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CHAPTER EIGHT

The Return to Edinburgh

I was now stronger and felt excited about my return to Edinburgh.

The only problem was that we had very little money. We needed to move quickly. We arrived at the river Forth. We then had to decide how to get across it to Edinburgh. There were still a lot of soldiers there to get past.

Luckily, Alan found a boat to take us across the water to Queensferry, near Edinburgh.

Morning came and now I had to find Mr Rankeillor, the lawyer. I needed to speak to him about my father and my inheritance. I also wanted to tell him about my Uncle Ebenezer’s plan to kidnap me on the Covenant and send me to America. Alan was going to wait until sunset to meet with me again.

‘If everything goes well with Mr Rankeillor, I can give you the money to help you get to France.’ I told Alan.

Soon I was in Queensferry, looking for Mr Rankeillor’s house. Only now, I began to have doubts. ‘Will I find the house? Will Mr Rankeillor believe me? Perhaps he won’t want to help me. What will I do then?’

I walked up and down and finally stopped in front of a very nice house. The door opened and a man came out. ‘Can you tell me which house is Mr Rankeillor’s?’ I asked.

‘Well,’ said the man, ‘it’s the house I’ve just come out of. I am Mr Rankeillor.’

‘Well, sir,’ I said. ‘Can I speak with you?’

‘But I don’t know your name or your face,’ said Mr Rankeillor. ‘Who are you?’

‘My name is David Balfour, sir,’ I said.

‘David Balfour?’ he said, sounding surprised.

We went inside the house.

‘How can I help you?’ he asked.

‘I am the son of Alexander Balfour. Mr Ebenezer Balfour is my uncle. I believe that the House of Shaws is my inheritance,’ I said.

And so we talked. He told me about events in Edinburgh and all the lies that my uncle told about me. I told him everything that happened to me. When I said Alan’s name, he stopped me.

‘It’s probably a good idea to call your friend “Mr Thomson”. It’s for his own safety,’ he added.

Mr Rankeillor gave me some clean clothes. Then we talked again. He told me the story of my father and Uncle Ebenezer: the two brothers fell in love with the same woman. After a lot of fighting, the lady rejected both of them. After more arguing, they made a decision. They decided that one brother could have the lady, and the other brother could have the house.

‘It was a bad decision for everyone,’ said Mr Rankeillor. ‘Your mother and father lived and died poor, and your Uncle Ebenezer was hated by everyone. He became selfish and dangerous, as you have seen for yourself.’

‘And so,’ I asked, ‘what is my position now?’

‘Well, the law says that the house is yours,’ replied the lawyer, ‘but I think your uncle will fight you for it. Listen, your uncle paid Captain Hoseason to kidnap you, right? We need to show that your uncle was responsible. If we can do this, he’ll have to give you the house.’

At this point, I began to think of a plan. I told Mr Rankeillor.

‘But do I have to meet your friend Mr Thomson?’ he said.

‘I think so, sir,’ I said.

He asked me many questions, but I saw that he liked my plan. In the end, he agreed to it.

At around sunset, we left the house. We met Alan and walked down to the House of Shaws. Alan knocked on the door. Mr Rankeillor and I hid nearby. My uncle came to the door.

‘Who are you and what do you want?’ he said.

‘Who I am is not important,’ said Alan. ‘I have to talk to you about David.’

Alan told my uncle that he had locked me up in a room. ‘The law says that this is David’s house. But I can help you. I know that you have money. You must either pay me to kill David or pay me to keep him away from you. You choose.’

‘How much do I have to pay?’ asked my uncle.

‘How much did you pay Hoseason?’ Alan asked. ‘He’s my partner, you know, so don’t lie to me.’

‘Well, I don’t care what Hoseason told you, but I gave him twenty pounds. That’s the truth. But he was going to sell the boy in America as a slave to get more money for him,’ said my uncle.

Mr Rankeillor stepped forward.

‘Thank you, Mr Thomson,’ he said. ‘That will do nicely. Mr Balfour, you have admitted to the kidnapping of your nephew, David Balfour. Shall we go inside? I think we need to discuss a few things.’

And so finally my uncle had to give me my inheritance: the House of Shaws.

Now it was time for Alan to continue his journey. We both felt very sad. He was a very good friend to me and we went through so much together. As we walked along, we did not speak.

I gave him the few coins I had with me so that he could get something to eat on his journey. He held out his hand.

‘Well, goodbye,’ he said.

‘Goodbye,’ I said. I held his hand tightly, let go and walked away. My adventures with Alan were over and a new life was about to begin.