“Weel, Donald, you hae done yer parents proud this day, fetching help for yer mother.” Rosalyn spoke soothingly to the boy as they neared his home. “Is she all alone?”
“No, milady, my da’s with her, but she says he’s worthless to her at this point in the process.”
Rosalyn ducked her head, but not before Cate saw the broad grin on her face.
“Just wait until my da sees who I’m bringing home.” His face glowing with hero worship, the boy was still staring at Connor, who shifted uncomfortably in his saddle.
Modesty? Cate was surprised at finding yet another facet to the man.
When they arrived at the small house, Rosalyn held up her hand to prevent them from dismounting.
“You’ll none of you do me any good here, and likely only cause the lady more discomfort at having such guests when she canna greet you properly. After Donald’s brought his father out, go and finish yer rounds. I’ll return when I can.”
Rosalyn entered the small cottage, holding the little boy’s hand.
The others stayed where they were until Donald returned with his father. Ian Maxwell’s eyes shone almost as brightly as his son’s when he was introduced to the mighty knight MacKiernan.
Connor ordered Fergus to remain at the Maxwell home to watch over Rosalyn. Cate was once again surprised by his actions when she realized he must have noticed how little the Maxwell family had—he also left all their remaining provisions.
CHAPTER 16
Only a complete idiot would miss a perfect opportunity like this. Although Cate had spent the better part of the day feeling like a fool, she refused to be an idiot as well.
They had visited several more families after leaving the Maxwell home. There were just the three of them now. Duncan and Connor held their horses to a walk, riding side by side, the clip-clop of hooves the only sound disturbing the silence.
They’d just left another small home, and Duncan said it would be quite a ride before they reached another. The sun was low on the horizon.
It was obvious to Cate that Connor wasn’t going to start a conversation with her, so if she were ever going to work on her mystery, there was no time like the present.
“Connor?” She smiled when he jumped, but didn’t turn to look at him. “There’s something important I’ve been wanting to discuss with you for some time now.”
“Aye. So I’ve been told. Repeatedly. I wondered how long it might take you.” His whole body was rigid against her back.
“Do you even have any idea what I wanted to talk to you about?”
Arrogant, bossy, aggravating man.
“It disna matter.” He paused to take a deep breath. “Being kept in yer room, I’d imagine.”
“You know, Connor, your people skills leave a lot to be desired.”
The room thing was a whole different conversation from what she had in mind right now, and she wouldn’t let that distract her.
“No, what I’ve been wanting to talk to you about all this time is what happened when I went riding with Mairi and Blane.” Against her back, Connor stiffened at the mention of his cousin’s name. She kept going anyway. “I don’t think it was an accident at all. I think someone intentionally frightened my horse. As a matter of fact, I even have proof.”
The men exchanged a look. They pulled their horses off the path and Connor dismounted. Duncan circled the area watchfully before joining them and dismounting himself. The two men stood together looking up at her. Waiting.
She crossed her arms and looked down at them from her seat high on the back of the horse. So, they thought to continue to treat her like a child? Thought to play stubborn Scotsmen with her, did they? Well, she had Scots’ blood, too. Eight or nine generations back, maybe, but nevertheless, she could be just as stubborn as they could. She arched an eyebrow in perfect imitation of the man who watched her.
“Och, Connor, take her down off that animal before we all get gray and wrinkled. She’s no going to tell us anything from her perch up there.”
Bless Duncan for giving in first.
The minute her feet touched the ground, Cate turned her back on Connor.
“Just lower the neck of my dress. I want to show you something.”
She heard a strangled sound and turned to find his face quite red. Duncan chuckled silently.
“It’s no proper.” He finally managed to grind out through his teeth.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” She turned her back to him again. “Okay, then, just run your hand down my back, right under my shoulder blade.” She waited.
Nothing.
She turned to glare at him. “Just. Do. It.” She turned her back again.
Nothing.
“Fine. Duncan, you do it.”
“No. I’ll do it.”
She’d swear it sounded as if Connor actually growled.
Duncan’s shoulders shook, his face turned away in an attempt to hide his laughter.
Connor’s fingers slid tentatively down her back.
“Farther to the right. There. Ow! Right there. Do you feel that?”
His fingers were directly over the still swollen spot. She had refused to allow Rosalyn to put any more of her wonderful salves on the wound. It was, after all, her evidence.
“It’s a welt. I’d imagine you have them all over yer body after the fall you took.” He sounded odd, distracted.
“See this?” She turned, tugging at her shift to expose her injured shoulder.
He raised his hand toward the spot and then dropped it to his side.
“This is where I landed first. Right on this shoulder. And then here.” She pointed to the almost healed spot on her forehead.
“And then here.” She pointed to the cheek that was now injury free. “What do you notice about all those spots? Where they are? What they have in common?”
He simply stared at her for a moment.
“They’re all on the same side, where you fell.” He said it quietly, thoughtfully.
“Bingo. But not that bump on my back. It’s on the other side. The side I didn’t land on. And more important, there are two matching bumps on my horse’s rear end.”
“What?”
Now both men looked interested.
