Ailish scurried into the room, looking rather wild with flushed cheeks and her hair blown this way and that.
“That brother o’ yours near trampled me on the stairs.” She closed the door and leaned against it. “Ill-tempered, that one be. Did you two cross words?”
The maid moved to the dressing table, brush in hand. I sat in the wooden chair and shook out the still-damp tresses. “It was nothing,” I lied.
“Your brother don’t have the fire like you do, but he sets me blood steaming all the same.” Ailish fanned her red cheeks with a bare hand. “Felt better outside in the cold.”
“Where have you been?” I asked.
“Snooping about for your friend and Deri.”
I looked at her in the mirror’s reflection. Without a horse, she couldn’t have gone far, probably not even beyond the city walls. “Henry’s been all over Wexford, and no one has seen them. Once I’m finished here, we’re going to start searching the outlying woods.” I tried not to think about the immensity of the task.
She gave me a sly smile. “Won’t be too hard from what I’ve learned.”
My heart thumped into my ribs. “Did you find them?”
The smile grew bigger to reveal two rows of small white teeth. “Not just, but I got us a clue.”
Chapter Sixteen
Into the Woods
I whipped my head around so quickly the brush flew from the maid’s hand and clattered to the floor.
She yipped in surprise. “Beg yehr pardon, miss.”
“What have you learned?” I asked Ailish.
“Where Deri’s da lived afore he went to the grave. His widow lives there still, and I’ll bet she knows where the little demon be hiding if’n anyone does.”
I started to rise, ready to be off. Partway up, the maid caught hold of my shoulder. “Yehr hair, miss. People will think yeh’ve gone mad going out like that.”
A quick glance at the unruly curls, and I saw she was right. “Please be quick about it,” I said, sinking back into the chair.
“Two shakes and we’ll be done.” Having retrieved the brush a second time from the floor, she began to run it with lightning speed over the remaining tangles.
Since Deri had inherited Cailleach’s blood through her father, reason stood that the man’s widow could be the same. I used the mirror again to make eye contact with Ailish. “This woman we’re going to visit, is she...” I paused to check my words. “Is she the same as you?”
Ailish shrugged. “Don’t know. Chances be good that she is, though.”
With both of us suspecting the same thing, I had to prepare for the worst. “Do you really think Deri will be there? I mean after what she did to her father, I wouldn’t imagine the stepmother all too welcoming.” As the girl had cut his throat, I expected the woman wanted nothing to do with the wretch unless it involved hanging from a rope.
“Didn’t say they’d be sharing a roof. Just that the widow would know where Deri’s likely to hide. Might be a dead end, but it’s the best start we got to finding her trail.”
I began to nod, but the maid’s firm grip held my head in place.
Ailish continued to stare at me. The grin had vanished and her expression turned apprehensive. “Is there anything else?” I asked.
Her eyes moved to the window, while the rest of her remained absolutely still. “Got word of your friends from the Sea Witch.”
My body tensed in nervous expectation. “Where are they? Did they get away from Captain Lynch?”
“So far as the fishmonger’s wife be telling it. She heard this morning from a tavern wench that an English lady and two English gentlemen have been searching the woods all around Wexford for a dark-haired lass. They stayed the night at a farmer’s cottage with the understanding that they’d return again this evening. I promised a lad half a crown if’n he got a message to them that you’ve arrived and to meet us at the inn tonight.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” The muscles danced in my throat, warbling the words. For all my confidence in Justine’s gift, a part of me feared they’d be well on their way to the Colonies by now, or at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
The strain deepened in Ailish’s face. “Do you think they’ll blame me for what happened with Calhoun?”
“Not once they’ve learned the truth. We’ll start by explaining everything to Lord Fitzalan this afternoon, then he can help with the others once they arrive.” I clamped my hands on my knees to forestall any signs of doubt. James and Justine would be quick to see reason. Julian was less predictable with his short fuse and tendency toward violence.
She mulled over my answer, and after a moment her expression softened. “I’ll not be leaving you then.”
My hands relaxed. “Thank you.”
Once the last hairpin was slipped into place, I sprang from the chair and hurried to my saddlebags for clean stockings. A few more minutes and I stood fully dressed in cape, gloves and boots.