Guardian Angel (Book 3)

By Ian Johnstone

Lord Douglas Ahearn Stuart (Ahearn = Scottish Gaelic for Lord of the horses) has now turned thirty but still at war with the bad part of the Clan Douglas. James Douglas is in prison but his three cousins that Ahearn crossed and lost them their jobs are still out for vengeance. They once again pick on Morag (Lady Stuart) dragging her name through the mud, but she has a general fighting her case that surprises Ahearn.

Andrew is still translating the diary of the first Lord Douglas Ahearn from Latin to English. There are still many secrets being found about his loyalty to the Royal Stuarts from James the IV to almost the death of Mary Queen of all Scots. The conspiricies to return Mary from the clutches of Elizabeth I and the messenger trail from north to south are still being found in the diary.

Marie, (Mary Queen of Scots) that is Ahearn's modern day Guardian Angel still appears to give him cryptic clues of what he might need to stay safe. The problem is she can only guide him and not foretell his future. This leaves him more confused after their brief encounter than he was before she appeared to supposedly leave him with a clear mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Feb 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781456630225

Book preview

Guardian Angel (Book 3)

by

Ian Johnstone

Copyright 2018 Ian Johnstone

Cover Art by Ida at Amygdala Design

Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com

http://www.eBookIt.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-3022-5

Thistle is Authors own Work

Mary Queen of Scots ...Francoic Clouet (1542-1587)

All rights reserved. No portion of this story may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, except for the cover and a short text for review purposes. There will be no other reproduction of any chapters, paragraphs, or quotes, unless there is written consent from and signed by the author.

This story is historic fiction all names mentioned are fictional characters and any resemblance to real life people is coincidence.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER ONE

Morag [Lady Stuart] had walked the short way down the drive to visit her mother. Douglas was sitting in the lounge sipping coffee reading the morning papers when Drummond entered and said, Sir, there is a call for you from Mister Brown of Brown and Peters solicitors.

Thank you, Drummond, I will take it in here. He picked up the receiver and said, This is Lord Stuart speaking

Good morning, my Lord. If it is convenient for you, Peter Sanders the solicitors for Douglas forestry and Miss Rogers will meet us at midday at Stuart house. It is in connection with the removal of the forests. However if your Diary is full I can reschedule the meeting for another day and a time that will suit you.

No midday will be fine, Mister Brown.

Then we will be leaving now to get there early, and we can talk a little before they arrive.

Marie appeared to his front, smiling as she faced him before she began to speak. There is movement in the Clan Douglas, Ahearn, but it is not by those you would expect. There are those poisoned with hate that will be hell bent on revenge for their lost battles with you. At the moment it is only ripples in still waters, but your enemies are seeking help from foreign powers trying to build up a storm.

So, Marie; what you are saying is the Douglas clan is going to receive help from other clans to cause me a great amount of trouble.

No; I don’t believe I said that, Ahearn. I was warning you to be on your guard against others trying to make a mountain from a molehill. Not all your enemies have the name Douglas.

But you just said there was going to be a great amount of friction.

I don’t believe I said that either. I have told you many times that I cannot predict your future. However, it does give me a great feeling of joy to know that you have great expectations of my ability. Now I have cleared your mind and allowed you to meet the day with confidence I will leave you to your peace.

I like that expression, Ahearn, it is shock and confusion and so soon after I have cleared your mind. Douglas opened his mouth to say something but Marie was first. No don’t say a word as you will never have to thank me, Ahearn.

With a look of disbelief he replied, I already had a clear mind before you appeared and talked to me about ripples and storms.

Good heavens, Ahearn. Stop filling your head with nonsense because it is not good for you. As Douglas opened his mouth to reply, Marie disappeared leaving only her laughter bouncing about the empty room.

****

Andrew had received a call from Lady Lindsay. He had been told to meet her near the croft where Douglas was having the forest removed on the eastern boundary. He arrived there just before Lady Lindsay stopped her motor on the hard standing. She had also stopped her motor beside his, and he stepped out of his rough terrain vehicle to sit in her passenger seat. Is there a problem, my Lady?

I would like you to take a look at this croft house, Andrew. This one is similar to the one on Steeple Crag, and by looking at the pictures that Lord Stuarts mother had taken years ago. I believe it has been built too well to be just an ordinary cottage.

This was the first time Andrew had seen this cottage because of the shooting and the trouble that had taken place up on Steeple Crag. Willie MacNab had pulled all the tree roots out and levelled the ground a little, but it was the wrong end of the year for the grass to grow. Willie was now working up near the boundary and on seeing them he stopped before he walked over to talk.

Good day, my Lady. He looked at the badge on the jacket of Andrew and said, You must be Andrew that was with Lord Stuart the day of the shooting. He reached out with his hand to shake in greeting. I have no idea how long you will be here but we have two explosions scheduled today. There is mostly bed rock under these trees some way down, but the tap roots find a crack and follow it. I will let you know when the explosions are taking place so that you can move clear.

