Christmas at a Highland Castle

Chapter 17

The following morning Digby seemed determined to continue to punish Jess for taking him away from Vivi. It was as though he’d woken up with the express desire to upset Jess’s plans. He pretended not to want his breakfast until Jess went to tip it away, and then barked at her until she put it down again. He bounced his paws on his water bowl until he tipped the contents all over the floor. He got hold of a stray sock – one of Sebastian’s – and ran off with it, ripping a huge hole in it before Jess could wrestle it away, and then he stole a butternut squash from the vegetable rack, chewing one end off and spitting most of it out all over the floor.

Given that today was the day of both the shoot and the party, Digby’s lack of cooperation was the last thing she needed.

‘I get it,’ Jess said in exasperation. ‘You want to be with Vivi. To be honest, right now I want you to be with Vivi, too. Oh, now what?’

Digby headed for the door to the courtyard, not a door Jess tended to use to enter or exit the castle, and the dog set up barking all over again. Jess told him to wait, that she’d get his lead and then she would take him out. By the time she returned, though, the door was wide open, and Digby was gone.

Jess called out to Digby from the doorway, then heard a voice behind her. It was Candida.

‘I let him out,’ she said. ‘He looked desperate for a wee.’

Jess stopped herself from vocalising what she was thinking about Candida’s well-intentioned but less than helpful action. Instead, Jess shot from the doorway and at the far end of the courtyard tried to fight her rising panic and make a logical decision about where the dog would have headed. To Vivi? Would he know his way from here? Probably – she already knew he had a keen sense of direction. It made sense that he would have gone towards the village, and Jess was about to strike off in that direction when she heard something else. Muted barking, from lots of dogs.

It was impossible to work out if one of those barks belonged to Digby, but if he thought Robbie’s spaniels were out and about, or that other dogs had invaded ‘his’ territory, would he go that way instead?

Still unsure of her decision, Jess decided to head for the other dogs. It stood to reason that if Digby headed for the Macwarrens’ cottage, so long as he didn’t get run over on the way, he would be safe once he got there. And Vivi would be on the phone in no time to demand to know why Digby was out and about unchaperoned.

Whereas, if he’d gone the other way, it was likely nobody would know who Digby was, or where he’d come from. And if they were about to start shooting …

The thought of Digby being shot by accident if he found himself in the line of fire had Jess sprinting for the woods.

Sebastian wandered into the kitchen, surprised to see Candida in the space instead of Jess.

‘Do you want a coffee?’ Candida said, gesturing to the kettle on the hotplate.

‘No, thanks. Any idea where Jess is?’

‘Oh. Gone to look for her dog, I think. I let him out through the garden door, and he shot off like a rocket. She went after him.’

Candida shrugged, her attention back on the kettle.

‘Which way did she go?’ Sebastian asked.

‘Towards the woods, I think.’

‘The woods in which they’re going to start shooting in …’ He checked his watch. ‘About ten minutes?’

His tone caught Candida’s attention, but she remained calm. ‘What’s the problem? She’ll find him before they get that far. And if not, they’ll just get caught up with the beaters. Jess might get shouted at for letting her dog interfere, but that’s all, surely?’

‘If she goes that way. But if she cuts across between the beaters and the guns, then what?’ He didn’t need to expand, because although shots should only ever be fired at birds flying high, plenty of terrible stories abounded where accidental shootings had occurred, and Candida had spent enough time at Kirkshield to know that as well as he did.

Candida’s expression tightened. ‘Do you want me to phone Olivia? Let her know they might have to call off the first drive?’

‘Yes. Do that. I’m going after Jess. She’s got no idea where anyone will be, or why. Tell Olivia they need to hold their fire until I get to them.’

Sebastian left Candida dialling his sister, grabbed his coat, shoved his feet into boots and headed outside.

The sparkling December frost was biting hard this morning, but Sebastian barely registered the cold, moved with too much speed to notice the icy chill wrapping its way around his bare fingers. There were gloves in his pocket, but right now he needed to run, to find Jess, to make sure she didn’t get herself into the line of fire.

Shouting her name as he ran, Sebastian legged it into the plantation. Maybe he should have got a vehicle, driven in with his father’s Range Rover – a last hurrah in it before its finance agreement was terminated. He would have been able to make faster progress on four wheels, but would it have been in the right direction? If Jess was chasing Digby, and the cockapoo was searching out the dogs brought by the pickers-up, they were probably heading straight through the pine trees – and they were planted too closely to allow vehicular access. No, he was better off on foot, taking a line directly to the pegs where he knew the guns would be standing.

