Highland Destiny

by Oliver, Marina

  The fellow shrugged, and eyed her insolently.

  'You are in little case to refuse. As to his name, I am not at liberty to disclose that as yet. Let us not waste further time. We have far to go this day.'

  One of the men in Fiona's party stepped forward and began to protest, but he was immediately seized by two of the attackers and cord was tied about his arms.

  'You can do nought,' he was told as he was roughly pushed to one side. 'We take the lady, and we will take your mounts. It should not be too long a walk home for you.'

  He grasped Fiona by the arm, but she angrily threw him off.

  'Take your filthy hands off me, you scoundrel! For the moment you are successful and I must accompany you, but do not dare to touch me!'

  'Which is your horse?' he asked, with a grin at her.

  'The grey.'

  'Saddle it,' the man ordered, and one of his men hastened to obey.

  Blanche took a couple of steps forward and the leader turned towards her, waving her back. She ignored him and went closer, her head high, until she halted a mere pace away.

  'The Lady Fiona has recently been ill and needs a woman to tend her, especially if you mean to ride far,' she said calmly. 'You must take me too.'

  'No, Blanche! You do not know what they will do!' Fiona cried out anxiously.

  'They must take me,' Blanche asserted.

  'I cannot leave you alone with them.'

  'Aye, let's take the wench,' one of the other men said, and a companion sniggered.

  'Why not? Our master will have his sport with my lady, why not take the other for us, Rob?'

  Blanche shivered, but did not allow her gaze to leave the leader's face. He stared back, and then nodded.

  'Why not? Get her horse too then. And hasten.'

  Fiona still protested but Blanche ignored her pleas. They were flung up into the saddles and then, surrounded by their captors who also led the remaining horses belonging to Fiona's friends, were taken further up the valley.

  *

  After an hour's riding they came to the far end, where the river, very much smaller now, entered through a narrow gap in the hills. This was not a gorge as lower down the valley, but the path was as narrow.

  It climbed steeply beside the river which flowed rapidly down its course, tumbling over the rocks and waterfalls in its way.

  Several times they had to dismount and pull the horses along the steeper parts, and it was almost dusk when they came out onto the higher but flatter land above.

  Now they made much better speed, riding with the sun behind them, sinking fast behind the ranges of hills further away towards the sea. After half an hour they began descending another valley, and here it was dark amongst the trees. Blanche shivered apprehensively. She had rarely been out in the forests in darkness, and as the trees loomed above her, silent and menacing, she thought fearfully of the many tales she had heard of witches and demons, giants and wolves that inhabited these forests. Angrily she told herself the tales were fantasies, made to frighten children, and the peril they were in from their captors was far greater than any other, but this provided scant comfort.

  Since they had been captured the girls had been kept apart so that they could not talk, either to speculate on what lay before them, or support one another's spirits.

  Fiona was in front, and occasionally her shadow was recognisable as the lantern the leader now carried to guide them swung about.

  For some time they had been descending, but now the ground seemed to be sloping upwards again. Then Blanche realised the stars were visible, and they had emerged from the shelter of the trees. A vast shape, a tall square tower, loomed up before them, a more solid shadow in the almost total darkness of their surroundings, and they were led towards it. A narrow gateway was revealed, and before it the men dismounted. In the light of the single lantern Blanche could now see there was but a single plank spanning a ditch which had once been a moat, but which, for lack of maintenance, was now dry.

  Stiff with the long ride, the girls were helped to dismount, and their horses led away. They were guided across the plank into the small courtyard before the tower.

  By now a faint moon had arisen and the walls were discernible in its light, though little else could be distinguished. The men seemed to know their way about, however, and those who had not disappeared with the horses rapidly built a fire and prepared a rough camp.

  As they did not seem unduly concerned with the girls, Blanche moved across to where Fiona had seated herself on a fallen stone, part of the inner wall of the tower, and sat beside her.

  'I am grateful, but could wish you had not put yourself into this danger,' Fiona whispered to her, reaching for her hand and holding it tightly.

  'I could not leave you. Besides, we might find some way of escape,' Blanche said, more in an attempt to comfort her than from any real hope of this. 'Do you know where we are?'

  'Yes. We are near the river that separates Macdonald and Campbell lands. Duncan's lands are on the far side. The valley we followed has a small river that joins the main one.'

  'Then Duncan is responsible for this outrage.'

  Fiona was silent.

  'Who else could it be?' Blanche asked in some surprise, realising Fiona did not seem certain.

  'I cannot be sure. Several of the men are wearing Campbell tartans, but that proves little. You see, I recognised one of the men. He is Alex's servant.'

  'What? Can you think him responsible?' Blanche asked incredulously.

  'I do not know. It seemed suspicious he was away from me just now, and his home lies on this river, further towards the sea. We might be heading there instead of to Duncan.'

  'So that he can force you to marry him?'

  'I never will!' Fiona declared vehemently. 'Especially not if he is responsible for this!'

  Their talk was interrupted as the leader of the men came across to them. He carried a lantern and a roll of bedding.

