Hamish awoke to Wee Jock barking eagerly. When he sat up, his westie remained in the other room barking. "Jock, enough laddie," he said walking into the main room, eyes closed and rubbing the back of his neck. When he looked at the dog, he found a young woman sitting on her shins in front of Jock. He had heard there was a new face in town, and what a beautiful face it was.
The young woman had long brunette hair that curled halfway down and clear, bright blue eyes. Her gaze was kind and confident. She wore a white ruffled blouse under a brown stylish jacket, navy blue skirt and scarf, and brown leggings. Ankle high black boots finished off her outfit. The woman smiled kindly up at him, which made his breath catch. "Sorry, I called out a few times, and the door was open." She apologized looking up at him.
"Hmm, must have forgotten te lock it." He didn't really have a problem with it. Lochdubh was a small town and crime was very low. The fact that he was the police constable and this being the station made things even more unlikely to happen at this house. "Can I help you?" He said sitting on the edge of his desk.
"Yes," she said standing and brushing off her skirt. "I need your help." Hamish gave her an encouraging nod.
"Very well," he said standing up. "Hamish Macbeth at your service."
"Mariabel French," she said with a little curtsy.
"Maria-bel," he said finding it rather Spanish.
"Mary-a-bel French." Mariabel corrected him.
"Beautiful name," He said with a gentle smile. "Your accent is English," Hamish said factually.
"Yes, as is my father. Would you like to know why I'm here?" Mariabel said with a giggle.
"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry." Hamish said standing again.
"I've been robbed, and I've only been here a week!" Mariabel said with a little outrage. She placed her hands on her hips.
Hamish pressed his lips so to keep them from curling up into a smile. Mariabel French was very cute when she was flustered. "Okay, well, I'll have te see the scene of the crime."
"Alright. My home is on the western outskirts of town unfortunately." Mariabel said lowly.
Hamish grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder with two hooked fingers. He held the door open for her. Mariabel stopped just short of walking through the threshold, and she patted her leg. Wee Jock came running up to walk beside her. In response to Jock's willingness to follow this stranger, Hamish s jaw dropped a little in disbelief. He slipped on his jacket and rushed to open the passenger side door. Mariabel gathered Jock up into her arms and entered the vehicle with a gentle smile dancing around her lips. Jock happily settled himself across her laps after she strapped herself in. She was petting him and telling him how handsome he was when Hamish sat in the driver's seat. He kicked the engine up and pulled off. The ride through Lochdubh was mostly in silence except for a few giggles as Mariabel played with Jock.
"Miss French," Hamish said to claim her attention.
"You may call me 'Belle'," she said not looking up from Jock.
"Belle," it felt like silk on his lips. "What was stolen from you?"
"A typical target for thieves - my jewelry. However, I'm truly only concerned with one piece." Belle said sadly.
"I take it the piece has sentimental value." Hamish said gently.
"Yes. It's a silver pendant necklace." She whispered as she loosely hugged Jock.
"I'll get it back for you." He said confidently, with a smile that made Belle believe him. However, Hamish realized he made her a promise he didn't know if he'd be able to keep; that was something he didn't do. False hope was hurtful and he didn't like spreading it about. Yet, there was something about Belle that made him want to give more than a hundred percent in finding her pendant.
"Thank you. It means the world to me." Belle whispered and jock whined sadly too. There was definitely something about Belle, even Jock knew it! Jock was a sweet westie as it was, but Jock only whined when he, Hamish, was really upset. Hamish reached over and patted Jock's head.