“And you think we’re covered?” Yes, there was Chester. “Do ye think Callum told anyone what he found out?”
“Maybe the girl,” growled Brandon. “I could get rid of her too.”
Victoria stifled her gasp.
“We tried that the day after she started poking her nose into our business,” said Chester. “Who would have guessed she could swim? Not typical for an Englishwoman.”
“First, we see what she knows,” answered Alistair. “There’s more people around here who would miss her. That nosy aunt of hers, and the aunt’s friends — especially the grocer. But taking care of the cousins is the priority. Brandon and I will go retrieve Campbell. Chester, you keep an eye on McDougall. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
* * *
Brandon and Alistair trampled off to their horses, leaving Chester outside. Victoria tried to decide what to do. Should she go back and find Angus? It had taken her at least a couple of hours to get here, and she wasn’t entirely sure of the path home. By the time she returned, it might be too late. She was on her own. Against Chester. She peeked around the grasses that were hiding her from view. Chester’s back was to her, as he filled his canteen with liquid from a large bottle sitting on the ground. He had a gun on his belt, and a rifle propped up against the building beside him.
The shack was poorly constructed, with gaps in the boards and a roughshod roof that wouldn’t keep out much rain.
As he took a swig of his drink, Victoria’s own dry mouth and lips screamed out at her. She’d given most of the water to Ansgar before she’d left him at the tree, and was saving the rest for Callum. Thirst should be the least of her worries right now, she told herself, batting the thought away.
She felt around on the ground near her feet, searching for something small enough to throw but big enough to make noise. Her fingers found a pattern of rocks buried into the ground. She scrambled to dig one out, her fingernails breaking as she clawed her way around the rock to free it.
She celebrated the small moment of victory as she clasped the rock in her hand. She looked up to see Chester still leaning against the small shack, looking like he had not a care in the world with his hat tilted backwards on his head, the canteen in his hand and a cigar loosely caught between his index and middle finger.
Staying low, Victoria hefted the rock and threw it with all her might as far as she could to her right. It didn’t squarely hit the tree she was aiming for, but it scratched at a couple of the branches, making enough noise to attract Chester’s attention. As he looked up, her heart began to race. He began an unhurried, slightly hesitant jaunt over to the tree, likely assuming it was an animal. It was the only chance Victoria would have. She moved as slowly as he did toward the shack. When she was just a few yards away, she broke out into a run. She heard Chester shout as she reached the rifle and whirled around. She held it in her arms just like Callum had taught her to, levelling it squarely at his middle.
“Victoria…” he drawled out her name with a charming smile, as if he had just run into her on the street and was asking her to accompany him on a walk. “What are ye doing here? Come to see me?”
“Where is Callum?” she demanded, with enough anger and movement of the rifle to cause him to raise his hands in the air.
“Callum? Ah, that’s right, your friend from the boarding house. What would he be doing out here?”
“My husband. And I know you have him within.”
“Your husband? Well that is quite the turn of events. And when did this happy occasion occur? I must have lost my invitation. Or was it one of those… fast-moving marriages?” His gaze went down to her stomach.
“Does it really matter? Go ahead, open the door and show me where he is.”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me? Lass, do ye even know how to work that thing?”
In answer to his question, Victoria aimed the rifle slightly to his right, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The recoil was enough to almost send her flying backward, but she had remembered what Callum showed her in keeping a strong stance. Please let him be all right, she said in a quick, silent prayer as Chester recovered from the shock of her firing.
“All right!” he said, his hands held out in front of him as he looked at her in astonishment. “I’ll take ye to him. Just a moment…”
“Drop your gun.”
“Pardon me?”
“The gun you’re reaching for — behind your back. Put it on the ground.”
“You drive a hard bargain, lass. Don’t ye think it’s fair…”
“Drop it.”
He complied with a scowl, his countenance slowly changing.
“Lead the way,” she said.
He walked to the door, holding up one hand as he took the key off his waist belt with the other. He unlocked the door and opened it, revealing nothing but a dark room.
31
Callum shot up, quickly waking when a crack fired through the air just outside. It was a gunshot, he realized. Who was shooting? Had Angus followed him? His only hope had been that Ansgar would be discovered and that Angus would find the area of the skirmish and be able to track them here.
He heard voices outside, and shuffled his way over to where faint light emerged from underneath the bottom of the door. With much effort and heavy breathing, he awkwardly rose and plastered his ear to the side of the door.
He heard Chester, and then he heard a female voice — Victoria? What in the bloody hell was she doing here? He cursed. If they made it out of this intact, he was going to tell her exactly what he thought of her little rescue attempt. She better not be alone, for one woman against three grown men — fur trappers who knew the area and didn’t seem to stop at much to get what they wanted — would not be a fair fight.
As the voices came closer, Callum shifted backwards, out of sight. The door slowly creaked opened. Chester came through first, searching to find the lantern. As he passed in front of him, Callum jumped onto Chester from behind, his tied hands going around the man’s throat as he struggled backward with him.
