Warning at Eagle's Watch (17 page)

"I believe the term is accident prone," Scotty said slyly after hearing Hillary's brief explanation of the wreck of her car. She sat quietly stroking Percival's black shiny coat. "Funny, you don't seem like the accident-prone type to me."

Hillary laughed nervously. "At least my accidents haven't been injurious..." She broke off, stopping herself from adding "yet." She didn't want to think in those terms.

"Yet," Scotty supplied for her. She was staring at Hillary with those clear, knowledgeable eyes, and Hillary felt fidgety inside. Just how much did Scotty know about the things that had been happening?

"I've had a funny feeling that all is not well with my varied guests and employees at Eagle's Watch. And I'm right, Hillary, aren't I? Care to talk to me about it?"

She would have loved to open up and pour out all of the thoughts and ideas that had been plaguing her, to tell her about the accidents, to ask her about the well-cared-for armor in the far turret. She would have loved to tell her of the unhappy state of affairs in her relationship with the family members, to tell her the family was sure that she was here only as a usurper of the Eagle's Watch fortune. But her well-trained medical mind forbade such confidences, knowing that they could possibly upset her patient.

"There's not much to talk about," she said simply. "The general consensus is that I'm a careless idiot, which, I suppose, is not far from the truth."

"Hmm," said Scotty, leaving it at that. Her cold had already begun to subside, and they planned to work together once again the next day. Mr. Raymond arrived with her prescription, having driven to town to get it filled after Hillary's own attempt to do the task had been so horribly thwarted. Scotty took the medicine obligingly.

"I got a letter from Matilda today," she said with a glimmer in her eye.

Hillary stopped short. "Miss Matilda? Is she still in London? How is she?"

"She's fine, just fine. And very glad to hear of the recovery I've been making. I told her about the walker, about the way I can manage almost everything once again. She's very proud of you."

"You are doing marvelously, you know, but it's mostly because of your own determination to work. I've just helped you along a bit."

Scotty reached out a hand and patted Hillary's, which was resting on the bedpost. "You're a very special girl to be here, Hillary. She told me of the job that you had given up, of the plans that you had cancelled in order to come here to take this post. I'm sorry, Hillary. I didn't know.

"But what I wanted to say is this. I'm nearly well now, I know. I have confidence in my strength and can look forward to spending the rest of my days in relatively good health thanks to you. Your duty here is nearly done, you know. I'm freeing you, with Matilda's blessing, to return to the world that you left in order to come here."

There was a large lump in Hillary's throat and she had to pause for a moment before her voice would work. She blinked back the tears that had welled up in her eyes at the old woman's words. How much she cared for Priscilla Scott!

She could go now, she knew. Her patient had come a long way, as she had said. It was only a matter of time before she would be back to "new". And going away would end the mysterious attacks on her life, she knew. She could end her risk here at Eagle's Watch.

And Kent? He had professed no great desire to settle here. In fact, he had seemed almost sure that he could not take over the large practice of Dr. Newburg, so that the doctor could spend more time on his beloved research. Whatever her relationship with Kent would be, it could continue in any location, if their feelings were deep enough. How she prayed that they would be.

But yet, she had to stay. Why? It was difficult to understand, difficult to accept. Was it because leaving Scotty with anyone such as the person who had done these treacherous things would be dangerous? Was it that she herself wanted to bring to justice the person who was her unknown enemy? Or was it just her never-ending need to fulfill her duties, to tie up all the ends in one part of her life before going on with the next chapter? But whatever the reason, she knew that she was not leaving, at least not yet.

The operating tables of the great hospitals would still be there when everything was cleared up at Eagle's Watch.

"Sorry, Scotty, you just can't get rid of me yet. I'm staying." She tucked her in and walked out the door, full of determination to succeed in her pursuits.

And Scotty's eyes followed her, glistening with tears, watching the young girl who had come to mean so much to her.

