Passion and Plaid - Her Highland Hero (Scottish Historical Romance)

by Karin, Anya

  “Oh ho ho! He’s going to do it, isn’t he? He’s going to let go of all those obnoxious moral principles that only work when they go against people he doesn’t like, hmm? Now he’s got his enemy locked up and helpless. Harder to make these decisions now, isn’t it?”

  A deep cut on the cheek made Alan hiss. “Do it,” he said. “Do it! All those moral lectures. All the whining and talk. That’s all it was, eh? Talk? You’re no better than me, Macgregor.”

  The point of Gavin’s sword went straight to the vein under Alan’s chin. Again, the sheriff hissed, sounding almost excited. It dug deeper, and then it fell to his collar, then his chest, then the floor.

  “I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth,” Gavin said. “But I’ll not kill you in cold blood.” And then, as John called for him again, Gavin shook his head, clearing his mind. “I canna believe I’ve wasted this much time on you. Not when my friends need me. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll not fall for your tricks. Stay here,” he said with a grin. “I’ll be back for you.”

  “Where were you?” John said as Gavin emerged. “You dinna kill him, did you?”

  “No, I did head butt him though. Couldna help myself.”

  At that, John smiled a broad smile as he effortlessly dodged another sailor who flew over a bannister and charged. With a flick of his wrist, Two-fingers unbalanced the man and kicked him in the arse as he careened into the sea.

  “John, I...I let him go. He’s still down there, but...”

  “Enough, Gavin. I woulda done the same. Where are they? I heard the shouting, but not that part.”

  “Not a clue. We’ve got other things to worry about just now, though.”

  “Come and get me, you English dogs!” Rodrigo roared, having advanced halfway across the deck. Somewhere along the way he had acquired another sword, a short, curved blade, which he was using to parry whatever came his way. “Willard! Come out! Stop hiding behind your hired guns! Show yourself!”

  “I’m right here.”

  Gavin and John watched in silence as Mayor Willard reemerged, but from a stairwell on the main deck rather than his cabin door. Clutched in one hand, he had a short fencing dagger and in his other, Heloise. As soon as Rodrigo saw, he flew into a rage.

  “You!” he shouted.

  Willard’s face twitched right by his nose. He blinked once and moved nearer Rodrigo. “I’m no fighter. I’m twice your age.” Even with everything happening around him, he seemed distracted. “I’ve no...I’ve no stomach for this. Guard, use this sword. That Spaniard seems fascinated by it.”

  Retreating backwards, the mayor slid back into the shadows of the cabin from whence he came and two red-coated guards emerged before he closed himself inside.

  Gavin and John lost track of the two as Rodrigo cut one of the men across the chest and disappeared behind some rigging, his sword dancing with the mercenary’s. Another pair of Company men hopped over a short rail. The two Scots advanced, Gavin parrying a slash and John dodging one.

  “What are you grinning for?” John asked one of them when they were close enough to smell the ruddy-faced men.

  “Oi, look behind you.”

  “Ach, like that trick’ll work,” John sneered. “We turn, you stab us in the back.”

  “John!” Gavin grabbed his friend’s sporran, yanking him to the ground as a sword flashed right where his neck had been. He signaled with his eyes for John to go escape in one direction and tilted his head, indicating where he planned to go.

  John grinned. “Say when, old man.”

  Gavin deflected another blow. “Been awhile since we did this, aye?”

  “Least a week,” John said.

  “Now!”

  At once, Gavin dove backwards, rolling off the side of the ship and John went the other way, putting the four men between himself and the water. Suddenly, he realized his friend was nowhere in sight.

  “Gavin? Gavin? Are you – oh God, did you go over?”

  No response. The men advanced. All four of them wore the same grotesque sneer with bloodlust in their eyes. A quick glance to Rodrigo found him safely batting away a sailor’s blows. But no Gavin.

  “Supposin’ it’s just me now,” John said. “Me and you four. Certainly that shouldn’t be a problem for you, aye?”

  One of them swung. John laughed as he knocked the man’s hand away and walloped him with the butt of his cutlass. “You’ll have to do better than that!”

