Roderick's Purpose - Ellie St. Clair

Prologue

July 10, 1866 ~ Aldourie, Scotland

Roderick laughed and laughed, his breath coming in short, quick gasps as he tried to catch up to his brother and cousin who had already made it to the top of the hill. “Wait!” he yelled out. “I’m coming!”

They ignored him, as they always did. Gregor and Callum were a few years older than he and, of course, could move much quicker, but that never stopped Roderick. He, in turn, refused to wait for Adam and his little sister, and though Peg had come close to catching him, he would never let himself be beaten by a wee lass.

When they crested the hill, Roderick launched himself in the air, rolling down the grassy knoll as his dog, Chance, bounced beside him, seemingly watching over him to make sure he wasn’t hurting himself. Chance had a tough job, his mother always said, as Roderick was forever getting himself into one scrape or another. He had broken his arm falling out of the big oak in the woodland, had nearly drowned diving into the shallow rocks of the lake, and had hacked a gash in his leg while trying to chop wood with the older men. His mother said at this rate she would become quite a skilled healer, simply because she was always trying to mend her children.

Roderick landed at the bottom of the hill next to his brother, and soon enough Peggy and Adam joined them. They lay there laughing as Chance licked their ears and jumped around them, urging them up to play. They finally acquiesced, and Callum suggested they go find Finlay. Roderick rolled his eyes at the idea — Finlay never wanted to play. He followed the rest of them, but stayed back and watched when they arrived at the castle bailey where they weaved in and out of the men at work.

Roderick had other ideas, however. He continued on his own, down to the loch. He climbed to their favorite diving spot and looked out at the water below. He stretched out his arms, feeling the wind flow through his hair, and he closed his eyes as he tilted his head up to the sky to feel the warm sun on his face. He never felt such contentment as he did out here. With the blue of the loch stretching out far and wide in front of him, bordered by the dark-green pine trees of the mountains, Roderick felt a sense of both peace and abandon that he couldn’t quite describe.

Already barefoot, he stretched up tall and then dove into the water below, splashing in the waves. He swam toward shore so that his mother wouldn’t get upset with him, and then flipped over onto his back, staring up at the sky.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Chapter 1

1886 - Qu'Appelle, Northwest Territory

Roderick pulled at his collar. The red wool of his uniform was itchy in the heat of the July sun, and the perspiration was already trickling down his back. He swatted at a mosquito and readjusted his wide-brimmed hat over his sweat-soaked hair, damning the way the tight jacket he wore restricted his movements.

“Corporal McDougall!” came the call, and Roderick snapped back to attention. He was hoping Sergeant McLaren was speaking to his brother, but as he looked around at all of the eyes upon him, Roderick sighed, realizing that, once again, he was the subject of the man’s pointed stare.

“Aye, Sergeant?” he asked, attempting to hide his impatience. Could they not just get on with it? In the amount of time they spent sitting around discussing cases like a women’s book club, they could have doubled their efforts in catching criminals.

“I asked if ye felt capable of completing your role in this investigation?”

“Aye, Sir.”

McLaren narrowed his eyes at him. Roderick’s brother, Callum, was friends with the man, but Roderick just couldn’t see why anyone would want to spend more time than was absolutely necessary with him.

“Can you, McDougall, repeat back to me what that role is?” McLaren said, maintaining the stance and demeanor of a soldier while doing all but rolling his eyes at Roderick.

“I am to be stationed at the Hudson’s Bay building in Qu'Appelle so that the next time the gang of thieves strike — and we believe it to be here or in a nearby town due to their pattern — we are on the ground to capture them as it happens.”

“Very good, McDougall,” the sergeant said, and Roderick thought perhaps he caught a slight measure