Highland Guard

by Hannah Howell

  “My thought was that we start now to get out those who cannae walk or run because of age or wounds or e’en a bairn in her belly. We ken no one is making an assault on the burn side. Too difficult to get the men there, to put the ladders up or e’en set up some archers. We put a few of our archers on the wall o’er there and begin taking out all the ones who would slow the rest of us down. Give them a head start. At night. We do it at night. After ye found that tunnel down to the banks of the burn we put a few wee boats in the cave there so that we can use them to carry some of the wounded or infirm and some could just walk until they need the help.”

  Harcourt slowly nodded. It was a good plan, a very good one. It was not only the aged, wounded, or infirm who needed help to escape. Women carrying a bairn in their arms, or e’en two, very small children, and, of course, the women carrying a bairn in their bellies, simply could not move as fast as others. Right now Sir Adam’s full attention was on breaching the walls of the keep, or even the gates. Letting some of the people slip out now would give the slower ones more time to get out of the man’s reach before the keep fell to him.

  The thought that, if Sir Adam won, he would find himself the owner of a completely deserted keep and lands was a pleasant one even though he knew that deprivation would not last all that long. What would hurt Sir Adam, and his purse, would be the loss of the highly skilled people of Glencullaich whose goods not only brought people from miles around to their market but put a lot of money into the coffers of the laird.

  “Do it,” he said. “Start tonight as soon as the light fades ye can start. If that bastard gets in here I want him to find it empty of all but the dead, and if I could think of a way to move them, too, I would, but I think we will need what time we have left to just move the living out. Anything ye can move, do it. Be sure to take the most valuable things first.”

  Ned slowly grinned and nodded. “I will find a few lads too young to fight but old enough to help me and will start the minute that sun dips low enough in the sky to cast more shadow than light.”

  “We will keep them busy near the gates. Ye might have your brother go with ye to have a look about, see if there are any of Sir Adam’s men on the banks of the burn watching for an escape. If there are, silence them. Then take two archers but leave us Geordie as we need him.”

  “Aye, he is the best.”

  Ned trotted off to the keep and Harcourt was confident everything would be well planned and efficiently carried out. If anyone could find a way to get the more vulnerable of Glencullaich’s people out of Sir Adam’s reach it was a MacFingal. Ned would also have a keen eye for what goods to take that would cause Sir Adam the most annoyance and the deepest cut to that fat purse the man was seeking.

  The sound of geese and ducks coming from the upper floor had Annys turning around and running back up the stairs. She feared it was a sign that someone had found an opening and they would soon be attacked from inside as well as outside the walls. As she neared the ledger room she watched a line of ducks disappear inside. Cautiously she followed the birds all the way down into the cellars and found Big Mary leading her flock down the shadowed hall toward the cell Geordie had once occupied.

  “Mary,” she called, refusing to use the name Big Mary when there were none of the other Marys around, “what are ye doing?” She watched in amazement as Mary made a few tsking noises, then made a few odd signals with her surprisingly elegant hands, and all the birds stopped, not moving even when Mary walked away from them.

  “I willnae let that bastard have my flocks to fill his evil belly,” Big Mary said.

  “But where can ye possibly take them?”

  “Near a mile down the burn is a wee bothy. I have used it before when I wished my flock to have a time of eating something besides grain. Doing their own food hunting now and then keeps them strong, healthy for them, I think. I willnae be gone long.”

  “How do ye plan to get them out without being seen? Or heard?”

  “No one watching the burn side. Why would they? They think ’tis naught but a cliffside what with the walls going right down to the rock which already rises out of the water a fair height. I think that fool has also wasted so many men that he doesnae have the ones needed to watch such a place he doesnae think we can escape from anyway.”

  “Weel, if ye are certain it is safe, then I wish ye luck with it.”

  “Oh, I will be back once I get this lot settled and hide this somewhere.” She pointed to the heavy sack slung over her back. “Sir Ned is making verra certain that as many of the things that are worth some coin are being taken out of here. It gets a wee bit darker and they will start moving some of the people.”