“Callum!” Victoria’s cry to him sounded like a mix of relief at finding him alive and relatively away from harm, while at the same time warning him not to take things too far.
Amazing how much a female could voice in just one word.
He wrestled Chester backwards onto the bed, holding the rope tight against his neck. Chester put up quite the fight, managing a few blows with his heels on Callum’s shins, but eventually he passed out from lack of air. After releasing Chester and watching him slink to the floor, Callum collapsed back on the bed himself, his head spinning from the knocks he had taken and the effort he had just expended.
“Callum! Are you all right?” Victoria, who had watched the struggle with wide eyes after realizing Callum was just fine without her help, dropped a rifle — a rifle! — and ran to his side, her cool hands going to his face. He opened his eyes to see the shadow of her staring down at him, and he sighed.
“Victoria, you shouldna be here. Go back, get help, go find…” He tried to tell her to leave, but despite how hard he fought, his mumbles faded off as his eyes slowly closed again.
* * *
“Callum! Stay with me.” Victoria alternatively slapped at his face and worked at the bindings on his wrists as her fingers, already torn from digging at the rock, were bleeding as she worked her nails underneath the tight binds of rope. She finally succeeded in wrenching them off before tackling the ones around his ankles. “Callum, what happened to you? The other two are coming back soon, we’ve got to get out of here. Come…”
His eyes still closed, she worked an arm underneath his shoulders, trying to lift him off the bed. She managed to wrestle half his body off the bed, but try as she might, she couldn’t lift him the rest of the way — he was just too heavy. Her efforts were enough to snap his eyes back open again and get his attention. “Gregor,” he groaned. “They have Gregor.”
“Yes, they do. We have to figure out how we are going t
o get him back. We best get a move on. Are you all right to move?”
“I’ll make it. First, lass, can you please take these binds and tie up Chester before he comes to? Make sure they’re nice and tight.”
“Of course, yes.”
Victoria tied the knots around Chester’s wrists and ankles as tightly as she could before going back to Callum.
“Do you think you can make it to the horse? Ansgar is just outside and down the path.”
Callum nodded in assent, and tried not to lean too heavily on Victoria as they made their way out the door and through the grasses to where Ansgar was waiting patiently. Victoria stopped on the way to retrieve the gun she had forced Chester to drop before entering the cabin.
When they reached the horse, Callum opened the saddle bag and was relieved to find his water canteen still somewhat full. It revived him some as he took a long drink and splashed water over his face.
“Victoria, we need to find Gregor. From the sounds of it, he’s—”
“About an hour away,” she finished. “I heard them talking. They said they were going to use you to make Gregor tell them where the money is. It sounded as though he stole something… do you think that’s true?”
“I didna think it could be. But apparently, Hudson’s Bay noticed a discrepancy. Over time, someone had been taking just enough off the profits for themselves. The Mounties had been looking into it and assumed it was someone working for the Company, but hadn’t been able to determine who it was. From what I gather, it was Alistair, Chester, and Brandon who were stealing and Gregor found out about it and stole it in turn.”
Callum sighed. “I wish the story was that he had returned it to Hudson’s Bay, but from the sounds of it, he hid it away for himself. Once we find him we’ll know the truth of it.”
“My goodness,” Victoria had listened with rapt attention, for once not interrupting or trying to get a word in edgewise. The story was fascinating, and she wished they had more time for her to ask more questions. “How much of this have you known?”
“Only that someone had been stealing. I wasn’t aware of Gregor’s role, and I didna want you getting too close, Victoria, but enough on that now,” replied Callum, his face grim. “Anyway, first we find Gregor, and see what he has to say for himself. If they had planned to return, we best wait… hold on.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I think they’re coming back. Victoria, we have the element of surprise. I’ll take the rifle, you take the gun. I’ll come up behind them, and when they enter the cabin, they’ll find Chester, not me as they were expecting. They’ll turn, and there I’ll be. Stay here, and if I do not come back, ye must leave and find Angus.”
“I certainly will not,” she said. Did he really think that after all that had happened, she would remain here and let him go on ahead? “I’m coming with you.”
“Victoria—”
“You need me with you. You can barely walk. I’ll let you go first, how is that?”
“Fine. Once their guns are down, and only once their guns are down, come in behind me.”
She nodded in assent, and they made their way back through the field, crouching in the same position Victoria had not so long before. The half-moon illuminated Brandon and Alistair, leading a man with a slight limp who walked with resistance.
“Come on now, boy,” Alistair’s grumble sailed through the air. “You’ll see your cousin soon! You should be excited. Chester’s got him waiting for you. Maybe he can convince you to share the whereabouts of our money with us.”
At that, Gregor’s head snapped up, apparently newly alert to his surroundings.
Alistair pushed open the cabin door. He lifted the lantern he carried with them as Victoria and Callum slowly crept up behind them. He shone the light around the cabin and exclaimed, “Hey—”
Before his companion could come to his assistance, the cold butt of Callum’s gun met Brandon’s temple. The man fell to the ground with a thump.
“Drop your weapons,” Callum ordered. Alistair whirled around to find Victoria directly behind him, the rifle leveled at his forehead.
