Then she sat and waited, and waited, and waited.
Many hours went, by and nothing happened. She heard no sounds except for a mouse scurrying past the outside door. Danielle paced to keep warm and keep blood moving through her veins so she could stay awake. She found herself back in the back room and looking at the wellhead. It still smelled of the pungent cheese, and she thought that it was strange since the milk cheese had been missing from the larder for quite some time. She grabbed the lantern and inspected the wellhead, pushing her face closer to it. The smell was vastly stronger in that area.
She took the cover off the wellhead to inspect it in the lantern light. White gleams of wax caught her attention along the rock wall that led down the deep well. The scent of pungent cheese mixed with the saltwater air from outside and hit her with a gush from the wind rushing at the wellhead. She realized that the wax was not wax at all, but the white milk of the cheese. She scraped it off the wall, and brought it to her nose, realizing that it was indeed the pungent cheese.
“Unbelievable. The thief took the cheese out this way, but how? It’s such a small space,” Danielle said to herself, looking at the well. It was just big enough for a child to get through. Unless the thief had been very clever and had worked with more than one person. Perhaps if someone stood where Danielle was with a rope and bucket, they could load supplies and then lower them to someone down below. That had to be it, because it was not big enough for a man to get through, especially not Graeme or Danny.
This would have to have been done during low tide, when the tide was out of the tunnel, and one could walk through without drowning. She began to grow excited about this new information. She ran to the front room and began to ring the bell.