“I am here, Alexander! I’m here!”
Something taught snagged across his shins then popped as though it had snapped. Alexander heard a great shifting rumble to his left that grew louder by the second. The little bastards set a trap. The searing pain in his weak leg triggered a groaning roar as he forced it into action. Alexander leapt across a wide crack in the cavern’s floor, landed hard on the other side, and rolled to a stop. A jumble of loose rocks shot past him as he flattened himself against the wall and shielded his head as best he could with his arms.
“Sweet Jesu!” Catriona’s desperate cry echoed through the cave. “Ye’ve killed him, Sawny. Your trap has surely killed him.”
“I didna mean to,” Sawny said in a panicked tone that squeaked and broke with the troubles of a young boy growing to be a man. “M’lady, I swear to ye, I didna mean to kill him.”
“I’m no' dead!” Alexander shouted from the darkness of the ledge. He was, however, afraid to move. He’d lost the feckin' torch and couldna even see his hand in front of his face. “Bring a torch, boy! Now!”
Footsteps scrabbled toward him, sending a watershed of shifting rocks bouncing across the floor and over the edge of the precipice. A brilliant light appeared above him. The flames crackled and danced on the end of a crude torch made of pitch-soaked cloth wrapped around a chunky stick of wood. Alexander wormed his way out from under the ledge, scraping knees, elbows and shins in the sharp debris. The flaming light held high, Sawny helped him stand then positioned himself under Alexander’s arm to support his weak side. “I had to set the trap. I had no choice. Ye ken that well enough, aye?”
“Aye, lad. I ken it well enough.” Alexander took the torch from Sawny, peeled the boy out of his armpit and placed him in front of him. “Lead the way, boy,” he said as he held the torch higher. As he lifted his gaze above Sawny’s tousled head, he caught his breath. There was Catriona. A pure vision dearer than he’d e’er realized until that verra moment.
She held a flaming beacon in one hand while her other hand clutched an arisaidh about her shoulders. The fire of the flickering light lent a golden glow to her alabaster skin and deepened the richness of her auburn hair. Her pale lips were parted, and she watched with worry knotting her brow.
As soon as he reached her, Alexander shoved the torch into Sawny’s hands then gathered Catriona up into his arms and crushed her to his chest. “I feared I’d ne’er see ye again,” he whispered into the softness of her hair. Tossing her light to Sawny, Catriona’s arms squeezed tighter around him and Alexander relished the urgency in her touch.
“I feared the same,” she said with a soft, hiccupping sob as she lifted her face to his.
“Your eyes are a deeper green when ye cry,” Alexander said, losing himself in her gaze with a gladness that rushed through him. With the tenderest of touches, he kissed away her tears then took her mouth with his, claiming hold of all the sensations she wrought in him and fueling the moment with all he hoped to give her in return. He needed her. Needed this. Her touch. Her taste. The feel of her safe in his arms. He’d never risk losing her again.
“A light wouldna be amiss to help us reach ye, Alexander.”
"Aye there! Alexander!" The hollow sound of rocks scrabbling and bouncing toward them pinged through the darkness. "Alexander! Have ye forgotten us, man?"
Graham and Magnus’s shouts finally broke into the wondrous place he’d discovered in Catriona’s arms. With a great deal of regret, he ended the kiss, lifted his head, and found Sawny standing close by with a silly grin on his freckled face. “Lead them here, aye?”
“Aye,” the lad said with a happy snort as he handed them one of the torches then headed to the mouth of the cave and Alexander’s men.
“Ye’ve scraped yourself bloody!” Catriona said as she held the light higher and eased out of his embrace. “Come. The boys just brought in a bit a water. I’ll clean ye up.”
“Ever the nursemaid,” he teased, already feeling the loss of her warmth and hating it. “'Tis but a few scratches. Nothing to worry after. I assure ye.”
Rocks flying and steps thundering, Tom and Sawny ran past them and Graham and Magnus followed close behind. “Men coming!” Sawny called out in an urgent whisper as he paused and waved them forward. “Hurry! We must get past the second trap and douse the fires afore they spot us.”
