by Merry Farmer
“Yes, I am.”
A warning shot fired as his ship approached and Ruby squealed and jumped, gripping Callum’s arm as the cannon missed them by a fair distance, but caused waves that shook the ship violently, nearly knocking her off her feet. Grabbing Ruby to keep her steady, Callum readied himself for the moment he had been waiting for for years. Yet never had he imagined he would be in love with a woman and need to save her father from the bastard before he could gut him.
Callum remained calm and guided his ship closer to William’s galleon, ordering his men to throw a grappling hook over the railings to pull the ships closer.
“Stay back until I call for ye, Ruby. Trust me.” Callum and Samuel walked over to the rails at the stern where he could clearly see William with Thomas tied up to a mast beside him. The look of fear on the bastard’s face was amusing, yet Callum knew the only thing William feared was being found out by Ruby.
“I see ye are bonding with yer future father by marriage,” Callum shouted to William who stood on the other side of his railings as his men readied the wooden plank to create a walkway between the ships. Even from this distance, Callum could make out the reddening of William’s face and the veins bulging from his neck.
“Where is she?” William growled.
“Of whom do ye speak? The whore who gave ye that bloody lip? It looks horrible, mate.”
“You know who, you bastard! This is not how it was meant to be! All was well until you showed up at their home. I knew then he was a Stewart loyalist. I have no choice, Callum! It is my duty to the queen! Send Ruby over now or Thomas dies!”
“No!” Callum heard Ruby shout from behind as she ran to the stern. “Papa! I’m so sorry, Papa!”
“This is not your doing, my dear. You were not meant to be involved in this,” William said soothingly, and Callum flared his nostrils in anger and disbelief. The man still spoke sweetly to her, as if she would simply understand and forgive him for what he was doing to her father. “This is his doing and his alone, Ruby. Now, come to me and all will be well.”
He was lying and Callum knew it. He would still eventually make certain Thomas hung by a noose and he would attack his ship as soon as Ruby was secured. Looking over at Ruby, he saw the frown on her face and the shaking of her hands, and he knew she understood the truth. “It will be well, Ruby. I vow it. Trust me,” Callum whispered so only she could hear.
“Allow me to escort the lady to ye,” Callum shouted, but William shook his head.
“Do you think me a fool? I will not allow you, a Scottish pirate, to taint my ship with your presence.”
“Then ye will come to me and collect her yerself. She will not go alone.”
“Why should I? I have the upper hand, Scotsman! If she does not come, Thomas dies!”
Ruby took a step forward, but Callum put out a hand and held her back, giving her a stern look of warning. He needed her to trust him to handle this. He would have to show no weakness, to pretend not to care what happened to Ruby or her father, and he prayed she would see through his act. It was his only chance to get William to board his ship. “I care not if ye kill the Englishman. He is no friend of mine, and I willnae see Ruby again after today. My cannons are loaded and my men are itching for a fight. They would love to take yer ship, yer goods, and yer lives.”
His men roared and raised their swords, cutlasses, knives, and pistols in the air for William and his soft men to see. They were overweight and spoiled, having no idea what it meant to truly fight. Threats were what they thrived on, and Callum knew how to shake the British down. They feared the wild Scots, believed them to be uncivilized, brainless animals from the north who slaughtered Englishmen just to pass the time. Their opinions had never bothered Callum before and now, more than ever, he hoped their unfounded fears benefited his cause.
Ruby pinched the back of his arm in anger at his words, but Callum kept his eyes locked on William. “What say ye? Come get Ruby, alone, or ye all die.”
“I can blow your ship to pieces, you Scottish bastard!” William roared.
“I ken ye can. But, ye willnae, not with Ruby onboard. So, come get yer bride or she can die with the rest of ye.” Callum shrugged and popped his knuckles, feeling a pain inside for having to use Ruby as bait but knowing he had little choice if he was going to get William alone to slay the man and save Thomas.