  Another tried him, but John just turned his blade and kicked him backwards.

  “I canna believe it! How am I – just a hoodlum from Edinburgh – pushing four trained soldiers backwards? It must be how mad I am that my friend is overboard and probably dead!”

  Two of the men exchanged glances then looked back at John and charged.

  “Oh no! They’re really angry now! I canna hold them much longer,” John taunted as he slapped one of them on the cheek with the flat side of his blade, turned the other around and planted his boot in the man’s arse. All four had somehow been pushed almost all the way to the side. “I guess I’m going to have to fight them sooner or later! Ach, what’s that?”

  One man, the one furthest to the back, turned just in time to see a hand reach up from below the railing, grab him by the lapel, and yank him over the side. When he screamed out and hit the water, another man spun and slashed his sword.

  Gavin dangled from the rail, grabbing a rigging rope that hung near him and swung to move away from a stab. In one smooth motion, he yanked the rapier from his belt, propped himself against the ship’s hull with his feet and danced left, then right to dodge unbalanced slashes. As he parried, he climbed, slowly and steadily.

  “Take this!” The Company man drew up hard and stabbed downward.

  Gavin raised his arm, and the blade went just underneath his elbow. He shrugged his shoulder, and when the cloth of his kilt fell loose, he grabbed it, trapped the man’s wrist, and yanked down, pitching him over the side.

  The two remaining sailors turned back to John and saw him grinning broadly.

  “Fuck me! I didn’t expect that to actually work! Gavin! Got another one for you!” John dove forward, cracking one of them on the jaw with a fist and using his momentum to hurl the man overboard. Yanking him forward, dangerously close to going over himself, the thrown man clutched John’s kilt, and dragged him to the rail.

  “If I don’t have to split the reward with anybody, I think this all will have been worth it.” The last soldier drew close just as Gavin was pulling himself back onto the ship’s deck.

  Fixated on John, the last of the sailors laughed and swung his arm straight at the back of the Scotsman’s neck. Gavin lunged and flung his arm sideways, knocking the descending blade just wide. It still cut a nasty wound in John’s side, but instead of piercing his guts, stuck in the rail. As the man flew over the side, the sword remained. John collected it after Gavin pulled his friend up.

  “Come on! He needs our help!” Gavin said, looking over at Rodrigo.

  “I’m fine!” Rodrigo shouted.

  Driven backwards against the stairs leading to the Captain’s quarters, and barely swatting away the mercenary’s blows at the last second, he didn’t, however, seem fine. “It’s the sword!” He said. “I can’t bring myself to damage it!”

  “Is he serious?” John said to Gavin. “He is, isn’t he? He’s serious.”

  Gavin dashed toward Rodrigo, turning a blow at the last second before it split the Spaniard’s shirt. A half second later, the Company man groaned, and Heloise clattered to the deck.

  “Is that all of them?” John trotted up beside Gavin and Rodrigo, and all three men looked around the deck of the ship. No more guards. No sounds at all.

  Breathing hard, Gavin nodded. “Must be. Now, let’s go deal with-”

  “Good luck, Gavin!” A voice – the Sheriff’s voice – came from the left of the ship, in a small rowboat. Beside him sat one of the two enormous bodyguards that had been with him at the festival. “Paul here, he he
lped me out of the chains.”

  Gavin turned to John, mouth open in disbelief. “How did he...?”

  “His goons must’ve snuck down there in all the chaos and let him loose,” John said.

  From the deck, Gavin retrieved one of the three discarded muskets that the Company men dropped when they attacked with swords. “He’s not getting away from me this time. Never again.”

  Fumbling with the ramrod, loading the weapon took longer for the unpracticed Scotsman than it would for someone familiar with the gun, but he got the job done, and moments later, bent at the waist, lining the iron sight with the middle of Alan’s body. He cocked the hammer, and waited.

  The door to the captain’s chamber, where Willard had retreated, swung open and before his foot could hit the ground, Rodrigo and John grabbed him, each taking an arm. “Please,” he said in a defeated voice. “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

  Gavin’s heart skipped a beat. He took a deep breath, held it in his chest, and felt the cold steel of the musket’s trigger push back against his finger as he began to squeeze.