“Who?” Alexander asked as he latched hold of Graham’s arm and yanked his brother to a stop.
“I dinna ken,” Graham answered. “But they be from the keep. Young Tom spotted them headed this way. If they decide to explore the cave, we’re trapped.”
“Like hell we are!” Catriona’s tone held the rage of a mother bear protecting her cubs. “This way—now!”
“Nay.” Grabbing one of the torches, Alexander drew his sword, stepped across the great gaping crack at its narrowest point, and motioned for the rest to be on their way. “I’ll run no more this day. Go to safety while I wait here to greet our guests.”
“Nay!” Catriona called out to him. “Just reunited and now I could lose ye again? Nay, I beg ye. Come with us!”
Her words filled his heart to near bursting. He gave her his most reassuring smile and motioned for her to go. “Go now, m’lady. Keep safe. I’ll return to ye once again as soon as tis clear and well to do so.”
Before Catriona could argue again, he stomped out the light of his torch and placed it against the wall behind his heels. Sword drawn and ready, Alexander watched Graham and Magnus drag Catriona away. He watched them until the light of their torches disappeared and left him in complete darkness.
Voices came from the direction of the mouth of the cave and he heard the striking of flints to set fire to beacons.
He resettled his grip on his sword and steadied his stance.
“Come to me,” he whispered. “Come to me now.”
Chapter 14
“I canna believe we left him there. Alone in the darkness.” Catriona jerked her wrist out of Graham’s grasp, ran to the small fire next to the stone ledge, and hurried to douse it with handfuls of dirt and sand scraped up from the cave floor. Brushing her hands against her skirts, she rose from the task, worry and fear knotting her insides and making her heart pound. She whirled about and faced him. “How could ye leave your own brother? How could ye leave him behind?”
“'Twas what he wished and Alexander is no' afraid of the dark, m’lady.” Graham lit a fresh torch off of Sawny’s and scanned the cavernous room. “Are we well past that second trap ye spoke of, lad?”
“Aye,” Sawny replied. “We should be safe in this section of the cave but we best move to the back so our torchlight will be a sight dimmer and less apt to draw notice. 'Tis my hopes they willna smell the smoke of the doused fire.”
While her common sense knew Sawny was right, her heart screamed out a hearty, “Nay!” Catriona pulled away, heading back toward the passage they’d just passed through to reach the heart of the cave where they’d set up a camp. She would wait at the edge, in the darkness, until she saw Alexander safe. Then she’d guide him through the maze of passages to reach the more secure section of the cave.
A strong hand closed around her upper arm and pulled her back with a firm, gentle persistence. She jerked about and faced Magnus. “Let go of me, sir.”
“Nay, m’lady.” Magnus gave her a respectful nod then faced her toward the others and walked her back to join them by a determined steering of her arm. “If I allow anything ill to befall ye, Alexander will have me arse.” He nodded again with a faint smile. “Beg pardon, m'lady.”
A howling scream, strong at first then fading away, echoed back to them from the passages. A chill washed across Catriona’s flesh, standing every hair on end.
Still holding tight to her arm, Magnus gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Ne'er ye fret. That wasna Alexander.”
“How can ye know? How can ye be certain?”
“He doesna scream,” Graham interjected. “He curses, growls, rants and roars but I've ne'er
heard him scream. Mam swore he was a bear in a past life.”
“Aye,” Magnus agreed. “Most definitely a bear.” He placed Catriona at the center of their group, the two men and two boys flanking her, as he positioned her against the wall.
Catriona wasn't stupid. She knew well enough that the only reason he’d placed her there was to prevent her from escaping them and going to Alexander.
“What do we do from here?” Sawny asked, excitement making his freckled face glow like a beacon in the torchlight. “When do we attack and reclaim our keep from that bastard?” He gave a sheepish jerk of one shoulder in Catriona's direction. “Beg your pardon, m’lady.”
“Aye,” young Tom chimed in. “We n-need to clear the k-keep of the chieftain’s vermin as well.”