William went silent for a moment while he thought about his options and finally nodded, apparently deciding he had to obey if he didn’t wish for Ruby to die. At least the man had one redeeming quality. He truly did care for Ruby. Unfortunately, Callum would die before he allowed her to spend a lifetime with this man. Even if she did not choose him at the end of this ordeal, he would give her the freedom to live a life of her own choosing.
William began walking across the plank with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword and Callum eyed the man warily, ready to draw his own weapon if William made one wrong move. The man verily strutted across the plank in his tight breeches and matching surcoat and tunic, all a pristine shade of black with shiny leather boots up to his knees, but Callum saw the quiver of William’s hand and knew he was unsure of his position in this confrontation.
Daring a glance at Ruby, Callum saw she was flushed and worried, wringing her hands together and staring across the way at her bound father. “Ye ken I willnae ever allow ye to be harmed, aye?” he whispered in her ear, and her gaze snapped to him. When a small smile crept over her face and she nodded, his heart lifted. She had made a comment once before that it felt as if they had known each other for years and he could not disagree. Never would he have believed such an intense, consuming connection could be possible, but with Ruby, it was as if they were two halves of one whole and from the moment he saw her, it was impossible to stay away.
Once William stepped onto Callum’s deck, Ruby stormed over to William and struck him across the face, making him grunt in pain. No wonder Callum loved this woman. She was fierce and fearless. Still, he needed her to attempt to control her anger. Walking over to her, Callum pulled her away but could not resist flashing her a proud smile.
“How dare you do this, you… you piece of shite bastard!” Ruby spat while Callum held her back.
“You bitch! You have split my lip open again!” William rubbed blood from his lip and lunged to grab Ruby by the arm, but Callum pushed her back toward Samuel and withdrew his sword.
“Insult the lass again and I will kill ye before yer next breath.”
“What is this?” William looked between Callum and Ruby, glowering. “I see you have a fondness for the lady, and I cannot blame you. But she is mine. Hand her over,” William said with a stuffy, entitled tone that made Callum snort with indignation.
“Ruby belongs to nobody. She is not property. But if ye want her to come with ye, ye will fight me.”
“Are ye mad? I will not fight for something that is already mine, and she is mine,” William scoffed.
“I am not yours and never will be!” Ruby shouted. “You betrayed me and my family!”
William turned toward Ruby and scowled menacingly, the devil beneath his handsome exterior exposed. “He betrayed his queen and country. That is a crime punishable by death.” His cool, hard tone bore no emotion and Ruby kicked out her leg and caught him in the shin before Samuel pulled her back once more, but not before William struck out, catching her across the cheek with the back of his hand. When Ruby grunted in pain and held her face, something in Callum snapped.
Rage burned in Callum’s gut and he yearned for the justice and revenge he had plotted for years. “That was yer final mistake, Vice Admiral. Ye are a coward and naught more. Ye stabbed my father in the back, betrayed Ruby’s father, and ye hit the woman I love. Now, ye will die.”
Callum gripped his sword’s hilt tighter and got into a fighting stance, staring his father’s killer down, ready to rid the world of this scum. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins as his heart beat wildly, thirsting to spill the blood of his enem
y, the ancient blood lust of warriors and men facing their foe.
“The woman you love?” William growled and looked at Ruby. “Is this true? Do you love him, as well?”
Ruby narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to Callum, but Samuel held her back, keeping her away from the inevitable violence. “Yes. I do love him, William. I shall not marry you. I never wished to, and I will die before I marry you for what you have done to my father and to his!”
Taking a deep, eerie breath, William’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared with contempt and hurt pride. “Have you played his whore then, you wanton bitch? I will kill you both, then watch with glee as your father dangles by a rope!” William’s hand twitched at his side and Callum drew his sword, preparing to run William through the moment the man went to strike. Instead, he saw a long wooden object swiftly being pulled out of William’s ruffled tunic sleeve, so quickly that Callum had no time to think before he heard a pistol being cocked and saw it pointed straight at Ruby’s heart.
