“I-I heard you,” he said after a moment. “I-I suppose we shall discover the truth, but I pray that my brother did not end up in a grave with other dead. He did not deserve that.”
Gaira’s left arm was around his waist and he felt her squeeze. “Dunna give up hope.”
James paused, his thoughts turning from his brother to the tall, pale stranger who seemed so determined to help him.
“W-What I would like to know is why Rafe came,” he said. “I-I seem to remember him asking me if there was anything he could do to help me find Johnny, but I did not expect him to go out of his way to do it.”
Gaira held his hand tightly. “’Tis a rare man who would be so kind and helpful,” she said. “He’s a wanderer. I dunna want tae say that he has nothing better tae do, but he doesna seem tae. Perhaps he is looking for a purpose.”
James turned to look over his shoulder at her. “H-Helping a man he does not know?”
“Helping a man who needs it.”
She had a point. James squeezed her shoulders affectionately and returned his focus to the church, watching for Rafe’s return.
It wasn’t long in coming.
Rafe emerged from the darkness with a small man at his side. Clad in a rough woolen coat and breeches, his hair cut short against his skull, the man came into the light, his gaze fixed on James. Before James could say a word, the man spoke quietly.
“Ye have his look,” he said quietly. “Ye have his eyes.”
James eyed him curiously. “W-Who?”
“Yer brother,” the man said. Then, he shook himself. “Forgive me. I am Reverend Essich. I… I simply canna believe that ye came, m’laird.”
James stared at him a moment before taking a deep, steadying breath. “You knew my brother?”
Reverend Essich nodded. Then, he motioned to James. “Come,” he said. “Quickly.”
James followed, pulling Gaira with him. Rafe walked alongside as they followed Reverend Essich into a small alcove off the main sanctuary. It was private here, the stone-cold darkness pierced by banks of prayer candles.
Reverend Essich cleared his throat softly.
“Eight months ago, those loyal to Stuart were executed by the English out in the churchyard,” he said. “Though their cause has greatly died away, there still may be some who would like to see an Englishman dead because of it. Ye took a risk coming here, m’laird.”
James nodded. “I-I know,” he said. “B-But I have come looking for my brother. It seems to me that you know of him.”
Essich nodded. “I do,” he said, glancing at Rafe, who nodded encouragingly. “But when he came here, I dinna know his name. When yer friend told me that ye were looking for a man who had been bayonetted through the neck, I thought it might be him and now that I see ye, I know that ye are his brother because ye look just like him. I never even knew his name.”
“J-Johnathan,” James said without hesitation. “J-Johnathan de Lohr, Earl of Worcester.”
Essich smiled faintly, revealing yellowed teeth. “Worcester,” he repeated. “The man was nobility.”
“He came from a great line of soldiers.”
The reverend nodded. “No doubt,” he said. “Yer friend says that ye seek the truth about him. I was here on that terrible day when the English were brought here. My fellow brothers and I fought tae save those we could, but in yer brother’s case, it was of no use.”
James braced himself. “T-Tell me, please,” he said. “T-tell me everything you know.”
Essich began to wring his hands in a nervous gesture. “I want ye tae know we tried very hard, m’laird.”
“I-I understand.”
Essich sighed faintly, hoping that was the truth. He hoped the man really did understand because he had much to say.
“The English were brought here by the wagonload,” he said. “There were dead and dying men on the wagons, all piled in together. My fellow parishioners and I separated the dead from the dying as Cumberland’s men took the Jacobite prisoners and executed them in the churchyard. We could hear the muskets firing regularly. Meanwhile, a group of prisoners had been forced tae dig their own mass grave in the corner of the churchyard.”
It was cold-blooded, but such were the perils of war. It didn’t usually bother James, but with his brother involved, he was feeling quite emotional about the whole situation.
“G-Go on,” he said.
Essich continued. “We thought yer brother was dead when he was brought here, but he wasna,” he said, watching James close his eyes tightly. “He dinna die on the field of battle if that’s what ye were told. He was brought here in a pile of men and when we realized he was alive, we quickly took him away and put him in the dormitory with the other wounded.”
James sighed heavily and hung his head, slumping against the wall behind him. As Gaira and Rafe and Essich looked on with concern, the reverend continued quickly.
“Yer brother had taken a bayonet through the neck,” he said. “I dunna know how he survived as long as he did, but he was a strong man because he lived for a full night after he was brought here, and during that night, he never awoke. I made him as comfortable as I could, m’laird.”
James had a lump in his throat as he listened. “H-He never regained consciousness?”
Essich shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “There were times when I thought he might, but he never did. He wasna alone when he died, if that’s of some comfort tae ye. I was with him. I said a prayer for him.”
James could feel the tears but he fought them. This was perhaps the best ending he could have hoped for, considering the circumstances. “I-I am grateful,” he said. “W-What… what did you do with him?”
“We buried the dead on the other side of the church, opposite the churchyard,” Essich said. “Yer brother was buried in his own grave, dressed in the clothing he was wearing, but before we buried him, I removed what possessions he had in the hopes that I could discover who he was.”
James was losing the battle against the tears. “What did you find?”
The reverend dug into a pocket of his threadbare coat and pulled forth a meager handful of things. One looked like it was a folded document of some kind, while there were two other items that became evident when Essich opened his hand and extended it to James. The first thing James saw was the Eardley Norton pocket watch that Johnathan always carried, one that had belonged to their father.
The second thing was the ring.
Ruby eyes glimmered weakly in the candlelight.
“G-God,” he gasped, grabbing the ring. “Y-You have it. The ring; you have it!”
Essich nodded. “The only thing inscribed on it was Fidelis Semper,” he said. “Had there been a name, I might have been able tae find ye, but there wasna. Not on the watch and not even on the letter.”
James was still reeling over the reclamation of the de Lohr ring. The relief he felt was indescribable, the family heirloom that thankfully wasn’t lost as they’d all feared. Now, he had it, and it was his. He slipped it on his finger as he looked up, seeing that Essich was extending the folded paper to him. Hesitantly, he took it.
“H-He had a letter on him?” he asked.