  “Gavin...” John’s voice was a whisper.

  The gunshot split the air with a thundering crack. Alan ducked, covering his head with his hands and looking back around wildly. Four feet from the boat, the musket’s ball hit the water, made a little splash, and vanished.

  “You’re welcome,” Gavin said loudly. “I didn’t have to miss.”

  John let out a long sigh.

  Before the sheriff could respond, Gavin turned, and faced his friends. Willard’s face was drawn, tired, and as grey as the clouds above them.

  “I’ve...in there,” the mayor said, tilting his head to the open door. “The key is in there.”

  John and Rodrigo pushed him through the opening. Willard stumbled and almost fell, but John caught him under the arm.

  “Where is it?” Gavin demanded. “Give me the key!”

  “Here. I don’t...I’m sorry. It’s in this desk, let me get it.” Willard began to fumble with the latch on a drawer, but his hands were trembling so much that it proved difficult.

  “What are you mumbling about? Isn’t this all your doing? Why did all this happen if not for you?” Rodrigo stuck his finger in the mayor’s chest.

  “I could blame the sheriff. I could say he tricked me into letting him on the boat. I could make more excuses, but...”

  Gavin’s attention was short. “But what, old man? Speak up! And give me that key!”

  “Here. But the key only gets you Kenna. The rest of them are locked up, being...held...under the deck. Hearing them cry, it broke me.”

  “What are you saying? Kenna’s being kept in a room? Where are the others?” John grabbed Willard’s collar, shaking him violently. “Tell me!”

  “I’m through with the excuses,” Willard said. “I can’t keep doing this.”

  “You’ve hurt too many people, Master Willard.” Rollo’s voice came from the doorway. “I don’t know if these people are willing to listen to you, and I can’t say that I blame them. Tell him where Kenna’s being kept.”

  “I...yes,” Willard said with a hand trembling on the tabletop beside him. “Yes, of course, you’re right Rollo. I’ve fallen so far. This whole year I’ve been slipping, but when the sheriff convinced me that you all – that Gavin and John and the rest of you – were dangerous criminals, I thought the only thing I could do was to keep her from you. To keep Kenna safe.” He turned to Rollo with tears in his eyes. “She does look so much like my daughter, does she not?”

  Rollo’s eyes moved from Gavin to Rodrigo to John and settled on Willard. “She does, yes. But you have to stop. Now. You can’t change what you did, but you can start making it right. Give Gavin the key.” The little man turned to Gavin. “She’s being kept in a locked chamber in the sailor’s bunk area below deck. The others I don’t know. I was guarded, I assume to prevent me from snooping around. I only got away when you escaped.”

  “Why was he here?” Gavin asked. “The sheriff? Why didn’t you leave him in Scotland?”

  “My mind,” Willard said, he finally popped the latch on the desk, “has not been with me. He convinced me that he had sway with the Company men. Really his influence was just with those two brutes he paid to act as his personal guard.”

  “Aye, but why did you allow him here in the first place? Is this the key?” Gavin pushed Willard’s hand away and reached into the desk himself.

  The mayor, shaken, licked his lips. “It is, yes.” He grabbed Gavin’s hand. “Below decks, third door on your left as you go down the stairs. Know that the same awful conditions that befell the others...the sheriff wanted me to give him Kenna too, but I refused. I fought him at least on that count.”

  Gavin’s eyes narrowed, and he grit his teeth. “I don’t have time for this. Rollo, come with me, show me where I’m going. And you,” he said, turning to Willard, “take John and Rodrigo to their women. Now.”

  “This one?”

  Rollo nodded. “I’ll wait out here.”

  “Gavin!” Kenna cried as soon as the key slid into the door. She didn’t know how she knew it was him, but she just did, deep down inside. A half-second later, the lock groaned, and then before she knew it, Gavin’s hands were on either side of her face, and then Gavin’s arms were around her, and Kenna couldn’t keep herself standing out of relief, out of happiness not only that, and out of utter, absolute joy.

