“I’m glad that you think my small part is worthy of your master plan,” Jane said drily. “You can drop her now, Caleb. Preferably on her head.”
“Not yet.” He put her carefully on her feet beside the campfire. Then he held her close for a moment before releasing her. “Next time.” He turned and headed down the bank. “I’ll see you before I leave, Lisa. I’m heading down to the mist to thank MacDuff for taking on a headache like you. I’m going to owe him.”
“I won’t be a headache,” Lisa called after him. “Jane said I’ve got to make myself useful and not be a bother.”
“Excellent idea.” He looked at Jane. “I’ll be curious as to how you implement it.”
“So will I,” Jane said. “We can but hope.”
Lisa watched him until he disappeared into the woods. “I will do what you want,” she said quietly. “I don’t cheat. You gave me my chance to keep Seth away from me and safe. I’m not going to cause you any trouble.”
“Yes, you will,” Jane said. “But perhaps not intentionally. You’re Caleb’s sister and you’re very like him in many ways. So trouble goes with the territory.”
“Maybe.” Her tone was abstracted as she looked out at the lake. “This is Cira’s lake? The one where the treasure is supposed to be hidden?”
“Yes. But right now, supposed is the key word. We’re not certain of anything.”
“How could you be?” Lisa murmured as she took a step toward the lake. “It’s not a place that reveals its secrets. It’s kind of … wonderful.”
Oh, Cira, have you captured another one in your spell? “Yes, totally wonderful.” Jane moved to stand beside her. “And secrets can be wonderful, too.”
She frowned. “But you’re trying to find out her secrets.”
“Only if she wants to whisper them to us. She’s held them close to her for centuries. Maybe she’ll find it’s time to let us share them.”
“Maybe.” She was still looking out at the mist. “But you know some of her secrets now, don’t you? Seth said that you had dreams about her.”
“Yes, I did. But that could be fantasy, not secrets.”
“Do you think it’s fantasy?”
“For a long time I thought I was having delusions. It became an obsession to me.”
“You didn’t answer me. Do you think it’s fantasy?”
“Sometimes. Her story has become my story, and that makes it true to me. But I’m a realist. I have trouble with anything that’s not grounded in reality.” She smiled. “But then I started having to draw sketches of you. So if I believe in you, I have to believe in Cira, don’t I?”
“I guess you do.” Her gaze shifted back to Jane. “I want to know about her. Will you tell me?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
Jane laughed. “I don’t know everything.”
“Well, almost everything.” She looked back at the mist. “I think she’s there, don’t you? I can feel … something.”
She hadn’t expected that from Lisa. It was clear the girl was caught and held by the mystique. “Sometimes I’ve thought her spirit may be there.”
“Tell me.”
Jane gazed thoughtfully at her. It was probably only curiosity and Lisa’s usual intensity about everything in her immediate world. Yet hadn’t Jane had that same intensity when she had started to dream about Cira all those years ago? Who was she to judge or question?
She turned away from the lake. “Why not? Providing you sit down by the fire and rest. I have a sketch I have to complete of my brother, Michael. I’ll work on it while I tell you about Cira and her husband, Antonio, and her son Marcus.” She headed for the campfire. “Would you like coffee or tea?”
*
Caleb didn’t come back from the north bank for over four hours. When he did appear, his shoes were covered with mud and his shirt was open.
“Don’t ask,” he said as he came toward them. “MacDuff needed some temporary help and he drafted me. The man is totally ruthless.”
“And you just couldn’t say no?” Jane asked. “Poor Caleb.”
“He’s taking care of Lisa.” He looked at his sister curled up asleep on a blanket in front of the fire. “Is she okay?”
“Fine. She just overdid it a little today. The nap will be good for her.” She smiled. “Or maybe I bored her into a coma. She wanted me to tell her all about Cira.”
“And did you?”
She nodded. “Anyone who is in Cira’s world should know her. Lisa seemed to have an empathy for her.”
“Of course she did. It’s a family thing. I keep trying to convince you that Cira likes me.” His gaze was still on Lisa. “I’m too dirty to carry her up to her tent now. I’ll go and clean up and come back for her.”
“She can walk up to the tent area. That hill is only a slight incline. You don’t need to help her.”
“And she’d probably be indignant.” He gave Lisa a last glance. “Okay, maybe I’m overcompensating. I wasn’t there for her for a long time. And I’m leaving her again within the hour.”
Her brows rose. “Guilt?”
“Perish the thought. When did I ever feel guilty about anything?” He turned and strode up the hill toward his tent.
She watched him until he disappeared into his tent.
When did you feel guilt, Caleb? What do you feel about anyone or anything? The more she learned about him, the more mystery she found surrounding him.
Like Cira’s mist, she thought suddenly. Like Cira herself. But she knew most of that story. She wasn’t sure that she’d ever know Caleb’s.
And she wasn’t going to stand down here and let herself worry and puzzle about him. The only part of her life that was connected to Caleb right now was this girl sleeping by the fire. She’d taken responsibility for Lisa and she had to be made aware of anything that might concern her.
She drew a deep breath and quickly moved up the hill after him.
“I need to talk to you, Caleb,” she called as she reached the tent.
“By all means, come in. This is very reminiscent. Only the last time, I was naked.” He came to the entrance. “This time, I’m only half naked.” He’d stripped off his shirt, and his body and hair gleamed with drops of water. “But if you’re disappointed, I’d be happy to re-create.”
“In your dreams.” She entered the tent.
His lips twitched. “No, that’s your category.” He tilted his head. “And I thought we’d already been talking.”
“Not about what I need to know. And I didn’t want to discuss it in front of Lisa. She has a tendency to become involved and try to run things.”
“I’ve noticed.” He took a towel and began drying his hair. “A passion for control. I wonder where she gets it.”
She ignored that and said, “I know you’ve been on the phone and tapping every source you have since you took Lisa to the hospital.”
“I’ve not made a secret of it.”
“But you haven’t told me what you learned.” She paused. “Or where you’re going when you leave here. I know that you’d have fought much harder to keep Lisa close to you if you hadn’t had an agenda already in mind. Do you know where Santara is now?”
“No.”
She took a step closer to him. “Don’t lie to me, Caleb. I have to take care of Lisa. I don’t want to be dancing around your half-truths.”
“It’s not a lie.” He shrugged. “But I knew I’d be fighting this battle for a long while.”
“Because you admitted you lied to me before.”
“Then you have to take your chances, don’t you? However, I’d be foolish not to ration my untruths a bit. After all, I’ve already demonstrated that I have a vested interest in maintaining our relationship. Lies seriously damage that goal.” He nodded. “I do have an agenda. I’m very angry with Santara, as you know. I’ve become certain that Gino and Teresa are involved, too.” His voice dropped to lethal softness. “So the agenda is to kill them all in the most painful way possible. I don’t believe that comes as a surprise to you.” He added, “But you want a progress report, don’t you? Like Lisa, you have to be involved.”
“I am involved.”
“Yes, you are,” he said gravely. “And I only hope that involvement remains long-distance. I admit that was one of the reasons that was most persuasive when you ambushed me about bringing Lisa here with you.”