Read Online Highlander 04 - Some Like It Kilted (2010) by Allie Mackay - Free Book Online Page A

time.
     
“The ghosts were in the long gallery,” she argued, not at all ready to hear anything odd about the kitchen.
     
“Do you think they can’t move around?” The gleam in Margo’s eyes intensified. “I can feel whole battalions of spirits tracking through here. Maybe they’re medieval servants, cooks, and little spit boys”—she looked around, warming to her topic—“or perhaps just hungry clansmen coming in to raid the midnight larder.”
     
“That’s ridiculous.” Mindy rolled her eyes.
     
“Medieval Highlanders were big strong men.” Margo sent her long-lashed gaze toward the closed door of the buttery. “I’m sure they had appetites to match.”
     
“If they’re here and hungry, they can have whatever they want as long as they leave me alone.” Mindy folded her arms, starting to get cross.
     
Margo hopped up onto the table, swinging her legs. “The time for that is past. It’s you disrupting their peace now. They won’t be pleased to see you bringing in workmen and movers. Ghosts never like such things. The noise and—”
     
“The ghosts are insisting I do this!” Mindy’s head was beginning to hurt. “They appeared to me. They demanded I have the Folly dismantled and—”
     
Several copper milk cans artfully arranged in a corner toppled over, crashing into an equally ancient butter churn. The clatter—with ensuing echo—was deafening and brought a huge grin to Margo’s face.
     
“See?” She scissored her legs gleefully. “The castle spirits don’t want you disturbing them. The Folly is their sanctuary. They’re letting you know they want to stay here. They consider Bucks County their home now.”
     
Mindy snorted. “The Caspers in the long gallery made it clear what they think of Bucks County and”—she glanced at the door arch, half expecting to see them huddled in the shadows, eavesdropping—“where they want to be. I’m taking them there, to Barra, and then I’m heading for Florida.”
     
“Florida?” Margo sounded horrified.
     
Mindy quite agreed, but kept the sentiment to herself.
     
She did cross the kitchen to fetch a platter of locally made farmhouse Cheddar, sliced salami, and a loaf of crusty French bread.
     
“Here”—she plonked the tray down on the table, next to her sister—“eat something before hunger puts any more crazy notions in your head.”
     
“But . . . Florida?” Margo popped a salami slice into her mouth. “You wanted to go to Hawaii. Settle on Maui or, at least, Oahu’s North Shore.” She swallowed the salami and reached for another piece. “I even caught you scanning the Internet for homes in Haleiwa and Waialua. You—”
     
“My budget won’t allow a North Shore rental, much less the kind of house I was hoping to buy.” Mindy started to cut a piece of Cheddar, then set down the cheese knife.
     
Not surprisingly, she wasn’t hungry.
     
She did frown. “Florida is my only option. It’s sunny, warm, and affordable. I can stay with airline friends in Tampa until I’ve saved enough to rent a place of my own. If Global will let me start flying anywhere near my old salary, I should do okay.
     
“I’ll visit Hawaii on my vacations.” She shrugged, the prospect making her heart sink. “It won’t be so bad. As long as I’m away from rain and cold mist, I’ll be—”
     
“You’ll be miserable.” Margo jumped off the table. “I have a better idea. You stay here and let Ye Olde Pagan Times take advantage of your ghosties. Look how many people flock to our Gettysburg tours. The tours are booked solid months in advance, sometimes a whole year. A cadre of angry Highland ghosts in a real Scottish castle will make you a mint. And”—she waved a piece of bread in the air—“you’ll be able to keep every dime of the fortune Hunter left you.”
     
Mindy waited until her sister ran out of steam. “This might be a real Scottish castle, but it’s in the wrong place. And the angry ghosts are going to be