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against Josie and her mother and that I could not ignore it.
    I took a grip on the handle and gently eased the door open. Beyond was a bedchamber. To my right was a bed, larger and softer than anything I could ever have dreamed of. Set into the wall opposite was a stout wooden cabinet and above it a hanging silver platter of some kind.
    Willie Rood was standing by the cabinet with a metal bar in his hand. He was pressing one end of the bar into the crack between the cabinet door and the wall, trying to force the lock. It was clear to me he was on an errand from the laird while his master kept the widow occupied at the front of the house. Sheer rage made me forget my injury and my fatigue.
    â€œWhat are ye about, Willie Rood?” I exclaimed.
    Rood spun about, a guilty look on his round, piggy face. When he spotted me, his eyes narrowed and his lip curled. “Am I never to be rid of you, you whelp?” He raised the metal bar, making ready to strike me.
    I had been in a few fights in my time, too many to just stand there and let myself be hit. Not again. I flew at him, ramming my shoulder into his belly. He bashed into the wall and slumped down into a sitting position.
    â€œDamn ye!” he cried, flailing out at me with the bar.
    I dodged, and whether it was the desire for revenge on him or the urge to protect Bonnie Josie’s home that drove me on, I forgot my reeling head, my weak legs, and fought back with a fury. I lunged again, locking my arms around his neck and shoving him right down onto the floor.
    He tried to push me off and we rolled over, bumping up against the bed. He made to raise the bar, but I struck first, punching him right in the eye, and he dropped the iron rod in his agony. Then, throwing himself back, he kicked hard at my ribs. But I dodged him and jumped onto the bed, my fists raised.
    â€œI’m ready this time,” I told him. “Ye’ll not catch me by surprise again.”
    Staggering, Rood clambered to his feet, clutching his bruised eye. “I’ll beat ye to a jelly!” he thundered. But he had dropped his weapon and had to stand there looking around for it before he dared take me on.
    â€œWhat is the meaning of this?” asked a quavering voice from the doorway.
    I turned and saw Lady Elizabeth standing there with her knuckles pressed to pale lips.
    Taking advantage of the distraction, Rood made a clumsy grab for me, but I jumped off the other side of the bed, landing close to the widow. My legs started to give way, and I grabbed onto the windowsill.
    The lady took a fearful step back. “You’re the boy Josie brought home,” she said.
    â€œYou might as well have loosed a wild beast in your midst,” Rood declared hoarsely.
    The laird appeared at the widow’s shoulder. “Rood?” he inquired. “Have ye come here on business?”
    There was a false note to his question. Surely the widow could tell as clearly as I that the factor was here on the laird’s orders, carrying out his bidding.
    â€œI did,” Rood answered, struggling to compose himself. He straightened his coat, but his flushed face and heavy breath marked him as the guiltiest man I’d ever seen. “As ye asked, sir, to meet ye here. On … business.”
    â€œHe came here to rob ye, ma’am,” I cried. “And I caught him at it.”
    The laird fixed his eye on me, a look that was like the sharp point of a dirk. “And who might you be?” he asked. His voice indicated that what I might be was some kind of midge, an insect to be squashed between his fingers or under the flat of his hand whenever he liked.

5 UNCLE AND NIECE
    Before I could answer, urgent footfalls came racing up the hallway.
    â€œUncle Daniel!” an angry voice exclaimed. “I told you the last time you called on us—you are not welcome here. Father would not have treated his tenants the way you do. I speak for him who can no longer speak at