Part 27 (1/2)

”Now you see why I say she bewitched him?”

”I suppose... but why the bead?”

”Your stepmother knows Ridley wants the Clachan Fala and she is but a lone woman. What if she put a spell on my brother to protect her?”

Fayth looked down, plucking at the rug, trying to hide her annoyed amus.e.m.e.nt.

”Are you saying Mona Graham is not a witch? She is a Musgrave, after all. They are reputed to be the keepers.”

”Yes, yes, I've heard all that before.”

”Then explain it to me.”

She shrugged. ”I can't. All I can say is, if Mona really could do magic, she would have turned Ridley, or my father, for that matter, into a toad a long time ago. And if she could bewitch men, surely she could un bewitch them.”

”Unbewitch? What mean you?”

”Well, Ridley is obsessed by her. It's unnatural. She has long tried to stop his nonsense, but he only grows more... infatuated with her.”

Alex was thoughtful. ”Then perhaps she paid him. All I know is they escaped Graham Keep together and neither has turned up. It is unlike Patrick not to visit between wanderings and tell us where he is headed next.” His fist closed over the bead. ”And this was in her chambers along with his hair and nails. What else could it all mean?”

”How do you know it's a landmark?”

”Have you been north? To the Highlands?”

Fayth shook her head.

”There are standing stones everywhere, more than on the borders. Do you see the unusual shape of this? It looks like a bead, but it's not, it's merely a stone with a hole in it. There is a group of stones, all of them are similar, some with clefts, some with holes. But see the markings? I think it's a marker and the Clachan Fala is buried there. Or it reveals another clue about its location. I would have investigated it already, but then I learned about your betrothal to Carlisle... and well, I had to take care of Gealach first.”

Fayth gave him an obscure look. ”If there really is a Blood Stone and you found it, Ridley would give you the deed-anything you wanted... in exchange for the stone.”

Alex returned her look, frowning. ”Just what are you suggesting, la.s.s?”

Her skin was pale from her earlier exertion, but a feverish light-having nothing to do with her wound-lit her eyes. ”Go get it! Don't you see? Ridley wants it because he believes it will make him unstoppable.”

Alex snorted. ”Impossible.”

”It is said that the Blood Stone will protect whomever holds it from harm. If you possess it, he could never take your tower.”

Alex smiled patiently. ”Let's just suppose, for a moment, that's true. It would protect the bearer from harm, but his home could still fall down about his ears and all his men could still be slain before his eyes.”

She sighed, shaking her head as if he were thick.

”I thought you didn't believe in it?”

”I don't-but Ridley does. If he even thought you possessed it, he would be wary of you-perhaps even leave you alone.”

Alex didn't reply, still fingering the bead. She made a persuasive argument, but still, Alex didn't believe Ridley was that stupid.

She lay back against the rolled-up blanket and closed her eyes. ”Think about it, Alex.”