She felt ill and knew that if she sat down she probably wouldn't have enough strength to get back up again, and so she paced up and down the main aisle while she thought about their circumstances.
"We're going to have to leave soon," she told the little boy. "We simply cannot continue to wait."
Alec sat on a chair with his legs folded under him watching her.
"You don't look so good, Gillian. Are you sick?"
"No," she lied. "I'm just weary."
"I'm hungry."
"You just ate."
"But then I threw up."
"Yes, because you ate too fast," she replied.
She went to the back of the church, where she'd placed her cloth satchel and the basket of food her dear friends the Hathaway brothers had stolen for her. She glanced out the window and saw Henry pacing about the clearing.
"What are you staring at?" Alec asked.
"The Hathaways," she answered. "I don't know what we would have done without them. Years ago they helped me get to my uncle's home. They were very courageous. Neither one of them thought twice about helping me again. I must find a way to repay them," she added.
She handed Alec a wedge of cheese and a thick square of bread. "Please eat slowly this time."
He took a bite of the cheese and then asked, "Uncle Brodick will be here soon, won't he?"
"Remember your manners, Alec. It isn't polite to talk with a mouth full of food."
"You know what?" he asked, ignoring her criticism.
"No, what?"
"We can't leave 'cause then Uncle Brodick will be mad when he gets here and can't find us. We got to wait for him."
She sat down next to him on the chair. "We'll give him one more hour, but that's all. All right?"
He nodded. "I hate waiting."
"I do too," she admitted.
"Gillian? What are you gonna do if you can't find your sister?"
"I will find her," she countered. "I must."
"You got to find that box too," he said. "I heard the baron tell you so."
"I don't know. The box disappeared years ago."
"But you told the baron you knew where it was."
"I lied," she said. "It was all I could think of at the time to get him to leave you alone. My father gave the box to my sister to take with her. There was an accident…"
"But how come the baron wants the old box, anyway?"
"It's extremely valuable, and it's also the key to a mystery that happened a long time ago. Would you like to hear the story?"
"Is it scary?"
"A little. Do you still want to hear it?"
He eagerly nodded. "I like scary stories."
She smiled. "All right then, I'll tell you. It seems that before John was King-"
"He was a prince."
"Yes, he was, and he was madly in love with a young lady named Arianna. She was said to be very beautiful-"
"As beautiful as you?"
The question took her aback. "You think me beautiful?"
He nodded.
"Thank you, but Arianna was far more beautiful than any other lady in the kingdom. She had golden hair that shimmered in the sunlight-"
"Did she get sick and die?"
"No, she didn't get sick, but she did die."
"Did she just up and keel over the way Angus did?"
"No, she-"
"Then what happened to her?"
She laughed. "I'll get this story told much quicker if you stop interrupting me. Now then, where was I? Oh, yes, as I was saying, Prince John was smitten with the beautiful woman-"
"What does'smitten' mean?"
"It means he was taken with her. He liked her." She rushed on when she saw he was about to interrupt her again. "She was his first true love, and he wanted to marry her. Have you ever heard of Saint Columba's box?"
He shook his head. "What is it?"
"A jeweled case that belongs to the Scots," she explained. "A long, long time ago, the sacred remains of Saint Columba were put inside the case-"
"What are'remains'?"
"Fragments of bones," she answered. "Now, as I was saying, the remains were placed inside the box, and the Scots carried it into battle with them."
"How come they wanted to carry bones into battle?"
"They believed that having the case with them would bring them victory over their enemies."
"Did it?"
"I suppose so," she said. "The practice of carrying the box into battle is still going on. They don't take the box into every single battle, just some," she added.
"How come you know about the box?"
"My Uncle Morgan told me about it."
"I'll bet it's the Lowlanders who carry the box, not the Highlanders."
"Why do you say that?"
"'Cause Highlanders don't need a box when they fight. They always win 'cause they're stronger and meaner. You know what my Uncle Ennis says?"
"No, but I'm guessing he said something outrageous."
"He says when English soldiers see more than three Highlanders riding toward them, they drop their swords and run away like scared rabbits."
"Not all Englishmen are like the baron. Most are quite courageous," she insisted.
He wasn't interested in her defense of the English. "Aren't you going to tell me what happened to the pretty lady and King John?" After asking the question, he turned and spit on the ground.
She ignored his crude behavior and continued on with the tale. "John took a fancy to the story of the Scottish jeweled box and decided to create a legend of his own. He commissioned his artisan-"
"What does 'commissioned' mean?"
"He ordered his artisan," she qualified, "to make a beautiful jeweled box for him. John has always loved being clever and cunning, and so he also decreed that he would be the only one who knew how to open the box. The artisan took over a year to complete the design and build the box, and when it was finally finished, it was said to be quite grand. It was impossible to tell which was the top and which was the bottom, though, because there were no visible latches or keyholes. The entire exterior was covered in a series of gold strips that crisscrossed, with sapphires as blue as the sky on a sunny day and emeralds as green as-"
"Your eyes?" he eagerly guessed.
"And there were rubies too, bright red rubies-"
"As red as blood?"
"Perhaps," she allowed. "All the precious jewels were set between the golden crisscrosses. Only John knew where to press to get the box to open."
"That's not true. The man who made the box knows how to open it."
"That's exactly what John realized," she said. "And so he did a terrible thing. He ordered the artisan's death."
"Did King John"-he paused to spit again before continuing his question-"kill the pretty lady and put her bones in his box?"
"Oh, no, the box was much too small," she explained. "Besides, John only wanted a lock of Arianna's hair because he was certain she would bring him good fortune when he went into battle. He opened the box, put his jeweled dagger inside, and then ordered his squire to take the box to Lady Arianna's chamber with specific orders that she put a lock of her golden hair into his golden box."
"Then what happened?"
"Lady Arianna received the open box and the dagger from the squire. He went into her chamber and placed it on the table, then took his leave. He later told the prince that she was the only person inside the room. Not even her lady's maid was present."
"I know what happened next. She stole the box and the jeweled dagger, didn't she?"
Gillian smiled over the child's enthusiasm. "No, she didn't steal the box. According to the story, when John's squire left her chamber, he heard her lock the door. He returned later to get the box for the prince, but Lady Arianna wouldn't answer his summons. John then went to her chamber."
"Did she let him in?"