Part 24 (2/2)
”The screams-was it a woman screaming?” questioned Andrew anxiously.
”No, it was a man. It must have been the one they carried down.”
”Was it one of the younger ones?”
”Yes, the old man came back down only later on.”
Andrew could not suppress a smile. Dougal wouldn't like being referred to as the old man. ”What color was his hair?”
”Light brown.”
”You're sure?”
”Yes, sir.”
Robert, went through Andrew's mind. What happened? An empty feeling invaded his guts. Did he try to harm Helen?
As if Owen had read Andrew's thoughts, he added: ”He was holding both hands to his groin, as if he got hurt there.”
”Ah,” exclaimed Rose with a knowing expression, ”he tried to get too close to your lady and she kicked his b.a.l.l.s. He's going to remember this for a good while.”
”I hope she's not hurt,” murmured Andrew.
”If she is, she tried her best to keep him off her, young man.”
”I know. I wasn't thinking of myself. I would just blame myself if she got harmed because of me.”
Rose patted his shoulders. ”Don't worry. If he came down hollering, I'm sure she's all right... But now we better get planning. We know where they are, and we can safely a.s.sume that your lady's locked in a room upstairs. I'm afraid, she may be bound and gagged, otherwise they couldn't leave her alone.”
Andrew had come to the same conclusion.
”By the way,” Owen remarked suddenly, ”I almost forgot. While I was in town, I heard the alarm bell ring at the tolbooth. They must have discov-”
Rose interrupted him, yelling: ”Why didn't you tell us such important news before?”
”Because you never gave me a chance!” he parried.
”Master Andrew, they found Joe and discovered that you escaped. How exciting! And to think that I had a hand in all this! I wish I could tell a few people, but that has to wait for a while... There's going to be patrols searching the town now. So, master Andrew, if you plan to go rescue your dear wife, you must be doubly careful.”
She turned back to Owen and gave him the piece of sausage left over from Andrew's meal. ”Here Owen, you deserve this for telling me. But we better find out more about those Highlanders. How many other people did you see at The Golden Eagle?”
”I saw only another couple of men. They were dressed like Englishmen and went upstairs shortly after that incident. I think they were a bit afraid.”
”Good,” answered Rose. ”Did you see what the Highlanders were doing after they came down again?”
”They continued drinking. Initially two of them forced liquor down the throat of the guy who got hurt.”
”They're trying to relieve his pain,” remarked Rose grinning.
”And when the old man joined them, he ordered a bottle of claret.”
”How do you know it was claret?” questioned Andrew, surprised. ”Mind you that sounds right. That's what Dougal Campbell likes to drink.”
”Ah, I was just underneath the tavern window.”
”Did you hear anything else they said?”
”I did, but that was the only thing I could understand. They spoke their Highland tongue.”
”How long did you stay there after they came back down?” Rose resumed her questioning.
”Oh, not long, ... maybe a quarter of an hour. Nothing much happened after that. They just kept drinking and laughing occasionally.”
Rose and Andrew looked at each other in silence for a while. Then Rose ventured a suggestion: ”If they keep on drinking, you might be able to sneak upstairs and free your lady.”
Owen immediately contradicted her: ”No, that wouldn't work. The stairs are clearly visible from where they sit. They'd spot him.”
”But they'd not know who it is?” retorted Rose.
”The innkeeper would know that he isn't one of his customers... And how would master Andrew and his lady get out?” countered Owen.
”You're such a smart lad. Naturally, I could get a group of sailors together to keep them in check, while you free her, but that would cause a big uproar and would just bring in the law. No, that's no good.” She seemed to be thinking aloud. ”If we somehow could get them stone drunk that they'd pa.s.s out-”
”Dougal's capacity is phenomenal. I doubt that even a whole night's drinking would get him to that point,” interjected Andrew, and then a sly smile crossed his face. ”Adding a good dose of laudanum to their wine would do the trick though. But where can we get laudanum at this time of night, and how could we get it into their drink?”
Rose's face lit up in delight. ”I've got a little flask in my room. I take a bit when I've trouble sleeping. Mind you, I only use it sparingly. Sometimes I even slip a bit into the drink of a troublesome patron.”
”That solves the first problem, but still leaves the second, how to get it into their wine?”
Rose ignored him and took up questioning the boy again: ”Owen, did you see the innkeeper bring them the wine?”
”Yes.”
”Did he uncork the bottle in front of them or bring it already opened?”
”There was no cork in it.”
”So he fills the bottle from a keg in the cellar and then charges them the bottle price, the cheating b.u.g.g.e.r.” She laughed when she noticed Andrew's surprised expression. ”You see, this is a common trick of the trade. I've done it myself. That's why I know.”
A thing to keep in mind next time I order a bottle of claret, Andrew mused. ”But knowing this, how does it help us?”
”He may fill several bottles in one go to save time and bring them up into the kitchen, particularly if he expects his guests to drink them. So it might be possible to add the laudanum when he's not around- Owen, was he drinking with them.”
”Yes, he joined them. He knows their Highland tongue.”
”Then Dougal will definitely keep him at his table, except for getting more bottles,” said Andrew, and then added with a laugh: ”And the potion will put him to sleep too. So all we need is a way to slip the laudanum into the bottles.”
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