Allegra Fairweather_ Paranormal Investigator - Janni Nell [80]
Phillips opened the door. He had a scratch on his cheek and a black eye. I guess he hadn’t run fast enough last night. I tried not to smile.
I don’t think I succeeded because he frowned at me. When he spoke his voice was coldly polite.
“Sir Alastair isn’t available.”
“I don’t want to see him. I want to see Lady Justina.”
“I’m afraid she’s gone out with Sir Alastair,” he said formally. Yeah right, Phillips, pull the other one. He continued, “I have no instructions as to when they’ll return. Would you like to leave a note?”
“For her?” I knew Justina couldn’t read.
But Phillips didn’t know that I knew. When he replied, his tone could have frozen lava. “Of course for her. I’ll give it to her as soon as she returns.”
He had no intention of giving it to her, but I’ll bet he’d read it as soon as I left.
I decided to play along. “A note would be good.”
He led me into the hall and even provided a pen and some expensive looking paper. I wrote quickly.
Sorry you weren’t home. I’ll be leaving Scotland soon.
Hope to see you before I go. Call me at Mac’s.
Allegra.
I folded the note and gave it to Phillips. Let’s see what Sir Alastair made of that. Maybe the knowledge that I was leaving would give him a false sense of security. He might make a mistake. I could only hope.
For Phillips’s benefit, I pretended to leave. Then I ducked into the wood and circled around until I could see the patio and French doors at the back. Keeping to the safety of the wood, I scanned the windows in the upper storey. Which one was Justina’s? Maybe I could throw pebbles at the glass to attract her attention.
“Allegra.”
I jumped and whirled around. Justina was holding a finger to her lips and beckoning me deeper into the wood. I followed her.
When we were out of sight of Maitland House, I said, “Phillips told me you weren’t home.”
“He’s always doing that. It’s Sir Alastair’s instructions. I sneaked out the back way.” She sat on a log. “Why did you come here, Allegra? You can’t help me now.”
I sat down beside her. “I have a message from your brother. He misses you.”
“I miss him too.” She made a little noise as though she was stifling a sob.
“Everything will work out,” I said. “The selkies are leaving the loch. So even if Sir Alastair poisons it, they won’t be harmed.”
“I’m glad,” she said. Yet she seemed so sad. I guess she thought she wouldn’t see Harq again. I hurried to reassure her.
“Harq will stay with Scarlett Gordon until your skin is found. Then he’ll take you to rejoin the other selkies.”
“You’ll never find my skin.” She looked even sadder than usual. “Sir Alastair is too clever.”
“Don’t bet on him,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “You mustn’t give up hope.”
Who was I kidding? Even with the help of my itching toe the chances of finding her skin were minimal. But there must be something I could do. I wondered whether Casper knew anything he could let slip without the Powers-That-Be finding out.
Justina touched my arm. “I know you want to help, but it’s no good. I have to stay here for the rest of my life. Harq must understand that. Please tell him.”
“You can tell him that yourself,” I said. “Sneak out tonight and I’ll take you to Scarlett Gordon’s place.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that. Every night I eat dinner with Alastair. Afterwards we—” she suppressed a shudder, “—go to bed.”
The image of Sir Alastair forcing himself on Justina was not a pretty one.
“Come with me now,” I said. “You can stay with Scarlett until I—”
“Alastair will find me. His revenge will be terrible.” She fixed her dark eyes on me. “Tell Harq not to wait. Tell him to leave the loch with the others.”
“He won’t go without you.”
“You have to persuade him, Allegra. Please.” When I hesitated she repeated, “Please.”
I sighed. “Okay, I’ll try.” But maybe I