Lorelei and Fiona descended from the carriage. The driver had a word with them and evidently, they’d asked him to wait. Which was a good thing, since the area was not exactly teeming with hacks for hire.
But as they moved around, Lorelei excitedly spinning and pointing into the air in different directions, Alasdair frowned.
“What the blazes are they looking at?”
…
“This was where Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre once stood.” Lorelei turned in a circle, spreading her hands. “The Globe could hold almost two thousand more people than the Theatre Royal.”
Fiona looked around. “I wonder if they ever produced the Scottish play here.”
“Macbeth? I—”
“Shhh! Ye are nae to mention the name!”
Lorelei blinked. “You do not believe that the play is cursed, do you?”
“I doona ken.” Fiona paused. “The tutor I had said Shakespeare had to play the part of Lady Macbeth himself after the actor who was supposed to do it died suddenly.”
“Coincidence?”
Fiona shrugged. “Mayhap. Someone had exchanged the daggers for real ones that then killed the actor playing Duncan.”
Lorelei felt a chill slide down her spine. She wasn’t superstitious, but she now remembered the other claims about that particular play. “Didn’t King James think when Shakespeare’s witches made their predictions that they were real witches warning of doom in the real world?”
“Aye. He thought he’d been cursed when he nearly perished at sea bringing his bride home right after the play came out, so he ordered a witch hunt at Berwick when he got back.”
Lorelei felt her eyes widen. “I did not know that. Your tutor must have been a very good teacher.”
Fiona laughed. “Nae tutor was needed. Ever since King Edward massacred Scots at Berwick in 1296—including all women and children—Scots have kept a careful eye on the area. Every time there is trouble at Berwick the news spreads faster than an overflowing river.”
Lorelei was silent for a moment. In the short time she’d spent in Scotland she’d realized that a number of things werestillunsettled between England and Scotland. “I hope Strae Castle never falls into ruins.”
Fiona raised a brow. “Ye are nae predicting something bad to happen, are ye?”
She wasn’t sure if Fiona was jesting with her or not, but she shook her head vehemently. “No, of course not. I was just thinking that so much of what was MacGregor was destroyed over the centuries.” She swept her hand around once more. “Like these ruins.”
“Our lands will be returned to us,” Fiona said as they completed the circle and came back to the carriage. “’Tis why Alasdair is here.”
Lorelei refrained from saying it was why Gavin Campbell was there too…to make sure it didn’t happen. “Well, I…” She stopped, about to step into the hack.
“What is it?”
She pointed. “There was a man on horseback over there.”
Fiona turned to look. “I doona see anyone.”
“No. He is gone now, but I could have sworn it was your brother. It looked like his horse.”
“Ye think Alasdair was following us?” She shook her head. “He wouldna just sit there. He would have come over and demanded to ken what we were doing here.”
Lorelei scanned the road again, but with the tenements around them, it was impossible to see too far. Whoever it was would be gone by the time the hack turned around.
“I suppose you are right,” she said, but she wasn’t at all sure about that. Had Alasdair somehow managed to discover their routine? They’d have to take care in the future to thwart him.
…
Alasdair tucked into one of the narrow streets as the hack clattered on past him. Thankfully, the tenement buildings cast enough shadow that he and Kelso could not easily be seen, especially since the stallion was black. He’d had a moment of trepidation when Lorelei had paused getting into the hack and looked his way. He should have left as soon as he saw them returning to the carriage, but he’d still been pondering what in hell they had been doing. Walking around in a circle, looking at the ground, and then waving their hands about didn’t make any sense.