Sebastian’s lungs might have had something to say about his decision, if they weren’t burning with the effort of dragging in enough oxygen by the time he was close to the guns. He hadn’t run like this for years, and still hadn’t caught sight of Jess. Perhaps he was heading in the wrong direction; maybe she hadn’t come this way at all, and his efforts were for no purpose.

And then he heard the shouts from the beaters, flapping and clapping to encourage the birds to fly. Pheasants were squawking and lifting, wings raising a breeze as they tried to escape. Sebastian didn’t have enough lung capacity to shout at the beaters to stop – they wouldn’t have heard him anyway – and, as he heard the first blast from a shotgun, he caught sight of Jess, a flash of her bright blue jumper over in the trees, as he realised to his horror they were both now in the line of fire.

Jess finally had hold of Digby, but she didn’t know what to do next. They were stuck in the pine plantation with birds going everywhere and a heck of a hullaballoo behind them. When someone had fired a shotgun somewhere in front of her, she’d wanted to hit the ground like a character from an action movie. She had no idea how many people were here to do the actual shooting, but as the rest of the guns joined in, it sounded enough like Armageddon to have her crouching behind the trunk of the nearest tree, clutching Digby close.

Jess didn’t know whether staying put was the safest option, or whether she should try to get Digby away. It took milliseconds for her to realise the idea of trying to move terrified her more than the idea of staying put.

But how far did shotgun pellets travel? Quite some distance, she supposed, if they managed to kill birds high in the air. How was she supposed to know in which direction they would be shooting, or for how long the guns would continue to fire? What if someone fired at a bird in the woods? Jess did her best to swallow the sob which threatened to allow fear to overwhelm her. This was a nightmare. She felt in a pocket, pulling out her phone with trembling fingers, wanting to call someone for help.

Sebastian’s number scrolled into view, and she pressed dial, confused when she thought she heard a phone ringing close by. A click and the call was answered.

‘Jess. Stay where you are, I’m coming to you.’

Nestled behind the tree, Jess had no intention of moving, but how did Sebastian know why she was phoning, never mind where she was. And why did he sound so out of breath?

‘But …’

‘I’m in the woods, too. Candida told me where you’d gone. I can see you, so stay put, OK? I’m coming to you.’

Please be careful … Her thought remained unspoken; Sebastian ended the call before she could say it. Peering around the tree, she caught sight of something other than the birds moving. A familiar tweed-coated figure, moving low and fast through the trees.

Before Sebastian had crossed half the space between them, Jess heard someone shout, ‘Low bird, leave it!’ and then something ricocheted through the trees close to Sebastian’s position. He paused, then cannoned through the rest of the space to reach her, his face ashen by the time he sank to the ground and pulled her close. His action was unexpected, but from the way his chest was heaving, and the fact he was swearing repeatedly under his breath, she knew the situation was serious.

‘Someone’s shooting at low birds,’ he said, between gasps for air. ‘Unbelievably dangerous …’

It certainly felt as though their situation was perilous, whatever was happening. Jess knew nothing about shooting etiquette, and so she stayed put, trying to allow the security of Sebastian’s arm around her shoulder and the need to comfort Digby, who was now shivering as he pressed himself against her lap, to distract from her own fright.

Eventually the reverberations from the guns lessened, the gaps between gun blasts lengthened, and then Jess could hear whistles and the firing stopped altogether. Jess felt Sebastian’s grip on her shoulder relax, and he took a deep breath, then unfurled himself from behind the tree and stood. Holding out a hand to pull her up, too, he gave her a tight smile.

‘The drive is over. We’re safe now.’

It was only when he unzipped his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders that Jess realised she was shaking. With cold or fear, she couldn’t have said, but as Sebastian reached for Digby, gesturing that he would carry the dog, Jess almost burst into tears. As she slid her arms into the amazing warmth of Sebastian’s coat and zipped it up, other people appeared, like spectres through the trees. The beaters, apparently. The people paid to help flush out the birds for other people to shoot at. Jess stayed close to Sebastian as they went from surprise at seeing him here, through to expressions of horror at his having been caught up in the shooting.

He was brusque and sharp, almost rude, and before any of them could apologise he took hold of Jess’s hand and led her away, this time through the last part of the woodland. In the grassy field behind stood another huge group of people. Some held shotguns bent in half, ear defenders strung around their necks as they laughed and shared notes, others were busy with dogs which were collecting up carcasses, or hunting for birds lost within bushes.

‘Who the hell shot low?’ Sebastian shouted, instantly garnering attention.

Allowing Jess’s hand to drop, and handing Digby back to her, Sebastian went to war. Jess didn’t move, just listened while he tore strips off the man who had fired into the woods.

