The White Stag Adventure by Rennie McOwan

Author:Rennie McOwan [Rennie McOwan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F
Publisher: SAGA Egmont
Published: 2023-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

7

The Lynx Prepares

Clare was the first to react.

“Quick!” she hissed. “Get down!”

In a second the Clan Alliance were down behind the castle walls, peering anxiously up at the hillsides.

“Take your balmorals off,” whispered Clare. “We don’t want anything glistening or shining. Do it slowly!”

Gavin carefully slipped off his balmoral and sash, and put them behind a stone. Then he wriggled over to where Clare, Michael and Mot were huddled behind one of the walls.

Clare was totally in charge.

“You three keep down!” she said. “I’ll keep watch through this crack. There’s no need to have four heads bobbing around.”

“Okay,” said Michael. “But tell us what’s happening.”

“Otherwise we’ll burst,” said Mot.

He, Michael and Gavin sat beside Clare with their backs to the wall and looked up at her as she, half-crouched, peered through the slit.

“There’s a man on the skyline,” whispered Clare.

“Take care, Clare,” said Michael. “Don’t let him see you.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” said Clare. “I’m staying behind this crack. There’s no light behind me, just another wall, so he can’t make out a thing. He might spot a jerky movement, but I’m keeping very still. You three must stay down!”

“Right, Clare,” said Mot. “You’re the boss.”

“The chief, please,” retorted Clare. “Oh, wait a bit! He’s off again!”

Michael, Mot and Gavin sat uneasily as the tension built up. There was a long silence. Clare said: “He seems to be looking for someone or something. He’s moving backwards and forwards across the hillside. He’s got a stick or staff as well, I think…oh, I wish I could see better.”

“Do you want my binoculars?” asked Gavin.

“Good idea,” said Clare. “But just a second! I don’t want the sun glinting on anything and giving us away.”

She glanced around.

“It should be okay. The sun is on him, not on me. Crawl over and get the binoculars out of your rucksack, Gavin. Wrap them up in something so there’s no shine.”

Obediently, Gavin crawled across the courtyard, keeping close to the wall, until he got to his rucksack. He made sure he was totally hidden from the hillside and took out his binoculars, wrapping them in his jersey.

He crawled back to Clare and handed them over, then squatted down again behind the wall.

Clare very slowly adjusted the focus and looked carefully through the slit.

She gave a sudden gasp.

“It’s not a stick,” she said. “It’s a rifle! He’s casting around looking for something but I can’t see what. The hillside’s very broken up there with lots of little rocky bits among the heather.”

There was another tense silence.

Then she gasped again. “He’s coming down lower. He’s looking this way.”

Another silence.

Then she whispered: “It’s all right, he was just looking around. He hasn’t seen us. What on earth is he up to? If he’s shooting at deer he’s up to no good. And if he’s one of the poachers, we’ve got to do something.”

Michael tugged at Clare’s arm. “Is he one of the men we saw? Can you make out any features, Clare?”

“He’s a bit far out yet,” Clare said. “But I didn’t really get a good look at him before.

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