to go to work soon, you see, otherwise you would be able to stay here. Perhaps we’ll take you back home when we’ve all eaten.’
‘That’s okay,’ Cameron said. ‘I said you’d probably have to go to the hospital. I remembered from last time we were here.’
Izzy sat down to eat her toasted sandwich with Lorna and the children, chatting to them about life up at the castle. ‘Are you settling in all right?’ she asked.
Molly nodded. ‘It’s kind of exciting. There’s loads of rooms and we can go in any of them.’
‘And there’s a winding staircase that goes up and up,’ Cameron said. ‘And there are lots of doors. I nearly got lost, and Uncle Ross had to come and find me. He said I was in the pantry, but it was big—like a room.’
A few minutes later Izzy left them talking to Lorna while she went into the hall to phone Ross in private. It was a while before he answered.
‘Did I wake you?’ she asked.
‘No. I was some distance from the phone.’ His voice was deep, warm and soothing, and to hear him was a little like sipping at rich, melting chocolate. ‘I was checking the rooms to see where the children might be hiding. They’ve taken to disappearing of a morning, and usually I manage to find them in what used to be the servants’ quarters. They seem to like playing in the smaller rooms. I’ve never known such early birds. Where on earth do they get their energy from?’
‘The fountain of youth, I should imagine.’ She hesitated. ‘So I take it you’re still looking for them? Have you tried the kitchen?’
‘I’m heading there now.’ He made a soft intake of breath. ‘I should have taken time to dress properly—these stone floors are cold. I need to get some carpets in here…or install under-floor heating.’
She imagined him padding barefoot over the floor, but her mind skittered away from delving any further into what he might be wearing—or not wearing, as the case may be. ‘You should try living in my cottage,’ she said, her tone dry. ‘We don’t have the luxury of central heating at the moment, since your estate manager hasn’t attended to our requests for repairs, whereas you at least have the comfort of a range cooker in your kitchen, if I remember correctly.’ She had ventured up to the castle in search of her errant cousin one day years ago, and the memory had stayed with her ever since.
‘You’re welcome to come and share it with me any time, Izzy. I think I told you that once before, but you were reluctant to take me up on the offer, as I recall. I guess you were worried about what your father might think if he found you there.’ She heard a door hinge creak. ‘Nope, they’re not in here.’
‘I expect you’ll find a note on the table,’ she murmured.
He was silent for a moment, taking that in, before he said on a disbelieving note, ‘Are you telling me you know where they are?’
‘That’s about the size of it. Molly wanted to keep you informed.’ There was a rustling of paper from the other end of the line. ‘Have you found it? What does it say?’
He laughed throatily. ‘Well, you’re perfectly right—there are some weird hieroglyphics scrawled on a scrap of paper, if that counts. I’ll see if I can decipher it.’ There was a pause, and she could imagine his frown. ‘Here we go, it says, “U wudnt wayk up, so we is gon down the ill to get sum fink to eet. Luv, Molly nd Camron.” Brilliant.’ There was a smile in his voice. ‘I suppose that’s not bad for a five-year-old.’
‘There you are, you see. What could be clearer? The children were starving, and you were off in the land of nod, so they had to fend for themselves. Fortunately for them we were able to give them breakfast and make sure that they’re warm and looked after, but I daren’t think what might have happened if we hadn’t been here.’ She used a stern tone, but Ross was still chuckling over the note, and that served to make her crosser than ever.
‘I know what you’re saying,’ he said, amusement threading his voice, ‘and you’re right, it’s definitely not a good state of affairs…But you have to give them full marks for initiative, don’t you? I’ll come over and fetch them.’
‘That would be a very good idea,’ she said on a pithy note. ‘Lorna and I have to be at work in around half an hour, so if you’re not here in the next few minutes we’ll come and find you.’
She cut the call and went back to the kitchen, satisfied that at least now he would have to scoot around and get dressed, and begin to take on his responsibilities. What was he thinking of, lying in bed while the children were wandering about?
Molly and Cameron had finished eating by now, and were busy drawing pictures while Lorna collected up the breakfast dishes.
‘I’ll take over here if you want to go and get ready for work,’ Izzy told her. ‘Ross should be along to pick up the children in a few minutes.’
‘He’s going to take us to see Mummy today,’ Molly said brightly. ‘He promised.’
‘And he said we’d buy some flowers for her from the shop,’ Cameron added. ‘He said we could choose the best flowers in the shop when we get to Inverness. She likes roses, so that’s what I’m going to look for.’
‘I’m sure she’ll love them,’ Izzy said, ‘whatever you decide to buy. I’m going to see her myself tomorrow, all being well.’
She washed the breakfast dishes, leaving them to drain on the wire rack. Then she rubbed cream into her hands and checked her long hair in the mirror, clipping the chestnut waves back from her face.
Ross turned up at the house much sooner than she had expected, looking immaculate in dark chinos and a crisp shirt, and oozing vibrant energy—as though he was ready to grasp the day with both hands.
She fixed him with a smoky grey gaze. How could he possibly look like that when he’d been dead to the world not half an hour earlier? It simply wasn’t fair.
‘They’ve been waiting for you,’ she said, waving him into the hallway. ‘But I have to say I think you should find a way of barring the doors, so they can’t simply wander off as they please. There’s no knowing what they could have been up to while you were out for the count.’
He sent her an oblique glance. ‘You’re not going to let this go, are you? Would it help if I said the door was locked and bolted? I think Cameron climbed on a chair to retrieve the keys and unlatch the bolt.’
‘Then maybe you should keep the keys closer to hand,’ she said calmly. ‘You should count yourself lucky that no major road passes by here.’
‘I’m duly chastened,’ he said, making an effort to turn down his mouth but not looking a jot sincere.
She led him into the kitchen, where the children glanced up from their drawing to acknowledge him with bright smiles.
‘I’ve done a picture of Mummy,’ Molly told him, waving her paper in the air. ‘She has beautiful long hair and a pretty dress. See?’
‘That’s…spectacular,’ he murmured, gazing down at the potato-shaped squiggle, daubed generously with a splash of bright pink crayon. ‘I see you’ve drawn her lovely fingers, too.’
It was the right
