The Presence (9 page)

“That the castle is a small one, which wasn't on any tour maps or advertised about at all until we got here. And that, in a village such as Tillingham, there's no need to lock your doors,” Toni suggested.

Thayer shrugged. “I guess. I'm still feeling like an idiot.”

“Ditto,” Toni assured him.

“We ready?” Ryan asked, coming to the door.

“Aye,” Thayer assured him. “So where are we going?”

“Just down the hill and into the woods a bit. Gina wants to romp in a brook.” Ryan looked up. “I think it's going to rain.”

“Probably,” Thayer agreed cheerfully.

Kevin, coming to join them, said, “We'll probably catch the fricking flu. Do we really have to do this today?”

“If we're out on our arses come Monday, we might not get the opportunity again,” Thayer reminded him.

“True,” Kevin agreed. “All right, let's go frolic in a bubbling little brook.”

Gina came through the door. “It will be fun. Trust me.”

So they headed out. It was cool but not cold, which made the walk very pleasant. And the overcast sky was fascinating, painting the landscape around them in beautiful dark shades of green and mauve.

On distant hills, they could see an abundance of sheep. Climbing atop crags were also scattered groupings of the long-haired cattle that Toni had seen more frequently in the far north of the country. Apparently, they were popular in this area, too. Between the cattle, sheep, wildflowers, sloping hills, crags and cairns, the scenery around them was breathtaking.

“This place is really gorgeous,” Toni commented.

“It is—and we would have been a real boon for its economy,” Ryan said.

“Oh, yeah? There could have been a buildup of fast-food restaurants and Motel 8s all along the way,” Thayer said.

“Right! Like Scotland doesn't depend on tourism!” Ryan argued.

“The world goes round on tourism, I guess,” Thayer acknowledged.

“We've got a long walk back once it pours!” Kevin shouted down toward Gina, who was ahead of him along the path. She shot him the bird, and he laughed.

At the base of the hill, the canopy of trees began. The color was lighter, there, at the base, and oddly inviting. They followed Gina as she dashed into the woods. A minute later, she shouted out with delight, “There, look, how charming!”

A little curve in a brook jutted out into a dapple of light that made it through the branches overhead. Though the water was a bit dark under the threatening skies, the sound of it rushing over pebbles and stones was light and airy, and the shelter of the neighboring trees made it look like a little piece of heaven. The whole scene was charming.

Gina started hopping along in her haste to remove her socks and shoes and keep moving at the same time.

Toni found herself staring at the trees. Deeper in, be yond the immediate area of the brook, the forest was dark. The green canopy made it appear like a dark den that beckoned and yet, somehow, warned of evil. Staring into the verdant growth, suddenly she felt herself shiver as an uneasy feeling assailed her.

It was as if the trees were breathing. As if the entire shroud of dark green were a living being, an entity unto itself, something that crouched and waited, watching….

“Toni, what are you waiting for? It's great, sumptuous, wonderful, cool…” Gina said, her enthusiasm high.

Shaking off her unease, Toni rolled up her jeans and
started to travel carefully out into the middle of the rushing water.

“Ouch! Hey, we didn't think about the rocks under bare feet thing when we agreed to do this!” David shouted, following her example.

“Ouch, indeed!” Kevin cried. He hurried past David, but then hit a sharp rock, lost his balance and crashed into Toni.

Outraged and off balance, Toni went down. “Kevin!”

They were both on their butts, soaked in a foot of water. Kevin started to apologize, but then he stared at her and burst out laughing.

“Oh, you think this is funny! Get him, guys.”

At Toni's prompting, the rest of them piled on. And in a matter of minutes, the six of them were drenched, bedraggled and laughing hysterically.

At last, gasping for breath, mud from head to toe, Toni struggled to get up—and realized suddenly that they'd all fallen silent.

She tried to smooth back her muddy hair, and blink away the water and muck that was blinding her. Then she saw. Once again, the great laird of the manor had returned.

Bruce MacNiall was there, bareback on his great black, Shaunessy. He was watching them as if they were, indeed, part of a theater of the absurd. And there was the oddest expression on his face. Tension, anger? Toni wasn't sure. He looked like a thundercloud himself.

