Epilogue
Haddington Abbey, Scotland
Three days later
A twinkle filled Abbot Matthew’s eyes. “Ye ken what this is?” he asked, removing the green silk cloth that covered the stone.
“I do,” Alec said.
He, Joanie, and Matthew had followed the abbot deep in the abbey cellars. Torch fire danced on the stone walls and illuminated the large stone.
“When Ramsay and David arrived with the Stone, I admit I was more than surprised.” He turned and put his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have been, though.”
“I was more than a little surprised myself,” Alec said. “I thought King Edward seized the Stone. In fact, I’ve heard it said that he built a throne around it. He sits on it even now in York.”
“Thanks to the brothers at Glenrose Abbey, the Stone of Destiny is by no means under the posterior of that wretched king.”
Brows drawn, Alec said, “I saw flashes of Templar knights attacking the abbey. Did the monks switch the stones when they saw the soldiers approach?”
“Nay, the stone that had been displayed near the altar was never the true stone. It had been hidden away somewhere either in the abbey itself or within the grounds; only the monks knew. After the king raided the abbey in 1296 and stole the fake stone, the monks relocated the true stone away from Glenrose. They managed as well as they could during the move, but they dropped it and a shard broke off. They later gave the shard to the Bishop Lamberton as proof that Edward had been fooled. Still, they did not even tell the bishop of the Stone’s whereabouts.
Then, just two years later, Edward sacked the abbey again, which meant he must have suspected what happened.
Of course, nothing came of the raid. The bishop was still assured that the real stone remained in Scotland.
“But then the brothers disappeared,” Alec said, knowingly.
The abbot nodded gravely and made the sign of the cross.
“May God protect them and keep them safe. Aye, and disappearing with them was the Stone’s secret location.
That was when the bishop came to me and told me all he knew.
” He held up the shard. “He charged me with finding the Stone, but all I had to go on was this.” Then he rested his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “And yer seeing eyes.”
“Forgive me, Abbot,” Joanie said, “but I still do not understand why the Stone warmed in my presence, and how it led us to Saint Gabriel. How did we find it?”
The abbot smiled. “I am but a simple man, Joanie. There is little I can reveal that ye do not already know. But what I can tell ye is that I don’t believe ye found the Stone.”
Her brows pinched together. “But you said this was, indeed, the true stone.”
“What I mean to say is that I believe the Stone found ye. Ye see, Joanie, the Stone of Destiny is as old as time itself.” The abbot placed his hand reverently on the purple rock. “It holds the breath of the Holy Spirit. The power it contains cannot be understood by any of us.”
“Why then do you think it chose us?” she asked.
“The stone remained hidden in that grave for more than five years. People passed it again and again, but its pleas fell on deaf hearts — hearts without the capacity to truly hear.” The abbot turned. “Then ye three came along.”
Alec rubbed the back of his neck. “But I held that shard for months and saw nothing.”
The abbot raised a brow at Alec. “And in all that time, ye maintained walls around your heart and mind. Now, if I had to venture a guess, I don’t believe Joanie’s presence truly made the stone warm, I think she warmed yer heart, allowing ye to let down yer shields.”
“Still, how did the Stone know that Joanie and Matthew were connected.”
“So many questions, but Alec, where is yer faith? Did ye ever think that maybe, it was just destiny?”
Alec paused, then wrapped his arm around Joanie’s waist and clasped Matthew close. “That I can believe.”
The abbot swept the fabric back in place. “The Stone’s journey is not yet done, for it cannot stay here. It must be hidden away again.” Then he turned back and looked at Alec. “Ye too must be hidden away. Yer a wanted man now. So, ye ken what that means.”
Alec smiled. “We journey to Colonsay to join my outlaw brothers.”
SPRING’S FULL WARMTH caressed Joanie’s face as she looked up at the crisp blue sky crowded with gulls soaring high. She watched as one broke away, diving headlong into the water, emerging a second later, victorious with a small fish in its beak.
