Lost Souls

39

Innes MacBlaine was having difficulty holding his mug of hot Irish coffee. His hands were shaking, and no matter how hard he concentrated, he could do nothing to prevent the movement.

​"It's going to be okay vicar," Mr. Rusk offered warmly. "Galbraith's just a thug who tries to scare people."

​"He's scared me Michael," the old man replied, looking like he'd aged a decade in the previous two hours.

​"He does have a tendency to shoot at people. It's not like he's prone to idle threats," Jimmy added.

​Mr. Rusk clasped his hands, and rested them on the table before him. "I've already called my mate in the Metropolitan Police.  He thinks maybe we've stumbled onto something, otherwise why would Galbraith be so concerned by us digging up old records and investigating the house. When I told him about the box of loot, he got really excited."

​"What did he say we should do? Katie asked, as she watched MacBlaine trying to take a drink without spilling the contents of his mug all over the table.

​"Carry on digging. As soon as we find anything else, or if we do get threatened by Galbraith, we're to call him and he'll see what he can do. He knows someone in the C.I.D in Edinburgh, so maybe we can get help from there?"

​"We're not in any danger are we Michael," Mrs. Rusk asked worriedly.

​"No, I don't think so. As long as we keep what we're doing a secret, then I fail to see how Galbraith can become any more involved than he already is."

​"He's a cunning man Michael," MacBlaine said in a hushed voice. "I wouldn't put it past him to have us all put under surveillance."

​ "Flippin heck, it's like C.S.I. Miami," Alex scoffed.

​"What's that?" Amber asked, as she started to draw a large eye in her sketch book.

​"It's a wicked police programme. You should watch it Amber, it's great fun."

​"I don't think any of you should be watching programmes like that Alex. It's on far too late, and you're too young to see so much violence," Mrs. Rusk said to her middle child.

​"It's not that bad mum. No worse than Buffy or Angel."

​"Whose the big tough kid now?" Katie said sarcastically.

​Alex stuck out his tongue at his sister and gave her a one fingered salute.

​"That's enough son," Mr. Rusk barked. "You too Katie."

​"Sorry dad," Katie apologised.

​"Whatever," Alex added.

​Mr. Rusk took three large mouthfuls of his own Irish coffee and felt the warm liquid dance over his taste buds before it exploded in his gut. Heat radiated from inside and spread across his stomach. It felt good and re-sparked his energy levels, that had started to flag since he'd returned to the Manor. "I suggest, tomorrow we split up and search this house from top to bottom. Once we've done that, we'll take a look outside. We'll leave nothing untouched. Somewhere, something is going to give us a heads up as to what went on here with these kids."

​"Galbraith?" Jimmy pointed out.

​"Unless he shows up here, we'll forget all about him for now. Anyone disagree?"

​Before anyone had a chance to answer, Katie whispered, "Dad, I think you should take a look at this."

​Katie's dad turned to look at what Katie was pointing at and gasped. Amber was drawing in her sketch book at such a rate her pencil was a complete blur of activity. The pages she'd spread out before her were covered in children's faces. As he watched, Amber drew three more basic heads, and then filled in their individual details with the flowing hand of a professional artist.