“I do believe I heard the lass cry for help, therefore ye have made it my concern,” Ewan responded towering over them from the top of his horse.
“We found the lass.” Malcolmus informed him.
“And ye are escorting her? It dinna appear to me that the lass has accepted yer generosity.”
“There is word that this lass may be a traitor. There may be a heavy amount of coin for this one, and we are claiming her ransom from the English so dinna be thinkin’ ye are goin’ to steal her from us and take what we rightfully claim,” Malcolmus warned.
Niall slapped Malcolmus’ arms.
“And are ye daft enough to believe the English will just throw what’s in their coffers down at yer feet?” Ewan questioned.
“Well…I,” Malcolmus stuttered.
“How do you know this lass is the person ye seek? Has she told ye?” Ewan began to question.
“Well nay, but she has golden hair like the description,” Malcolmus said trying to make his point.
“Then, ye must plan to capture every golden-haired lass across Scotland then, eh?”
The two men looked at each other, than back to Ewan.
“Ye are trying to trick us,” Niall interjected.
Jacqueline rolled her eyes, as she understood what the fearless warrior was playing at. His clever words and inquiries were beginning to frustrate her two captors. She then looked back over at her champion. She couldn’t help but to stare into his alluring eyes.
“We shall see.” Directing his attention to Jacqueline, Ewan continued, “What say ye, my lady? Are ye the traitor they seek?”
Jacqueline hesitated at her answer and shook her head.
“Well then, there ye have it.” Drawing out his sword, Ewan pointed it to Niall who seemed to be the frontrunner of these foolish men. “Now release her.”
With no real weapons of their own besides a small eating knife that hung to their belts, Niall nodded to Malcolmus to release her. Giving Ewan a deadly stare, Malcolmus pushed Jacqueline out of this hold.
“The next time we meet, ye will no’ have me at such a disadvantage,” Niall growled.
“Ye should pray there will nay be a next time,” Ewan replied in a deadly tone.
Ewan and Jacqueline watched as Niall grabbed onto Malcolmus’ shirt and dragged him away. Jacqueline rubbed her hands up and down her sore arms from where Malcolmus had held her.
Standing before Ewan at the base of the horse, she looked up at the giant beast and its rider. Intimidated by his gaze she hesitantly took a step back.
“Are ye alright, my lady?” Ewan asked.
“Aye.”
“My name is Ewan. Ye are safe now.”
Jacqueline began to open her mouth but paused. She wondered if she should tell this strange man her name or not. Swallowing hard she replied in Gaelic, “Thank ye. I shall leave now.”
Jacqueline curtsied and turned back towards the woods walking away as quickly as she could, hoping that her accent fooled the stranger into believing that she was Scottish.
Raising one brow, Ewan cocked his head to one side feeling completely astonished by the lass. He couldn’t decide if it was her bravery or just plain insanity to venture off on her own again. Shaking his head at her irrational behavior, he jumped down from his horse and sprinted after her. Swiftly, he jumped out in front of her to block her from taking one step further.
“On yer way? What foolishness to allow ye to return to the woods alone. Nay, I will take ye home.”
“No. Thank ye.”
Ewan looked at the lass as if she was inept.
“My lady, ye were just attacked. Ye will no’ be traveling anywhere without an escort. And because ye dinna have one, ye will have to stay wit me, I will no’ harm ye. Ye have me word.”
Ewan knew very well that he could not just leave the lass out here alone. Ewan felt pity for the lass. Feeling obligated, he had to bring her with him whether he liked it or not. Holding out his hand, he led her back to his horse. Without word, Jacqueline took it and allowed him to help her onto the horse.
Ewan swung this leg up in front of her and she held on to his shirt trying to not press her hands onto his sides. Jacqueline began to doubt her intuition; allowing a man she knew nothing about to escort her, but deep down she felt alone and was grateful for the companionship and protection. Not wanting to give away her identity she remained silent. Instead, she thought about what the two men in the woods had said. Does she truly have a bounty of her head? No doubt that both her brother and Lord Wessex would be coming after her. Shivers crawled up her spine.
