Sawney finally said, “Tomorrow two lads will hunt along the way.”
“Perhaps there is a village where we might barter for food,” said Blare.
Keter somehow looked older than the day before. Perhaps they all did. “We do not know how far we are from the nearest clan.”
“Aye, but dare we build a fire to cook the meat? Let us not forget, Davidsons know everything we know about tracking someone through the forest. Smoke would easily give away our location,” said Blare.
“I cannot help but wonder. How many of the ones we left behind would truly try to kill us?” Sawney asked. “I have seen no ill will and they loved Father, I know they did.”
Keter shook his head. “Sawney, a laird is sometimes the last to know. I have heard their rumblings from time to time, although sadly I did not take it to heart.”
Daniel rubbed one of his tired eyes. His anger had subsided from the night before and his tone was much softer. “They shouted for Neasan to lead them and if they have pledged themselves to him, they will be honor bound to fight us. What else can they do?”
“I do not believe Bearcha would do it and there must be others,” said Lenox. “I too have heard their rumblings each time word came of fighting in other clans, but for a MacGreagor to fight a MacGreagor just to please a laird is something I would never believe.”
Moffet agreed. “All of us are related by blood in one way or another. Scots do not kill their blood.”
It was the first time Sawney realized Lenox, Moffet and Diocail, were first cousins. They even looked somewhat alike with thick red hair, scruffy beards more brown than red and the same wide shoulders. “Yet we too are their blood. How do we go back and fight them? Would they surrender?”
Diocail shook his head, “Nay, they will not surrender. They will fight if they must to honor their pledge, but only if we attack them first.”
Sawney closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “We are too tired to speak of this now.” He walked to his sack of belongings, opened it, and began to spread his extra plaid on the ground. Before long, the others did the same and soon most were asleep. Moffet took the first watch, Hew the one after and Blare’s son, Cormay, took the next.
The night air was cold and with no fire, Cormay pulled his heavy cloak tighter around his neck. At least the moon shed some light on the small meadow and he would be able to spot danger. Just then, he heard the far off howl of a wolf and decided to wake his brother, Daw. Two could keep watch better than one and a pack of wolves were known to carry off small children when they were hungry enough. Just to be sure, Cormay picked up little Flora, bedding and all, and laid her between Blare and Daniel.
Daniel heard the wolves too and pulled Flora closer to him. Then he rose up to see where his five-year-old son, Logan, was. Nestled next to his older sister, Senga, Logan was sound asleep.
IN A VERY SHORT TIME, it seemed nearly everything had changed in the Davidson village. That morning, Carley went to the loch to bath with the other women, which had been a MacGreagor custom for as long as she could remember. Few women were there and none of the warriors were gathered in the glen for their training, which was probably a good thing considering the amount of wine they consumed the night before. A warrior without his wits about him could get hurt.
Carley went about her life as usual, gathering herbs, taking the vegetables she needed from the store house and praying Neasan would not return to inquire about Paisley. So far, the morning was peaceful.
Her peace did not last long. News soon came that Neasan sent six men to find Sawney and bring Paisley back. Then in the afternoon, word spread that Sawney was dead.
Carley didn’t believe it and doubted anyone else did either. Still she felt a great sadness and lay down in her bed hoping death would finally take her. She was about to drift off to sleep when there came a soft knock on her door.
At not yet twenty-four, Grant spent his days hunting and fishing with Bryce to feed their young families. When the hunting was good, as it was on this day, Grant took extra meat to those in need, and lately added Carley to his list of elders now that her sons were gone.
As soon as she answered the door, he went inside and closed it behind him. With the dim light of evening filtering through her pulled back window covering, he set a skinned rabbit on her table and then turned to face her. “Four Kennedys saw Blare on MacDuff land. They are certain Sawney is not dead.”
Her relief was so great, she closed her eyes and nearly collapsed in his arms. A moment later, she asked the inevitable question. “But are you certain they were not killed after the Kennedy’s saw them? Neasan sent six...”
“If they were dead, Neasan’s lads would have come back by now and we would have heard it from their own lips.”
Carley left his embrace and sat on the edge of her bed. “That is true.”
“Rest Carley, believe they are alive and find comfort in it.” Grant tenderly put a reassuring hand on Carley’s shoulder. She was not just an elder, she was his wife’s aunt, and everyone loved Carley.
HIS FIRST DAY AS LAIRD did not go as well as he expected and Neasan quickly grew weary. From the moment he finished his morning meal, which was after noon, men began to come in wanting to know if they should do this or that. A farmer complained that the cows were bawling, the women did not come to do the morning milking, and he was put upon to do it himself. Another came to ask if the clan needed him to butcher a cow for meat, and yet a third wanted to know which pasture to move the cows to since the sheep cropped the grass too low for his herds to eat.
All this chaos Neasan blamed on Justin. Justin coddled the men, made decisions they could easily make themselves and now, he had to endure the constant annoyance. How was he supposed to know Justin set the schedule for the women to do the milking and Justin decided who needed what and when? Seething by the third hour of it, he could not have hated Justin more than he did on this day.