“'Tis no' their fight, boys,” Catriona said as she hugged herself against the damp chill of the cave. “And we’ve no coin to pay them for battle.” She wasn’t trying to insult the men. They were mercenaries. Mercenaries were paid to fight. She had no money, no title, no land and her head ached with the effort of trying to think of a way to save her clan from Calum. But so far, she’d come up with nothing. She pulled in a deep, stubborn breath and released it. But she would think of something. She wouldna desert her people.
The thunderous sound of tumbling rocks and layers of loose shale falling reached them. Catriona closed her eyes and sent up a silent a prayer. Protect Alexander. Please. I beg ye. Protect him and keep him safe.
“Damn ye, Sawny. That last trap of yours came near to endin' me.”
“Alexander!” Catriona burst free of the group, raced across the room, and leapt into Alexander’s open arms. Arms tight around his neck and one leg wrapped around his middle like a brazen woman, she hugged him so hard she trembled. “I feared ye lost,” she whispered against his neck. “I was so afraid.”
One hand burdened with the torch, Alexander tightened his other arm around her, holding her as close and hard as she held him. “All is well, dear one. All is well.”
Catriona closed her eyes, soaking in the wondrous feel of him against the length of her body. His strength. His heat. With her face snuggled up against his neck, she inhaled, imprinting his delicious scent in her memory forever. She pressed a kiss to his throat, flicking her tongue to steal a shy taste of his salty-sweet flesh. Such behavior. Shame should fill her. Behaving like a low-born ill-mannered woman. She was a betrothed woman promised to another, but she didna care. Alexander was all that mattered.
“I’m so glad ye’re safe,” she said in a low tone meant just for him. With an embarrassed reluctance, she withdrew her leg from the unladylike position around his waist and stretched to put both feet to the floor.
Alexander kept his arm around her, his hand splayed against the small of her back and holding her close. He smiled down at her, his dark eyes smoldering with a fire that both excited and frightened her. “And now we’ll be seeing to your continued safety. I’ll no' risk losing ye again.”
Catriona swallowed hard against the excited fluttering of her heart. Now this was how a man should behave. She patted a hand to the center of his hard chest, straightening the buttoned seam of his léine with nervous tugs. “I dinna wish to lose ye again either.”
“Then let us make a plan.” Alexander pulled her to his side and walked with her across the room of the cave to where the others waited. “Chieftain Calum’s force is now less three men,” he said to Graham and Magnus.
“When do we attack?” Sawny asked.
Catriona’s heart went out to the boy, so intent on avenging his dear Murtagh. She wanted Murtagh avenged as well, but they had to go about it with great care. “Plan first. Then attack. And as I said earlier, this is no' their fight.”
“It is now, dearling.” Alexander hugged her closer, pride and so much more showing in his smile. “Catriona speaks with great wisdom.” He nodded to Graham and Magnus. “We need to return to our cave and regroup. Discover what the others have found.”
“'Tis broad daylight, brother,” Graham warned. “And we canna be certain that the horses have no' been found.”
“The way I see it, we’ve a bit a time,” Alexander said. “They willna send more men to search this area until they miss the three that now rest deep in the heart of the mountain.”
“The boys are quick and sly as mousies in a pantry.” Catriona took hold of Sawny’s arm and hugged him to her other side. “Tell them where ye put the horses. They’ll find them if they still be there.”
“Aye, we’ll find them,” Sawny agreed with a bob of his head. “Where they be?”
“Ye ken where ye were gathering wood afore the sun rose?” Graham asked Tom.
Eyes rounding with the revelation he hadn’t been as stealthy as he thought, Tom gave Graham a solemn nod. “Aye.”
“Ten paces higher up the mountain. A small plateau hemmed in by great chunks of granite speckled like a quail’s eggs, ye ken?”
Tom nodded and motioned for Sawny to join him. Both boys, with torches held high, disappeared into the tunnels leading to the opening of the cave.
“I canna bear to wait here,” Catriona said to Alexander. She’d had all the waiting she could stand. Body, mind, and spirit, while overwhelmed and thankful for Alexander’s presence, craved action. She waved the men forward as she followed the boys. “Come. We can wait at the mouth of the cave. If anyone approaches, we’ll be safe enough since we know the passages, aye?”
