out of here."
Musketeer Sharpus beckoned me over.
"Take this man away, for Heaven's sake," he said loudly. "He's making a nuisance of himself." Then he leaned over and said quietly in my ear, "Will you be in Edinburgh tomorrow?"
I hadn't dared to think so far ahead.
"I suppose so. Is he really free to go?"
"Yes! But take him away quickly! Meet me at six in the evening, at the door of the High Kirk. I'd like to tell you ... I need to ask you..."
He looked down, unable to meet my eyes.
Another guard was coming to the door.
"Come on, Uncle," I said, tugging at Uncle Blair's arm. "It's over. It really is over! Quick, let's go before they change their minds and call you back inside."
***
It was the strangest thing, to be walking freely beside my uncle out of the town of Leith and up the hill to Edinburgh. The hot August sun was tempered by a cool wind from the sea, which sparkled in the distance. Larks rose from the stubble in the harvested fields. Ahead, a golden mist was forming around the crown of Arthur's Seat, which rose on the far side of the city. I had the oddest feeling that I had left Hell behind me and was walking up to Heaven.
"Isn't this wonderful?" I burst out, facing my uncle again. "You can go home, Uncle! You're free! And there's no shame to you. They never asked you. You didn't betray anyone."
I saw with dismay that he didn't share my joy. He had stopped to lean against a wall.
"I must sit for a minute." He sank down on the bank. "How did this happen, Maggie? Why did they let me go? I didn't offer money for a bond. I couldn't have afforded it."
I longed to tell him what I suspected, that Musketeer Sharpus had persuaded the clerk to take his name off the list, but I held my tongue. I didn't understand myself why he would have done such a thing, and, anyway, I thought it would be dangerous to let Uncle Blair probe too closely. His tender conscience might oblige him to return to Leith and give himself back into custody. I said nothing and waited to see which way his mind would turn.
"This is the Lord's doing," he said at last, to my relief. "But why have I been singled out for this great blessing? Why has he chosen me for freedom and sent my poor brethren far away into foreign lands?"
I saw that I didn't need to answer. He was lost in his own thoughts.
"I'll never know!" he cried out. "I can never be sure!"
"What do you mean, Uncle? What won't you know?"
He sighed.
"As I stood there in that awful place, waiting for my name to be called, I was in such an agony of spirit, Maggie. I heard the voice of my Savior urging me to be faithful even unto death, but at the same time I could see the face of my dear wife, calling me home. My courage was weakening. I saw several fail and submit, and in my heart I despised them. But would I have been one of them? If I had stood before that proud and sinful judge, the instrument of our cruel king, would I have had the courage to stand firm?"
"Well," I said briskly, jumped to my feet and putting a hand under his elbow to help him rise. "If God had wished you to be put to the Test, he would have let it happen. But he has freed you, and you should be glad and rejoice."
He gave me a wavering smile.
"Oh, my dear, how wise you are! How easy it is to forget to offer praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessings he showers upon us!"
"And, anyway," I went on. "We'd better keep going, because we have to find somewhere to lodge tonight."
I didn't tell him that I'd spent the last of my Dunnottar earnings and had handed the rest of Tam's money in payment to Musketeer Sharpus for the food he'd helped me procure along the way. I knew what I had to do. After all this time, when I'd held on to it through thick and thin, the moment had come to sell my father's buckle.
But Uncle Blair surprised me by saying tranquilly, "We'll have no difficulty over lodging. I have a cousin who lives in Bells Wynd. He'll be pleased to take us in."
I was startled. A cousin of my