His boots echoed on the stone steps as he climbed the stairs to the bedchambers above. Would he find them dead? His wife’s body, broken and used by the foul men who had destroyed their home? Alex did not think he was strong enough for that, but he kept walking.
When he pushed their bedchamber door, it creaked open slowly, revealing the room inch by inch. In contrast to the rest of the keep, the bedchamber was neat and tidy. It looked as if Glynis had just stepped out.
Except for her dirk lying in the middle of the floor.
Alex sank to his knees and picked it up. There was no blood on it, praise God. But if Glynis and Sorcha were not here, that meant the pirates and Magnus had taken them—and their purpose could only be evil. Alex had to find his wife and daughter before they were harmed, but he did not know where to look.
Alex pounded the floor with his fists. “Where did they take ye?” he shouted. “Where? Where?”
A creak right next to him brought him upright. When he saw his wee daughter standing in the chest holding the top up, Alex swept her up into his arms. He ran his hands over her to assure himself the fairies were not playing tricks on his eyes, and then he held her tightly against him. Sweet Jesus and all the angels, thank ye.
Alex thought he heard a small voice in his ear, saying, “Aye.”
He leaned back. “Was that you, Sorcha?”
She looked at him with her clear eyes and nodded. In the midst of a day of dread and despair, the miracle of hearing his daughter’s sweet voice for the first time overwhelmed him.
“What was that ye said, mo chroí?” Alex asked, as he brushed her hair back with his fingers.
“Eye.” He had thought she was saying aye before, but this time when she said the word she rested the point of her finger next to her eye.
“Did something happen to your eye?” he asked.
“That’s where the bad man took Mother.”
His daughter spoke in perfect Gaelic, but Alex had no idea what she meant.
“Eye snort,” Sorcha said. “That’s where the bad man said he was taking her.”
Eye snort? What in the name of heaven was…
“Eyenort Loch?” he asked. “On South Uist?”
“South Uist,” Sorcha repeated, and nodded.
Alex gave her a big kiss on her forehead. “What a blessing ye are.”
“Mother called him Magnus,” Sorcha said. “She doesn’t like him.”
“That’s verra helpful, little one,” Alex said, keeping his voice calm with an effort. “Do ye remember anything else?”
“Another bad man came, and they argued.”
“Did ye hear the second man’s name?”
Sorcha gave him a solemn nod. “Hugh.”
“Ye did verra, verra well,” Alex said as he started down the stairs with her. “Now I must leave ye with Bessie while I go fetch your mother.”
“Bring her home,” Sorcha said, hugging his neck.
“I will.”
Alex had just had one miracle. And now he needed another.
CHAPTER 53
I’ll let your husband stew for a few days,” Hugh said, as he tied her wrists to the mast. “I need my bait live ’til then, so I’m leaving a man here to guard ye from Magnus. Ye made an enemy with that one, lass, though I can’t say I blame ye for sticking a blade in him. Magnus is an arse.”