  “Have we given up then?” Annys had known it might happen for Sir Adam had them badly outnumbered yet no one had come to wake her from her rest and even ask her about it.

  “Och, nay.” Big Mary frowned. “Weel, aye, in a way. It doesnae look good for us, m’lady.” Big Mary stepped closer and patted Annys on the arm. “Aye, we havenae lost too many men because your mon trained them weel in how to protect themselves against arrows and fight off a mon trying to get o’er our walls, but we do have a lot of wounded, some we may yet lose. That filth kicking at our walls has a lot more men than we do and Sir Nathan said the mon could probably get e’en more if he felt he needed them.”

  “Even more? We will all die here,” she whispered and then struggled to throw aside her fear.

  “Nay we willnae because your mon doesnae believe in that. Says if we die, Sir Adam gets it all and we willnae be able to do anything about it. But, if we survive, we need but work to get it back. So, Sir Ned said we need to get the slow ones out now, start moving out the wounded, the old ones, the bairns who need carrying and anyone who cannae run and keep running. We will start as soon as the sun sets.”

  “And the valuables?” Annys wished someone had just taken a minute to waken her and tell her they were making such important decisions, if only because it was a little embarrassing to be told something so important from the goose girl.

  “Sir Ned and our men decided they wouldnae let the mon fill his coffers with the selling of such things. They also sent a lad to the drovers and herders watching o’er most of our livestock and Sir Harcourt sent word with the lad to tell those men where they needed to head for. Then we found ourselves a few boats and are making some litters for the wounded who cannae walk.” Big Mary paused in her listings and shrugged. “Ye ken who needs more time to flee an enemy. Then if the able ones see that all is lost at the walls, they will run but, when ’tis all said and done, we will be leaving that filth with naught but empty buildings.”

  “’Tis really quite brilliant,” Annys said. “The more I hear, the more annoyed I get that someone didnae come and awaken me so that I could have been of some help.”

  “Nay, m’lady, ye needed the rest.”

  “Aye, I ken I did, but I hate having missed something so important.”

  “’Tis important and people are working hard to see it all done. We were all grieving, thinking we had lost when he told us we had to leave but then your mon said we cannae just think on the lost battle. Said we will have a win now by leaving the mon naught but all these empty buildings. Said the true riches of Glencullaich were its people, that our work and skills are what make it such a fine place and that that filth can ne’er replace us. And, since we will be taking all we can that is valuable, he willnae have a quick way to get the coin to even try. Dunnie is sad that he cannae save the horses though. I am verra sad that we probably willnae be able to take our dead with us.”

  “That grieves me as weel. I had planned to bury them on the hill with the laird, David, so that they could look down on all they had helped to save.” She saw Big Mary grimace and her eyes turn shiny with tears.

  “Their families would have been so verra proud of their men up there with their laird. I will pray that that may yet come to pass.”

  “So will I, Mary. Now, best get that verra weel-behaved flock of your
s out of here. I will go see if I have missed anything else.”

  “Weel, at least ye dinnae have to fret o’er that lamb or the cat.” Big Mary’s lips twitched. “Your mon told Dunnie to see if he could fix up something so that those two cursed beasties could be moved fast and without the worry that they might run off.”

  Annys laughed. “Go. Get your work done and get back here. This lull in the fighting willnae last long.”

  After watching Big Mary lead her birds away, Annys shook her head and hurried back toward the great hall. The idea that they were losing the battle was indeed a hard blow to the heart, but she had always known that was a possibility. She also refused to believe the men who had died had done so for nothing. They had fought hard to try to save their homes, their loved ones, and, win or lose, their families should only have the greatest of pride in them.

  And it would not be a complete defeat, either, she thought as she finally stepped into the great hall and saw Harcourt speaking with one of the wounded men. He looked exhausted and bandages circled the top of his left arm and the calf of his right leg. The way he moved told her that they were small wounds, but it took a moment to push down the intense fear roused by the sight of them.