“Victoria, I told you to wait outside,” Callum said in an exasperated tone.
“Oops, I didn’t hear you,” she replied with a grin on her face. “Now Alistair, could you please join your friend Chester beside the bed?”
They all moved fully into the shack. Callum frisked Brandon and Alistair for their weapons as Victoria kept her rifle closely trained on them.
Finally, he turned to his cousin, who had watched in silence.
“Gregor.” Callum held out his arms and enveloped the man in embrace. Gregor paused a moment before lifting his arms in return and hanging his head onto Callum’s shoulder.
“Well this is all very touching,” interrupted Alistair. “But do you really think the three of you — two weak men and a woman — are going to keep us here in the cabin? You have a plan there, son?”
“Excuse me—” Victoria was ready to protest the “woman” comment when the door burst open behind her.
A tall figure shadowed by the moonlight slowly entered the room.
“Angus,” exclaimed Callum. “Am I ever happy to see you.”
32
Victoria sighed and leaned her head back onto Callum’s shoulder, strong and steady behind her. As tired as he was, Callum had rallied and was back on the horse, heading for home. The two of them now seemed to be supporting each other in a bid to stay upright.
“Can you believe tonight?” asked Victoria incredulously. She had read many stories of adventure, but never had she thought she would be living one of her own. “I think of my life over the past few months. More has happened in that time period than in the twenty years before that. Here I am, riding a horse in the middle of this country I hardly knew anything about, with my back against my husband, a man I didn’t even know a short while ago.”
Callum laughed softly behind her, tightening the arm that rested around her waist. “Yes, Victoria, I agree.”
“Callum, what are we going to do now?”
The question hung in the air between them, as they both thought about their pasts, all that had transpired that night, and the future that lay ahead.
After Angus had arrived with two of his officers, he had quickly assessed the situation and took the three fur trappers into custody. They also helped a weak, fairly silent Gregor out of the cabin and onto a horse. Callum still hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to him about everything that had transpired. The Mounties also still had questions for him, about the stolen funds — their whereabouts and his intentions with them.
Once they determined Callum and Victoria would both be fine after some rest, the two of them had climbed on Ansgar and headed for home, which was still Aunt Sarah’s.
They brought up the back of the line of horses, with the offenders out front flanked by officers, and Gregor ahead of them.
As Callum wrestled with his thoughts, Victoria broke the silence. “Callum, I know you have responsibilities at home, in Scotland. As beautiful as this land is, if you’re going back, I am going with you without reservation. I know your land would be just as wonderful, and I can only hope to win over your family. The people may not like an Englishwoman in their midst, but I’ll do all I can to make them like me eventually. I would be happy to meet them and live with them — and most especially with you, wherever you may be.”
Callum planted a kiss on the top of her head. “It means the world to me, Victoria, that you are willing to move back across the ocean for me. But I’ve been doing some thinking of my own. I love it here as much as you do. I can really see a life for us here — both of us. A fresh start. Besides the fact that my cousin was missing, I worked well with the Mounties and could see myself fitting in with them just fine. As for you, well, your aunt is here and you have so recently reconnected. Perhaps… perhaps we stay.”
She sat upright.
“Stay? But you have so adamantly said that you have to keep your promise, your traditions.
How has that changed?”
He tightened his arm around her.
“It seems like everything has changed since I boarded that ship. Since I met you, since I began my search for Gregor, since I came to know more about this new world. I love my family, but I love you too. The most important thing now is that we are both happy, together, and we create our own life. My father’s letter and the talk of Finlay and Kyla and the connection of the clans also had me thinking. I may be the eldest, but Finlay is the one with the passion for the job, and the head on his shoulders to really make a difference in the clan. He should take over as chieftain, not me. When I think of it, I may be the eldest, but he was born for the task. Maybe it’s time for tradition to change.”
“You love me?” She had hardly listened to anything else he had said. A tear fell out of one of her eyes as he gently pulled her to him and kissed it away.
“Yes, Victoria,” he said with a low chuckle. “Of course I love you. How could I not?”
“Oh Callum, I love you too. So much so. But are you sure? About staying here, I mean?” Victoria looked back at him over her shoulder. “It is up to you, Callum, it really is.”
“I am fairly sure. I’d like to write Finlay about it before talking to my father. I need to know his thoughts. This land, though… it speaks to me. It reminds me of home, but holds so much more.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they followed the horse in front of them, Gregor’s head bobbing in sleep.
* * *
Victoria woke the next day with the quick realization that it was no longer morning. Their return had been so late, they hadn’t retired to bed until the early hours of the morning. It was now certainly past noon. She didn’t have to look beside her to know that Callum was no longer in bed with her.
She heard voices downstairs and figured he must be up with Aunt Sarah. It had been quite the homecoming last evening. Sarah had been distraught over Victoria’s whereabouts, and it had taken quite some time to provide her enough details to satisfy her and for Victoria to calm her down enough to sleep. They promised to review the whole escapade in detail when they woke up.
Callum’s Vow: The Victorian Highlanders Page 20