“We’d best follow her, lads, or we’ll ne’er find our way out of this place.” Alexander motioned for Graham and Magnus to follow.
With the utmost care to avoid additional traps and snags of Sawny’s doing, Catriona led the men through the shorter of the several passages that led to the mouth of the cave.
“God’s teeth, a thousand tunnels honeycomb this hell,” Alexander said, his voice echoing throughout the tomblike space as he kept close behind her.
“Aye,” Catriona agreed. “That’s why I feared for ye when we left ye in the darkness.”
“I noted the path ye took and relit my torch with the flint on my pistol,” Alexander defended, sounding a bit insulted. He grunted and huffed with his efforts as they turned sideways to squeeze through a narrow to the point of being treacherous part of the pass. “Damnation, Catriona. Are ye certain this is the way?”
"Aye and for certain," Catriona said as the tunnel opened out into the small flat area at the mouth of the cave. She pulled in a deep breath of the fresh cold air and reveled in the sunlight pouring in. The cave had been a grand place in which to hide but she was more than ready to be shed of it. "See there?"
Alexander pulled her close. They stood together, waiting for Tom in silence. Catriona clutched her arisaidh tight and pressed her fist against the center of her chest. Alexander would have to be deaf not to hear the excited hammering of her heart. She swallowed hard, breathlessness threatening to overtake her and her knees weak from emotions whirling through her.
Tom appeared at the mouth of the cave and waved them forward. “F-found’m! Come!”
“Thanks be,” Catriona said with breathless relief as they all rushed to leave the cave. Blinded by the brightness of the day, she shaded her eyes with one hand as her gaze darted across the top of the nearby curtain wall and checked the windows of the turret. All looked to be unguarded but looks could be so deceiving. Calum had taught her that cruel lesson the last time she’d attempted to escape.
Alexander took hold of her hand, pressed a kiss to her knuckles, then gave her a solemn look. “Dinna let fear control ye, aye?”
“Aye,” she whispered, helpless to speak any louder. She couldna make him understand how afraid she was that they were about to fail again—and if they did, Calum would kill them for certain this time.
“Do ye trust me?” He peered at her with such an intensity, she scarce heard him over the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.
“Aye,” she managed to whisper.
“Good.” He grazed a gentle kiss across her lips, squee
zed her hand again, then hurried them toward the trio of horses the boys had fetched.
Catriona knotted her arisaidh around her shoulders. Alexander’s strong hands about her waist hoisted her into the air and settled her in the saddle. Alexander snugged in behind her, sending a thrill rushing through her. The breathless sensation grew as he pulled her back against the warm, welcome safety of his chest and wrapped his plaid about her.
Graham and Magnus saddled up and each of them pulled up one of the boys to ride behind them. A welcomed sense of relief settled across Catriona. The sight of Sawny, his freckled face beaming as he clung to Magnus’s waist, made her smile.
A long, deep horn blast came from the top of the curtain wall, shattering the peacefulness and hope of the morning. The predatory hiss of arrows in flight shushed through the air alongside them as they urged the horses away in full gallop. Alexander curled her close against him and leaned forward, sheltering her as much as he could with his own body.
“To the west!” Alexander shouted across the narrow expanse of land separating the curtain wall from the mountain. “We must no' be followed!”
Graham and Magnus nodded, swerving their mounts from side to side as arrows punctured the ground all around them. Catriona held tight to the lip of the saddle, bent double over it as Alexander kept her sheltered beneath him. He had her tucked so tight in the curve of his body, she couldn't hazard a look about to see if horsemen followed or if it was only the bowmen from the curtain wall attempting to stop them. All she could do was close her eyes and pray.
They slowed as the horses turned and began the climb up the mountain. The agile beasts galloped around the piles of stones and dense hillocks of dried heather as if born to conquer such harsh terrain. They slowed even more, settling into a comfortable ground-eating trot. Alexander straightened in the saddle, pulling Catriona upright with him.
The Chieftain: A Highlander's Heart and Soul Novel Page 14