She thought that, for a moment, he stared beyond them, deeper into the forest, from…
from the place
where the eyes seemed to watch, from where the sense of breathing and evil seemed to emanate.

His eyes fell upon the group again.

With…relief? Toni wondered.

And when he spoke, his tone was pleasant enough.

“Having a good time?” he called pleasantly.

“Yeah!” Ryan said. He truly looked like an overgrown child. “It's great—wonderful. The water feels terrific.”

“A little cold,” Gina said. She sounded nervous, as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have.

“We're having a wonderful time,” Toni said, staring at Bruce. Surely, once in a while, he let down that stern guard and simply had fun. “Really, you just need to have a bit of a sense of humor to be down here.”

“Great,” MacNiall called to them from the height of his stallion's back. He smiled. “Glad you're having a good time. You might want to watch out for the leeches, though.”

They were dead still, like a tableau.

Then Kevin shrieked,
“Leeches?”

Toni didn't think that she had ever moved so quickly. The same might be said for the others as they scrambled over one another to get out of the stream as quickly as possible. She knocked into Kevin. Ryan tripped over his own wife. Toni reached down to Gina, and in his haste to do the same, Ryan knocked Toni back down. Thayer caught hold of Toni, David helped both Ryan and Gina, and Kevin was on his own. Finally, after a scene straight from the Three Stooges, the six of them made it out of the water and to the shore. And there they
began to hop up and down, checking what parts of one another they could actually see.

Gina, screaming, banged at her thigh. “There's one on me! Get it! Get it!”

They ran around behind her, staring her up and down.

“There's nothing there,” Toni said.

“There is!”

“No, honestly, there's nothing there. Look, let's just get back to the castle—and the showers!” Toni said. She, too, was feeling things all over.

 

Twenty minutes later, after a fierce pounding of hot water, Toni was sure that she had none of the little buggers on her. Wrapped in her terry robe, she emerged into her room, ready to find clean, warm clothing.

What she found instead was Bruce MacNiall, in her room, getting the fire going. Hunched down by the hearth, he coaxed kindling and logs to flame. In the light, his hair was sleek, blue-black in its darkness. As he moved, she was aware of the breadth of his shoulders and, oddly, a sense of the power within them. It was almost as if he, too, like his long-dead ancestor, had hefted the great weight of a sword or battle-ax to gain such a strength.

She swallowed, feeling a strange quickening. It was one thing to acknowledge that he was an imposing, exceptionally attractive man. It was quite another to feel…such a strange affinity with him. She needed him out of the room—now.

“Hmm,” she murmured, crossing her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall and forcing a pleasant tone to her voice. “Interesting. I could have sworn that I
had to vacate the room on the other side of the bath since that one was
yours.
” At the end, her tone had risen. She couldn't help it; she was unnerved by his appearance. It might be his castle, and he might have fallen asleep in her chair, but still…he had no right to be in here.

“Sorry,” he said coolly, rising. “I certainly didn't mean to be intrusive. I had hoped to get this going and be out before you were finished.” There seemed to be a slight smile on his face. She immediately felt even more defensive. “I thought you might want some warmth. It's chilly out there, and the rain has begun. Interesting day for a lark in the water.”

“Sorry. The concept of wading through the rushing water was a bit too much for us to resist.”

“
Wading
through the rushing water? That was more like a mass, a Holy-Roller baptism!”

“Yes, yes, I know. We got a bit carried away,” she said. “We're silly Americans, being fools playing in the brook or the brae or whatever the hell it is. You'll have to for give us. We were just having fun. I have heard that the Scots are just a bit dour, so you probably wouldn't under stand.”

“Seeing as how I lack a sense of humor, you mean,” he murmured.

“Well, we're very close friends. And maybe such a thing wouldn't exactly be
your
cup of tea, but I would hope that you could appreciate a little silliness. Call it an American sense of humor.”

Dark lashes swept over his eyes and his grin deepened as he gave the fire a last prod. Then he rose and headed for the door to the hall. But as he passed her, he paused.

