“I see breakfast isn’t looking any more promising than last night’s supper.”
Sadie spun on her seat and shot Morgan a smile. She grabbed one of the granola bars, now frozen solid, and tossed it to him.
“When I’m traveling I only make one hot meal a day,” she explained, her smile widening as she watched him frown at his breakfast. “Mostly I just graze on trail mix, granola bars, or jerky until supper.”
Voices traveled in on the breeze just then, and both Morgan and Sadie looked upriver to discover the source of the sound. Sadie shot to her feet the moment she recognized her mother’s voice. Charlotte Quill was sitting in the bow of the approaching canoe, paddling and smiling and talking to Callum sitting in the stern.
Sadie’s mood took a sudden dive into the dirt. She slapped her hands over her face to cover her gasp and could only stare in mute shock through her fingers.
Dammit. Her mother was here.
She spun on her heel and ran to Morgan, grabbing him by the shirt and standing on tiptoe to get her eyes dead level with his.
“Not one word about our being married,” she whispered urgently, clutching the front of his shirt. “Understand? No kissing in front of my mother. No calling me wife. And hide that damn sword!” she finished on a whispered shout, pushing away and running to their bed.
She quickly rolled up her sleeping bag, ran to her unused tent, and threw it inside. She went back to the ledge, kicked around the matted dry grass she’d put there for padding, and frantically scanned the campsite for any other telltale signs.
Dammit. What in hell was her mother doing here?
Morgan still hadn’t moved one muscle, much less done as she’d instructed and hidden his sword. She did that for him, running back to the ledge and kicking some of the dry grass over the weapon. Then she smoothed down the front of her shirt, took a calming breath, plastered a smile on her face, and sedately walked to the river to welcome her mom.
Morgan just didn’t have the heartto tell his wife that no amount of deception would ever disguise the guilt she was feeling at the sudden arrival of her mother. Mercedes’ face was blushed red; she was embarrassed to the soles of her feet despite her efforts to appear otherwise. She didn’t seem to realize that any person in her right mind, especially her mother, would consider finding her daughter sharing a campsite with a man anything but innocent.
Morgan mimicked Mercedes’ amble and slowly made his way over to Callum and Charlotte. He grabbed the canoe and pulled the boat sideways to the bank, then reached in and lifted Charlotte out so she wouldn’t get her feet wet.
Charlotte squeaked much the way her daughter was prone to do and blinked up at him with eyes the mirror image of Mercedes’.
Morgan stepped onto the bank and carefully set Charlotte down, then shot Mercedes a grin. Quickly recovering from her fluster, Charlotte ran to her daughter and gave her a motherly hug.
“I’ve been so worried,” Charlotte whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. She pulled back and took her by the shoulders. “Your cabin was ransacked.”
Mercedes reversed their positions, taking her mother by the arms. “Someone broke into my cabin? When?”
“Yesterday morning,” Callum said, straightening from pulling the canoe onto the beach.
He looked at Morgan, then at Mercedes. “We were coming out to visit you, lass, when we discovered the destruction. And your mother,” he said, waving a hand at Charlotte,
“would have no rest until she knew you were safe.”
Mercedes turned her shocked gaze back on her mother. “Who would do something like that? I had nothing worth stealing.”
“It looked to be more vandalized than robbed,” Callum said before Charlotte could respond. “It appeared as if the man was looking for something.”
“The Dolan brothers were a half day behind us,” Morgan interjected. He looked at his cousin. “You said one man.”
Callum shrugged. “There might have been more. I could find only one set of footprints.
They belonged to a small but heavy man, maybe two hundred pounds.”
“It was not Harry and Dwayne,” Sadie said, glaring at Morgan. “It was a stranger.”
“What makes you so sure?” he asked. “Do you have any idea who would have done this? Other than the Dolans, is there anyone else looking for this gold?”
Sadie shook her head. “Not that I know of. For years the only people who even believed Jedediah’s mine exists were my dad, the Dolans, and Eric Hellman.”
Morgan walked over to her. “Now you will take my warnings seriously, Mercedes?”
Before she could answer him, her mother was poking her in the arm, trying to get her attention again. “There’s a dead moose over there,” Charlotte whispered, pointing down the beach.
Sadie quickly looked back at Morgan, nodded, then turned and led her mother over to see the moose. As Morgan and Callum followed, Morgan let his gaze scan the area.
Morgan suspected that the danger he had seen in thedrùidh’s vision was coming closer.
Callum nudged Morgan’s shoulder and motioned with his head that he wanted to speak to Morgan alone. Morgan looked to see that the two women were deeply engrossed in a discussion over the dead moose. Satisfied that they would have some privacy, Morgan walked a short distance away, and his cousin followed.
“Tell me how I can help,” Callum said quietly, keeping a small part of his attention on the women. “I’ve brought guns if you need them.”
“What makes you think I need a gun?” Morgan asked.
Callum grinned. “It’s been more than eight hundred years, cousin, but not so long that I’
ve forgotten that look.”
“What look?”
“You’re guarded, Morgan. Feeling hunted. And you’re wearing the look of a man who is about to turn the tables and do some hunting of your own.” Callum rubbed his hands together, suddenly looking downright cheerful. “And I wish to help. Nay, I demand to help. I could use a rousing fight just now.”
“I am not hunted,” Morgan snapped, darting a look at the women to make sure they hadn’t heard him. They had moved back to the canoe Callum and Charlotte had arrived in and were rummaging through the gear. He looked back at Callum.
“It’s Mercedes who’s being hunted. That her cabin was ransacked is proof enough. And I think the gold is the reason she’s in danger. Either that, or someone doesn’t want the wilderness park to be built.”
“Besides you?” Callum drawled.
“That’s different. I can stop the park from happening without endangering Mercedes.”
“Why are you so against this park to begin with? It’s only a small part of our land.”
“My land,” Morgan shot back. He let out a tired sigh and attempted to rub away the tension slowly building in his neck. He needed to make Callum understand.
“That gorge is special,” Morgan told him, deciding it was time to reveal his secret to Callum. Only then would his cousin be able to comprehend the scope of the problem.
“The waterfall comes from that mountain pond where Daar’s staff was thrown,” Morgan continued. “And everything around it has changed somehow. The trees have grown taller, the trout are the size of salmon, and even the granite of the gorge itself has been altered.”
Callum took a step back. “By thedrùidh’s magic?” he whispered, his face drawn pale.
Morgan nodded. “Aye. From his old staff. But Daar has no wish for Grey to know this.
He fears what my brother might do.”
“Grey will likely dynamite that pond,” Callum said, nodding agreement about their laird’s determination that Daar’s staff never reappear. “So this is why you asked Grey for that land? To protect the old priest?”
“Something like that,” Morgan muttered, looking back at the women. They were unpacking the canoe, and by the looks of the gear, Charlotte was planning to stay for a month. He turned back to Callum. “People would wander out of the park and discover the gorge. And that would bring even more people.”