right to sleep during the day, though the sky did look more like dusk. There were things that needed attending to, like the threat to Aliss and her. She needed to give it her immediate attention.
She yawned and cuddled beneath the wool blanket, and in seconds fell asleep.
Tarr spoke briefly with Kirk in the great hall, issuing orders meant for their ears alone, before he hurried out of the keep to greet Odo and his men. They had met briefly when he arrived with Anya, but in all the excitement he had had little time to speak with him. When it was made known what had happened, Odo instantly volunteered to search the area for the culprit, hence his delay in arriving at Hellewyk.
Raynor was already greeting his uncle with a bear hug and a slap on the back.
Tarr took note of Odo’s size, tall and broad with a full gray beard that seemed to swallow up his mouth. His gray eyes were sharp for a man whose weathered and wrinkled face made him appear well into fifty years.
He dressed like men from the north in furs and leather, and he spoke in a Viking tongue with Raynor, though switched quickly enough to the Scottish tongue on Tarr’s approach.
“Your men are diligent, they went over our tracks,” Odo said in lieu of a greeting.
Tarr held out his hand. “They obey orders.”
Odo grinned and gripped his hand in a firm shake.
Tarr responded, his hand like a vise that refused to let go until finally Odo relented, easing his grip.
“You found nothing?” Tarr asked, directing Odo into the great hall where food and drink awaited him and his men.
“Not a sign or a disturbance,” he answered, entering the hall and following Tarr to the dais. His men dispersed to the tables laden with food and drink. They stripped off their fur cloaks and hurried to feast on the inviting banquet.
Tarr took the center seat on the dais while Raynor and Odo flanked him.
As soon as drinks were poured and plates filled, Tarr asked, “Tell me what you know of the twins’ abduction.”
“There is not much to tell. One day they were safe in their cradles and the next day they were gone.”
“What of the slave who kidnapped the twins?”
Odo shrugged. “I knew little about her private life, just that she spent most of her time tending to Anya, Raynor, or the twins.”
“She cared for the twins?”
“Aye,” Odo said. “She knew her place and her duty.”
“Who else could possibly mean the twins harm?” Tarr asked.
Odo shook his head. “We went over the same questions years ago and found no answers. We could find no reason for the abduction. No one would benefit from the twins’ disappearance. There simply was no reason for their abduction.”
“There had to be a reason,” Tarr argued. “And I intend to find it.” Then he left Odo feasting with his men and Raynor, and met with Kirk in his solar.
“What have you learned?” he asked his trusted friend.
“Whoever does this, leaves no tracks.”
Tarr frowned. “How is that possible? There are always tracks to follow.”
“Not with this one. The men have gone over the whole area and have found nothing. They grumble amongst themselves, insisting it is a ghost who haunts the twins.”
Tarr pounded his fist on the table. “It is no apparition, but a man of flesh and blood who hunts the twins.”
“How do we find him if he leaves no tracks?”
“Every hunter leaves a track and we are going to find it.”
Tarr crept into his bedchamber after giving further instructions to Kirk. Fiona was curled in his bed sleeping and he did not wish to wake her. He merely wished to make certain she was all right.
He went to the bed, slipping out of his shirt and tossing it to the floor as he went. He would change into a clean one for the evening meal. He tucked the strip of plaid that ran over his shoulder around his waist as he reached the bed.
Fiona was sound asleep and completely naked, the blanket only partially covering her. One long leg and part of her firm backside lay exposed. Her bright red hair crowned her like a wreath of flames and her cheeks were rosy from their recent scrubbing.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, and shedding his plaid and boots he crawled in next to her.
He only wanted to hold her, nothing more. He pressed his body gently to hers and draped his arm over her, sliding his hand beneath the blanket