“Just before my horse bolted, I heard a noise, like something hitting the tree beside me. I turned to look for what it might be and—wham—something smacked into my back. Right where the welt is. Directly after that, I heard another sound, and the horse screamed and reared up. I’m pretty sure he reared again a bit later, but since I was doing a head dive right after that, I kind of lost track.” She shrugged. “That next evening, Rosalyn made a remark about this bump on my back looking like Mairi and I had been throwing stones at each other, and that’s when it finally dawned on me. That’s the sound I’d heard. A stone hitting the tree, a stone hitting me, and at least one hitting my horse. When I went to the stables that night, I found the same exact marks on the horse I’d been riding.” She paused. “Right before I found Blane.”
Take that, Nancy Drew.
“So that’s what you were doing in the stables?” Connor’s eyes narrowed in warning. “You went there to look for marks on the horse? You went alone, even when you thought someone might be trying to hurt you?” His eyes glinted dangerously.
“Yes.” She held up her hand to stop him. “And before you say another word, just let me say that I realize now that it was really stupid of me to go traipsing off in the dark by myself. I should have found you and told you then. But I didn’t because at the time I thought it would be better not to say anything until I had proof. I’m sorry. I was wrong to do that. You have every right to be angry with me.” She held the apologetic look as long as she could, then grinned.
“But I was right, and I found the marks on the horse to prove it. Somebody intentionally spooked my horse.”
She looked expectantly from one to the other of the men. They exchanged that look again, but neither of them said anything. And they didn’t seem particularly
surprised.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
There must be. Her brothers always got like this when they were keeping something from her. What else could possibly have . . . ?
“Beast.” Her eyes glowed triumphantly. “That’s it, isn’t it? Mairi said he had an arrow in him when you found him. Somebody shot him with an arrow. Was he there? When I got tossed off that horse, was Beast there?”
“Aye. He went off after . . . ” Duncan started.
“Duncan.” Connor stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. “I dinna think—”
“Don’t you even try to leave me out of this now.” Cate’s eyes flashed as she moved closer to Connor, one hand on her hip, one finger poking his chest. “Don’t you think I’d be a lot better off knowing exactly what I’m up against rather than waltzing around here thinking everything is just fine?”
Connor captured her hand, trapping it against his chest. “You hae a bad habit of doing that, lass. I dinna appreciate being treated like bread dough to be poked down.”
Duncan, shaking his head, moved away from them, trailing his horse behind him, but Cate paid him little heed.
“Well, I don’t appreciate being treated like a mushroom.”
He stared at her blankly.
“You know, kept in the dark and fed . . . never mind. It’s an old saying.” She glared up at him. “At least where I come from it’s an old saying.”
Connor still had her hand pinned to his chest. He stared at the ground as if considering her request for more information.
Cate stared at their hands, hers clasped tightly in his. His heart beat rapidly under her fingertips. His face was hard, his eyes closed now, his lips pressed together tightly, his jaw clenched as if the thoughts he grappled with pained him.
She’d wanted to help by telling him what she knew, but it seemed from his reaction that she’d only given him more to worry about. She had become the burden she had sought to avoid.
“I’m so sorry. I only thought to help.” She lifted her free hand, tracing with her finger the line of his jaw down to his lips, wishing she could do something to ease his worry.
At her movement, his eyes opened wide in shock and then narrowed. He groaned before crushing her to him, lowering his mouth to hers. She sank into him, eagerly opening her mouth to allow him access just as they heard the first whoosh-thud, followed quickly by a second.
In the instant between the two sounds, Cate found herself flat on her back with Connor on top of her, one large hand under her head cushioning the fall.
“Did you see where it came from?” he hissed at Duncan, who was also on the ground, several feet away across the clearing.
“No. But I hae a good idea of direction. I’ll check,” he whispered as he inched away.
“What . . . ?”
Connor’s free hand came down over her mouth, pushing her head back down. Unable to do anything else, she looked up. Two arrows stuck out of the tree trunk above where they lay. Her stomach clenched as she realized the arrows had hit right where she’d been standing.
Apparently giving in to your baser instincts occasionally could save your life. Not to mention get you kissed.
In spite of her fear, she smiled against the callused roughness of his palm, still clamped over her mouth to keep her quiet.
He made a shushing noise, almost absently, without ever taking his eyes from the forest around them. They waited, not moving, as long minutes passed by.
She looked up at him, watching him scan the area for danger. She inhaled the scent of him, so close. All her earlier efforts at finding sensibility completely abandoned her.
Cate closed her eyes and, bit by bit, physical awareness of him flooded her senses. Part of his weight was supported on his elbows because, although he lay fully on her, she could still breathe. His chest brushed lightly against her breasts, which suddenly felt much too large for the dress she wore. From the waist down, she and Connor were firmly tangled together, one of her legs caught between his thighs. She attempted to shift her leg slightly, hoping to make their position less uncomfortable for him, and his muscles tightened around her thigh.
Her mouth went dry. She unconsciously tried to lick her lips only to find the tip of her tongue brushing against the hand he still held there.
He groaned and she opened her eyes to find him staring directly down at her, his face only inches from hers, his hair draping down to caress the sides of her face.
