Chapter 11

The Prussian's made it to Scotland without incident. Warrant and Nivens hired horses near the rail station and rode on to the Macaulay home, just as the four travelers had been leaving. The Aurora's tall airbag had already been seen off to the side of the grounds, towering over the trees, announcing loudly that the Foggs had arrived.

Nivens rode toward the departing carriage casually, like a man on a stroll. As it passed, he tipped his hat and took a quick survey of the occupants. Seated next to the window, the agent saw Phileas Fogg staring purposefully ahead. That was all that he needed to see. The red head could be assumed to be Rebecca Fogg. He let the carriage go down the road a bit before doubling back off the road to rejoin his superior.

"The Foggs were in the carriage," Nivens reported. "There was a blonde lady and with them and another man. She had pale blonde hair."

"The lady was Jessica Fogg," Clauswitz said. He remembered seeing her in London several times as he had watched for the ex-agent to be given a mission. She was a stunning, delicate beauty with hair the color of moonlight. It had been difficult to believe the woman was related to his rivals.

The file he had been given on her by Nivens had reported her American born Fogg and a widow. Prussian authorities believed she had been recently brought to England for service. The woman could not have been in training for more than a year, likely less. That made her vulnerable, lacking in experience, and thus, easier to deal with.

The woman meant nothing to Carl, but he did not relish killing her. Her successful attack on him, he dismissed as beginner's luck. She had not even hit him hard enough to keep unconscious for more than a few minutes. But by that time, the damage had been done. As he had sat on the kitchen floor nursing his injured head, Carl heard the shots ring out on the other end of the house. He had taken the wiser course and fled.

Carl knew Von Kessler's orders had to be obeyed. The woman would die, but it was Phileas Fogg Clauswitz wanted dead. The Prussian smiled wolfishly, contemplating his revenge. "It is good that Frau Fogg's family has come to her aid as I hoped," he voiced. "It will make killing Phileas Fogg easier to justify."

The two riders shadowed the carriage at a distance. They rode two ferries with them on their journey and gave the travelers a distant lead. They were now in a more remote area where few traveled. As they followed, the carriage rolled onto a private barge that took it to an old stone structure on an island. It came as a daunting sight, their enemy's hiding place. Getting to their quarry had just become a very serious challenge.

Carl turned to Nivens and smiled as a plan formed. "Do you fish?" He asked.

"I can," Nivens said.

"Good! Let's get to the nearest town and buy supplies. The British like visiting Scotland in the summer to play. Two fishermen camping by this lake will get no attention. Can you handle a rowboat as well?"

Nivens laughed, "I can handle any boat you give me."

Rebecca woke after a retched night. The family ghosts had been chasing her in her dreams. The two Scots warriors had borne a marked resemblance to Phileas and Laird MacAlister. Shaking herself of the night's unpleasantness, Rebecca rolled out of bed and dressed quickly. The sun was already up, but had not been so for long. Once dressed, she crossed the hall and knocked on Jessica's door.

Jessica looked like she had had a good night. Jessica smiled brightly at Rebecca and hummed a waltz as she dressed. Sitting and watching, Rebecca caught on to her good spirits. It was infectious. After a while, she smiled back and forth with Jessica, as though they were schoolgirls with a juicy secret.

"What is this?" She said. "You are floating off the floor."

Jessica giggled and ducked back behind the screen. When she came out again fully dressed, Jessica told her cousin about the visit to the haunted room to see St. Elmo's fire and Brandon's proposal. After Rebecca gave her hugs in congratulations, Jessica commented on the foolishness of the gossip Brandon had heard about her and Phileas.

"It was not so foolish from what I saw," Rebecca said. "You two seemed quite the couple."

"No," Jessica said. "That was all an illusion because of my injury, and as much my fault as his. I should have known better. I may have been raised as an only child, but I married into a large family. Joshua gave me seven brothers, so I should know what getting treated like a grown sister is like. Phileas had been treating me like a sister while we were in London together, and always had."

She tried to put into words what she had sorted out.

"Before the shooting, Phileas and I related like Josh's brothers and I did back in Texas. Jeb and Eli especially acted as stand in companions when Josh was away. We used to go to dances together. They looked in on me, staying for days or weeks depending on the need. We laughed and teased with each other. But it was all just sibling fun. Phileas and I did that when you were away that last time."

Jessica slipped into her shoes. "Only after I was hurt, his guilt and my… my loneliness, I suppose, pushed us into something more. Phileas knew and stopped it before it went too far. I should have, but didn't. My fault."

She turned away, fidgeting with her comb. "I finally saw the truth after coming here to Scotland. Brandon treats me like a woman. There is no fraternal play or hesitation in him at all when we are together. One cannot go from being treated like a sister to a lover without noticing the difference."

She looked back at Rebecca with a light in her eyes. "No, Phileas and I had no business trying to be lovers, and I should thank him for putting a stop to it. Now I really need to get downstairs," Jessica said, slipped into her shawl. "Brandon wants to tell his father of my acceptance privately before breakfast." She headed for the door, noticed Rebecca hanging back.

"Coming?"

Rebecca looked up, distracted. "Yes, but not downstairs right away. I have something in my room to get."

Back in her room, Rebecca sat on her bed and thought about what Jessica had just said about sisters and lovers. It explained a lot, and she was not thinking in terms of Jessica and Phileas. Rebecca had been a small child when she had come to Sir Boniface and his sons. She had been raised as one of their family, a sister. But Rebecca was not Phileas's sister. That fact had been hidden under the surface, peeping out at odd moments like a guilty secret. Yesterday, she had let it out into the light and Phileas had treated her like a woman, both on the Aurora and last night when she had provoked him.

Rebecca was not a woman that hide from truths. She had been raised to meet challenges head on and to see her faults and weaknesses. Sir Boniface had taught his children to see the world in black and white realism in order to make them better agents in adulthood. It had saved her life more than once.

Do I want Phileas to see me as a sister or as a woman? If I don't want to be his sister, then I had best stop running from Phileas when he complies with my wishes."

This is a fine time to be getting muddled in such things.

Rebecca shut away her revelations, choosing instead to throw herself into her work. When this mission was over, she would act on personal matters.