Calum was no longer the sole nemesis of her people. Alexander went to her side and touched a hand to her shoulder. “I ken ye wish to save your clan for your father’s memory but—”
“My father can burn in Hell. I do this for my mother. Clan Neal looked to her for guidance and as much protection as she could offer them from her monster of a husband. Upon her death, I swore I’d take her place as their protector and guardian and I mean to keep my word.”
Catriona’s passion wasna restricted to the marriage bed. Alexander stared down into her eyes, green as a Highland hillside in the summer. The determination and fire he saw in their depths disturbed him no small amount, twisting his heart and adding to the weight of the guilt he already bore because of Glencoe. They were naught but a few hiding on a mountain. Stealth and sly tactics had served them well in the past but they’d never fought against so many and there was no’ the time to find allies to fight at their side. He blew out a heavy sigh and gave a slow shake of his head. How could they manage this?
“Dinna shake your head at me as though I’m a foolish child greetin’ after something I canna have.” Catriona jerked away from his touch, rose from her seat, and moved an arm’s length away. “There has to be something I can do to stop this.”
She kept speaking as though she were alone in this world and that grated on him no small amount. “Ye canna stop this alone, Catriona, and might I remind ye, ye are my wife now. Ye are never alone in anything ever again.”
Catriona stared at the group of men as though seeing them with new eyes and finding them unbelievably naïve. “The lot of ye canna help. If ye return to Tor Ruadh with me, ye’ll surely hang as traitors.” She motioned toward the south. “Ye must leave the mountain.” She pinned Alexander with a pleading expression. “Go to Islay. Wait for me there, aye?”
“Ye have lost your mind if ye think I’ll be leaving ye to face this battle alone.” Alexander pulled her to him and snugged her up against his side while pointing at his silent, wide-eyed men fidgeting with a growing uneasiness around the fire. “We’ve faced tall odds before and lived to tell the tale. Have we no’ done so, lads?”
Graham grimaced then tilted his head to one side like a dog listening to its master. Magnus shrugged. Duncan and Sutherland looked at each other with brows raised and Alasdair and Ian fixed him with a dubious glare. No one answered.
Sawny jumped down from his perch upon a boulder and strode to Catriona’s side. “I’ll fight beside ye, m’lady. To the death, I will.”
Stumbling over his own large feet, gangly Tom joined his friend. “Me, t-too, m’lady. I f-figure me and Sawny can help what wif all the secrets we ken about the k-keep. There’s no’ a passage or hidey-hole we havena explored.”
Catriona gave the boys a trembling smile as she took hold of each of their hands then embarrassed them with a fierce hug. “Ye’re my fine boys,” she said. “Fine boys, indeed.”
Alexander looked to his shame-faced men and the priest. “I know the lot of ye have the courage of these two boys. Are ye willing to at least sort out a battle tactic and do this?”
Ian rose to his feet. “The king’s regiment willna reach Clan Neal for several days. How close are Campbell and his men?”
Sutherland stood, eyes narrowing as he spoke. “I’d say tomorrow. Next day or maybe even a day after that if the weather shifts and troubles them with a spring storm or two. The cannons are heavy and their wagons dinna take well to the muddy passes.”
Alexander turned to Catriona. “How many loyal men does your brother have? Men who dinna serve him merely because they fear him?” If they could convince the people that loved Catriona to face their fears and fight, they’d stand a better chance at saving them.
“I canna say for certain.” Catriona fixed him with a broken-hearted, frustrated glare. “Would ye make me a widow so soon? Please go and wait for me in Islay.”
“We either fight for your people or we, as in yourself and I, travel to Islay to start life anew together. Which will it be, wife? Ye’ve no other choices.” Alexander hated to speak so harshly but Catriona had to face the truth. If she returned to Clan Neal’s keep alone, with no more than a pair of twelve-year-olds at her side, not only would she fail in her quest, Alexander felt sure that Calum would kill them all. “Need I remind ye that none of your people kept Calum from imprisoning ye? What do ye truly hope to accomplish alone?” She was being foolish, lying to herself, but he wouldna shame her by saying so in front his men. He lifted his chin and folded his arms across his chest, tensing as he awaited her decision.
