Chapter 12

The morning went by quickly. Phileas and Rebecca were given a full tour of the keep after breakfast. The place was like a vault with a moat. They stood looking out on the lake the island sat in from the ramparts.

It was a beautiful, bright day. The closest town was five miles away, and the closest neighbor was two miles down the eastern shore. Short of an occasional fisherman, there would be no traffic on the lake besides the laird's barge.

Rebecca looked over the lakeshore with field glasses at Phileas's side. She saw two groups of campers on the shore. One Angus MacAlister told her had been there for a week. Another small camp had been set up this morning. The two men, wearing wide-brimmed hats against the glare of the sun, were on the lake in a rowboat, fishing. She watched as one brought in a good-sized fish; a pleasant, peaceful view.

Late that night, a note came from Passepartout. There had been no inquiries about Mrs. Fog. There were no strangers. All had been peaceful there as well.

Phileas debated whether the Prussians were deliberately delaying their next attack to make sure it reached its proper target. If that were the case, this could become an extended stay. It had required three months to catch Agent Warrant the last time. Whoever he was, Warrant was very good at lying low.

"Jessica and Brandon could expect their first child before he surfaces again," Phileas joked.

Phileas grimaced a bit at the thought. The news of Jessica and Brandon's engagement had been welcome. Fogg hoped for them all the happiness in the world. But how had it come about? He had heard nothing in the halls last night, yet when questioned privately, Jessica said her proposal had been made late in the evening.

Fogg's suspicions sent him to Brandon, forcing the Scot to tell him about the keep's hidden stairway. The passage led from the ground floor to the ramparts along the south wall with three hidden doors on the way up. One led to the supposedly haunted room, one to the ground floor study and one, surprise not, into the guestroom Jessica had been given.

"Ingenious bit of arranging that…"

Phileas was told during his tour of the passage that the stairs had also at one time led to a hidden door in the outer wall. "That has long since been sealed," Brandon said.

With lanterns, they checked the lower passage to be sure. The locking mechanism at the opening was gone. The laird who had the old door sealed had mortared the casing to the door and then sealed it, inside and out. Rising water and time had worn the mortar away in the lower third, but the rest seemed in good order.

The best thing was that the door had only been made to open from the inside. There was no handle or trip in the smooth outer wall. After the inspection, Phileas declared it secure enough.

Phileas settled into a pattern of rest and sentry watch, verifying where all occupants were and a direct watch over Jessica. Rebecca caught his pattern and set herself to a rotation that complemented it. When Jessica was not with him, she was with Rebecca. She was in Brandon's company almost constantly, and when not, the Laird was with her, crowing over his victory. Both MacAlisters treated Jessica like a treasure.

"God help anyone who tries to do her harm in their presence," Phileas said.

The engagement announcement had the laird distracted enough to leave off his earlier attentions to Rebecca. That suited both Rebecca and Phileas fine. Fogg looked back at his comment to Rebecca as utter stupidity.

Thankfully, she seems willing to let it go. Rebecca was ignoring the entire situation in a rather admirable professional manner. When this is over, I will approach her again, without looking like a jealous idiot.

In three days, as promised, Daniel was brought to the keep by Brandon's brother George. The reunion of mother and son had been joyous and touching. When the announcement of his mother's engagement came, Daniel couldn't be contained. He had a thousand questions about living in Scotland and the keep coming out in one long continuous sentence.

Laird MacAlister watched with amusement at his son's open-mouthed confusion. When it was plain Brandon was overwhelmed, the older man descended on the exuberant boy with the confidence of a veteran.

"This way, Laddie," he called, "if you want to see a proper Scottish keep." Daniel disappeared with his new grandfather and wasn't seen again until dinner.

The Prussians set their observation of the keep, looking like a leisurely fishing trip. The barge their quarry had used only ferried supplies into the keep once in the three days they had watched. It took a few servants in at early morning and then took them back across after dark. Taking over the barge could be a way to get to the island unseen, but it would not get them through the massive gate. The gate in the keep's east sidewall was the only entrance.

Carl chaffed against the delay in his revenge. They might have to lay siege to the place a long time before getting a chance. He was not an impatient man, but knew English authorities were scouring the British Isles looking for him. He did not have the leisure. Their cover as summer campers wouldn't hold up more than a week, either. The only hint of a chance had come when they saw Fogg and a Scot examining the outer wall on the southern side of the keep. Carl, familiar with old masonry and their secrets, wondered.

That night, he and Nivens rowed to the outer wall well after midnight to satisfy his curiosity. A careful examination of the wall showed him what Fogg had been inspecting. It was barely discernable, but there was an old exit in the wall. The lower part of the mortar sealing it shut had eroded. The damage extended upward two and a half feet. That was all the chance Carl needed.

They rowed back to their camp, making sure they did not leave any footprints along the banks of the keep's island. The next morning, they went back to town and bought chisels and acid. The mortar had decayed enough that they should be able to get a few of the stones loose. As the door's stones weren't holding up any of the wall's weight, they should be easily removable.

The next night, the two men headed back to the island and went to work. The mortar was not as rotten as it had looked, but after several hours, two of the lower stones had been loosened. They put the stones back in place, filling the spaces with sand before dawn. The next night, they freed two more stones and hid their handy work in the same manner. During the day, they continued to fish and keep watch on activity inside the keep as and made plans for their invasion.