Mathew stirred. She looked down where he slept, his head rested in her lap.
“It does my old heart good to see that lad so happy,” Margaret said from where she sat at the bow. “He needed a family of his own.”
Alec smiled as he adjusted the sail. “His family is about to grow significantly.” Then he pointed toward a wide, crescent shaped shore. “Colonsay!”
Alec’s father first hailed from Colonsay before he journeyed to the once bustling city of Berwick to work the docks.
When his brother, Jack, had to go on the run, escaping the wrath of King Edward with English lady, Bella Ravensworth, and her father at his side, he chose to hideaway at Colonsay, knowing the MacVies would always be welcome.
Alec knew in his heart that Jack had made it, outrunning Edward’s men.
His youngest brother, Ian, followed after to Colonsay, escorting their sister, Rose, and Jack’s lassies — wee orphans Jack had adopted after their parents were slaughtered during the massacre.
Whether Quinn or Rory had made it to Colonsay, he did not know, but that would soon change.
The keel of their small boat carved into the golden sand.
Alec leapt into the crashing waves and pulled the boat free from the consuming force of the sea.
Then he reached up and aided first Matthew, then Margaret, and finally, Joanie down to the shore, although he held Joanie close and breathed in the salty scent of her hair before he set her toes on the soft sand.
He scanned the shore. There was a long pier with two moorings that jutted out into the waves. Small sailboats hugged the pier, rhythmically bumping into the wood with every wave that lapped toward shore. A shift in the direction of the wind, sparked a feeling in his heart.
“Wait for me here,” he said to Joanie. Then he set out down the curved shore.
Beyond a tall jetty of rocks, he spotted a woman, tall and slim, with wild red curls that tumbled to her waist. His sister, Rose, stood with a shawl loosely draped about her shoulders as she gazed out at the choppy waves.
When Rose was a little girl, she dreamt that love would come to her from the sea, and she used to stand for hours at the docks, watching, waiting.
“Just as I always remember ye, staring out to sea.”
Rose gasped when she turned and locked eyes with Alec. Instantly, she started toward him, but then she froze. “Ye’re nothing like how I remembered ye.”
She walked up to him tentatively, curiously studying his face. When he smiled, she jumped a little, and her hand flew to cover her mouth. “Alec MacVie, what has come over ye?”
Still smiling, he shrugged. “I’m happy.”
Her brow’s pinched together. “Ye’re happy?”
He laughed and seized her by the waist, lifting her and swirling her about. “Aye, my dear, big sister, I’m happy.”
Rose wrapped her arms around his neck. When she pulled away, her blue eyes shone bright, brimming with tears.
She swiped the few drops that had escaped. “Well, all right, then, Alec, don’t make me wait any longer. I would like to thank the woman who has made my little brother so very happy.”
Alec took Rose by the hand and led her back around to the sandy beach and introduced Rose to his new family.
Rose gently cupped Joanie’s cheeks, her lips pressed in a thin line, forcing back her tears. “Oh, aye, ye and Alec are one and the same. I can tell.” Then she turned back to Alec. “Wait until the lads see ye.”
“Where have they built their homes?” Alec asked.
“Just beyond that ridge,” Rose said.
The shore rose up from the grabbing waves. Then golden sand gave way to tall sea grass, which hugged the base of some short cliffs.
Alec turned to Matthew. “Do ye want to run ahead and announce our arrival?”
Matthew smiled and nodded. “How will I know them?”
“Ye’ll know. MacVie men are hard to miss.”
Matthew darted across the sea grass and scrambled up the cliffs.
“Don’t think for a moment that I can make it up those cliffs,” Margaret said.
Rose laughed. “Not to worry. There’s some stairs carved into the stone, over on the left side.”
Joanie took Margaret’s hand and helped her into the tall grasses while Alec encircled Joanie’s waist with his arm.