Hillary felt very thoughtful as she slipped lightly down the steps, going by the staring portraits of Scotty's ancestors. It was nearing the dinner hour, and she longed for a few quiet minutes to pull herself together before facing the ever-continuing pressure that was inevitable at the dinner table.

The sun had come out, so she skirted the front of the castle and climbed out onto the gray rocks that stood like sentries. From her perch, she turned and took a long look at the unusual structure that had been her home for so many weeks. How much had happened since the day she had first driven her little car to this lonely spot! Would she have come if she had been able to know what the future held?

She thought for a while, and she knew that her decision would have been the same. For many good and positive things had come into her life here. Kent, for one. She felt a warmness creep over her body at the thought of his comforting presence, and she hoped that his still unknown problems would dissolve to leave him able to love her the way that she loved him.

And Scotty. They had built a vibrant and friendly relationship together in her weeks of therapy, and the joy that she had felt in seeing the woman's progress was an accomplishment that she would always carry deeply in her heart. She had learned to care here at Eagle's Watch. She had learned to feel emotion and need and love. And that was worth the danger that had touched her.

She was committed to stay and see this through, to face the threats that surrounded her, to find the motive for it all. But she was scared.

The most obvious motive was the money angle. Someone who felt that her presence in Scotty's world was endangering the hopes that he or she had to inherit. And who could that be? Almost anyone that she had seen so far.

But what if the motive was not such a common one? What if it involved some other aspect of life, a motive that she had not yet considered?

Jealousy? She found that hard to believe. Daisy had shown signs of it in the attention that Mitchell had given her, but Hillary had trouble imagining the blonde, carefree girl calculating the treachery that would have led to the failure of her car brakes. Who else had reason to be jealous? Her mind gave her no answers. It was a puzzle, and she didn't have the solution. Frustrated, and still not relaxed from the day's nerve-wracking happenings, she arose from her perch to climb back down to the house, to the dinner table that she knew would do little to settle her raw nerves.

But then something caught her eye. It was a flash of light, a glimmer, a reflection from the bright summer sun, now quickly receding from the early evening sky. It had come from a movement in the distant turret of the castle. It was the turret that held the many suits of armor that had intrigued her so. Someone was moving the armor up there. And, in moving the gleaming armor had accidentally caught the glare of the sun and reflected it.

Who was in the turret? She scrambled down the remaining rocks with a hammering heart. This was one part of the mysteriousness of Eagle's Watch that she was going to solve immediately. She brushed the dust from her pants and sprinted for the castle door.

Soundlessly, she mounted the stairway two steps at a time. Her adrenaline was flowing. Her pulse was racing. It wasn't until she had traveled down the long hallway toward the rear wing of the castle that her mind slowed enough to think of the consequences of the action she was taking.

Who was in the turret? In a few moments' time, her curiosity would be satisfied, but perhaps she would wish that she had never found out. For if the person who had moved the telltale armor had anything to do with the accidents that had happened to her, who could tell what might happen next?

And suddenly she was aware of the silence in the building around her. Here, far above the kitchen and living areas, far removed from the bedrooms that were occupied by the family members, she was very much alone. Alone except for whoever stealthily occupied the turret she was now nearing. No busy sounds from the house could reach her ears here, and she knew that they would never be able to hear her there. Even if she screamed.

Somewhere in the few seconds that passed as she reached the turret door, the excitement she had felt had turned to fear. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck begin to prickle. She could sense the clamminess of her palms. Was she crazy to have come here alone? Should she turn back and avoid accosting the unknown person who would be lurking on the other side of the thick turret door?

She didn't have time to make her decision. For at that moment the door was thrown open, nearly knocking her slight body against the wall. And a figure stood in the doorway, its masculine silhouette looming large and frighteningly before her.

Though there was a bright light behind him, his features were masked in shadow. He stepped toward her. Her feet were rooted to the spot. She opened her mouth to scream and in horror realized that nothing was coming out. Her vocal chords felt paralyzed. He reached out and took a handful of her hair in his hand. Whether it was his nearness that prodded her to action, or the fear of his touch, she never knew.