“Nay!” Everything around him moved in slow motion, every detail of that second feeling like an eternity. The blast of the pistol, the spark and the smoke, the bullet ripping through his flesh, the searing agony in his chest. A second shot rang out immediately, just as Callum felt his body colliding with the deck of his ship with a painful thud, his head hitting the wooden planks with a force strong enough to split his skull.
Shouts surrounded him. Another body fell with an audible thud and grunt beside him and Ruby screamed when full battle between the ships’ crews burst out. “R—” Callum tried to say her name but the pain lashing through his chest and the metallic taste of blood surging up his throat choked him, his words disappearing along with his consciousness while the ringing in his ears dimmed with the fading sounds of cannon fire. A black haze washed him away into an oblivion darker and colder than the deepest waters he had ever sailed, and though he tried to reach out to find his Ruby, to pray she was not the other person who had fallen, Callum felt as if boulders pinned his limbs down, even as he heard his name whispered in her voice one last time.
Chapter 8
Rocking in the ornately carved oak chair near the hearth, Ruby sighed and stared at the leaping flames for the fifth night in a row since arriving at Inveraray Castle in Scotland while the doctor checked Callum’s stitches for signs of infection, though they seemed to be healing well. It had been eleven days since the battle that changed her life forever.
Closing her eyes, the sounds of cannon fire and the smell of gunpowder provoked terrorizing memories, but none worse than the sight of Callum falling to the deck after taking a bullet meant for her, followed by the body of William. Both men fell within seconds of one another from bullet wounds.
Fortunately for Callum, the bullet had missed any major organs and had miraculously gone through one side and out the other, tearing through tissue but hitting no bones. William had not been so fortunate. Ruby had aimed directly for his head and she never missed her mark. She had been damned certain of her shooting abilities when smuggling the pistol into her boot before leaving Callum’s cabin that afternoon. Her decision had ended one life, but it had saved many more. She would shoot that pistol again in a heartbeat if necessary, but the reality of having taken a man’s life sat heavy on her soul.
A knock on the chamber door made her ruminations of the past disappear like the tendrils of smoke in the hearth, floating up the chimney and out into the early autumn breeze. Standing from the chair, Ruby cleared her throat and walked over to the door to allow Callum’s most frequent visitor to enter, then walked over to the bed where Callum lay once more with his eyes closed, and she flinched against another stab of pain to her heart. Why, damn it all? Why had he taken that bullet? It had been meant for her and she would have gladly taken it. The man she loved, who had had so much fire and life inside him, had slept for eleven days, thrashing at times from pain and the fever burning his flesh, but otherwise silent and distant, suffering in a faraway place where Ruby could not reach him despite her many attempts. “He appears better today, yes?”
Ruby looked at her father and nodded, squeezing his hand as she gave him a weak smile. She thanked God every day for the safe return of her father after the battle. Callum’s men had fought hard and fought well, prevailing over the English and following Callum’s command to take no quarter if necessary, and it had been. The men aboard William’s ship proved just as violent and ignorant as their Vice Admiral, all trying to kill men simply for being born in a land north of their own. Her father had been unbound and taken on board, where he used his own healing skills from years of experience at sea to stitch up Callum’s wounds. If not for Callum, her father might have died. If not for her father, Callum might have died. Life was filled with too many variables to consider. The only things that mattered were the two men in this room with her now.
“Aye, Sir Berry. Our Earl is improving daily.” The doctor finally spoke once he was finished checking Callum’s wound. “I dinnae ken what else to do. His fever has broken and his wound is healing quite nicely. All he needs to do is awaken.”
“What can we do to help with that?” her father asked, gripping her hand tightly to give her support.
“Pray, my lord. ‘Tis all ye can do for the Earl now. He is home and he is alive and healing. In fact, his unconsciousness is a blessing, for he is almost fully healed, thanks to yer quick work and steady hand aboard the ship. The man has slept through the agony and should awaken with nearly no more pains,” he said, snapping his black leather satchel shut and pointing up at the heavens.