Annoyed by the turn of events, Ewan continued to head into the direction of the village. He believed that he could help the lass find shelter there or help to return her back to her home so that he could continue on to his mission.
Ewan jolted when he felt Jacqueline shiver against his back. Unsure if it was caused by the cold because of her inappropriate attire or the nervousness that she must be feeling after being attacked. He had many questions and was determined to find out who she was and why she was out in the woods alone. Just as he was about to ask, the sound of hooves broke the silence.
Chapter 6
Ewan jerked the reins, bringing Aron to an abrupt halt. Scanning the woods, he sat straighter on his horse, observing the surroundings. The sound increased like rolling thunder, causing Jacqueline squeeze his sides tighter.
“Dinna worry, lass. We are well-hidden within these trees.”
Moments later, Ewan and Jacqueline watched as a group of English soldiers rode past, heading into the direction of the village. Ewan’s muscles tensed. When all was clear, he slowly started to follow them. Once they rode to the edge of the woods, Ewan dismounted.
“Stay here. I will be right back,” he said as he slid off the saddle and crept along the bushes and bramble.
Ewan secretly watched as the Englishmen rode into the village. The villagers began to show panic by hiding in their homes. Standing in the center of the village, he saw Athol taking his stand.
“What do ye want?” Athol asked the English soldiers.
“You must be Athol of Galston. I am here to collect the king’s taxes.”
“We already paid our taxes.”
The Englishman turned his nose and chin up into the air, as if he was in disgust and replied, “Yes, well what meager taxes you did pay was not enough.”
“We have nay any more to give,” Athol sternly replied.
“Well, perhaps we can collect it another way,” the man said as she smiled at a young lass standing in front of one of the crofts.
“Ye may take what ye want, but ye will nay have me daughter.”
“By law, I shall take what I please.”
Ewan watched as the Englishman stepped in front of Athol’s daughter, stopping her from passing by him. Pressing the back of his hand along her cheek, Athol charged towards him. Two of the other soldiers restrained Athol, stopping his pursuit. The Englishman grabbed onto Athol’s daughter and began dragging her towards one of the crofts.
“Oh and there is one more thing, Athol of Galston. We have it on good authority that you offered assistance to the king’s prisoners,” the soldiers said.
“We dinna have yer prisoners and no one has passed through here in more than a fortnight,” Athol yelled out.
“Forgive me, if I do not believe you,” the solider replied. “Search every home, burn them down if you have to,” he called out to his fellow Englishmen and entered into the croft with the timid young lass.
Ewan watched as the Englishmen lit their torches and began to start the dwellings on fire as people scattered out of their homes. The thatched roofs of dried hay and vegetation lit up the sky with black smoke. Unable to protect themselves, many of the villagers cried out as their homes were engulfed in flames. Several men tried to fight by, but there were just too many of them. Ewan pulled out his sword ready to fight when he felt a soft touch on his arm.
“I thought I told you to stay with th
at horse?”
“Don’t. You will only get yourself killed. There are too many of them,” Jacqueline whispered.
Ewan looked at Jacqueline in disbelief. His intense dark eyes looked sinister. Jacqueline thought he might have seen the grim figure of Death himself, staring out at him through her eyes. Jacqueline began to panic for she had no understanding for his sudden behavior.
“Ye are English.”
Jacqueline’s eyes widen. She knew it was a statement rather than a question.
“Did ye lure them here to destroy this village? Was that yer plan?” he angrily asked.
“No. I did not lure them. I had no idea what would happen to these people. I never knew that our men were capable of such cruelty and brutality,” she tried to explain.
Ewan looked back at the burning village. The villagers scrambled about. Ewan knew, the lass was correct, he alone could not take on the English forces. Pushing off from the ground, he felt the blood in his veins burning hot. He was not one to walk away from injustice. He turned away from her and headed back towards his horse. The fate of these people was now in God’s hands.
“You offered me protection. Have you no virtue to honor your word?”
Ewan turned to face her. “Why would ye be seeking protection? Yer men are right there. They can take ye home.”
“I have no home,” she called out but Ewan did not respond, not even a flinch.