DENA WAS CONFUSED. Neasan left her waiting outside for so long the night before, she gave up and went home. She took a long walk in the glen that morning, two in the afternoon and still she was ignored. What did it mean?
Customarily, the unmarried women gathered in the courtyard of an evening, talked, pretended not to notice and waited to see if the unmarried men would ask to walk with them. Yet this evening the women were not there, nor were the men.
Dena found a tree stump to sit on not far from the courtyard and waited. Maybe they were just being quiet. After all, everyone knew Neasan had a headache. She wondered if he was unwell and that worried her even more. All her desires could come crashing down if Neasan died.
It was almost dark by the time William and his men broke through the trees, rode into the glen and then into the courtyard. William barely had time to dismount before a furious Neasan bolted out the door and marched to him.
“Where is Paisley?” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. His uproar drew the attention of other men who quickly gathered to see what was happening.
“We could not find them,” said William.
“You could not find them?” His teeth were gritted, his fists were clenched and his eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head.
William kept an eye on the hand Neasan used to draw his sword and got ready to quickly back away. “They did not cross the river, of that I am certain. We found tracks on the path leading east, but when we caught up, ‘twas not MacGreagors.”
“They went into the forest!”
“Aye, but where and in which direction. Tell me and we will go back.”
Neasan was so enraged, he could hardly think. He wanted and even needed to kill someone. Slowly and deliberately, he turned to look at the men in the courtyard watching him. “Get your horses, lads, tonight we attack!” Not one man among them moved and if he could have, he would have killed them all. He gathered all this breath and shouted, “Did you not hear me?”
In the forest on both sides of the glen, men from all five neighboring clans hurried off to warn t
heir people.
DENA DID NOT MOVE EITHER. “Paisley?” she whispered. She remembered the way Neasan watched Paisley, but he said she meant nothing. Now he was demanding to have her back?
SO FAR, GRANT MANAGED not to be included in Neasan’s circle of trusted men and such was the case when the men mounted their horses to attack another clan. His brother-in-law, Bryce, was not so fortunate.
For hours, it seemed, Grant waited inside the cottage he shared with his wife and small son, walked the floor and waited for word. At length, he blew out the candle, opened his door a crack, and peeked out.
The moon offered just enough light and at last, Bryce walked up the path, slipped inside, quietly closed the door, and quickly sat down at the table. “None dead.”
Grant’s mouth dropped. “None?”
“Not one and Neasan is beside himself. Someone warned the Haldane we were coming. When we got there, Neasan lit a torch and tossed it on the roof of the Haldane keep, but no one ran out. Neasan roared his fury, drew his sword, and commanded us to burn the village to the ground.” Bryce had to pause long enough to deeply breathe and gather his thoughts.
“I could not do it. We pledged years ago to protect the Haldane, not kill them. I watched for people to come out of the cottages, but there were none and in the end, Neasan did not even care if the forest caught fire. Do you see? Neasan commanded us to burn the Haldane in their beds and I could not, nor could two others. We shall surely be put to death.”
“Where are the other two?”
“They wait for me in the forest.”
“You must go to Sawney and tell him what has happened,” said Grant.
“I fear leaving my wife, she is with child.”
“Neasan will call you out if you stay. I will see to her and Neasan will calm with time.”
“Should we come back when he calms?” asked Bryce.
“Nay, do not come back. Go to the Kennedys, learn which way Sawney went, and go after him.”
Reluctantly, Bryce stood back up. “You will see to our families?”
“Aye, tell Sawney we need him to come back.” Grant locked forearms with his best friend and a moment later, Bryce was gone. In the distance, Grant could hear an angry Neasan spewing his rage on his men and then it got oddly quiet. Certain Bryce was caught, Grant closed his eyes.
BEARCHA’S GLARE WAS as fierce as Neasan’s, who stood face to face with him in the courtyard. “You have conquered their land. Must you have their blood as well?”
Neasan still wanted to kill someone, but with all the strong wine he drank on the way back from the Haldane attack, his rage was beginning to wear off. At length, he blinked and looked down. “True, we have conquered their land.” Then he remembered and turned to look at the other men. “Three disobeyed me, find them!” Instantly, those who were still in the courtyard ran in different directions.
William did not move. He was one of the first men Neasan confided his desires to and William thought a life of conquering sounded exciting. Yet how exciting was it to attack quite possibly the smallest clan in all of Scotland? Long hours searching for Sawney and then taking part in the attack made William bone tired, and he did not intend to spend the night looking for the traitors. “They’ll not find them in the dark.”
“They will, or they will die instead.”
“How many can you kill before the people turn against you?” William had had enough.
Bearcha watched Neasan go into the Keep and then watched William walk down a path. He was surprised William stood up to his laird. He assumed William and Neasan were of the same mind, but now he wasn’t so sure.
CHAPTER VII
MORNING CAME EARLY in the Davidson glen. On the third floor of the Keep, Neasan opened the lids of Justin’s two trunks and used both hands to pull everything out. Aging blue plaids, a drawing on parchment, daggers in their sheaths, goblets, belts, and spare candles went flying across the room. Then he searched every inch, inside and out, for hidden pockets or false bottoms. When he found nothing, he closed the lids, picked them up one at a time, and hurled them against the wall. The aging wood splintered and broke apart.
