Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“If I do that then the ghost situation may never be resolved since the wind that causes the moan could be coming from the room. Besides, there is no telling the decay that has taken place there. Do I cause more problems to the keep if I repair the seal and not the damage that may have been done all these years from neglect?”
“That is a conundrum,” Kinnell agreed. “What does your wife think? I only ask because she has endless opinions, and I am sure she offered you one.”
“Flora told me it was my decision to make, and she would support whatever I decided to do. But I believe she would like to see the room opened and I must admit part of me feels the same. I have been curious about it since I was young, and I would like to learn the truth.”
“But do you defy the orders of those who came before you?” Kinnell asked.
“Exactly,” Torin said and spied his wife walking with an elderly woman in the village.
“The clan loves her. She chats with everyone, asks them endless questions, offers her opinion whether asked or not and gives generously of whatever is asked of her. Many people claim there is no better lady of the keep than Lady Flora.”
“I chose wisely,” Torin said with a smug grin.
Kinnell laughed. “Shall I remind you why you chose her?”
Torin kept his eyes on his wife. “Nay, I am just glad I did.”
Flora caught sight of her husband and smiled and waved at him then returned to speaking with Enid. She spoke with everyone, but she was particularly interested in talking with the elderly men and women in the clan. She hoped to find out whatever she could about the tower room to make her husband’s decision less troublesome for him.
She had been concerned last night, having been woken so abruptly when his arms rushed off her to find him sitting up in bed staring at what she thought was the door. She had assumed he was dreaming when he asked if she saw the apparition but thinking on it this morning she wondered if she had been wrong. It had been the reason she decided to speak with the elders in the clan besides Philip. Though they were not as old as he was, they might still know something that could help her.
“So, you were born during Lord Hamish’s reign?” Flora asked.
Enid smiled and nodded. “I was and grateful for it as I am now that Lord Torin reigns. He is much like his grandfather, a good, honorable man. Not that I speak ill of Lord Evander or Lord Dermid.” She was quick to add.
“Speak the truth, Enid, they both were not good men.”
Enid shook her head. “It is not good to speak ill of the dead, Marna.”
“Lord Evander cared for only himself and the power he could gain, and Lady Amelia was useless, keeping to herself and caring about no one, not even her son,” Marna said in disgust.
“Was anything told to you about Lord Dermid and his wife?” Flora asked, hoping she might get a hint at why the door had been sealed.
“Lady Roanna,” Marna said, giving a name to the woman. “I do recall my seanmhair saying something about her having been a sickly woman nearly dying when she gave birth to Lord Hamish. I imagine that is why she never had another bairn.”
“Was anything said about the tower room?” Flora asked, deciding to be more direct.
“My seanmhair worked in the keep and refused to speak about the tower room,” Enid said. “Whatever she may have known about it, she took to her grave.”
“Probably out of fear,” Marna said, “many whispering about the torture that took place there.”
“Did either of your grandmothers or mums say who was tortured there?” Flora asked, realizing torture had been repeatedly mentioned but no one had ever mentioned the people who may have been tortured.
Both women turned a puzzled look on each other.
“Not that I recall,” Enid said.
Marna thought a bit longer before she responded. “I cannot recall either, but then our grandmothers might have been too fearful to say.”
“True,” Enid agreed.
“How old was Hamish when the room was sealed?” Flora asked.
“Ten and two years maybe,” Marna said, sounding not sure.
What was it her husband had said to Flora about telling a lad not to do something? That it was an invitation for him to do the very thing forbidden to him. Hamish must have known what was going on in that tower room and perhaps out of fear kept the secret it contained not only then but for years to come.
Flora changed the conversation, taking the opportunity to learn more about the Highlands.
The women eagerly answered her endless questions and once done parted with smiles and hopes of talking again soon with them, which both women expressed how very much they would enjoy that.