it was an impossible errand they had sent her on! kelpie realized it slowly, angrily. a bit of argyll’s hair, indeed and indeed! nobody at all would be so feckless as to leave a bit of his hair lying about, convenient to the hand of any witch who happened to be passing. and how much less mac cailein mor, who was thrice as crafty, ten times as suspicious, and a thousand times more hated than most folk? och, no; for him such carelessness would be altogether impossible. it was certain that he would stand over his barber while every last hair or fingernail clipping was safely burned. the best she could hope for was a bit of his personal belongings, which would be much less effective; and whatever mina and the lowlander would say she did not know. no doubt they would make an excuse to refuse to teach her spells, after all.
and so she seethed under the joyless covenant mask
[125]
which was becoming harder and harder to wear. how she longed for the freedom of the open! her legs ached with the longing to run and leap and dance upon the hills, and her face ached with the need to laugh. and yet she stayed on, hoping for some miracle, reflecting sourly that mrs. mackellar and argyll were very little improvement over mina and bogle.
it was in mid-july that it happened, during morning prayer.
kelpie knelt with the rest of the household on the cold stone floor in grim endurance, for this long, twice-daily torment was nearly unbearable for an active young gypsy.
her place was in the very back, among the meanest of the servants. ahead, the bowed backs graduated in rank, with mrs. mackellar far up front, just behind meek lady argyll, lord lorne, and ewen cameron, whose red kilt blazed sharply alien amid all the blue and green of the campbell tartan. and before them all stood mac cailein mor’s long, stooped figure, telling of the anger, jealousy, cruelty of a god who could surely have nothing to do with the opal world outside. with cold satisfaction and in grim detail he described god’s will (which seemed indistinguishable from argyll’s will); and his pale eyes were most disconcerting, for if one seemed fixed upon siubhan or peigi, the other seemed to stare straight at kelpie, and who was to know what himself was really looking at, whatever?
[126]
“behold, the day of jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it,” said argyll. “he shall destroy the minions of satan, those evildoers who are not of the kirk, who blasphemously question the covenant. for all those who are not with the covenant are against the lord and vile in his sight. they shall burn forever in hell, and above all shall burn all witches and that servant of the devil, montrose. they shall be tormented—”
kelpie felt the presence of the messenger in the open door behind her, but dared not turn to look. she saw argyll’s eye flicker briefly in that direction and noticed the slight pause before he went coldly on with his orders to and from god. and something inside kelpie stirred, and she knew that something was about to happen which would be important to her.
dropping her dark head over clasped hands in an attitude of great reverence, she tried to think what it could be. there was nothing she had done. unless—had ewen cameron said something about yesterday?
for yesterday kelpie had found her first opportunity to get away over to the wing which held the chambers of mac cailein mor and his family. she had actually reached his door, and as she hesitated there, heart beating quickly, another door nearby had opened, and through it came a lad of about fifteen.
kelpie had not needed to look at the oddness of a cameron
[127]
tartan in the campbell stronghold to know that this was ewen, the grandson of lochiel. ian had told her about him, and she had seen him now and again about the castle. and peigi had told her proudly how fine it was that mac cailein mor was taking on himself the education of his nephew, for fear it should be neglected or his own family should teach him to believe the wrong things.
kelpie had hidden a cynical smile at the time, but now, when the grave, clear-eyed lad stood regarding her in the hall, she wondered briefly how much this “education” would really mean. for he had about him the air of one with a mind of his own.
“you’ll be sheena, will you not?” he asked as kelpie belatedly made a stiff bob. she nodded. “best not to linger here,” he went on. “if my uncle should see you—”
“aye,” kelpie had murmured, and slipped away back to her own territory with the odd feeling that he had seen through her mask—not, perhaps, that he knew exactly what was under it, but that he knew she was alien to this world of inverary.
could he have said anything, just? kelpie wondered as she shifted her knees ever so slightly on the painfully hard stone. the thing inside said no. he was another of those strange people, like ian and eithne, who seemed not to hate anyone or even wish them ill.
but still, something was about to happen, and she must find out as soon as ever she could. when prayers were over,
[128]
and the household rose and respectfully made way for himself to go out first, it was easy enough for her to slip nearest the door, for she had had a wealth of experience at picking pockets and melting through crowds. and so she saw the travel-weary messenger waiting outside, and heard the news when argyll did.
