tae get yeself intae so much trouble? I’ve ken ye less than a day, and so far ye’ve managed tae crash a ship, get captured by the MacLeans, and be trampled by a boar.” Ciaran couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice as he bent and offered Red a hand.
“You forgot getting drenched, punched in the face, and falling down a mountain.” Red glared at him but took his hand in a nice firm grip, got to his feet, and dusted off his backside. “How is any of that my fault? And you chased that boar into me.”
Right on cue, the beast in question let out a screech and charged the gate again.
“It’s Timothy.” Louisa came over to them and slung her arm over Red’s shoulder. “It’s always Timothy’s fault. Timothy gets him into trouble.”
Ciaran frowned and glanced around again. Who was this other fellow she spoke of? Or did she mean Red? “Timothy? I thought his name was Bannon?”
“Ha!” Red pointed at him and shrugged off Louisa’s arm. “You do know my name.”
“Of course, I ken ye name, but I like Red better. It fits ye.”
“I….” Red shook his head and closed his eyes briefly, but smiled.
Damn, but he was a handsome man. His pale complexion had returned to its normal smoothness. He had freckles just over the bridge of his nose and a light smattering on each cheek. They were utterly charming and gave him a mischievous air.
“Bannon is an artist, and Timothy is his muse,” Louie said with a bright smile. “Every artist needs a muse.”
“His wot?” Agatha stepped into their little circle, her face scrunching a little.
Bannon groaned and glared at Louisa. “Would you hush?”
But she didn’t hush—she beamed up at Ciaran as though she were imparting a not-so-secret secret. “You know, it’s like a voice in his head.”
Agatha nodded. “I hear voices in me heid too.”
Red gawked at her, glanced up at her hair, then over at the boar, which was still screeching. With a serious face, he nodded. “Well, that explains a lot.”
Ciaran wasn’t sure what to make of that, but then Red’s lips twitched.
Agatha burst out laughing, and Red wasn’t far behind.
Louisa held her composure for a moment by pressing her lips tightly together, but she too lost it.
Lord help me. Ciaran grinned. As if Agatha, Ian, and Fiona weren’t enough. Something told him Red and Louisa were going to fit right in with his family while they were here.
“Oh! My laird!”
They all turned toward the voice.
Hamish stood at the edge of the castle wall. He glanced at the boar inside Maggie’s garden, then met Ciaran’s gaze and winced.
“Where have ye been?” Ciaran asked.
The others stopped laughing.
Clearing his throat, Hamish actually blushed. “I, er…. Well, that is tae say…. Auld Man MacAlister stopped me in the village tae tell me he saw someone with chickens yesterday, heading away from the keep.”
Ciaran raised a brow and decided to save his lecture about guard duty, because this could be a good lead. He needed to find out what happened to the chickens, and the cattle for that matter. “Who did he see?”
“He couldna make them out, but….” Hamish shot the boar a glare, then looked back over his shoulder.
A sense of dread engulfed Ciaran before the big man turned back around and said, “Maggie is on her way here. She stopped tae talk tae the tanner.”
“Bluidy hell.” Ciaran studied the garden with a sigh of resignation.
The boar was now rooting up turnips. There were several broken corn stalks and at least three smashed melons. The garden had not fared well.
Agatha let out a squeal that nearly rivaled the boar’s. “Ciaran, what will we do? We have to fix this!”
“Who is Maggie?” Red asked.
Now she thinks of fixing it? Ciaran gawked at her, then shook his head. They couldn’t fix this. They’d just have to make reparations for it. He opened his mouth to tell her just that, but the devastation on her face stopped him.
She started shaking her head. “We cannae. She already wants tae vote ye out as laird.” Apparently, Agatha had been listening at the door to his meeting with the council. She and Fiona were both notorious eavesdroppers.
“She can tr—”
Still shaking her head, Agatha slapped a hand over his mouth, and her eyes shone with tears. “Nae, ye dinna ken her. She has a lot of sway o’er the others. She kens their secrets.”
“I ken their secrets too.” Ciaran wasn’t worried about it—the council was not going to threaten him—but Agatha