“Yes, of course, an American sense of humor. Surely
I can appreciate that. And I hope that you can appreciate a Scottish sense of humor.”

“What do you mean by that?” she demanded, very aware of the size and scope of the man, and the smile that lent a certain charm to his face.

“Well, there are no leeches in that brook,” he said lightly, and exited the room before she could reply.

T
oni stood next to Gina on the upper landing while David played his role as the kitchen maid below. They grinned at one another as they heard the laughter.

“This was such a good idea,” Gina murmured.

“Right. If only we really had a lease option on the castle,” Toni replied.

“Under the circumstances, Bruce has been really above and beyond,” Gina said.

“Oh?”

“This afternoon I showed him our papers again. He inspected them closely, then said that they certainly looked as if they were in order. He was very sympathetic. He even called his insurance company. Though he's willing to help us, he didn't particularly want to get sued.”

“I thought we had insurance,” Toni said.

“We did. It covered us and damage, but apparently I didn't read the fine print well enough. We also need a special clause to cover anyone who might get hurt. And we really should have more signs and warnings out. Anyway, he's taking care of it.”

“All that, for just tonight?” Toni murmured.

“I'm getting the feeling that he might let us go on
awhile,” Gina said. “Long enough to make some money, anyway.”

“I guess we'll see,” Toni murmured.

“David is about to introduce you,” Gina murmured. “He was a bit strange about this afternoon, though, don't you think. I mean, about our foray into the brook.”

“There are no leeches,” Toni murmured back.

“Oh, he told us that,” Gina said. “But I don't think it was actually the idea of us in the brook that disturbed him so much. It was the fact that we were in the forest. At lunch he was adamant about us staying out of the forest.”

Toni felt a little shiver snake through her. She could remember how the forest had made her feel. As if it were alive. As if there were eyes. Watching.

“You're up!” Gina said.

Toni walked out to the landing in the white gown and began to talk about the great Bruce MacNiall, passionate in his defense of king and country. “There were those who called him a hero, and those who called him a monster. Be that as it may, he never wavered in his loyalty, or in his passion. In the end, the great Bruce, like Shakespeare's Othello, would find his undoing in his passion and in his heart. For years, he bested Cromwell's forces. For years, as he rode the countryside and fought, he loved his wife, Annalise. Yet, while he strayed far from home, rumors reached him of her infidelity. He returned, her betrayal like a blade that dug into his heart greater than the wounds inflicted by any real sword.”

That night, there was no mighty bolt of lightning, no massive crack of thunder. Yet, Bruce MacNiall arrived on the great black in a stunning burst of speed and
noise and perfection. He was not dressed as he had been the night before, but rather in period breeches, with a leather chest guard, his family colors apparent in the great length of tartan swept around his shoulders and pinned there with a silver brooch. A typical Scots knife was in a sheaf at his calf. His sword belt was buck led to his hip and swung with pure theatricality as he dismounted from Shaunessy.

The sight of him caused that strange quickening sensation in her again. He indeed appeared fierce.

Tonight—maybe because he'd had that talk about insurance with Gina—Ryan was there to take the great black the minute the man dismounted.

There was a roar of pleasure and then applause from the crowd as he came to the floor and looked up the stairs.

Toni still had no idea what he actually did for a living, but he could have been an actor. He ignored the crowd so completely, all those people might not have existed at all. When his eyes fell upon her, her own breath caught. And when he started up the stairs, more imposing than ever in his historical attire, she found herself taking a step back.

“Annalise!”

There was a hiss at the end of the word that sent shivers down her spine.

“Even upon the field of battle, word of your treachery comes to me!” he bellowed.

The crowd was dead silent as he took the steps slowly and fluidly.

She tried to remind herself that she was acting. “Nae, you're wrong, you're deceived!” she cried out. And as he neared her, she continued, the argument in her voice
certainly sounding very real. “Would you doubt me so easily, m'laird? All these long days, weeks, months! I do naught but wait…for your return.”

“Lies fall prettily from your lips!” he informed her, moving closer.

