Chapter Five

"Y e are insane, Keithen. Ye canna trick a ghost!" Later that day, Cam sat scowling at Keithen from the stool pushed up to the drink board in the Horn and Hoof. Gavin was with him. Keithen stood behind the drink board.

"Shhhh." Keithen's eyes scanned the room. "Lennox might hear ye."

"What does Callum have to say about this?" asked Gavin.

"He says he'll never give the ghost his real recipe for makin' Mountain Magic, but he's willin' to write down a fake one."

From across the room, Lorna headed over. "This is dangerous, and I'm no' sure it's a good idea, Keithen."

"Lorna, it's fine." Keithen took his betrothed's hands in his, looking deeply into her eyes. He decided he was going to like being married to the beautiful lass after all. "Just have faith in me. I'll fix this, I swear I will."

"Well, all right," she said, looking up at him shyly. A blush colored her face. "After all, it's for the best."

"Ye're damned right it is." Keithen boldly leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. If there had actually been patrons in the tavern, he wasn't sure he would have done this. And certainly not if her father was present.

"Oooh, I think I saw him up at the top of the stairs," Lorna said in a low voice.

"Get Callum, quickly." Keithen pretended to be wiping off the drink board.

"I'll get him." Lorna ran off to the kitchen, and returned with old Callum limping along behind her. "We're ready," she whispered.

"Callum, where are ye off to?" Keithen spoke the rehearsed words loudly.

Callum scowled at him. "Ye already forgot?"

"Just go with it," said Keithen from the side of his mouth. "Do exactly as planned."

"Och, aye. Of course." Callum cleared his throat and almost shouted, "I'm off to work at my still. Now, where did I put that secret recipe I wrote down? I'm always forgettin' it, so that is why I wrote it on a piece of parchment." He dug into his pouch, really not able to find it.

"Try inside yer tunic," said Keithen, his eyes flashing up to the top of the stairs where he saw the ghost of Lennox peeking around a corner.

"Ah, here it is." Callum pulled a piece of parchment out from under his tunic and held it in the air. "I'll just go use this now. But it's a secret, so no one can see it." He over-acted, and in Keithen's opinion it wasn't believable in the least. Hopefully, the ghost wouldn't notice. Callum opened his mouth to say more, but Keithen stopped him.

"That's enough," he said in a low voice. "Ye've got his attention, now go!"

Callum hobbled to the front door, purposely dropping the parchment. Keithen watched as the ghost of Lennox slowly floated down the stairs toward it.

Just as Callum reached out to open the door, someone opened it from the other side. A breeze blew in, and the parchment fluttered across the floor.

"Chieftain! What the hell are ye doin' here? Ye're goin' to ruin everythin'," spat Callum.

"Oh, hell," mumbled Gavin from his stool.

"This canna be good," said Cam.

"My da is here?" Lorna spun around to see.

Keithen groaned. Sure enough, Chieftain MacNeil marched into the tavern with several of his men right behind him. Then, a woman walked into the tavern as well.

"Mathair is here too?" whined Lorna.

"Bloody hell." Keithen could see that things were going from bad to worse.

"This is my wife, Anna," announced Bhaltair. "Anna, this is Callum MacKeefe, who owns the tavern."

"Hello," said the woman, seeing the piece of parchment on the floor. "Oh, I think ye dropped somethin'."

"Nay, I didna. Now go! Leave. Hurry!" Callum's hands swished through the air as he tried to wave them away.

Keithen saw the ghost heading for the parchment just as Anna bent down to pick it up. He hurried across the room, but he was too late. Anna stood up and screamed as the ghost of Lennox MacNeil made a loud wailing noise and flew out the door, right through her.

"Mathair!" cried Lorna, running to her.

Bhaltair and his guards all drew their swords.

"What the hell was that?" shouted one of the guards.

"Not what, but who," said Bhaltair. "I'm pretty sure that was the ghost of my faither, Lennox MacNeil.

"Ooooh." Anna's eyes rolled back in her head and she swooned, just as her husband reached out to catch her.

"MacKeefe, what is this all about?" shouted Bhaltair.

Since there were four MacKeefes in the room, they all answered at once, and nothing made sense.

"Haud yer wheesht, the rest of ye," said the angered Bhaltair, still cradling his wife. "I want only one of ye to tell me."

"Bhaltair? Was that a ghost?" Anna's eyes flickered open. "We canna let our daughter stay here. It's no' safe."

"Mathair, I'm safe with Keithen," said Lorna. "Ye dinna need to worry."

"Someone, tell me about the ghost," Bhaltair commanded.

"He'll be gone soon, I promise." Keithen stepped forward. "He's only a ghost, and canna harm anyone." He swallowed forcefully and rubbed his throat, hoping to hell this was true.

"What is the ghost of my faither doin' here? And why didna ye tell me, Callum? Why did he appear now after all this time?"

"Calm down, ye fool. The damned ghost has been here for decades," said Callum. "He only wants to ken how to make my Mountain Magic, but I'll never tell a soul."

"Is that what is written on this parchment?" Anna, still grasping it, held it up.

"Nay. That's just a fake recipe to trick the ghost into leavin'," said Callum.

"Lennox is goin' to be madder than ever now." Cam walked up to join the rest of them.

"Bhaltair, we need to break the betrothal and take Lorna home right away." Anna pulled her daughter to her.

"Nay, Mathair. I want to marry Keithen."

"Mayhap she's right," said Gavin. "Callum, ye never should have involved Lorna and her family."

"Nay!" came Bhaltair's strong answer. "The weddin' will continue as planned."

"Chieftain?" Keithen questioned his decision. "Even with the ghost?"

"If I canna get rid of the haunting spirit, no one will ever enter the Horn and Hoof again, and I'll be doomed," said Callum. "The MacKeefes will be broke, and we'll starve to death because of this wretched ghost." He waved his fists in the air.

"Then let me deal with the ghost of my faither," offered Bhaltair.

"Ye? What can ye do that we havena already tried?" asked Cam.

"I think I can get my dead faither to stop hauntin' ye." Bhaltair had a look of shame upon his face, if Keithen wasn't mistaken.

"Ye canna kill him with a sword," Gavin told him. "We've tried."

"And neither do I plan to." Bhaltair sheathed his sword.

"Then how will ye get Grandda to leave, Faither?" asked Lorna.

"I'm ashamed to say he's only still here because of me."

"Bhaltair, what are ye sayin'?" asked his wife.

"My faither always gave me anythin' I asked for," Bhaltair explained. "But he died before he could give me the thing I really wanted."

"What was that?" asked Keithen.

Bhaltair looked over at Callum and shook his head. "I'm sorry to have to tell ye this, Callum, but it wasna my faither who wanted to steal and sell yer secret recipe to give it to the enemy. It was me."