Breathing wasn’t so easy anymore. She wanted him to kiss her again more than she wanted anything in the world.
“I canna find any sign of him.”
Connor flinched and she very nearly screamed when Duncan hunkered down next to them.
“It’s drawing dark. What do you want to do?” Duncan spoke in hushed tones, as if someone might be out there even now. Listening.
Connor moved to a crouch beside her and her body trembled at the cool night air replacing the warmth of his weight. Cate rolled to her side, pulling her legs up. She closed her eyes and concentrated on each breath.
In. Out. In. Out.
“Stay here. Dinna move.” He leaned over her, his harsh whisper stirring against her ear.
Didn’t he know she wasn’t capable of movement right now? She opened her eyes and watched the two men advance stealthily toward the horses. He moved like the panther she’d admired as a child when she’d visited the zoo.
“Come on, Caty. We hae to go.” Connor helped her up and lifted her onto the horse.
This time she snuggled fully back against him, craving his touch.
He stiffened only for an instant and then pulled her close. Enveloping her in his arms, he whispered in her ear. “Dinna be frightened, lass. I mean to see you safe.”
“Do we take this road back to Dun Ard? Whoever it was could still be waiting.” Duncan scanned the area as if he could see through the gathering dark. “I’d give a full cask of ale to have Beast here tonight,” he mumbled.
“Aye, weel, as Lyall said, Beast was in no fit shape to be traveling this far with us today. But it would hae been a boon to hae him.” Like Duncan, he looked about, peering into the darkness. “We’ll no take the road. As you say, anyone could be waiting. If we go through the forest it’s no too far to Sithean Fardach.”
“You’ve decided then.” Duncan nodded slowly. “Travel will be slow through the forest in the dark. On the other hand, everyone is aware that we’d no planned to go there today.” Duncan seemed to be considering the idea.
“Aye. So no one would expect it.”
Duncan laughed, slapping his leg. “Yer in luck, Caty, lass. Sithean Fardach’s steward has hoarded away casks of the finest heather ale to be found anywhere in Scotland.” He sighed. “Aye, it’s truly a pleasure to be going home again.”
CHAPTER 17
They met with no further incident on their journey to Connor’s home, but the men remained tense and vigilant as Cate now recognized they had been all day. She rested her head against Connor’s chest the entire way, his strong heartbeat a comfort as he held her tightly to him.
The land began to rise steeply. Sithean Fardach sat at the very top of a large hill. It looked like something created for a movie set, and Cate wondered briefly if it still existed in her time. Smaller in overall size than Dun Ard, it was a great square building with round towers at each corner. The entire structure was surrounded by a massive wall.
Cate realized just how massive the wall actually was as they started through the arch. They entered a tunnel at least ten feet long, which accounted for the thickness of the wall.
“The portcullis is open on both ends.” Duncan spoke uneasily.
“Aye. They’d no reason to hae it closed. See to it, Duncan. I want the gates and drawbars in place. No one in or out. I’ll speak to Niall.”
“Consider it done. I’ll see you inside.” Duncan grinned and hopped off his horse, heading back to the entrance archway.
They continued across the courtyard, stopping at
the foot of some very impressive wooden stairs, which led to large entryway doors that appeared to go into the second story of the castle. When they reached the foot of the stairs, Connor dismounted and lifted Cate to the ground as a man hurried down the stairs toward them.
“Welcome home, lad.” The man threw his arms around Connor, slapping him on the back. He tilted his head toward Cate. “Is this yer lassie then? Margaret will be in a mighty fury. She’d no expected you until after the wedding.” He chuckled.
“Aye, Niall, this is my Cate.” He turned to her, his hand still on the older man’s shoulder. “Cate, this is my steward, Niall. He keeps the castle running for me.”
Niall laughed. “Dinna say that in front of my Margaret. She’s the one who does all the work.” He turned back to Connor. “Mairi dinna tell us you’d be coming when she was here earlier for Rosalyn’s healing basket.”
“She dinna ken we’d be this way tonight. I’ve left Duncan at the wall to close the gates. I want them to stay closed until we’ve had a chance to discuss a few things.”
The older man sobered immediately. “I’ll send help down to him.” He turned and yelled, “Ewan!”
A young man appeared from another building in the courtyard, running in their direction.
“Father?” He noticed them then, his face breaking into a grin. “Connor. You’ve returned.”
“Down to the gates with you, lad. Give Duncan a hand while I get these two inside to yer mother.” Niall smiled fondly at the young man as he ran off in the direction of the gates.
Margaret was waiting just inside the door. After greeting Connor, she immediately began to fuss.
“Och, laddie, they told me you weren’t to come home until after the wedding. I’ve done nothing to prepare yer chamber yet.” She started away and then stopped, turning to glare at them. “And you’ll no hae given this poor lass anything to eat either, hae you? Just look at her. Janet,” she called before turning back to Cate. “Out late in the dark and cold, no food. Men. No a sensible thought among them.” She continued to grumble, taking charge of Cate and sitting her down at a small table near a roaring fire.
Thirty Nights With a Highland Husband Page 15