Shadow Dance Read Online Free

trying to get to the bottom of things can become an obsession. On the other hand, it is also a delightful distraction from the humdrum of everyday life. Why, it could even become a passion.”
    Passion indeed. As a mathematician and a computer engineer, Jordan dealt with facts and abstracts, not fantasy. She could design any business plan and the computer software to go with it. She loved solving puzzles. She couldn’t think of anything that was more of a waste of time than chasing down legends, but she wasn’t about to get into a lengthy discussion with the professor. She was going to find Isabel as quickly as possible. After settling Professor MacKenna at a table with a plate of food in front of him, she started her search.
    Isabel was outside and just about to sit down when Jordan grabbed her.
    “Come with me,” she said. “Your friend Professor MacKenna has arrived. You get to take care of him.”
    “He’s here? He came here?” Isabel looked astonished.
    “You didn’t invite him?”
    She shook her head. Then she changed her mind. “Wait. I might have invited him, but not formally. I mean he wasn’t on the list. We’ve been communicating with each other, and I mentioned where the wedding and reception were being held because he wrote that he was touring the Carolinas and would be in this area around this time. He actually showed up? What’s he like?”
    Jordan smiled. “He’s difficult to describe. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”
    Isabel followed Jordan inside. “Did he tell you about the treasure?”
    “A little,” she answered.
    “What about the feud? Did he tell you about the Buchanans and the MacKennas fighting all the time? The feud’s been going on for centuries. Since I’m inheriting Glen MacKenna, I want to know as much as possible about the history.”
    “You sound enthusiastic,” Jordan said.
    “I am. I’ve already decided I’m going to be a history major, and I’ll minor in music. Did the professor bring any of his research with him? He wrote that he had boxes and boxes…”
    “He has a folder with him.”
    “But what about the boxes?”
    “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”
    The professor showed better manners with Isabel. He stood and shook her hand.
    “It’s a great honor to meet the new owner of Glen MacKenna. When I get to Scotland I will be certain to tell my clansmen that I’ve met you, and that you’re as bonny a lass as I thought you would be.”
    He turned to Jordan then and said, “I’ll also be telling them about you.”
    It wasn’t what he said but how he said it that pricked her curiosity.
    “Me?”
    “The Buchanans,” he corrected. “You do know that Kate MacKenna married beneath her.”
    He’d raised her ire with that remark. “And why is that?” she asked.
    “Why, the Buchanans are savages. That’s why.” He pointed to the folder and said, “In here is just a sample of some of the atrocities against the peace-loving MacKennas. You should read it and then you’ll understand how fortunate your relative is to be married to a MacKenna.”
    “Professor, are you intentionally insulting Jordan?” Isabel asked, shocked.
    “She’s a Buchanan,” he said. “I’m simply stating the facts.”
    “Just how accurate is your research?” Jordan folded her arms across her chest and frowned at the rude man.
    “I’m a historian,” he snapped. “I deal in facts. I’ll grant you that some of the stories could be…legends…but there’s quite a bit of research to make the stories credible.”
    “As a historian you believe you have proof that the MacKennas are all saints and the Buchanans are all sinners?”
    “I know it sounds slanted, but the proof is indisputable. Read it,” he challenged once again, “and you can only come to one conclusion.”
    “That the Buchanans are savages?”
    “I’m afraid so,” he said cheerfully. “They’re thieves as well,” he added. “They’ve chipped away at the MacKenna land until Glen