  'Follow me,' he ordered curtly and they rose to do so.

  Leading the way towards the tower wall he guided them through a narrow door and down some rough steps into a small room below the ground.

  'You will sleep in here. We will be above, so do not think to escape. Food will be brought.'

  To their relief he left the lantern, and they set about making a bed out of the blankets he had dropped beside them and their own cloaks. It was now very cold, and they were glad to huddle together under the makeshift covers while they waited for the food. When it came it was warm and appetising, and they ate it hungrily, and drank the wine from the bottle left with them. Then, their plates having been removed, and the door barred, they were left in peace.

  Outside the men were gathered round the fire, singing lustily, obviously having plenty to drink.

  'The door is not very strong. Can we force it open after they sleep?' Fiona whispered.

  'They will be immediately above, and even if they do not leave a guard we could not creep past them.'

  'They might all be asleep after they have finished carousing,' Fiona said hopefully, but Blanche shook her head.

  'I wonder if there is any other way out of here?' she said, and picking up the lantern began to prowl round the small room with it.

  The door was barred on the far side, and the only other opening was a slit of a window high in the thick stone wall, and far too narrow for them to squeeze through. Despondently Blanche set down the lantern and threw herself onto the bedding.

  'We might escape them tomorrow,' she said, though with little conviction.

  'When we know where they take us I will be in a position to bargain, with either Duncan or Alex. There is a possibility they would believe a forced marriage would not be accepted by the rest of my family. At least I can thank their greed for that! Uncle Colin would not permit his hopes to be dashed in such a manner. I might bargain with him, whoever it is, and be allowed to go free so that a marriage would appear to be made of my own free will. And when I am free John will protect me!' she fi
nished fiercely.

  'It could work,' Blanche agreed.

  'If I begin to make unlikely promises, do not be afraid. I do not mean to abide by them when they are forced from me in this manner.'

  They lay silently, watching the shadows cast by the lantern, and listening to the singing men outside.

  'This floor is hard,' Blanche complained after a while, and rose to try and rearrange the blankets more comfortably. As she shook them she paused, then bent to look more closely at the earth floor on which they lay.

  'What is it?' Fiona asked.

  'Hush! What I was lying on, and what was hard, is a metal ring, almost covered with earth. And look here, it lifts a trapdoor! Can you see where I have scraped away the earth, there is a gap between the door and the frame that holds it?'

  The girls looked at one another with rising hope. This might be a way out of their prison. They scraped away to reveal the whole of the trapdoor, and Blanche tentatively pulled at the ring. It gave after a few tugs, and the door began to lift.

  'We must wait,' Fiona warned. 'Let us cover the lantern so that if they look in on us they will think we have put it out and are asleep. When they are abed we will explore.'

  It seemed hours to the anxious girls before the revellers outside were silent.

  Then, fear mingled with hope, they lifted the trapdoor fully to reveal a steep, uneven flight of steps twisting away into the depths.

  *

  Chapter 7

  Blanche seized the lantern and stepped towards the hole. She peered down it, Fiona close beside her.

  'We must try,' Fiona said, and Blanche nodded, turned to pick up her cloak, and then began the descent.

  The stairs twisted away, and the many cobwebs witnessed to the disused state of them. Though uneven the stairs were firm, and the girls counted fourteen steps before reaching a short passageway that ended in a small, stout wooden door only a few feet away.

  'It opens away from the courtyard, I am sure!' Blanche exclaimed excitedly, and they looked at one another with rising hope.

  Fiona stepped forward and lifted the latch. She pulled, and with a protesting creak the door swung open. Blanche let out a sigh, and they both peered eagerly through the opening. Here the lantern gave them small illumination, but the moon enabled them to see they had opened a small postern door in the outer wall of the tower, and only a few feet below them was a dry ditch that had once been the moat.

  'We had best leave the lantern, for it could betray us,' Fiona said, and she blew out the light. Then, making as little noise as they could, they slid down the steep side to the bottom of the ditch, and scrambled with some difficulty up the much higher outer side. Blanche noticed with relief that the plank bridge they had crossed earlier was not on this side of the castle, but there might still be guards posted.

  'Into the trees while we decide what to do,' she whispered, and they ran for the shelter of a grove of trees nearby.

  Pausing, they listened anxiously for signs of alarm or pursuit, but all was silent. Recalling her terror of the forest they had passed through earlier that night, Blanche almost laughed to think that now she was welcoming the protection of the dark concealing trees.

  'Can we get the horses, do you think?' she asked.

  'We will try. They were led away somewhere outside the tower. If not, we must walk.'

  'But you are unfit to walk far so soon after your illness,' Blanche protested worriedly. 'We might soon be able to obtain horses from a crofter.'

  Fiona remained silent, knowing how very unlikely this was in the wild country where they found themselves, but unwilling to discourage Blanche at the outset.

  'We are almost on the river that borders Campbell land,' she began explaining. 'We followed another, smaller river valley that joins it. This area is full of such valleys. I suggest that instead of retracing our steps up the same valley, which is the first way the men will look for us, and which leads us across the hills into the Bishop's valley where no one lives, we go further up the main river and follow another side valley that I know. Once over the hills we ought soon to come to crofts.'

