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planting of a garden. The dozens of children who’d crossed the bridge before its collapse settled in for their lessons, which were held at Dunbrae Cottage under the astute tutelage of Mrs. Alsberg, the baker’s wife. She had managed to escape with her twin daughters, but the fate of her husband, who’d been a few paces behind, was still uncertain.
    As Mackenna and I stepped into the mottled sunlight of the cottage garden, I remembered the other stranger the day had brought us: Alasdair. Were both the auld man and the foreign girl the signs we’d asked for on the beach? Or was one of them a decoy sent by our enemy to confuse and distract us from our purpose?
    The more I thought about it, the more certain I felt that Cheska was who she claimed to be. But Alasdair was a puzzle that needed solving before any more lives were placed at risk. As if Mackenna was privy to my thoughts, she tugged my arm so that I stopped. Leaning into me, she whispered, “What are we going to do with the mysterious man? I think we should keep him on lockdown until we figure out what his agenda is.”
    “Agreed. I’ll assign a couple of the guard to watch o’er him.” I mentally reviewed the handful of auld yet able-bodied men who made up my new guard and choose two that would be conscientious and discreet.
    Incapable of hiding the eagerness in her voice, she suggested, “You could ask Eòran to do it.”
    “I could,” I replied, pretending to consider the request. “But he won’t.”
    She snorted. “A girl can dream.”
    Since coming to Alloway, this was the longest the guard had let my girlfriend out of his sight. If he’d been a wee bit younger and taller, I might have been suspicious of his motives. However, Eòran’s diligence as self-appointed protector, while it annoyed Mackenna to no end, provided me with immeasurable comfort.
    Toward the end of my musing, I realized Mackenna was waiting for me to look at her. When I did, she searched my face, her fathomless gray eyes boring into me as her features twisted into concern.
    “Duncan,” she began, “we haven’t really talked about what happened before we crossed the bridge. Are you still mad at me?”
    “What for?” I asked cautiously.
    Letting go of my arm, she paced toward the stone bench in the center of the garden and stopped, facing away from me. The wind buffeted her motionless body, tugging at her shawl and hair. “Because you couldn’t go after your brother. Because Vee forced you to lead the people out of Doon.”
    She turned to face me. There was a question in her eyes—the same one that was there every time she’d looked at me since our arrival in Alloway, the one we were both afraid to speak. Do you think Jamie is alive? The truth was, until I saw his grave with my own eyes, I could not afford to believe otherwise.
    Other unspoken questions tumbled into the space between us. What of Veronica? How many people had died trying to escape? Would we ever return home, and if so would there be any Doonians to greet us?
    I had no answers to give, only questions of my own . . . about the strength of my faith and the purpose of this new trial.
    My stomach twisted, tangling my insides. I stuffed my reaction into the hole in my spirit—I didn’t want to think about this. Not now, not ever.
    Instead I watched as a shiver trembled its way up Mackenna’s spine. Going to her, I pressed my chest against her back. My heartbeat synchronized with hers as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and brushed my lips against the side of her neck.
    After a moment, Mackenna discarded her unspoken questions with a small sigh. “So we’re okay?” She twisted in my arms so that we were toe to toe.
    “Aye, woman. We’re okay .”
    Her enchanting lips curled into a half smile. “Prove it.”
    My pulse stuttered as she reached for me. Although her hands were perpetually cold, her fingers inflamed my body as she wound them around my neck.
    I caressed the downy skin of her jaw with my