Magnus and I shook hands and introductions were made. Joe said, “The Duke and Duchess of Awe, I’ve read about it in the peerage, what a long glorious history your title and lands have. It’s really great to meet you.”
Magnus said, “Aye, tis a pleasure to meet you as well.”
Finch Mac was big and handsome, tall, and had a glow of celebrity around him. That had been what we called it when I lived in LA: the celebrity glow. He wore rock star clothes, all very expensive, designer. His wife, Karrie, was beautiful. Their son, Arlo, was cute and about the same age as Ben and Archie. Finch Mac had a Scottish accent and when he shook Magnus’s hand he said, “Joe tells me we’re brothers?”
Magnus said, “Aye, tis a surprise tae me as well. This is our half-brother Fraoch, and also, our half-brother, Lochinvar.”
Finch said, “I went from an only child tae havin’ three brothers.”
“Och aye, our father, Donnan was a real…”
Finch said, “A player, an arse, a piece of shit?”
Magnus smiled. “Aye, all of that, I am verra glad ye agree.”
Finch shook Fraoch’s hand. “I heard ye stole somethin’ from me?”
Fraoch ran a hand over his beard. “Och, m’apologies, I...“
Finch said, “M’father-in-law, Joe, inna much bothered by the robbery, he has a pile of new historical artifacts tae be excited about. But I hae been receiving threats... I dinna ken what they meant, but now... this is why we rushed home from m’tour.” He looked around.
Magnus said, “We ought tae sit down so we can talk.”
We led them to the picnic tables and I introduced Arlo to Archie, Ben, Zoe, and Isla, and they went down to the dock together.
Finch continued, “Being famous, I have had tae be on guard, there are always threats, but recently there hae been threats related tae m’father, Donnan. M’mum warned me, never talk about m’father, we were supposed tae be secretive about him. But the threats kent about Donnan and sent a chill down my spine. The threats mentioned ye, Magnus, and I dinna ken ye — it dinna make sense, until I heard from Joe that yer mother, Lady Mairead, had visited the house. It all clicked intae place.”
His wife, Karrie, held his hand and lay her head on his shoulder.
Magnus said, “Dost ye ken who they were?”
“There was a man going by Ormr, he showed up at the Vegas show. A woman named Jeanne Smith—”
Magnus said, “Fraoch, this was yer mother’s alias?”
Fraoch said, “Aye, and when she is using her alias she is up tae nae good.”
Magnus said, “Finch, some of the things ye hae stored at Joe’s house are wanted by dangerous people. I hae been trying tae locate all of them. My apologies about the theft but once we kent ye had the artifact in yer possession we needed tae get it tae safety. We felt as if it couldna wait.” He said to Emma, “Can you get the Bridge from the house for us, Madame Emma?”
She went inside, then returned with the Bridge, and placed it in the middle of the table. Magnus put his hand on top and it clicked open. He locked it again. “Fraoch, put yer hand there.” Fraoch triggered the box to open. Then Magnus had Lochinvar open the box. Then Finch. Magnus said, “No one else can open the box, only sons of Donnan.”
Finch nodded, chewing his lip. “So havin’ this in m’father-in-law’s house could hae been dangerous?”
Magnus said, “Aye.”
Finch said, “Ye arna goin’ tae tell me what it does?”
“Which are ye more likely tae believe, that it is an intricate paternity test, devised by our father, Donnan? Perhaps it is a time travel device? Or Maybe it is just a box and ye ought nae know what else it does?”
Finch said, “I don’t believe any of those, one is ridiculous, one is impossible. The last is boring.”
“Aye, true.” Magnus nodded. “Let me put it in m’safe, I will keep it from falling intae the wrong hands.”
Finch pushed the box away. “Aye, I agree, I daena want it, it’s too much tae worry about. But if I give it tae ye, that’s the end of it, right? Nae one is going to come after us?”
“Aye, this is what they wanted. Unless... unless ye hae anything else?” Magnus pulled a vessel from his pocket. “Ye hae one of these? We ought tae put that in my safe as well.”
Joe said, “I have one of those. I could give it to Lady Mairead when we meet. Will she still meet me?”
