Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Loch Camerochlan. Early May 1717.
“We’re looking for a small, red-haired child,” Dugan said to the first man they came upon when they reached the village at the edge of Loch Camerochlan. He kept his arm about Maura’s shoulders, giving his love and support, for he knew how worried she was. “The lass was brought here a couple of years ago with a woman by the name of Tilda Crane.”
“Ach, aye!” the old fisherman said. “Terrible thing, that woman drownin’ as she did. But ’twas her own fault, goin’ out alone in Cathal MacLeod’s curragh.”
“Where is she?” Maura asked. Questions about Tilda Crane could wait. “The child, I mean.”
“Ye’ll find her up at MacMurrough’s cottage.” He pointed to a tidy little house on the hillside west of the loch. “Geordie MacMurrough and his wife took her in after ...” The man shrugged.
Maura wasted no time, but sprinted up the path toward the cottage. She heard Dugan thanking the fisherman and following after her.
Dugan had not delayed their quest to find Rosie, sending his brother with their solicitor to meet the Duke of Argyll at Inverness and hold him to the bargain they’d made at Loch Monar. Lachann would pay him for the MacMillan lands, and never again be subject to the duke’s whims. With the treasure in his possession, Dugan had the financial power to meet the wily old man on any terms.
Maura reached the MacMurrough cottage, out of breath and anxious, and was greeted by the sight of her small sister sitting on the ground outside the house, with two other children playing nearby.
Rosie turned her head and looked at Maura as she approached. Her sister looked well enough, but too small for her age, her back still bent, crippling her. But her face was as bonny as ever, her smile revealing her sunny temperament.
“Rosie?” Maura said quietly, hardly able to believe that she was here. Finally.
Rosie’s smile faded and she looked blankly at Maura. But only for a moment.
Suddenly, the bright smile reappeared on her face. “Morra!” she cried, and raised her arms toward her sister.
Maura dropped down to her knees and took Rosie into her arms. “Yes, my wee one,” she said. “We’ve come to take you home.”
Dugan spoke to the MacMurroughs while Maura lavished her affection on her sister.
For the first time in Maura’s life, all was right in her world.