He had not one jewel to his name and what kind of laird was he without wealth? His next victim was the bed he slept little in the night before. The feather stuffed mattress sat upon a grid of ropes tied to a square frame. Perhaps the legs were hollow, or the gold was hidden inside the mattress. With his dagger, Neasan ripped through the tightly woven cloth, tore open the mattress, and clawed through the feathers until he was satisfied nothing was inside. Frustrated, he turned the cloth inside out and threw it on the floor sending hundreds of feathers high into the air.
Next, he carefully examined the legs of the bed, but each was a solid piece of wood with no indication that anything was inside. At last, there was nothing left to do but tear up the boards in the floor.
Out of sight of the Keep, people gathered to share news of the raid on the Haldane the night before. Three men were now branded as traitors and three families were without them, but at least the men had not been captured. Not yet, anyway.
No one in the Davidson clan was more upset than Dena. Neasan seemed to have completely forgotten her and she was not the only one who suspected she’d been used. Feeling bad for her, some had a look of pity on their faces as she walked past and some even refused to look at her.
It was hardly a secret Neasan sent men to bring Paisley back, he yelled loud enough for the whole world to hear, and it made her look the way she felt—cast off. Because her morning walk proved so unpleasant, Dena spent the rest of the morning sitting on her bed waiting to see if he would send for her.
Neasan didn’t ask her to serve his meals, but then, that might be a good sign. A future mistress would never be asked to serve the laird before her wedding. Yet if he wanted Dena, why did he send men to bring Paisley back? Little by little, her sorrow was turning to spite.
ANTICIPATING WHAT NEASAN would demand once he got through destroying the inside of the third floor, William gathered the same five men, and had the horses and supplies prepared. They had finished and were waiting in the courtyard just before Neasan burst out the door. Their laird had bags under his eyes, his hair was mussed, and his beard seemed to have grown a full jagged inch since the day before. They noticed, but none of the men dared laugh, at the feathers in Neasan’s hair.
If Neasan was pleased to see his men mounted and ready to go, he didn’t show it. “Find them and bring them back!”
William also heard the rumor that Sawney was dead and he feared asking, but it was better than coming back empty handed again. “Find who...?”
“The traitors. Bring them to me and then you can chase after Sawney.”
“Sawney is not dead?”
“Where did you hear that?” demanded Neasan.
“It is said the Swintons first reported it.”
Standing not far away as he always seemed to be, Bearcha could tell by the shocked expression on Neasan’s face that the man just now realized his own words had come back to haunt him. Of course, the Kennedys had seen Sawney quite alive, but Bearcha saw no reason to share that information with Neasan.
Laird Davidson once more glared at William. “If Sawney be dead, then Hew will have Paisley, but first find the traitors. Any lad who refuses my commands must die.”
There was nothing William could do but nod and mount his horse. Neasan gave no indication as to where they were to search for either the traitors or the MacGreagors, and the burden of making wrong decisions lay heavily on William’s shoulders.
He led his men down the middle of the glen, followed the path to the crossroads, and turned west. It was as good a direction as any to look for the traitors. Hidden in the forest, the Swinton, Haldane, Kennedy, and Graham spies quietly watched. The MacDuff were there too, albeit hidden far deeper in the woods.
BRYCE AND THE OTHER two men who refused to take part in the Haldane attack were warn out. Bryce managed to slip back into the forest just before Ne
asan ordered his men to find them. The three spent the remainder of the night trying to avoid being caught by men who knew the paths and the forest as well as they did. Darkness was clearly on their side, but none of them slept a wink.
As soon as the sun began to rise and they were certain Neasan’s men had given up searching for them, they managed to slip across the path before William and his five warriors left the glen. Instead of west, they headed southeast toward the Kennedy village.
Two hours later, they stood before Laird Kennedy in his courtyard, stripped of all their weapons with their hands tied behind their backs. “We are at your mercy,” Bryce said. “Help us find Sawney and bring him back.”
“How do you know Laird Davidson...” Laird Kennedy paused to spit on the ground, “did not kill all the Haldane?”
“We saw for ourselves. Someone warned them, they must have, for the Haldane were not there when we arrived. I heard no child cry, no lass scream and no lad shout a warning. I tell you true, they are yet alive and hidden somewhere. And there is more.”
“Go on.”
“Laird Davidson left straight away. For all we know, the forest is on fire. I fear...” When all the Kennedy men spit on the ground, Bryce was beginning to see a pattern.
Kennedy started shouting orders and before another word was said to Bryce, ten Kennedy warriors were sent to find the Haldane and see that the fires were out. It took a little while for Laird Kennedy to calm down. While Scotland was a place of ample rain, there were always dead trees and bushes this time of year and a forest fire could wipe out all of them, including the Davidsons.
“The lad is witless,” Kennedy finally muttered.
“Aye, more so than you think,” Bryce agreed.
A Time of Madness Page 7