“Even if ye did venture down the stairs in the dark, the door at the bottom is locked, and you have left the key hanging here,” he said, looking at the key on a wall hook beside Gideon. “And if ye plan to pick the lock at the bottom, there are Sinclairs waiting on the other side.”

His boots clicked as he walked to one of the padded chairs by the chessboard, sitting in the one he always took when playing the game each night with his father. “But I know ye have not left. In fact, ye planned to sneak back to your room before Thomas or Merida found ye gone.”

Gideon squatted low, looking under the bed. He stood, shaking his head.

Cain’s gaze slid evenly about the room. What did he already know about Ella Sutherland? She was brave and agile. She was clever, stubborn, and would champion a kitten, refusing to leave it behind. Cain looked up at the thick beams running the length of the room. And she was definitely not afraid of heights. He leveled a glance at Gideon and then at the beams until his brother followed his gaze.

“I cannot imagine that it is clean on those beams,” Cain said, standing. “The dust is likely tickling your nose up there, Ella. Why don’t ye come down?”

“Damn you to hell,” Ella yelled from the ceiling, releasing the rest of the tension sitting in Cain’s chest. If she hadn’t been up there, he’d have looked like a fool in front of Gideon, and his brother would have told Joshua, and then Cain would have to stab Joshua for bringing it up in every conversation. Not a mortal wound, just somewhere annoyingly painful.

She sneezed and pushed up onto her elbows on the beam to frown down at him, her bent finger rubbing at the tip of her nose, reminding him of her touching her perfect nose to the kitten’s. She glared down over the edge of the beam, and Cain fought to keep his grin inside, knowing that would only make it difficult to get her down without climbing up there himself.

Gideon came around, tilting his head back to stare up at her. “How did ye even climb up there?”

“I can fly,” she snapped. The effectiveness of her glare was lost when she sneezed again. “Has this room never been dusted?”

“Rarely,” Cain said. “And likely never up there.”

“If ye can fly, ye would have flown home from your window this morn,” Gideon said, which earned him a foul gesture that Cain had never seen a lass use. He glanced down so she wouldn’t see the smile that he couldn’t hold back.