She set her jaw and stared down at the ground, hands fisted at her sides. Alexander could plainly see she knew he was right and hated it. She finally looked up, fixing an irritated glare first on the boys, then shifting it to Alexander. “Fine,” she bit out the word, then her clenched jaw softened a bit. “At least if we die, we die together.”
Alexander wanted to smile but for the sake of Catriona’s pride, he refrained from doing so. He nodded to Sawny. “Catriona told me how the two of ye got her out. Pray tell me there’s a better way to spirit us all in other than the privy chute.”
Sawny and Tom scowled at each other as though silently communicating their thoughts. “Ye think the caves?” Sawny asked Tom.
Tom paused and looked at each of the men and the priest, all of whom were now standing around them. He gave Sawny a thoughtful nod. “Aye. Through the c-cave and int-to the stable, then get them to the r-root cellar, ye th-think?”
“The root cellar?” Alexander didna like the sound of that. How the hell would a hole in the ground under the kitchens get them into the rest of the keep?
“But the old passage caved in,” Catriona argued with a perplexed look at both the boys.
Alexander really didna care for the sound of that and from the looks on their faces, neither did his brothers.
“Who’s side are ye on, boy?” Magnus asked Sawny.
Sawny gave Magnus a perturbed look then turned back to Catriona. “No’ the old passage, m’lady. There’s another. ’Tis a much older tunnel. Murtagh said the goblins of the mountains used it to bring their gold to the surface.”
“Goblins of the mountains?” Sawny was talking about the legend of fairy goblins that were purported to have lived within the mountains of Scotland because they deemed themselves too good to behave like brownies and dwell in crofts or castles with humans. Alexander wished the lads would get to the point. “Spit it out, boy. We’ve no’ time for stories that are better told at a hearthside gathering.”
Sawny’s freckled cheeks reddened and his mouth flattened into an embarrassed line. “The caves where we hid m’lady have passages that open into the back of the stable cave. From there ’tis but a few paces to the root cellar that lies between the stables and the kitchens.” His face shifted to a darker red but his demeanor was no longer embarrassed. The young boy was enraged. “The root cellar ’tis where the bastards hid afore they killed Murtagh.” His dirt-smudged jaw tightened. “But Hew and Duff dinna ken about the old passages at the back of the root cellar leading up into the keep. I can lead ye through them and find ye haven within the tunnels whilst Tom spreads the word through the village and amongst the Neal crofts scattered in our glen. We have allies there that couldna come to Mistress Catriona’s aid because they didna ken of her imprisonment.”
“Sound plan,” Alexander agreed, saying it more than he felt it. The boy seemed determined to make them all believe Clan Neal would rally around Catriona if given the chance. Since they’d ridden north, up the mountain, to make their escape, he had no idea how many could be in the village or the surrounding crofts that Sawny spoke of. During his stay at Tor Ruadh, he’d not ventured outside the skirting walls due to his lameness and the weather.
He had another niggling concern. Who led King William’s regiment? Who could strike such fear among the people that they wouldna even speak the man’s name? This information could be vital. He looked to his brothers then to his cousins. “What say
ye?”
Father William spoke up before any of the others could answer. “What will ye do once inside the keep?” The sprite of a man rose from his place beside the fire, rubbing the top of his balding head as though it were a wishing stone. “How will ye reclaim this lady’s home?”
Sensing a spiritual lecture on the rise, Alexander lifted his hand to stave it off. “'Tis best ye dinna ken, Father. Dinna fash yourself. We’ll be sending ye on your way. Your wee mare should have no trouble getting ye to Fort William.”