“antrim of colonsay and his clan of irish macdonalds have landed at ardnaburchen and taken the castle of mingary, and will even now be taking the keep of lochaline, your lordship!”
the marquis of argyll said something under his breath, and the freckles suddenly stood out under the red hair that kelpie coveted. “may the devil take his impudence!” he said aloud, and there was no doubt that he meant it literally.
kelpie tried to remember something she had heard at glenfern. antrim—colkitto, they called him—was chief of a branch of macdonalds that the campbells had driven westward, over the islands, and at last to ireland. and now, it seemed, he had decided to bring his clan back to scotland to fight the campbells and perhaps take back some land.
“have messengers ready to ride,” argyll said viciously to his son. “i’ll have the army up and wipe him out once and for all!” by this time the rest of the household had filtered out into the hall, and it didn’t seem to matter if
[129]
they all heard or no. but then, there’d be no keeping this kind of news secret, whatever.
kelpie clenched her fists. we? then would mac cailein mor be away with the army himself?
“isn’t there an english parliament garrison at carlisle?” ventured lord lorne in english. “why not send to them to take warships up the coast? if they captured antrim’s ships, there’d be no retreat for him.”
argyll nodded brusquely and strode off toward his chambers to write the necessary letters—taking his hair with him, of course. “get my things ready to ride,” he ordered one of his retainers, thus destroying kelpie’s last hope.
“dhé!” she muttered, without changing the blank and sober expression considered suitable for god-fearing people. whatever could she be doing now, at all, with him away?
impulsively, she slipped out of the hall before mrs. mackellar or peigi should see her, and made her way to the tower next to argyll’s wing. there she hid her thin self partway up the steep, twisting stairs, where with one eye she could see his door, and waited. not that he would be likely to be trimming his hair or fingernails now, but perhaps in the flurry of his leaving she could just slip in and lay hold of some wee personal item to be used instead, and it the best she could do.
[130]
it was a full half-hour before argyll’s door opened. kelpie glimpsed the full tartan folds of his belted plaid and then pressed herself out of sight as the halting steps assured her that it was indeed mac cailein mor.
she waited until they had passed down the hall and out of hearing, and then slipped out of the tower and across to the massive oaken door. she paused an instant, hand lifted to open the door, but it was almost certain there could be no one else in there, for the entire household had been at morning prayer, and no one else had gone in. the door opened heavily, with never a creak, and closed firmly behind her.
here must be his lordship’s private withdrawing room. kelpie had never seen such a room, and she glanced around with interest. the clan crest, a boar’s head, was carved over the large stone fireplace and on the back of the high oaken settle that stood at one wall. a bulky armchair with a triangular seat going to a point in back stood by a long table on which quills, ink, sand, and paper still stood. but there was nothing personal. his bedroom must be on through that other door.
she darted across the room silently, opened the door, and saw an enormous four-post bedstead of inlaid walnut—a fine piece indeed, she thought cynically, for an unworldly covenanter! no less than three great-chests doubtless held his clothing and perhaps lady argyll’s—but clothing would be too bulky for kelpie’s needs. a plaid-brooch
[131]
might just do nicely, though, and they should be in a cupboard, perhaps, or a wee box somewhere.
kelpie began investigating. and then she nearly yelped with triumph. a brush! a brush in which were tangled several long strands of red hair! och, and he had been careless, then, perhaps with being upset from the news of antrim. och, the fine luck of it! chuckling, she pulled them loose, looked around for something to wrap them in—and saw the bedroom door swing inexorably open.
there he stood, mac cailein mor, one eye regarding her balefully, the other apparently fixed on the wall behind; and the thin lips were pitiless. for once kelpie’s quick mind and glib tongue failed her altogether, and she just stood there while he crossed the room in three strides and seized her wrist.
