The Battle for Duncragglin (5 page)

Alex wondered miserably if he should put his arm around her shoulder.

“Do you know why I don't believe she just left us? Because she took Tig – our dog,” Annie said. “She didn't even like him! He wasn't allowed to lie against the furniture or anything!”

Alex wondered how people could disappear in a “haunted” castle. “Maybe they got lost in the caves,” he suggested.

“The what?” Annie looked at him blankly.

“The caves. There's a whole labyrinth of caves under the castle, somewhere – really! A professor on the plane told me about them. Maybe we could find a way in!”

“Okay, let's say there are caves – and let's say we can find a way to get into them. What do you think we'd find?”

“Who knows? But if we find
anything
that suggests that your mother, or my parents, went into them, we could get
someone to do a proper search. And then we might find out what happened to them!”

“But there are a few problems,” said Annie. “First, we don't know where these caves are, and second, even if we find them, what's to keep
us
from getting lost?”

“I'm sure we'll figure something out.” Alex was getting excited. “We'll sneak off when your dad's working. We'll bring flashlights and maybe some chalk to mark the way we came.”

“But, that still leaves us with the biggest problem of all.”

“What's that?”

“The place is haunted!”

They sat silently. Alex wondered what manner of ghost or being might be in the castle or those caves, and how it might prey on people who entered. It dawned on him that he and Annie might disappear, just like others had disappeared before them. He shuddered.

“Dad said he was going to take us to the ruins tomorrow,” Annie said. “Let's see if we find anything that even remotely looks like it might be a way into those caves. If we find nothing, that's the end of that.”

“Should we tell Willie?”

“Yes, but not Craig. He might tell Dad – particularly if he gets mad at us over one thing or another. As you might have noticed, that happens a lot!”

They said good night and went back to their beds, both feeling excited and nervous.

By the time the boys came down for breakfast, Annie was watching TV in the front room and Mr. McRae was
in from the barn, removing his overalls by the side door.

“What was he doing out so early?” Alex asked.

“Milking cows, of course.” Willie punched the power button of a computer at a workstation in the corner of the front room. He slipped in his Annihilation disc and watched the computer flash through its start-up. “They need to be milked twice a day – every single lousy day.”

“Do you ever milk them?”

Willie snorted. “Not if I can help it. I sure don't want to get too good at it.”

Alex watched as Willie had a warrior, decked out with various armaments, go on a quest to fight underground monsters. Every swing of the warrior's sword sprayed a swath of monster blood. After each battle, the warrior stood, chest heaving, awaiting Willie's next mouse-click commands. Willie directed him to pick up coins and weapons that lay scattered about and to use a special potion to regain his strength.

Alex wished they could have a warrior like that to take with them into the caves.

Annie's show ended and she clicked off the TV. “Time for breakfast,” she announced. “What'll it be, French toast or eggs for dipping?”

“Eggs for dipping!” Craig and Willie cried out in unison. They looked at each other, startled.

Willie blurted: “Personal jinx, Craig, Craig, Craig.”

Craig yelled: “Personal jinx, Willie, Willie, Willie.”

But Willie shouted triumphantly: “I'm first – you can't talk now!”

Lips sealed, Craig made gagged
mmm, mmm
noises and signaled with his hands for Willie to release him from the jinx.

“Are you going to help make breakfast this time?” Willie asked.

“
Mmm
,
mmm.”

“Let's get going, Willie,” Annie said impatiently.

“But, it's Craig's turn to help … oh, darn.”

“Thanks.” Craig laughed, released from his jinx by Willie saying his name.

“Do ye like your eggs soft-boiled?” Annie asked Alex cheerily. “We can cook yours a bit more if you like.”

“No, that's fine,” Alex said dubiously.

Alex followed the others' lead as they dipped toast fingers into their eggs, pulling them back up dripping orange and taking a bite. He had never tasted an egg like this before.

“Free-range,” Annie said proudly. “Our hens get to move around. It makes their eggs taste better.”

Alex wasn't so sure.

“After breakfast, there'll be no more computer and TV,” Mr. McRae announced. “If we're to go to the ruins today, we've got to get
all
the jobs done early.”

“But we stacked extra straw –” Willie began.

“Aye, there's enough strewn about the barn to last a fortnight,” Mr. McRae noted wryly. “But that doesnae count. There are eggs to collect and hens to feed. Craig, that'll be your job. Annie, take Alex and show him how we feed the calves. I've left some milk for them in the buckets. Willie, grind up some more cow feed. Oh, and boys – have ye brushed y'r teeth yet?”

Oh, no….
Alex put his hand to his forehead.

The calves pressed eagerly against the bars of their small pens at the back of the barn. They were not nearly as nervous as their mothers. One stuck its nose through the bars and licked Alex's shirt.

Annie held up a plastic bottle. A calf sucked on it with all its might, slurping the milk down in seconds. Alex held a bottle up for another, laughing as the calf tugged at it, trying to pull it into its pen. The calves were all fed in minutes and were looking at Alex and Annie for more.

Alex stroked one on the forehead. “Why are they kept separate?” he asked. “Wouldn't it be nicer for them to be with their mothers?”

“It's for their safety.” Annie collected the empty bottles, tucking as many as she could under her arm. “Otherwise, they'd get trampled by the cows.”

“But why not put the calf and its mother together in a separate pen? Then there would be no need for us to feed them.”

