Elusive by Linda Rae Blair

…

    “My great-grandmother?” she gasped as the
reality really hit home at last. She read once again the story of
Caena’s love and sacrifice.
    Eventually, Sòlas, then known as Henri
Delamare, married a young French woman who, ironically, bore him a
son, Eduard. She raised Kenna as her own without ever knowing the
child’s story. When Sòlas was near death, he gave Caena’s letter to
Eduard and told him the story. Eduard swore to him that he would
protect his half-sister and the letters with his life, and the
journey to today began.
    Your father and I were the last of Sòlas’s
descendants through Eduard. The family here has always remained
extremely close, with their single goal in mind; a female of
Caena’s line reclaiming the estate.
    From time to time as the lines became
diluted, sons and daughters of the two lines have married. Your
mother was the last direct descendent of Caena and your father’s
very distant cousin. Thus you are truly from both their lines, and
everything that would have belonged to Sòlas and Caena should now
be yours.
    The letters came to me as your guardian
after your mother’s death. They are your story, dear Blair, your
history. Now they are yours. Generation after generation, giving
away to a time when you would be able to reclaim what is rightfully
yours, as Caena’s and Sòlas’s sole direct descendant.
    Blair, the time is now. The heirs of
Macrath’s father, Mordag, still reside in the Castle. The estate is
worth a fortune, and it should be yours.
    I remember when you were just a little girl,
you asked me why you had to learn to speak, read, and write in
English and French when all your friends were doing so only in
French. This is why, my dear. You had to be prepared to take on the
responsibility for your people.
    The fact that you are reading this letter
tells me that it is possible that Mordag’s side of the family has
finally tracked us down. If my death was from other than natural
causes, this is most certainly the case.
    The pressure to keep your identity hidden
has been great over the last few years. It seems that, despite my
efforts to keep you safe, they have caught up with us.
    Social issues in our homeland are changing.
The time is right for you to take possession of what is yours. I
wish I had been able to see you have it all. It saddens me that you
will have to fight them alone.
    Go to Edinburgh and seek out the lawyer that
has kept the family records on our behalf, Angus Ferguson. His
address in Edinburgh is enclosed. He will help you in any way you
need.
    But, beware, my dear. You must keep your
identity hidden from the rest of the family until the time is
right. Your life may very well depend upon it.
    Keep yourself safe, my dearest Blair. Know
that I loved you with all my heart and did my best to keep you and
what should be yours safe!
    Rodaidh McDonnough
    Uncle Roddy

    She thought it strange that he had never used
his Scottish name, Rodaidh (RO dee), as long as she’d known him. He
had always been proud of his Gaelic heritage. Although he never
talked about it in great detail, the pride when he did was obvious.
And McDonnough ? He had been Roddy Delamare to her throughout
their time together. That meant that she too was a McDonnough—twice
over, since she was descended from both Caena and Sòlas. The
family lines were coming together again, although after several
generations—Caena and Sòlas’s family line through her grandmother
and mother; Sòlas’s family line through his wife and only son.
    She was finally able to put most of the
pieces together. What was it the lawyer had said? The French had
been persecuting the Scots, taking their property.
    So, logically, Sòlas brought his daughter
here to safety. Knowing the French could take everything from them,
and that the McDonnough clan might be searching for him, he changed
their names. Only now in more modern times, with the persecution of
Scots long in the past, could Roddy, Sòlas’s descendent, admit