The priest fixed him with an insulted scowl. “Ye’ll do no such thing.” He stood taller and squared his narrow shoulders. “I may be a man of God but that doesna mean I dinna ken how to fight.” He paused and gave the entire group a cold, narrow-eyed look. “Ye seem to be an honorable group of men. I’ll be fighting alongside ye and praying for your souls as we go, ye ken?” He turned to Catriona and pointed at Alexander. “Ye married a good man. Honorable. God-fearin’. Jameson Campbell is a heartless bastard that no priest alive could save from eternal damnation. I’m glad that I didna have to condemn ye to a life with that cur.”
“My brother is the same as Campbell,” Catriona said with a tight-lipped look. “The two of them can burn in Hell with my father and I’ll thank ye to pray that we’re successful in hurrying them both along their way.”
“Aye,” the priest agreed with a curt bob of his head.
Feeling none the better for the priest’s mixed blessing, Alexander turned back to his men. “At nightfall, we move, aye?”
Graham studied the sky and checked the direction of the wind. “Aye. For now, the weather looks to be with us and with the dim light of the new moon, we’ll be shielded and should be able to make it back to the caves without being detected.”
“I’d feel a mite better if we knew who led the king’s men,” Magnus said, voicing Alexander’s fears aloud.
“All we could discover was that he’s no’ the usual Sassenach,” Alasdair said as he opened his flask and made his way around the group pouring a bit of the precious golden liquid into each man’s cup. He paused when he reached Alexander and looked him in the eye. “’Tis said he kens our ways because he was fostered as one of our own before returning to his life in England.”
Fostered as one of our own. Alexander frowned. That did not bode well. The man would know the ways they fought, stalking their enemies like they stalked their deer rather than lining up like a bunch of fools and walking toward one another to see who could shoot off their bloody heads first. He gave Alasdair a nod and lifted his cup to the group.
“To nightfall and the setting right of many wrongs.”
“To nightfall,” the group echoed.
“Amen,” declared the priest, then downed his whisky and held out his cup for a refill.
Chapter 18
She raked her fingers through her long auburn hair, wondering at the wisdom of choosing a perch on a ledge above the cave, open to the mercy of the endless wind, to comb out and plait her curls. 'Twas no helping it. She needed a brief respite from the males to ready herself for whatever the evening might hold. Even though 'twas a mite chilly seat, the bright sunshine did wonders for soothing her nerves.
“May I join ye?”
Alexander’s deep, gentle voice not only made her smile but also stoked the simmering need she now felt whenever around him. She’d never dreamed that lying with a man was not merely the physical sharing of bodies but could also be the stitching together of hearts and souls—if the right souls were matched. After last night, she understood this verra well.
“Yes, husband.” She so liked how that sounded. She did her best to suppress a shiver and concentrate on the over and under weaving of her tresses into a long, smooth braid that wouldna be in her way every time she moved.
Alexander lowered himself to sit on the ledge beside her. He sat as though mesmerized, watching her nimble fingers weave through her hair, his gaze following the plaiting motion of her hands.
“I like it better loose,” he said in a tone that sounded more than a little sullen.
Catriona gave him a fleeting glance as she finished one braid and started on another. “It gets in the way when it’s loose.” She tossed him a shy smile. “I’ll comb out the braids once our battle is done and we’re settled, aye?”
Alexander sat staring at her for so long without speaking, she grew uncomfortable. She tried to ignore the feeling as she wrapped the braids around her head then tucked the ends into a tight bundle at the nape her neck. After securing it all with ribbons and pins, she dropped her hands into her lap and turned to him.
“What is it?” she asked. “I see it eatin' away at ye so ye might as well say it and be done with it.”
“I dinna like ye going back there. I’d rather keep ye here where it’s safe 'til all is said and done.”
The worry in his eyes offset the stern set of his jaw. She’d forgive him much because of the amount of caring she saw glimmering in those dark eyes. “I must go. Ye ken that in your heart.” She reached out and stroked the backs of her fingers against his close-cropped beard. “I’ll be with ye and I know ye’ll keep me safe.”
His dark brows knotted together in a fierce scowl, Alexander caught her hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss across the backs of her fingers. He hugged her hand to his cheek and gave her a look so filled with worry and apprehension, she wanted to gather him to her breast and assure him all would be well.