So that you don’t have to walk through the mud I have left a small walkway over on the west side. If you are going to have more people there at any time I have some rolls of aluminium roadway I can put down for you, my Lady. I can send one of the crew back to the yard to get it now if one is needed. As you are the trust there will be no charge, to be honest it will be the first time I have used it.

Thank you, Mister MacNab, because with the amount of mud about that would be helpful if you could. Lady Lindsay replied. She then walked with Andrew along the side of where the forest had once been standing to turn along where there was a semi grass and pine needle track just wide enough to walk along.

There was a heavy oak door still hanging in a frame but the hinges were seized. There was a lock on the inside without a key, because a key was too much to expect after four-hundred years. There were three rooms in the small building with one being longer than the two that were set back each side of the central fire. Each of the small rooms had a doorway but no door.

Andrew lifted his head and inspected the ceiling that was like the croft at Steeple Crag that had been built with giant thin slabs of flat stone sitting on oak beams. This croft was built much the same as the Steeple Crag croft except from the planning of the floor layout. Andrew was shining his torch onto the ceiling in the back rooms no different than he did in the large front room. He knelt on one knee moved the pine needles to one side from where they had been blown through the open door. On doing so he noted there was a stone floor once again, and as Willie MacNab had told him the forest had been planted on bedrock it was no surprise.

Andrew stepped back into the main room and looked about missing nothing with the beam of his torch. Lady Lindsay was standing back out of his way and watched him as he concentrated on all that he was looking at under the beam of the torch.

There was a window on the north wall that was no bigger than a spy hole, but the one on the south wall was a foot square. In the protruding stone sills top and bottom of the tiny window on the north side there were grooves. Andrew looked down near his feet before he went down on his knee. He removed more of the pine needles and found a chip of oak that had been cut for a purpose but had seen better days. He carefully put the chip back down on top of the needles and muttered his first words. That is very clever.

He took a careful long look about the fireplace that was an exact replica of the one in the croft at Steeple Crag. This one also had its own stone chimney in the rear wall between the two rooms. Willie entered the building and said, I think you will be okay here because we are one-hundred and fifty paces away, but it might be safer if you step outside while the explosion takes place.

They both followed Willie out and walked about the building until they were the other side, or at the back to be more precise. Without measuring the building, my Lady, I believe there is a bit missing. I think there is another room between the two smaller rooms behind the fire and chimney. I have a theory about the two buildings, but until I have done a little more research I would rather not commit myself by giving an opinion to why this one and the one at Steeple Crag are connected.

It might be a good idea to put a high wire fence about it for security from large animals. I don’t think any of the two legged type will venture this way, and whatever is in that centre room will be safe until we need to explore it. I need a small sieve the same as Jean had on Steeple Crag and a car vacuum cleaner. Those needles will have to be checked much the same as the last cottage. I also need the oldest map of Scotland the trust has.

It was then Andrew faced Lady Lindsay before he said, I do apologise, my Lady, but I was presuming you wanted me to look into this for you, and it is most probably your project.

They are our projects, Andrew, because you are my understudy. The senior members on the board of the trust are impressed with your work and knowledge. I have been told to inform you that confirmation of your appointment will be made in a few weeks making you permanent staff with more money. You have to realise now that I will now be taking a back seat on these projects as I am being promoted to the board of directors in the next few weeks. I will still head the investigation department but doing less work.

I offer my congratulations to you, my Lady.

I am still only on the other end of the phone if you need me, Andrew. I have a lot of contacts that I can call on that might be of help to you. I will get Kevin and his gang out here with a hut and the tools that you need, and he can put the wire fence up during the time that they are here.

Because of the work I am doing for Lord Stuart he has allowed me a room at the back of the house to use as a temporary office. I think it was an office of some sort at one time because of the desk and the book case. As soon as Peter gets the hang of his task in the house I will go and live with my mother. Although Lord Stuart has told me there is no rush for me to do so. I just feel that I am imposing on his generosity but I do appreciate what you have both done for me, my Lady.

You have earned your place working with me, Andrew. Lord Stuart and I have done nothing except find you work suitable to fit your qualifications.

****

Douglas was talking to Mister Brown for some time before Drummond stepped through into the lounge and announced the arrival of Peter Sanders and Miss Rogers. Drummond held the door open to allow them through to where Douglas and Mister Brown were seated.

Douglas and Mister Brown stood up for the hand shaking and introductions. Would you please sit down, Douglas said as he gestured towards the sofa with the upturned flat of his hand. Would you ask Victoria to bring a pot of tea and china for four, Drummond? Miss Rogers was older than Douglas had imagined looking the same age as his adopted mother.