‘I told him to leave it, Your Lordship.’ Robbie was doing his best to smooth the waters, but his expression was anxious.

‘You nearly shot me,’ Sebastian said, anger giving way to an ice-cold tone. He pointed in Jess’s direction. ‘You could have shot an innocent walker caught up in things. You could have killed one of the beaters. What were you thinking?’

The man stumbled out an apology, but Sebastian wasn’t satisfied. ‘Please leave. Now. And don’t ever come back.’

‘Hang on a minute, Sebastian. Lockie is my guest.’ Olivia handed her gun to someone and strode over. ‘I get the need to give him a bollocking – it was a very poor decision – but you can’t just banish him. There’s no need to take your frustrations towards me out on him.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with you , Olivia. All I want to know is why you didn’t stop the first drive? Candida phoned you to tell you Jess was in the woods. Why didn’t you do anything?’

‘What phone call? I never got a call?’ Olivia’s annoyance mounted as she pulled her phone from a pocket. ‘Oh, shit. Three missed calls. All from Candy. And some voicemails.’ She glanced up at Sebastian, grimacing. ‘I had my phone on silent.’

‘Fuck’s sake. Although if you did have me shot, it would leave the way clear for you, wouldn’t it?’ Sebastian had lowered his voice, but Jess could still hear what he said, the ice in his tone.

Olivia frowned. ‘Might not be such a bad idea.’ Then her expression softened, and she shook her head. ‘It’s neither the time nor the place for our squabbles, Sebastian. This was nothing more than an error of judgement. Everyone knows not to shoot low – he got carried away, that’s all. It’s not like Lockie had any clue anyone was there, was it? And what was she doing in the woods anyway? Only an idiot goes for a stroll in the vicinity of a shoot.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Jess said. ‘I didn’t mean to cause problems. I needed to find my dog, that’s all.’ She let out an involuntary shiver, hugging Digby more tightly.

‘You have nothing to apologise for,’ Sebastian said, his focus softening as he looked at her. For a moment Jess felt like there was nobody else around as she stared back at him.

‘Do you feel OK?’

She nodded, even though she was feeling increasingly wobbly.

‘Are you sure?’ he said, lines deepening between his brows. Then he shook his head. ‘You don’t look so good. I’ll get Robbie to take you back to the castle.’

‘Are you coming, too?’ she asked, her body letting out an involuntary shudder. She was wearing Sebastian’s coat, and she still wasn’t warm. Or maybe it was shock setting in.

‘I should probably stay here and make sure the rest of the shoot goes smoothly,’ he said.

Jess was surprised by the level of disappointment she felt. Wanted nothing more, in that moment, than to borrow strength from him, to have his arm around her shoulder again.

‘Could you come back with me … Please?’ she said. She bit at the edge of her lip – the words were out before she could stop them. Perhaps they were inappropriate, but in that moment, they were completely honest. Unfiltered.

His frown deepened momentarily as though he was making a decision, then he smiled. ‘Of course I will.’

The ride back to the castle was all but silent. The full force of what could have happened seemed to settle on all of them and, as Jess did her best to hold back tears, her fingers threaded their way repeatedly through the dog’s fur, more to pacify herself than Digby.

Robbie drew the truck to a stop in the yard below the castle, apologising all over again. He looked shocked, they all did. As Jess walked slowly up the path, she cuddled Digby to her chest like a baby.

Inside, the dog scrabbled to get down and Jess shrugged off Sebastian’s coat. As she hung it on the back of a chair, he insisted on making her a cup of warm, sweet tea.

‘For the shock,’ he said.

Jess shivered again – she couldn’t seem to stop – then managed a thin smile. ‘Is that actually a thing or is it an urban myth?’

He jiggled the kettle to check the water level. ‘I have no idea. It’s just what you do, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose you are a first-aid guru,’ she said.

He turned to her, grinning. ‘As you already know.’

A beat of time passed before either of them spoke again, the grin sliding from his lips as they stared at one another. Then Jess felt her chin quiver, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

He looked away, shaking his head. ‘I’m so sorry. That should never have happened, and Olivia needs to apologise to you. It’s unforgiveable.’

‘We could have been shot.’ Her words were little more than a whisper, as the realisation sank in. She was doing her best to regain control of her emotions, but they seemed to have scattered in all directions.

Sebastian abandoned the kettle, crossing the room and wrapping her up in another hug. He held her tightly and she wept quietly against his chest, safe at last in the soft folds of his jumper, with her senses swamped by his solid proximity and his warmth and the citrus notes of his body spray.