THE LAST LAIRD

Chapter 12 - Danger

15 YEARS LATER

I sat in the car keeping one eye on the track as I typed a reply text on my phone, a faint smile on my face. Those two never met a track they didn't want to walk. Their 'we'll just take a quick look' could result in me sitting here for an hour or even two if they lost track of time and ended up hiking further than they expected. I didn't mind, it meant I could catch up on my work without feeling guilty, and we didn't really need to be in Edinburgh until tomorrow. I'd let the hotel know once I had an idea of when we would get there.

I dozed off eventually. I had answered all my messages, updated my social media and put on an audio book I had downloaded for research. The droning voice discussing clan feuds and alliances in the sixteenth and seventeenth century worked better than a sleeping pill. The sudden opening of the car door and Blair's breathless laughter woke me. A moment later William climbed in beside me.

"Hello sleepyhead," he said. In the past fifteen years, his thick brogue had softened to a more modern Scottish burr, except in more emotional moments.

"Jeez Mum," Blair laughed. "You will fall asleep anywhere! You missed a great tramp today. The view was amazing!"

I stretched with a laugh. "You would have complained the whole time that I couldn't keep up."

"Well, I'm famished!"

"I could go a feed, what about you lass?" William asked me.

My stomach rumbled on cue and we all laughed.

"Let's find somewhere to eat."

We drove until we found a pub that was open for dinner. Blair headed off to use the restroom and William pulled me in for a hug.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Maybe we should see if this place has a room, or two?"

"It's about a thousand years old," I said, glancing around at the gloomy architecture. "If they have rooms, they probably have a share bathroom."

"It is pretty old, I have stayed here.....before."

"Really?" Occasionally he would mention how things had changed or places he had been, but this was a first.

"Yes, it was an inn back then as well, a stop from Inverness to Edinburgh. Same as today really."

"OK, I'll ring the hotel and let them know we won't be there until the morning, and you check this place or somewhere nearby at least."

I called the hotel in Edinburgh while I stood outside the bathroom waiting for my daughter. She came out, her hair mussed, her cheeks ruddy from the exertion, her smile wide.

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Oh Mum," she moaned. "Of course I did, what kind of grot do you think I am? Where's Da?"

"He's seeing if we can stay here tonight, we won't make it to Edinburgh at this rate."

"Cool," she said. Nothing fazed her, she was just like her father. We had decided this would be the weekend we would tell her about where he came from. She was fourteen, we thought she could handle it now. William was walking towards us, on his phone.

"Thanks Lucy," he was saying. Lucy was Gwen and Margaret's daughter. They were our back-ups at the Last Laird on the very few occasions we took time to get away.

"Hi Luce!" Blair called toward the phone. There was less than a year difference in their ages, and they were great friends. I smiled at William. No doubt she'd been texting the girl nonstop since we left.

"Everything OK?" I asked as he hung up.

"Just letting me know next weekend is now booked out. But we'll be back by then." He put the phone back in his pocket. "Oh, and they have a room for us here. It has a double bed and a single sofa bed, and an ensuite bathroom. Apparently they did a complete reno a couple of years ago. I'm interested to see what they've done."