The Highlander's Secret(50)

A moment passed before she turned to him and sobbed. “Did ye ken?” Jain asked him forcefully. “Did ye ken about this place when ye brought me here?”

“Nae! Jain, I swear to ye. I dinnae ken. I saw the claw marks when ye were sleeping and I couldn’t bring myself to wake ye. Ye were so tired.”

She processed that for a moment and gave him a single nod. “I believe ye. It’s a horrible thing to find. That poor girl, whoever she was–”

“Deserves to find justice,” Alan stopped her. “We cannae do anything out here unless we find proof.”

Jain’s eyes were misting with tears as she caught sight of something sparkling in the bloody rushes. She knelt to inspect the area further and pulled a piece of chain out of the underbrush.

Jain went pale when she realized what it was and let out a tiny gasp.

“What is it?” he asked her curiously.

She started breathing heavily and pushed past him to get outside, clutching her stomach with pain. “Get me out of here!”

Alan followed her into the grass but didn’t approach her right away.

“I’ve seen that necklace before,” Jain told him. She brushed her fingers across the chain – treating it with reverence, like it was something sacred. “’Twas Heather’s.”

Her eyes were misting over with tears, so he wrapped his arms around her to try and comfort the pain of loss.

“We’ll keep it safe,” he told her. “I’ll make sure it returns to her parents when we go back.”

She nodded in agreement and pulled away from him, exhaling a gargled sob. “The blood in the house…it belonged to her as well, I’m sure of it. We’ve got to bring this necklace back to her parents, so they can ken what happened.”

“Nae, tis too soon,” Alan told her. “Ye may still be in danger.”

“How can ye speak of such things when we’ve stumbled upon such compelling evidence? Heather probably died in that house and it’s our duty to let her family ken.”

Alan sighed. “Jain, I ken ye dinnae want to hear this, but Heather is already lost. Tis yer life that I’m protecting at the moment. Her parents deserve to ken what we found, and they will, but not until ye’re safe. It won’t do Heather any good to rush back before we’re ready and it may put us both in danger. We have to wait.”

“Alright. Where are we going to sleep tonight though? I cannae bring myself to go back in the house. Not when…please dinnae make me.”

“Of course not. We’ll camp out here instead. There’s plenty of hay fer us to make some beds outside and I can make a fire to keep warm.”

She smiled at him weakly when he took her by the hand and kissed it. “Alan, thank ye…fer everything.”

“It’s my pleasure.”





Chapter Twenty-three


Jain and Alan made their way over to the water’s edge and searched along the coast for fish. Her breath was visible in the cold and the water was freezing as it ran along its stream.

Alan held a makeshift spear in his hand while they waded into the water. Jain frowned casting her eyes down the stream when there was a splash and he cried out in victory. “Ah! There she is!”

“Ye got one?” Jain inquired with a laugh.

He held up the spear with a speckled fish impaled along the end. “Looks like I just caught us breakfast.”

Jain clapped her hands together and lost control of her footing on the mossy rock. She fell headfirst into the water. “AH!”

She landed in the frigid stream with a tremendous splash, soaking her dress and hair. When she reached out to pull herself up, Jain reached for the nearest thing she could find and then a scream tore from her lips. Amid the ripples, something nefarious appeared in the waters depths, causing Jain’s blood to run cold.

“Jain! Are ye alright?” he asked rushing up to her.

She sputtered in the cold and coughed up a mouthful of water, trying to get away before looking up at him. Alan took her by the arm, helped her to the shore and cast his fish along the river bank.

Her eyes were wide with horror as she pointed back towards the water. “There’s a body!”

“What?”

“There’s a body in the water,” she gasped out determinedly.

“Are ye sure?”

“Go see fer yerself!”

Alan stood and barely had to take two steps before coming to the horrible sight that Jain had stumbled upon by accident. It was partially hidden among the reeds, but Jain had managed to dislodge it when she fell. A gray, mottled face rose to the surface from being submerged in the river, the limbs and face all bloated.

Tears streamed down Jain’s cheeks. She climbed onto her knees and tried to pull the body from the rock. She grabbed the body by an arm and pulled it from the water. Her nose was filled with the putrid smell of decomposing flesh. “Alan help me!” she pleaded in a sob.

He quickly came to her side and helped Jain drag the lifeless body onto the grass. Carefully, Jain rolled the body onto her back and cried. Every sense was assaulted by the discovery that had taken place – her nose, eyes, and hands rejecting it completely. Jain’s need to purge the offensive contact was all encompassing and she could feel the bile rising in her stomach.

“Is it Heather?” Jain asked him quietly. “Please tell me it isn’t her.”