“And there they are,” Rose said, pointing.
A large, powerful looking man with broad shoulders and curly black hair appeared. Even from the distance, Joanie could appreciate his raw masculinity with his chiseled jaw and deep-set eyes. On his arm was a woman with long sable brown hair and beautiful olive skin.
“That is Jack, the eldest of my brothers with his Bella on his arm,” Alec said.
Then another couple appeared. The man had long wavy black hair.
He was tall and broad, although less so than Jack but still brawnier than Alec and ruggedly handsome.
Joanie could see that there were, indeed, common traits enjoyed by the MacVie men.
Ebony hair, full lips, deep-set eyes. She guessed their eyes were every bit as dark as Alec’s.
Joanie had to tear her gaze away from the man to consider the woman at his side.
Like Bella, she had rich olive skin, but her hair was every bit as black as the men’s.
“That is Quinn. He was born just after Jack. As for the lovely woman on his arm, I have no idea who she is,” Alec said.
Rose smiled. “She is Catarina, Bella’s sister.”
“Bella’s sister?” Alec exclaimed. “That’s a story I can’t wait to hear. Och, there’s Rory!”
Joanie gasped as she watched Alec’s younger brother jump the height of two men from the ridge of the cliff to the sand below.
“Aye, that’s Rory, all right, the second most reckless person ye are likely to meet,” Rose said. “And here comes his Alex, the most reckless of all.”
Joanie gasped as a woman with long blond hair, not unlike Diana’s, jumped the same height, landing in Rory’s arms. Then Rory put her on her feet, and they both started racing toward them.
Rose laughed. “They just wanted to be the first to greet ye.”
But no sooner did Rory start his sprint, then the other MacVie men joined the race.
But all three stopped short when they drew close enough to see into Alec’s eyes.
Joanie watched as all three brothers stared, expressions of curious wonderment etched on their handsome faces.
Then, in two strides, Jack closed the distance between them and pulled Alec into a fierce hug.
Joanie’s heart flooded with warmth when Alec returned Jack’s hug with the same force.
Then in a flash of black hair, Quinn and Rory joined the embrace in a tangle of strong arms and the same fierce affection.
“Wait for me,” a deep baritone voice shouted.
Joanie whirled around and saw a giant fireball disguised as a man hurtling toward them with Matthew bouncing impossibly high up on his massive shoulders.
Ian was exactly as Helena had described, right down to the long, flaming red hair.
He smiled at Joanie when he passed by, his blue eyes as bright as the summer sky and his face so warm and kind that she felt like she was looking at the sun — but a gentle, steadfast sun that would never go away and leave someone in the dark.
“Hold tight, my wee man,” he said to Matthew. Then he stretched his arms wide. “Here I come,” Ian bellowed to his brothers.
“Oh, go on then,” Rose laughed and joined her brothers with arms spread wide.
LATER THAT EVENING, Alec stood on the cliffs with Joanie at his side. The last sliver of sunlight shimmered on the horizon, casting jewel colored light across the sky and waves.
“I never could have imagined a place as beautiful as Colonsay or a family as big and full of love. I only wish...” her voice trailed off as her gaze shifted beyond the shore to the jetty where Rose stood, gazing out at sea.
“I know she is quick to laugh, and her smile never falters, but...” She turned and looked up at Alec. “Her heart is so very sad, isn’t it?”
A soft smiled curved Alec’s lips. “Aye, she is, but fear not.” A twinkle glinted in his eye, like a lone star in the night sky. “One day, her true love will wash up on shore.”
Joanie smiled and threw her arms around his neck. “I believe you, and I love you.” Then she looked into his seer’s eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”
He crushed her against him and kissed her just as the sun dipped from sight and twilight encircled them in soft hues of gray and violet. Then he pulled away slightly and whispered. “Thank ye for saving mine.”
Thank you for reading Alec: A Scottish Outlaw. What’s next?
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