It was after they had finished their tea when Sanders opened his mouth. Before this meeting commences, my Lord, I would like to say in advance that if you have ideas of cutting any of those trees down as your own. You have misunderstood our reason for requesting a meeting with you. Just because they have been planted on your land by mistake it does not make them your property. If that is what is on your mind then we might as well leave right now.

Who are you representing, Mister Sanders? Is it Miss, Rogers, or the people that are leaning on Sir William while he is in custody?

I am not sure what you are talking about, my Lord.

Oh I think you do, Mister Sanders, because I have been informed that you are a criminal lawyer that only does defence work for the criminal fraternity. I will give you a little bit of advice that might clear your uninformed mind. Sitting next to me is Mister Brown, and he has worked with litigation cases many times. If I was in the position Miss Rogers is now I would listen very carefully to what I have to say. You as a representative of Douglas Forestry have no legal claim to the land or the trees. They would under the law be considered ill gotten gains and be disposed of by the courts leaving you without a twig of a tree. However I have a way that is I think the only way to solve Sir William’s money shortfall.

If you interrupt me before I have finished talking then I will send you out of this meeting. I don’t think Miss Rogers cares any more about those trees on my land than I do. She is only making the transition of the money that you receive look like a legal transaction. However, your real clients would like some return for the money they invested even if it is only fifty percent.

Miss Rogers was smiling at his remarks and the way he had placed Sanders on the back foot. What do you propose, my Lord? She asked.

You and I would like those trees not to be there, but you do not have the finance to get them cut. Even if you had the Finance, Willie MacNab would not do the job because of all the bad blood between him and Douglas Forestry. I on the other hand have the finances and the services of Willie MacNab.

I have heard enough our meeting is at an end and we are leaving, you are not touching those trees Stuart.

I told you once before Mister Sanders to respect my title or stay out of my house. I do not really care if you want to leave or not, but if it comes to a court case the judge would be asking Miss Rogers what firm of idiots was instructing her. Now shut up because the only person leaving here will be the person that should be staying. So unless you would like those same people leaning on you that are leaning on Sir William, then I believe that you should stay seated and listen.

If you listen to your legal brief Miss Rogers then you will be in court for a great many years. I will cut the trees down....

I told you Lord Stuart, you will do that over my dead body. I am leaving here and taking my client with me. He stood up to make his point.

As he was doing so Douglas had pressed a bell, and moments later Drummond walked through the door. Drummond my guests are leaving, would you please show them out.

Come, Miss Rogers we are leaving these fools.

I am not going anywhere, Mister Sanders and at the moment the only fool is you. I never came here to walk out before I hear what proposal Lord Stuart is suggesting.

I said we are going, Miss Rogers, now do as I say and leave with me. Sanders said raising his voice to sound like a command.

It was like showing a red rag to a bull. Miss Rogers stood up in a flash and slapped him across his face, Who the hell do you think you are talking to? Get out to your damn motor you stupid little man, and wait for me there. Don’t think for one minute that Vlad will not be hearing of your conduct. You think you have the right to order me around like you probably order your whores about. I was told to deal with this problem, and you are only here to assist me. You will be assisting me by getting out of my sight, and start finding a way to minimise William’s sentence.

The welt across the face of Sanders along with shock and fear on hearing the name Vlad was unmistakable. He scurried away out of the room, and Douglas waited for her to be seated once more and hear the front door close.

She laughed before she said, That was very un-lady like, my Lord. I would like to hear what you propose, and it will be me that will say yes or no. I am a qualified barrister and know all about litigation. I am bad with money management but not with the law.

I know that you are pre-empting my actions which was a very shrewd move, my Lord. It tells me you are no fool not that I ever thought you was.

Miss Rogers, you need those trees cut and out of the way, and so do I. I believe that the real partners of Sir William are seeking financial retribution for all the plants that were destroyed. There are two hundred hectors of your trees on my land and I want them gone ASP. They have been on my land for between twenty to twenty-five years, but I will say twenty years for arguments sake.

I have ten tenants that have lost a lot of money over the last twenty years because of those forests. So I am going to charge you ten pounds per hector for the last twenty years. The money will be split between my tenants in compensation. I will have Willie MacNab cut the forests and put the land back into grazing. After the forest has been felled you will receive the money for the timber. However, that will be after Willie MacNab’s wages are paid along with the rent for that forest.

There is a very good chance that if you go into litigation you will lose, but you will only be fighting for the same thing as I have just offered you.

That is a very good offer, Lord Stuart, and I would be a fool not to take it. I just want to see the back of the forests and start living my life again. The other forests are mine and are on my land, when I bought this place thirty-five years ago those trees on my land were only a foot high.

She could see the expression on the face of Douglas and said, "Yes, Lord Stuart, the house and all the land with it are mine. William married me for my money and