  'They might search there too,' Blanche commented. 'Is there anywhere we could hide when day comes?'

  'Yes, there are many caves in the sides of the hills. They could not possibly search all of them.'

  'Then let us go.'

  Carefully they crept through the trees towards the place where the horses had been tethered for the night. The occasional jingle of a bit or snort of a restless horse guided them, but their disappointment was great when they saw the horses had been placed within the walls of what had once been a chapel, but which had lost its roof long ago. At the only doorway they could see two guards and hear their quiet talk. There was no hope of getting mounts for the long and difficult journey that lay ahead of them.

  Stealing softly back the way they had come, they suppressed their dismay. Fiona, who knew the lie of the land, led the way in a circuitous route around the tower and down towards the rough track that wound beside the turbulent river. Keeping in the shelter of the trees as much as possible they began to walk steadily southwards, alert for any sounds that would indicate other travellers, their captors or anyone else, and prepared to run for the nearest cover if necessary.

  The night was cold, and they pulled their cloaks tightly about them, trying to keep out the chill breezes that blew from the water. Blanche watched Fiona closely for signs of fatigue, but she seemed unaffected by her adventures and the lack of sleep. Her step was sprightly, and she commented frequently upon the beauty of the night, and the occasional movements of birds or night animals that they heard. It could have seemed she had deliberately chosen to explore part of her domain by night with but another girl as sole companion and protector.

  After walking for an hour or so they came to the valley Fiona had decided to follow.

  'The main path is on the far side of this little river,' she said, pointing across. 'Normally we could ford the river and ride up that side, but there is another, smaller path on this side, and we had best follow that. The men are more likely to search the far side.'

  'But they will know we did not cross,' Blanche objected. 'The water is too deep and cold without horses.'

  'Then they may think we did not come this way at all, except that there is a small village here, and several small boats moored on this side of the river. It would not have been too difficult for us to have crossed unseen.'

  'Should we not try to obtain help, or at least shelter, at one of the cottages? They are Macdonald clansmen, are they not?'

  Fiona shook her head decidedly. 'We cannot seek their aid. They would have no reason to believe me, and I doubt if any of them have ever seen me, for they live a solitary life here. Besides, if Alex was responsible for capturing us, these people would obey him, since his own home is not far away, and he is their overlord. And if Duncan is responsible, they know he would take swift revenge on any that thwarted him, and his lands are just across the main river. They have suffered from him in the past and would not help us if they knew he might be involved.'

  By now the moon was setting and it was more difficult for them to find their way, but they skirted the cottages, with only a single bark from a dog in an outhouse to indicate they were perceived. The track beside the river was narrow, but smooth and well worn for some way out of the village, passing several tiny walled fields where cattle were penned, then giving way to uncultivated hillside covered with heather and bracken.

  After a while the going became much rougher, and they had to walk more slowly to avoid the holes in the path. They were guided mainly by the faint gleams on the river and its gurgling as it ran over the rocky bed. For an hour they stumbled cautiously on, and at last greeted with relief the first threads of light that heralded the dawn.

  Now they were able to move faster, and they hurried, knowing that the further they could get before they needed to rest and hide during the day, the safer they would be from their attackers. Looking back along the
valley, Blanche gasped at the sight before her. She was looking directly into the sunrise, and its orange glow illuminated the silver river with flames flickering over the surface. The valley was bathed in a soft light and a thin mist veiled the hills to either side.

  No humans were in sight, but a few sheep roamed the hillside.

  'How lovely it is,' she breathed softly.

  'Apart from some of its inhabitants,' Fiona said with a wry laugh.

  'Will they be following us yet, I wonder?'

  'They will discover our escape at daylight. About now, let us suppose. Even if they come this way at once it would take them an hour or more to catch up with us. We can go on for that long at least. And further up the valley the going is much more difficult for horsemen. If we can reach the higher parts we can see anyone following. In perhaps an hour we ought to stop. We shall then be near a number of caves and we can hide in one of them. We must find one that will give us a view of the valley.'

  They went on, more slowly now as the way grew steeper, and Blanche was concerned to see that Fiona's steps were flagging. She walked slowly, with a dragging step, and halted frequently to breathe deeply. At last they came to a wilder place still, where the slopes of the valley were steep, scattered with rocks, and pitted with hollow depressions and deeper caves. Here they must remain, to rest and for fear of pursuit.

  They drank their fill of the icy cold water, although the river was little more than a trickle this far up the valley. Hungry after their exertions, they wished that they had food, but there was none to be had, and they retreated to a cave high up from the river, its entrance partly hidden from the path below by thorn bushes, but with a good view down the valley.

  'You must sleep if you can,' Blanche said firmly. 'I will watch and wake you if there is any movement.'

  'You need sleep also,' Fiona protested. 'Wake me after two hours and I will take my turn at watching.'

  Blanche nodded, resolving not to obey, for she was deeply concerned at the dark circles round Fiona's eyes and her pallor.