  Everyone looked exhausted, she realized. Annys knew it was not just the hard work that put that look of tight exhaustion on everyone’s face. Fear did it as well, eating away at the strength everyone needed to go on. No matter how much faith one had in one’s fighting men, that fear was there from the first hint of a coming battle. The sounds of battle surrounding the keep only kept adding to it. She could feel it nestled in the back of her mind and a corner of her heart.

  “I hear ye have all been plotting whilst I was snoring,” she said to Harcourt as she stepped up beside him.

  Harcourt smiled and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Ye have discovered our plan, have ye?”

  “Met Big Mary taking her flock to safety.” She looked at the man on the table and was pleased to see that, although he had a serious wound on his left side, it would heal if it was taken good care of. “I didnae ken ye were anything more than a wondrously skilled weaver, Dougal.”

  “Weel, near every mon has had some training and Sir Harcourt gave us more. Nay as watchful as I should have been though.”

  “Ye will heal if ye take care of it as ye are told to,” she said with such confidence she could see his fear fade away. “I dinnae think ye will be going back on the wall though.”

  “That was just what I was telling him,” said Harcourt. “He will be going out with the others once the sun sets.” He reached out and patted the man’s shoulder. “Ye will make your family happy by doing so, I am thinking.”

  Dougal nodded. “Just wish I could have done enough to hold fast to the home they love.”

  “Try to think of all this as just leaving for a wee while. For a time of healing and getting strong again. Aye, I believe we will have to retreat but then we can busy ourselves planning to come back, to take it all back, and be rid of that fool who thinks to steal from us. I will bring in my clan and some of our allies to help us do it. And, if we are lucky and nay get caught slipping out we will have a way to slip right back in.” He exchanged a brief grin with Dougal. “Rest while ye can. The leaving will be hard as it isnae an easy path to follow.”

  Harcourt took Annys by the hand and led her out of the great hall, pausing now and then for them to speak to another one of the wounded men. He tried to find the words to tell her that it would all suddenly take a turn in their favor but his head knew he would be just giving her a false hope. He would not give her that and he knew she was strong enough to take the hard, cold truth. Harcourt also knew she would do anything that was needed to ensure the safety of as many of her people as she could.

  Once inside the ledger room, the only room in the keep that was not being shared with any others, he took her into his arms and kissed her. To his relief, he could feel no tension in her lithe body and she returned the heat of his kiss without hesitation. When the kiss ended, he continued to hold her close and rested his cheek on the top of her head, enjoying the silky softness of her hair against his skin.

  “Ned had the idea to get those who cannae move quickly out of reach beginning now,” he said. “It means that when the time comes for the rest of us to run, we willnae be held back or, far worse, end up having to leave someone behind.”

  “So Big Mary told me,” she said, resting her cheek against his chest, letting the strong, steady beat of his heart soothe away the lingering fear caused by seeing that he had been wounded. “’Tis a brilliant plan.”

  “It is, isnae it. I am glad that ye see that.”

  “I dinnae want my people slaughtered to save this keep. Aye, we had to fight, to try, and I grieve for the ones lost, but, if defeat is staring us in the face, I dinnae want them to keep fighting. I will confess that the plan to take all we can of what is valuable here did please me. As Big Mary said, we will leave Sir Adam with only empty buildings.”

  As if conjured up by hearing her name, Big Mary burst into the room through the doorway down to the cellars. The woman nearly found herself skewered by Harcourt’s sword, which he had drawn even as he had pushed Annys behind him. Annys grabbed his sword arm out of fear for Big Mary but could feel the taut readiness to strike already leaving him.

  “Mary,” she said, speaking as calmly as she could while stepping forward, a little closer to the obviously frantic woman. “Were ye attacked?” she asked.

  “Nay, ’tis nay me,” Mary said. “’Tis Geordie. I need to find Geordie.”

  “He is on the wall,” said Harcourt as he sheathed his sword.

  “Aye but they have wounded him.”

  “Ye cannae be certain of that.”