Ewan thought on her words and looked back towards his horse. With the lass unprotected, even though she too was his enemy, the feeling in his gut made him righteous enough not to leave her.
“Let’s go,” he barked out his order.
Silently, they walked back to the horse. Jacqueline knew that there was no reasoning with this man. She grabbed the ends of her robe and tightened it around her. Without making any sound or eye contact, she held out her hand for him to help her onto the horse. Riding behind him, she loosely held his sides and bared all her strength in her thighs to stay atop the horse.
Racing through the woods, Aron dodged small thorny shrubs and leaped over fallen logs. Ewan felt an awkward sensation as Jacqueline’s grip squeezed tighter around him. With her short arms, she was barely able to wrap them fully around his muscular waist. He became aware of her warmth, as the front of her slender body pressed up against his back. His body ached for the yearning of a lass between his legs. It had been some time since he bedded a woman. But this lass was different. She was dangerous and he would not tempt to play with fire. Riding out of the woods, Ewan felt Jacqueline ease her grip as they entered the flat open pasture.
“The sun will be setting soon. We will have to set up camp. Do ye need to stop to piss?” Ewan called out to Jacqueline over his shoulder.
Jacqueline felt surprised by his informal inappropriate language. Clearing her throat she softly replied, “Yes.”
Slowing his horse, Ewan found a thicket of bushes. It was out in the open but would offer the English lass enough privacy, at the same time allowed him to keep watch on her. Sliding his leg to the other side, he leaped down from his horse and raised his hands to grab onto Jacqueline’s waist to help her down.
“Ye can go behind the brush but dinna take long.”
Jacqueline walked down the slope to the other side of the bushes. After taking her time, to purposely defy her riding partner, she returned and went over to a pile of rocks that had a flat surface on top to sit and stretch her sore legs. Jacqueline watched Ewan as he dug around in his satchel.
Besides his arrogant behavior, Jacqueline couldn’t help but admire his masculine physique. Sitting directly behind him, her eyes traced along his wide shoulders and the curve of his back. While riding behind him, she remembered the feel of his tight stomach muscles flex underneath her small hands. Suddenly, her heart ached for James. Jacqueline began to feel guilty for having such thoughts towards another man.
Ewan turned around and placed a small dagger into his right boot. He felt the lass somehow tricked him by refusing to reveal herself and was uncertain if she could be trusted. He would have to sleep with one eye open, to make sure that the English lass wouldn’t try to kill him in his sleep.
“There is a hollowed-out cavern just on the north side of these hills. We will camp there for the night,” Ewan said pointing in the direction of where they were heading.
Jacqueline stood up from the rock and slipped her foot into the stirrup of the saddle and mounted the horse without assistance. Soon they were off again. The hillside was steep, causing the large horse to step lightly until they reached the opening of the cave.
The mouth of the cavern had narrow walls that reminded Jacqueline of the passageways at Carlisle Castle. Once inside, the walls expanded wide and revealed a small enclosure just big enough for three or four people to sit in comfortably.
Ewan entered the cave holding onto an armful of wood and peat. Placing them down, he took out a flint and started to light them. The heat of the flames sent a tingle up his spine as the warmth enveloped around his cold flesh. Ewan removed the satchel he had hanging across his shoulder and pulled out some dried venison and an apple. Pulling out the dagger from his boot, he sliced the apple in two and held out one of the halves to the quiet lass.
Ewan felt bothered as she refused to speak to him. Perhaps he was being too harsh, he thought. After all, he did not know anything about the lass, and he would no longer wait for answers.
“I think it is time ye tell me the truth, and all of it. Who are ye? And what is an English lass doing so far from home, and in yer nightgown fer that matter?”
Jacqueline knew that she could no longer hide her identity. She had no choice but to trust this man. She needed his help. She would beg if she had to.
“My name is Jacqueline Marguerite Renold. I am the cousin of Lord Richard of Carlisle.”
“Carlisle?” Ewan laughed. “That foolish bastard thought to send a woman on a fool’s errand. And what is yer mission, my lady, to seduce the Scots who freed the prisoners? Make them easy bait for the soldiers to capture?”
