The Highlander's Secret(52)

He nodded and turned up the road that led to the great stone building at the top of the hill. The horse clamored up the path until they stopped at the foot of the steps. Jain climbed down off the horse’s back and helped Alan untie the sled. Together, they carried her up the steps and down the hall to where the village was in council.

She could hear them talking up ahead, the entire village gathered in the great hall. Alan cradled the load of Heather’s weight in his massive arms and stepped into the room. Conrad and the village council were gathered at the front, along with her father Eamon and Keenan’s widow.

When they arrived, a hush fell across the hall as people turned to them in shock. Jain saw people’s reactions change from the moment they first saw him, to when their eyes rested on the ominous figure he was bringing. They recognized the shape of a human body immediately and knew what it was.

“Jain, ye’re back!” Eamon addressed her from his seat amidst the sound of growing whispers.

Conrad and his men were dressed up in some expensive clothing as if to celebrate a victory. He sneered at them when he saw them come in from the back.

“Ye’ve returned,” he addressed them with a sneer. “I didn’t think the two of ye would dare show yer faces here again.”

With a tired groan, Alan carried Heather to the center of the room with villagers parting left and right to let him pass. He laid her on the ground in front of them for all to see, and Conrad’s face went pale. Jain could sense his discomfort at the manner of their return and set her jaw defiantly. He must have known exactly what they brought.

All eyes were on them as news of their return must have had spread.

“What have ye got there, Alan?” one of the council members asked them. “It’s difficult to see.”

“Jain and I stumbled upon a body in the forest. We brought it back here because it may interest some of ye. Where are Boyd and Rhona?”

There was a flurry of commotion and Heather’s parents came pushing forward through the crowd. The woman was red in the face from crying and fell to her knees in front of the heap of fabric on the ground. “Out of the way! Let me see!”

The woman’s hands were shaking as she pulled back the fabric to reveal the face of her dark-haired daughter. The face of Heather Gordon no longer held the delicate features Jain and the others remembered – but it was enough to identify her. With her mottled skin and damage to her skull, it was clear what happened. Rhona let out a bloodcurdling scream and cried uncontrollably until one of the men had to remove her.

Boyd cried out in devastation and said, “Oh, my love! My wee darlin’. What happened to her?” he asked Alan tearfully.

Alan hung his head and told him, “We found her in the river about halfway through the forest.”

“Who would have done this to her?” he demanded between sobs.

Jain shook her head with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I dinnae ken, Boyd. I’ve been asking myself that same question ever since we found her. Look at the side of her face, whatever happened to Heather was intentional. Ye wouldn’t get those kinds of wounds by accident.”

During the exchange, Jain glanced over at Conrad to see how he’d react. She noticed he’d been oddly quiet since the discovery of Heather’s body and was backing away from them. “A pointless tragedy,” Conrad murmured. “But these things do happen. We’re in the middle of a council meeting, in case ye haven’t noticed. The threat of Norsemen on our border takes precedence, and we’re still without a chieftain.”

“Ye should ken!” Alan snared at him in fury. “Ye were the last one seen with her. Do ye deny it?”

Conrad smiled thinly. “That doesn’t prove anything. The entire village was at the festival. Who’s to say I had anything to do with this?”

“I think ye did,” Jain responded. “I think ye raped her and then ye murdered her in cold blood.”

“What proof do ye have?”

Alan sneered at him and said, “Feeling defensive, Conrad?”

As Boyd knelt down to hold his daughter, the fabric she was wrapped in fell loose around her neck, revealing a dark bruise. It was dark purple and visible enough that everyone around could see.

“Oh, my sweet child, what have they done to ye?” the old man cried.

“This is nothing more than a distraction!” Conrad boomed. “We should bury her in the cemetery and be done with it.”

Jain reach out her hand and offered him the chain of necklace she and Alan had found inside the cottage. Boyd took it from her hesitantly. “Where’s the charm?” he asked them between sobs. “There was a triskele pendant that’s been in our family fer generations. She never left home without it.”

Alan shook his head. “There was nae charm, Boyd, just the necklace”

A small murmur rose from the crowd and Jain’s eyes flickered straight to Conrad. His face was like a stone as he slowly backed away from them. “Where are ye going, Conrad? I thought ye wanted to see this finished.”

Alan glanced at him as well and the guilt was written all over his face. “Ye ken what they’re talking about?”

“This is ridiculous,” Conrad told them. “How do we ken ye weren’t the one who killed her? After all, ye’re the ones who stumbled upon her so conveniently.”