“All I have done is pray and yet naught has happened,” Ruby said petulantly, wanting nothing more than to see his cursed eyelashes flutter.
“Aye, something has. He is healing. Keep praying, lass.” Doctor Ferghus Campbell touched her cheek gently and squinted, leaning in. “Yer bruise is clearing up quite well. Curse the soul of the man who did that to ye.”
“Oh, his soul is cursed. Make no mistake,” her father replied, looking at her with a frown. It broke her heart to see her papa suffering so. She wanted to reassure him that she was all right, but that would be a lie. Nothing would be all right until Callum awoke once more. Until then, she would stay in this chamber every moment by his side.
As the doctor tipped his hat and walked toward the door, her father shuffled up to her side and stroked her hair. “You really love him.”
“I do. Is that odd? To know something so entirely in your bones, to feel it so deeply and after only days of knowing a person? Am I a fool?”
“Heavens no, my sweet girl. It is rare, I will give you that. But you’ve never been a woman prone to dramatics… well…” he chuckled and looked down at Callum. “At least not until he came along. But you knew, and you followed him. I cannot be mad. You should be mad at me for forcing you to marry that foul, festering boil of a man!”
“Oh, Papa. You did not know. How could you have? All is well now. Or, it will be soon, I pray.”
“Well, when Lord Argyll awakens, I will be giving him my blessing to marry my daughter.”
A tear ran down Ruby’s cheek and she jumped on her father with a squeal. “Oh, thank you, Papa! I do not wish to speak for Callum, but I daresay he will be pleased!”
“Ye neednae… speak for me… love.” Callum’s raspy, weak voice carried to her ears and she spun around, looking down at him and seeing his beautiful green eyes looking back at her for the first time in eleven days with pure elation flooding her.
“Callum! Oh, you are awake!” She ran to his side and grabbed his hand, gently sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Either I… am awake, or I am… dead and in heaven, which I assure ye is… unlikely,” he whispered and licked his cracked lips. Ruby propped him up and set a glass of water to his lips and he successfully swallowed a small amount before she put it back on the table near the bed.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, son.” Callum struggled to keep his eyes open but he smiled in her father’s dire
ction.
“Thank ye, Sir Thomas.”
“Papa! Please run and tell everyone their laird is awake! And bring him some broth!” Utter joy filled Ruby as she sat beside Callum and felt the warmth of his hands in hers. More tears dripped down her cheeks, but she wiped them away and refused to let more fall, lest they blur her vision and prevent her from seeing his chiseled, handsome face, even if he was slightly paler and thinner now. He was alive and well-healed and soon, he would gain his weight back and be as good as new.
Her father nodded and left the room with haste, and Ruby leaned down to kiss Callum’s forehead. “I was so worried, love. Why did you take that bullet for me? I am so angry at you.”
“I would do it a million times over.”
“And I would shoot William a million times over to save you.”
“Ye shot William? I thought I had lost ye, Ruby. When I fell, I heard ye scream. I thought ye were shot. I have been stuck in a world where I believed ye were dead, trapped in my mind, mourning yer loss.”
“I am well, love. And yes, I shot him with your pistol from your cabin. We won’t ever worry about him again.”
When a serving lass came through the chamber door holding a large bowl of steaming brown broth, Ruby took it and helped Callum drink it down, urging him to continue until it was gone. He needed nourishment to gain his strength back.
“I dinnae wish to take my eyes off of ye, but I am verra tired.” Callum’s eyes began to flutter closed once more and Ruby gasped, scared he would fall asleep for another several days once more. “Dinna fash, lass. I will awaken by the morn, I vow. Now that I ken ye are here with me, I have too much to lose. Here.” Callum patted the bed beside him. “I wish to lay with ye, if I may.”
“Of course!” Ruby wished for privacy for Callum so he could sleep uninterrupted. Closing and barring the door behind her, Ruby removed her dress, leaving her linen shift on, and climbed under the covers, feeling his warmth surround her. Facing him, Ruby smiled and kissed him gently, sweeping a dark lock of hair away from his face.