God's Highlander Read Free Page B

sounds of the boy’s flight. He continued the chase until he came up against a barrier of almost impenetrable thorn-bushes and was forced to admit defeat. Ewan Munro had given him the slip.
    The shouting near the water’s edge had moved off towards Eskaig
by now. Whoever was searching for the ragged young boy was not aware he had made good his escape to the mountains.
    Thoughtfully, Wyatt made his way back to the road. Seeing Ewan Munro had perturbed him. He was not concerned that the boy had so obviously poached a salmon from the loch – he looked as though he had need of it – but where was the boy going? Were there others not far away as badly off as himself?
    Wyatt mulled over the questions until he saw the houses of Corpach in the distance. Almost immediately he came upon the house occupied by Lord Kilmalie’s factor.
    If the house had been built with the intention of impressing those who saw it with the importance of its occupier, it was an undoubted success. Built of stone, it was a rounded turret-like structure, standing a slim four storeys high. Tall pines flanked a long driveway and also marked the boundaries of the house and its extensive gardens.
    The inside of the house fulfilled all the promise of its exterior. Shown in by a servant, Wyatt was met in the hallway by the two Garrett women.
    The factor’s wife, Charlotte, was a small, thin, grey woman with such an air of tiredness about her that Wyatt wondered whether she was not in fact ill. She greeted Wyatt unenthusiastically, her hand as limp as her expression. Then she introduced the preacher to her daughter.
    Evangeline Garrett was everything her mother failed to be. Not tall, the factor’s daughter was well rounded in a way that had been considered highly fashionable only twenty years before. She also chattered incessantly, and Wyatt quickly learned that John Garrett had not exaggerated his daughter’s interest in the latest news from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
    The factor did not appear to be in the house, and in answer to Wyatt’s question Evangeline said: ‘Someone came to the house to say there were poachers somewhere along the loch. Father went out to help catch them…. But, tell me, what are people talking about in Edinburgh? Is there anything new happening there? And the clothes…. What are the women wearing?’
    Wyatt smiled. ‘My visit to Edinburgh was brief. I stayed at Lord Kilmalie’s house for only two nights and spent the days in the office of the Moderator. The women who came there wore bonnets and cloaks, as far as I noticed. As for Glasgow, the parish where I worked contains
the worst slums in Scotland. Clothes worn there have been handed down by so many generations it’s impossible to tell if they were ever fashionable.’
    Evangeline found his reply disappointing, but some interest returned when her mother’s questioning brought out the fact that the newly arrived Eskaig minister had served with the Army in the Kaffir Wars in Africa.
    Wyatt was in the middle of relating some of his experiences in Africa when a loud voice was heard calling from the hall. Charlotte Garrett started as though caught out in some misdemeanour and hurried from the room. Moments later John Garrett strode in. He made no apologies for not being at home to greet his invited guest. Indeed, his opening words contained an implied criticism.
    â€˜I expected to meet you on the road. I’ve been nigh to Eskaig chasing poachers. They’re becoming so brazen we’ll have them stealing fish from the garden pond if we don’t put a stop to them.’
    Wyatt remembered the scared and ragged boy he had seen on the road. ‘Perhaps they’re hungry.’
    â€˜Hungry?’ The factor dismissed the suggestion scornfully. ‘They’re lazy . Too damned lazy to work for a living. They’re the reason Lord Kilmalie’s estate isn’t providing him with the return it should. The