“I fear ye’ll hate me when I kill your brother.” He let go of her hand and looked away, squinting up at the cloudless sky.
She caught her breath at the cold harshness of his words, the words she wished he’d left unspoken so she might avoid facing for a wee bit longer what had to be done. “I willna hate ye, Alexander.”
She didna add that she’d harbor a good helping of guilt-ridden hate for herself, though. She felt in her heart that Calum had to die, much as a wounded horse had to be put down to end its misery. Calum would ne’er be right. He’d grown too settled into the evil generated from a past he couldna escape.
“It must be done,” she said low and soft, more to herself than to Alexander. She gazed across the misty blues and grays of the mountains surrounding the soft greening of the glen below. She could hardly believe her own words. How had things come to this? Her plotting the death of her twin brother.
Alexander pulled her close, cradling his arm around her and resting her head against his shoulder. They sat just so for a long moment until Catriona had to pull away. She couldna help it. This waiting made her nerves raw and set her teeth on edge. She scrambled to her feet and hugged herself as she paced back and forth across the shelf of stone.
“I canna stand this waiting. The sun willna set soon enough.” She clenched her fists then opened her hands and scrubbed the clamminess of her palms against the heavy wool of her skirts. She studied the path they would take down to the cave, then motioned for Alexander to rise to his feet and look. “The mist,” she said once he stood beside her. “We should leave now. The mist will hide us.”
Alexander scowled down at the vista below then limped to the far edge of the stone shelf and studied the path from another angle.
“Your limp is nearly gone.” Catriona pointed to his leg. She could tell the thigh muscle didna fill out his trews near as much as the other, but the leg was strengthening and gaining better form.
Alexander tore his gaze from the horizon long enough to give her a suggestive wink. “Ye gave it quite the workout, love. Ye made it stronger.” He winked again then grew serious as he pointed down the mountainside. “Ye’re right. We need to make haste now afore we lose the mist.”
He took her hand and together they made their way down from Catriona’s perch and alerted the others.
“Ye’re a wise woman, sister,” Graham said.
Graham’s kind words didna help Catriona’s guilt about getting the men involved in such a dire venture that could end so badly. She acknowledged his compliment with a shy nod. “Let’s
just pray it keeps us safe, aye?”
They were saddled up and on the trail before the hour had passed. Catriona rode behind Alexander this time, arms tight around his middle. He’d insisted she ride this way so to better see the trail before him. Catriona recognized the lie for what it was. Alexander wanted her behind him because they were riding toward the enemy and he could better shield her if she sat behind him. She heaved out a sigh and rested her cheek against his back. No matter. She’d let him think she believed his lie. After all, 'twas well-intended.
None of them spoke as they wound their way through the white mist shrouding the mountain. The longer they rode, the more Catriona tensed, feeling as though she’d explode. 'Twas so difficult to gauge how far they’d ridden with Alexander’s broad back blocking her frontward view. The only thing that eased her anxiety in the least was Alexander’s muscles rippling beneath her hands and cheek and the reassuring scent of him she drew in with every breath. She sent up a silent prayer and a plea to her dear departed mother. Keep him safe. I beg ye.
The horse came to an abrupt halt and Catriona bit back a nervous squeak. She clutched Alexander tighter and waited. He patted her hand and spoke in a whisper. “We’ve reached the cave.”
She could nary believe it since the trip down had seemed so much shorter than the trip up but then she remembered, they had taken a winding route up the mountain to throw any followers off their trail to keep their hiding place secure.
Alexander helped Catriona dismount then sent Tom scurrying to recruit any allies he could find. Catriona watched the boy until he disappeared from sight, her fist knotted tight to her stomach and her silent prayers following him. Surely to goodness, help could be found in the village and amongst the crofts.
"Catriona?"
"Aye. Coming.” She hurried into the cave, pausing just inside the entrance to let her eyes grow accustomed to the absence of light.
The Chieftain: A Highlander's Heart and Soul Novel Page 18