  Big Mary stood straight, squaring her broad shoulders as if prepared for a blow and looked at Annys. “I will understand if ye wish me gone after I say this, but I do ken that Geordie has been wounded. I ken things from time to time. I was securing my flock in the bothy and kenned that I had to get back here as fast as I could, that Geordie was going to have need of me.”

  “Ye have the gift?” asked Harcourt.

  Big Mary nodded but kept her gaze fixed on Annys.

  Annys stepped over to her and patted her on the arm. “That is why your clan sent ye away, isnae it.” Big Mary nodded. “I am nay certain what he means by saying ye have some gift but if ye have warnings about things, I should think ye had best heed them.”

  “If Geordie has been wounded then the battle has resumed.” Harcourt gave Annys a brief, hard kiss. “Ye should stay back, Mary,” he said as he started out the door only to sigh when the woman rushed right past him.

  “How odd. Geordie and Big Mary. I best go and join the others in the hall,” Annys said as she walked past him and disappeared down the hallway.

  Harcourt shook his head and hurried to get to the walls, going through the door in Annys’s bedchamber to save time. He had just reached the area close to where Geordie stood guard when he saw Big Mary tie a bandage on the man’s upper left arm. If the wound was deep and painful, they had just lost their best archer. He was only steps away from them when Big Mary took up Geordie’s bow.

  “What do ye think ye are doing, woman?” demanded Geordie.

  “Taking your place until ye can do it again. Quiver?”

  Geordie moved his arm so that she could reach the arrows more easily. Big Mary readied the bow and Harcourt could see the strength in the woman’s arms as she drew back and then sent the arrow into the advancing men. He cursed softly when a man fell, a curse echoed by Geordie. One arrow, one dead enemy. Harcourt looked at Big Mary in amazement tinged with admiration.

  “It appears we have us another archer,” he said and almost laughed when Geordie removed his breastplate and put it on Big Mary.

  “Dinnae get your fool self killed,” Geordie said as he headed down from the walls.

  “Late in the day to attack,” Harcourt said as he took up his post by her side.

/>   “Then t’will be a short battle.”

  Harcourt kept her as shielded as he could while she efficiently took down soldier after soldier in Sir Adam’s army. Twice they crouched behind the wall huddled under shields as Sir Adam’s remaining archers tried to end the new, clear threat presented by Big Mary. And there was no question that she was indeed a threat. Harcourt instinctively wanted to get her off the walls and back inside the keep where it was safe, where the other women were, but the warrior inside him recognized what a useful weapon she was. It was evident Geordie did as well, or at least knew there would be no arguing with her, for he returned with his newly bandaged arm, a lighter bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Without a word, the man stood by Big Mary’s side whenever she rose to her feet to end the lives of more of Sir Adam’s men.

  The light of day began to fade as they fought and Harcourt knew it would be their last battle. There were too many empty places on the wall, the men still able to fight now having to watch larger and larger areas. He prayed they could keep Sir Adam’s men out of the keep until the dark of night drove them back to their camp. Then he would order everyone to grab what they could and leave.

  Suddenly the noise on the field began to fade, starting from the back of the attacking army and moving to the front in a slow wave of silence. Harcourt looked for what had caused it and began to swear viciously. Behind the army that was already defeating them appeared even more soldiers. These were mounted men, each wearing pieces of armor and mail they had undoubtedly taken from the bodies of some defeated foe. At least twenty of them sat on their heavy warhorses behind Sir Adam’s men, swords in hand. It was hard to see through the many shadows cast by a setting sun but Harcourt suspected there were more men behind the ones he could see.

  Then the one mounted on a huge gray gelding gave a signal to the others and started to ride forward, his men keeping pace on his flanks. Ten more mounted men came out of the shadows to join the arc of steel and warhorse moving toward and around Sir Adam’s army. The first of Sir Adam’s men they reached were swiftly cut down, surprise and uncertainty making them slow to see the threat. The others immediately began to fight, or, in the case of any who were outside that arc, run.