“Never! I do not lie! I swear it!”

“Annalise…!”

Again, the hiss at the end of the name. And then, he was there.

“Wife! Beloved wife!” he said, reaching out for her, crushing her into his arms. His fingers trailed into the length of her hair. “Wife!” he cried out again.

His face was buried against her throat. And when he whispered, “How am I doing?” he caught her completely off guard. She realized her own terrible tension, and the way that the bulwark of his chest felt against her own. There was something so incredibly electric and vital about him. She had become a victim of her own fantasy, caught up in the strength of his hold, the rich scent of his aftershave and the whisper of his breath against her neck.

“Uh…great!” she managed to whisper back.

“Beloved, betrayer!” he exclaimed then in a sudden fury, shoving her from him.

“Nae!” she shrieked, feeling a real unease for a moment.

Then his hands were around her throat, his fingers so long that he could wind them around her neck without putting the least pressure on her.

“Sweet Jesu, how could you betray me so?” His cry was full of passion and pathos.

Everyone below was dead silent, feeling the laird's pain and yet horrified at what he was about to do.

He shook her.

Toni grasped his hands, pleading, gasping. “Nae, nae, I have done naught but love you, naught but…love you.”

He supported her as she slowly sank to her knees before him.

In another piece of perfect theater, he held her still. His face came closer to hers.

“Annalise…”

His lips touched hers, just briefly.

“Before God! I cannot bear it!”

Again he pretended to shake her as his fingers tightened around her neck. Toni was stunned by the entire show herself. She managed to die in a pile of white silk at his feet. And then there was silence from below again. Real silence.

Bruce MacNiall knew how to work a crowd. He rose to his full height, gripped the banister and looked down at the silent people gaping up at him.

“Can't really throw her down the stairway, folks, she might get hurt!”

There was a burst of laughter and then the thunder of applause. The tourists were thrilled.

David, Kevin and Thayer, down among them, were still gaping. Then David came to his senses.

“Tea and scones, ladies and gentlemen. If you'll follow me to the laird's ancient kitchen, we'll have a bit of a repast!”

Still on the floor, Toni knew she should be delighted that they were doing so very well—even if their host had stolen the show.

As the crowd filed out, she heard them exclaiming
about what a great experience it had been, how real, how it was almost as if they could touch the past.

“Are you getting up, Toni?”

He was hovering over her, a hand extended. She accepted it, coming to her feet.

Gina came running out from the hallway, practically crashing into Bruce. “You were incredible! Magnificent. My lord, just phenomenal!”

“Thank you.” He inclined his head, accepting the compliment.

“We didn't even rehearse anything,” she continued with awe.

“Well, walking up the stairs and pretending to strangle someone is really not so hard,” Bruce said with a shrug.

“But you came up with lines! Hey, my own heart was beating, and I know the story. Well, Toni's story…anyway, it was just amazing.”

“Toni?” Bruce inquired politely. “Was everything all right with you?”

She didn't get to answer.

David, apparently having escaped tea-and-scone duty, came running up the stairs. Excitedly taking hold of Toni, he gave her a hug, then told Bruce, “Wow! You had me shaking in my boots down there. I almost ran up here to tell you that you couldn't really do it! What a fabulous laird you make!”

“He is a laird,” Toni reminded him. Meeting Bruce's eyes, gray as slate, unfathomable, she added, “And I don't think the concept of strangling any of us is a big stretch.” She offered him a rueful smile, thinking her words a joke. Yet, for a moment, as he stared back at her, she felt anger emitting from him.

“The concept of strangling anyone should not come easy to any man,” he said. “Well, madam manager,” he said, addressing Gina, “did last evening help?”

“Oh, certainly… Of course, we'd need to work this a long time to begin to recoup our investment, but you have saved us—really!” Gina told him. “I know that you're a busy man, and that we certainly can't count on you every night, but is there a possibility that…” She paused, unsure of her words, then plunged right in. “I'm rambling here. Actually, what I'm doing is begging. Bruce, would you consider giving us a little run? We had nothing booked tomorrow or Monday, but our people in Stirling and Edinburgh were taking reservations for the rest of the week.”