Jacqueline shook her head. “I am not on any foolish mission. I was the one who freed the prisoners. They are after me.”
“After ye? My lady, it was me and my men who stormed the castle. It is our head that Richard wants. I doubt a lass is much of a threat to him,” he said quite amused by her story.
Jacqueline ignored his awkward expression and continued, “It was you who attacked us? Believe what you will, but I freed the prisoners. Killing in the name of God is a sin and I do not agree with how King Edward is handling his position with the Scottish. It is not his right to decide their fate, when all they want is freedom.”
“Freedom? Ye are English, my lady, what do ye ken of freedom. Ye live high and mighty in yer castle under yer king’s protection.”
“Freedom is why I left. That day was to be my wedding day. My brother had signed the contract for me to marry Lord Wessex. But my heart belongs to another. My brother had my beloved banished and one day he will find me and come for me.”
“Why dinna yer beloved take ye wit him?”
Jacqueline looked down at her hands and lightly replied, “I do not know. But one day he will come and we shall be married and leave this bloody place.”
“So nay only do ye have the king’s guards after ye, but an angry betrothed. Never have I met me an English lass fighting for a Scottish cause.” Ewan stopped laughing when he looked into Jacqueline’s disheartening blue eyes. Eyeing her up and down, he sat back against the stone wall. And like being reminded of a dream, he quietly said to himself, “Nay, it can nay be.”
Ewan looked at the petite lass in front of him. Ewan felt haunted by her daunting beauty. Could it be her? Could this be the angel that appeared to me that night? He wondered. Her wavy golden hair, small features and slim figure told him that the lass was telling him the truth. That she indeed was at the castle that night. And that she was the angel that emerged out from the darkness.
“It was you.”
&
nbsp; “What was me?”
“When my men fled the castle, I turned back and thought I had seen me an angel, appear before my eyes. Angels can only be seen when a mon is at his most desperate hour. I believed ye to be an angel who had come down from the heavens to offer us a sign of protection fer our people. But it was ye, running through the courtyard.”
Jacqueline’s embarrassment caused her cheeks to blush bright red. “I am afraid that I am far from being anything angelic.”
“I am no’ arguing that. Ye are English afterall.”
Jacqueline tightly pursed her lips and lowered her eyebrows by his comment. He was nothing more than an arrogant and proud man.
Ewan thought about how this situation went from bad to worse. With her now under his protection, the English would be searching for them both. It now made sense to him why the two men in the woods wanted to keep her for ransom. If the English really did place a bounty on her head, they would stop at nothing to put her in grave danger.
Ewan knew that that only way to help this lass was to find her a place she would be offered full protection, regardless of the English blood that ran through her veins. Even though, the idea of collecting the ransom for himself did cross his mind. It would be one sure way to rid himself of the lass and avoid becoming more involved.
Jacqueline yawned and felt her eyes grow heavy. Feeling fatigued and overwhelmed from the day’s events, she laid her head down upon her arm in front of the fire. She began to slowly close her eyes when she felt Ewan cover her up with his plaid. Tucking the soft fabric underneath her chin she looked at up him.
“I do not mean to cause you any trouble. But I do thank you.”
“Good nigh’, my lady,” Ewan said as he continued to tend the fire.
Ewan watched Jacqueline wrap herself up in between his thick plaid. Within minutes he heard the soft sound of snoring.
“Brother, what are you doing?” Jacqueline looked into Wayland’s dark eyes as he stood there speechless, swaying his black hood back and forth in this hands. She looked down at the wooden platform she stood upon and out at the eerie faces of the silent crowd staring up at her. A young ragged girl in the crowd pointed above Jacqueline’s head, causing Jacqueline to look up as well. As she slowly lifted her head, tightness in her chest caused a sudden loss of breath as she saw the noose dangling from the wooden beam above her. Looking back at Wayland, Jacqueline pleaded to him, “Brother, no, please you mustn’t, please you can’t.” She watched as he placed the hood over his head covering his face.
April Holthaus - The MacKinnon Clan 02 Page 5