“a thief, is it?” he rasped.
kelpie found her wits. “och, no, your worship!” she cried. “i know it’s no right i have to be coming here, but it’s the fine and godly man you are, and leaving now, and i just wanting to see—”
he pried her hand roughly open, and the damning evidence of the hairs lay exposed on her palm.
“a witch!” he said with savage glee. “a witch in my own household. ah, the devil is trying hard to destroy me, for i do the work of the lord. blessed are those who are persecuted for thy name’s sake. spawn of satan, do you know what we do with witches?”
[132]
“witches?” faltered kelpie with desperate innocence, though she knew by now that pretense was hopeless. far less evidence than this would have been fatal, and even with a much less suspicious man than mac cailein mor. sudden hot anger almost drove out her terror for an instant—not so much at argyll as at mina and bogle and the lowlander, who had so callously sent her on this errand. they had surely known how slim her chances were, and that she would almost certainly be caught and burned. and they would never have taught her the evil eye, even had she been successful. she had been their tool and cat’s-paw, and she cursed herself for being such a fool. och, she would see to it before she died that argyll knew their names and the meeting place.
she didn’t once think of the sgian dhu that rested within the bodice of her sober gray dress.
mac cailein mor was dragging her out of the room, baying for his servants, the dangerous hairs safely in his own hand. kelpie submitted passively because it would do no good at all to struggle. her mind darted here and there, like a moth in a glass ball, finding no way out at all.
and now all the household was running, and two husky men took her from argyll and hustled her brutally through the castle and out to the courtyard, while argyll sputtered his tale to his son between bellows for mrs. mackellar.
“was it you hired her?” he demanded ominously of the
[133]
cringing housekeeper. “could you not see the eyes of her, the teeth, the brows? or was it yourself plotting against me too? are the minions of satan filling my own home?” he was working himself into a fine frenzy, and even through her terror kelpie found time to wonder briefly at the idiotic honesty of lorne, who spoke up then.
“’twas my fault, father. mrs. mackellar didn’t like the look of the lass when she came to ask for employment, and i was fool enough to feel sorry for her, and i said to take her in.” he met his sire’s black glare straight. “’twas stupid,” he said firmly, “but no plot against you by any here.”
“the devil addled your wits, then,” retorted argyll, not to be deprived of his martyrdom. “could you not see the ringed eyes of her? no, do not look into them! she’ll cast a spell!” he glared at lorne, and then, dourly, at ewen cameron, who stood near with an expressionless face.
kelpie was again fervently wishing that she could cast a spell! och, the plague she would be putting on the lot of them, and himself in particular! since she couldn’t, she tucked in her lower lip, lowered the offensive eyes, hung meekly in the painful grip on her arms, and made one last hopeless try for her life.
“what was it i was doing wrong?” she whimpered. “it was nothing valuable i was taking, but only a wee bit token to protect me from the devil whilst yourself was away.”
[134]
it was no use at all. everyone knew what hairs were used for, even children.
“shall we burn her now, mac cailein mor?” asked one of the men. kelpie’s heart thudded sickly. but argyll brooded.
“no time now,” he said reluctantly. “i’ll be wanting to test her for witch marks and get a full confession and the names of her accomplices. and there’s antrim to deal with first.” he looked frustrated at having to delay, and kelpie realized that here was a man who enjoyed cruelty for its own sake. she shuddered.
“put her in the dungeon,” ordered argyll, “the wee cell at the bottom, and with no blanket. and let no one open the door or speak to her until i return. put bread and water through the grate, but nothing else. is everything ready, buchanan? my horse, then.”
he turned away, and kelpie drew a small shaky breath. a wee respite, then, and perhaps a chance to escape altogether from the torture and burning, if they didn’t search her and take away the sgian dhu—and if she made up her mind to use it.