Bruce was dead still. Then he sighed.

“I would love to accommodate you, really, I would.”

“Then do!” Gina pleaded prettily.

Bruce shook his head. “There's a situation going on here,” he said. “I really think it would be safer if you all weren't here.”

“What situation?” Ryan asked, joining them.

“There's a serial killer in Scotland, or so they believe,” Bruce said.

Gina shook her head. “Yes, I read in the paper that a couple of girls had disappeared, and that their bodies had been discovered later in the woods. But I'm not sure I understand what that has to do with us and our performances.”

“I agree with Gina,” Toni said, looking at Bruce. “This is very serious, of course, but it's not as if we're a hotel and it's our guests who are becoming victims.”

Bruce's slate eyes fixed on her.

“I think there's a bit of this story you're all missing,” Bruce said.

“And what's that?” Gina asked.

“There's another girl missing right now,” he said.

“But she wasn't from here, right?” Toni said. “I've seen the newspapers. He's attacking prostitutes, right?”

Bruce sighed. “You aren't understanding my point. There's a serial murderer at work. He's been taking his time, and he's been careful enough that, once the victims have been found, the police have gotten almost nothing from clues left on the remains to help them capture the man. And yes, he's been attacking prostitutes, but there's no guarantee this man won't change his choice of victim. Besides, even if you two young la dies are not in personal danger, don't you think it's rather in bad taste to stage this event when women have so recently been murdered?” he demanded.

“Were they strangled?” Ryan asked.

Bruce shook his head impatiently. “They don't know. The bodies were in such a severe state of decomposition when they were found that the medical examiners couldn't pin down the cause of death.”

They stood awkwardly on the stairway. Voices began to rise from below.

“You and your friend could have been minstrels, you were adorable,” a young woman was telling Kevin as he led the group back through the great hall to exit the main doors.

“Aw, shucks!” Kevin said. “Thanks!”

David turned to hurry down the stairs and help.

“We've got to go bid them all good-night,” Gina murmured. “Even if it is our last performance, we should
play it out properly.” She linked arms with Toni and they started down, followed by the others.

A tall, elderly fellow walked up to Toni. He spoke with an English accent, from somewhere far to the south. “Young lady, we were laughing away, enjoying it tremendously. But when you died! My poor heart just broke.”

“Well, thank you.”

A younger man stepped up. “Pete and me were about to race up the stairs and save you!” he told her, indicating his friend.

Pete, a blond fellow about the same age, grinned. “Yeah, but the concept of an encounter with the Bruce kind of quelled the idea,” he said, causing a rise of laughter among the entire group now traipsing out.

“How could you, man?” the first fellow said, looking over Toni's head.

She was startled when Bruce set an arm around her. “Ah, well, the lass was not doing as she ought, and I'm afraid that back then…well, that particular Bruce was known to be loyal to a fault, good to those who supported him, lethal to those who betrayed him.”

“Is the story real?” Pete asked.

“Laird Bruce MacNiall was real,” Bruce assured him. “As to the disposal of his wife, no one knows. She simply fell from the pages of history, so anything about her is just local lore. Poor Bruce did meet a sad end. Since his Annalise perished tonight, we didn't include the part about him castrated, hanged until half-dead, disemboweled and beheaded.”

“Ugh!” someone said from the crowd.

“Luckily, that was several hundred years ago,” Bruce said.

“Luckily!” the older man said. “Honey, I couldn't strangle you, no matter what you did!”

“Thank you,” Toni told him.

“I think poor Annalise was innocent. I mean, why cheat on a fellow like that?” a young woman said with awe, smiling at Bruce. A little too wistfully, Toni thought, surprised by her own annoyance. “So…does the great Laird MacNiall sweep up his wife and carry her off to the master's chambers?”

A quick no came to Toni's throat. But as she'd noted earlier, Bruce knew how to play to a crowd.

“Of course,” he said simply. And turning, he swept Toni off her feet as effortlessly as if she were a rag doll and started for the stairs.