But suddenly she found herself tearing down the back hall of the castle, with speed that she had never suspected she possessed. And he was right behind her. She dodged and darted around the corners that she came to, but he never seemed to slow down. She slipped into an alcove that she had never noticed before, out of breath and praying fervently for escape.

She found a small door. It was partially hidden in the wall, a small servants' staircase that led down to the main floor. If only she could make it. The thought of other people below spurred her on. Her feet clamored down the narrow, steep flight.

She turned and looked as she neared the bottom. He was just starting down the flight. She tore on. She reached the lower floor and realized that she had lost her sense of direction in her panic. The kitchen had to be close by! But she was wrong. She barged ahead, coming to a large door that she hoped would lead to voices and rescue. She threw it open and slipped through.

The courtyard! In her panic, she had turned the wrong way and had ended up in the little courtyard that sat in the middle of the castle. Overhead the sky was blue; the high windows of the castle surrounded her on every side. She was trapped. And she was not alone. Her pursuer had arrived.

She heard his panting breath in the doorway behind her and felt doomed. There was no place more to run. She turned to face him.

She gasped. They stared at each other in silence, never moving a muscle.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, his voice a nervous whisper, his brow rolled upward in a frown.

And indeed she had been asking herself the same question. For the man who stood before her, the pursuer who had followed her through the dark castle halls, was a man she had never before laid eyes upon. He was young and dark, with a sulking kind of good looks. He wore a faded pair of jeans and a pale blue work shirt. For all his arduous pursuit, there didn't seem to be a violent bone in his body. Her heart stopped hammering so fearfully.

"I'm Hillary Holt, Miss Scott's nurse. Do you mind telling me why on earth you were chasing me? You scared the life out of me. And who are you?"

"I'm Tony. Tony Raymond. My parents work here at Eagle's Watch."

Mrs. Raymond's son! The one who had run away.

"I thought you were someone else," he said. "And then you ran. I thought you were Angela. That red hair."

She remembered Mitchell telling her of Tony's wife having red hair. He had mistaken Hillary for her.

"So Angela is here at the castle too?" she asked.

"I don't know where Angela is, to tell you the truth. That's why I'm here. Angela left me weeks ago. I've been staying with my parents. When I saw you, I thought she had come back to me."

His face showed the emotional pain that was in his heart, and Hillary felt very sorry for him.

"So it's you who has been polishing the armor?"

"You saw that? Yes, I'm pretty attached to it. I’ve taken care of it since I was a little kid. Please, Miss Holt, don't tell Miss Scott that I'm here. She'll be so angry. She never did like me."

Hillary watched him quietly. How wrong everyone was about Scotty's personality. How absolutely she had struck fear into them and how startled they would be to know just how much the old woman who owned the castle knew of their goings on. She wouldn't be surprised at all if Scotty wasn't already aware of Tony's return.

They sat on the cracked stone wall that encircled the unused marble fountain in the small courtyard, as the sun went down and cast its soft shadows on the high castle walls. Tony was friendly and talkative, leaning comfortably back and confiding in Hillary in whom he had found a willing listener.

He was a lonely and pensive young man, she found, who had grown up within the gray walls of Eagle's Watch, where his parents had been employed for all of his lifetime. He held a deep love for the surroundings, Hillary could tell, hearing the reverence in his voice as he spoke of the history that had been made through the generations in the Scott family ancestral home. And then a pretty girl, red-haired and very much alive— Angela—had come up to take over some of the household duties, much in the way that Daisy presently worked. She had turned his head and stirred him to action.

His parents and Scotty had deeply disapproved of her, and their impressions had been more accurate than his. But deeply in love, he had burned at their criticism. When Scotty had relieved the girl of her duties, saying that she was undependable and lazy, Tony's anger had flared and he had secretly taken off with her.