“Why not?”
“Mary Jane has disappeared,” David informed him.
“Disappeared?” Lowell said, outraged.
“The Saints preserve us, what in God’s name is going on here?” Gawain bellowed.
“All mysteries here will be solved,” David said firmly. “I will find out what is going on here. And anyone who has anything to tell me is certainly more than welcome to do so!” He stood and surveyed the faces around the table once again. “My son will come back to the castle—in time. For today it seems we have thebusiness of the Moon Maiden at hand. And by tonight, by God, I will have explanations!”
Shawna discovered herself a prisoner in her bedroom once again for most of the day.
In the early afternoon, however—with James McGregor still dogging her heels—she went to the old turret room and dug through trunks with Sabrina and Skylar, costuming them as ladies from days gone by.
Skylar, sleek and beautiful with her long golden hair in a royal blue Napoleonic gown, swirled around. “This is lovely. Thank you so much.”
“All of these things are quite beautiful,” Sabrina said, sitting in a pile of silks and velvets from the same era. “I believe I will wear Empire fashion as well. What do most of the people wear?’’
“Anything and everything,” Shawna said. “Some of the lasses try to outdo one another dressing up as fairytale princesses. Some opt to dress as animals, some wear bizarre forest-type creations, even coming as fall foliage. It’s usually great fun.”
“Dressing up is fun,” Skylar murmured, looking at Shawna, “except, of course, it means that you must be ever more careful. You’ll not know whom to trust.”
“I don’t know whom to trust,” Shawna said quietly, “when those about me are not wearing masks.” She shook off the dread that seemed to be settling over her. “What is Hawk wearing?” she asked Skylar, trying to take her mind off the whirlwind of worry and fear and emotion that plagued it.
“He’s undecided.”
“Oh?”
“A Douglas tartan—or Sioux feathers.”
“Oh!” Shawna laughed. More hesitantly, she asked Sabrina, “And…er…Major Trelawny?”
“Oh, there’s no question,” Sabrina muttered, straightening one of the garments on her lap. “He’ll be in feathers.” She musthave realized the bitter sound of her tone. She smiled at Shawna. “What will you wear?”
Shawna offered her a wry smile in turn. “Again, there’s no question. I will come in my MacGinnis colors.”
“You’ll wear Douglas,” came a harsh, masculine voice.
Shawna jumped up. David was standing in the doorway, watching them. He came into the room, picking up an old dress, running his fingers over the fabric.
“I will wear MacGinnis colors,” she said firmly.
“Lady MacGinnis, you’ve lived in the Douglas stronghold nearly five years now, taken charge of Douglas affairs. Tonight, you’ll wear Douglas colors.” He didn’t wait for her agreement, perhaps knowing full well that she wouldn’t give it. He would brook no argument. His mood was totally ruthless, as if he had completely lost patience. Yet the more tension that seemed to fill him, the less Shawna thought they might have any rational discussion on any matter.
He was cold to her and distant today. But he had told her that if she fulfilled a promise, she’d have Danny back after the Night of the Moon Maiden.
“The constable is downstairs,” David continued. “He wants a word with us. Shawna, you’ll need to explain how you knew where to look for Sabrina.” He turned on his heels, leaving them. The women looked at one another, scrambled from their tasks, and hurried down the stairs.
Two hours later, the constable left. Shawna and David remained in the great hall alone.
Shawna was aggravated. David shrugged.
“What were you expecting?” he asked of her.
“He is the constable. I was expecting him to be more helpful.”
“I’ve warned you before that we have to solve this ourselves. The constable thinks that we are harboring a community of witches, and they are all protecting one another. He’s glad I’malive—I thought that was quite decent of him. And he seemed heartily glad that Sabrina is found, alive and well.”
“He hasn’t taken much of this seriously at all.”