“Can't you see there are not enough pens for that? And if Dad kept them together, he couldn't milk the mother cow.”

Alex didn't understand – the calves end up drinking the milk anyway – but he decided not to press her on it.

Jobs done, they left the barn, the door slamming behind them. They heard the grinder shut down. Moments later, Willie came out a side door, his face, hair, and shoulders powdery white. He slapped his clothes, raising clouds of dust.

“Have you told Willie about our plans?” Alex asked Annie.

“Aye!” Willie said. “And I think you two are right nutters to come up with such a daft idea! Imagine, running
off to explore a haunted castle. Who in their right minds would do such a thing? So …,” Willie rubbed his hands, “when do we go?”

Alex gave him a shove.

“We've got to get some things ready first,” Annie said briskly. “And we have to figure out how to get into the caves. There's no point in us sneaking off and then just wandering about aimlessly.”

Willie flung a stone over the plowed fields. Alex tried to match his distance, skipping to build up speed. The stone went to one side of Willie's and pinged off a crate.

“Hey!” The shout came from across the field, where a tall thin man with long hair was shaking his fist at them.

Willie shook his fist back.
“Go
boil your head.”

“Willie! Be nice!” Annie pulled his arm down. “We should be lending him a hand with all those crates, not throwing stones at him. Come on, let's go help him load.” Annie started out across the field. Willie followed, grumbling.

“Who is he?” Alex asked.

Willie kicked a clod of dirt. “He's a bum.”

“Willie! There's no reason to be so angry with him. You know Dad asked him to keep an eye on us. Dad can't be everywhere, you know, and he worries about us now that Mum's gone –”

“Yeah, but he didnae have to tell Dad about the rifle.”

“Duncan grows organic vegetables because he's a vegetarian. It upset him to see you shooting at birds – and besides, you're not allowed to touch that rifle. You could have killed someone!”

“Instead, it was Dad who killed me!”

“That's not Duncan's fault.”

Willie jammed his hands into his pockets. “You go help him. I've got better things to do.”

“Fine! Whatever!” Annie tossed her head and continued marching across the field.

Alex hesitated, but decided to stay with Annie. Willie did not look like good company right now. He was stomping off towards the farmhouse, where he'd probably do nothing but stare at the computer screen and have his warrior kill troll after troll. That was more fun to do than to watch.

Duncan swung another crate onto a flatbed trailer. He stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow. The field beyond was littered with crates packed full of vegetables.

“Hello, Annie,” he said, as she came up. “Have we got a new worker on the farm?”

“This is Alex, Mrs. Murray's nephew,” Annie replied. “He's come to stay with us seeing how she's not well.”

Duncan looked startled. “Fiona's nephew? George and Marian Macpherson's son?”

“You knew my parents?” Alex asked, equally surprised.

“Aye, that I did…. Your parents got me going in this here organic vegetable business … that they did. They were always ready to help people out, very fine folk….”

“So what happened to them then? Where did they go?”

Duncan shifted uncomfortably. “No one knows that, I'm sorry to say.”

Alex turned away and threw himself into helping. It was always the same: no one ever knew; no one ever had any suggestions as to what might have happened. He
struggled furiously with a crate that was heavier than expected. He got it clear of the ground and banged it against the side of the trailer. Duncan raised a hand to help, but held back. Alex staggered and dropped it onto the flatbed with a clatter.

Annie tapped him on the shoulder. “Can you help me with the next one?” she asked. “I can't manage it on my own.”

Alex scowled, but he bent to pick up an end of a crate with her. She counted, “One … two … heave.” The crate swung easily onto the trailer.

Annie slid the crate tight up against the others. “Duncan,” she asked sweetly, “would you perhaps know how to get into the caves?”

Duncan paused. “Caves?”

“Yes, caves. I'm sure you know about them. There's a whole lot of them under the castle.”

“They've been filled in and bricked up long ago.” Duncan pulled himself onto the tractor. The spring-cushioned seat creaked under his weight. He turned back to Annie. “And that was done for a reason – it's a very bad place. It's important that you stay away from there.”

“So there
are
caves there, then?”

“I didn't say that.” Duncan glared.

“Are they haunted?” Annie gave him a disarming, mischievous smile.

Duncan sighed. He pulled his long hair back with both hands, clutched it behind his neck, and let it fall down his back. “I'm not sure ‘haunted’ is the right word, but there's something strange about the place – which is all the more reason to stay away!”

“For sure! No way
we'd
want to go there,” Annie said.

Duncan eyed her suspiciously, but said nothing more. He revved the tractor, ground the gearshift into reverse, and backed the trailer for them to load another crate.

“A
lright, alright.” Mr. McRae put down his reading glasses. “A promise is a promise. But let me finish up my paperwork, then we can have lunch and head on out to the ruins.”

“Hooray!” Willie whooped. He and Annie threw together some ham and cheese rolls, grabbed a few apples, and persuaded Mr. McRae to let them pack them up and make it a picnic.

“Fine, fine.” He laughed. “Such enthusiasm! What's with the lot of ye?”

Since Duncan had taken the van, they all had to squeeze into Mr. McRae's little car: Annie up front, with the picnic basket on her lap, and Alex squeezed awkwardly between Willie and Craig in the back, each insisting on having a window seat. The car looked so old that Alex doubted it would start, but it sputtered, coughed, and revved up.