  “I thought I’d never see you again, not in this life anyway,” she said as tears poured down her cheeks and he wiped them away first with his thumbs, then with his lips.

  “I’d never let that happen. You know me better than that.” Gavin’s fingers in her hair made Kenna fill with warmth.

  Tears ran down her cheeks, and when Gavin kissed her again, Kenna’s knees almost buckled. Clutching him tight, Kenna flattened her hands against his back, letting his heat flow through her. She kissed his neck and breathed in the scent of his hair, of his skin.

  “John and Rodrigo, are they...?”

  “Aye, they’re fine,” Gavin whispered, kissing Kenna again and then holding her face near his, drinking her in with his eyes. “God it’s good to see you.”

  Kenna searched his face, and then closed her eyes when she was satisfied that he was really holding her, and that it wasn’t another mirage like the ones she’d been haunted by for the past few days.

  “I’m sorry, Gavin,” Kenna said. “But I canna think of anything but the others. I’m so happy to see you that I could just die, but can we go and make sure everyone is safe? From the things the guards were saying, they were being treated...”

  “Yes, of course we can.” Gavin brushed her hair aside and kissing Kenna’s forehead one last time. “This way. Rollo’s outside, he’ll take us to them.”

  “It’s no good,” John said, as another of his blows glanced off the heavy door to the holdfast, where Willard said Lynne, Elena and Olga were being held.

  “Lynne?” John shouted.

  A whimper.

  “Lynne! I’m coming! We’re here!”

  A sound like exasperation, or maybe it was excitement, or maybe it was terror, came from below. Soon it was joined by two others.

  One last kick and his heel shattered the board, that awful barrier between the two men and their loves.

  “John!” Lynne shouted, fighting to keep back her tears. “I thought maybe this was it. I thought...”

  John took her face in his hands, then held her tight.

  “At first, I knew you’d come for me. At first I knew that, but then the days went on and on, and we were starving, and those men kept coming and threatening us, pretending like they were...”

  “Shh, it’s okay now,” John hushed Lynne, smoothing her hair with his hand. “I’m here. I’m here, Lynne. You’re safe.”

  “This is your doing? This is what you refused to stop? You’re lucky I’m leaving you alive,” John said over Lynne’s shoulder.

  Willard shuddered, and slid down the wall into a
crouch. “I’m sorry,” he said in that distant, hollow voice. “I’m so sorry, I let him convince me they were being cared for. I refused to believe the cries I heard were real. I’m...I’m so sorry.”

  Ignoring him completely, John turned his attention back to Lynne, cradling her in his arms.

  Three pairs of footsteps

  “Mister Gavin! Kenna!” Elena said as the two descended the stairs.

  “Very good, Elena! Very good! Come on, let’s you, Rodrigo and I go up with Lynne and John and make sure he’s healthy. We’ve a long journey ahead of us, no matter where we go.” Olga rubbed her wrists where they were red and raw. “If we’re going back, I certainly would like to go...er...visit Mr. Duggan.”

  Gavin smiled. “I think that can be arranged. Thank you Olga, for everything you’ve done. I’m sure you were the calmest one of the bunch down here.”

  Rodrigo walked past Gavin with a pat on the shoulder and a knowing smile. Elena bowed just a little, and Olga kissed Gavin on the cheek and gave his arm a squeeze. He smiled, laughed softly, and grabbed her in his arms, giving her a big kiss in return, and sending her giggling up the steps.

  “This is it then, aye?” Gavin said in a whisper as he pulled Kenna to him again.

  “Aye,” Kenna said, allowing herself to tremble now that it was just she and Gavin. “God above it’s good to see you, Gavin Macgregor. I put on a brave face. I never let the guards outside my room know how badly I was terrified.”

  The two of them laughed softly before Gavin hushed her with a kiss. “It’s okay now. I’ve got you, and everyone is safe. It’s all over.”

  Above, John’s voice came through the boards loud and clear. “Rodrigo! Are you sure you know how to steer this thing?”

  Kenna laughed, and then Gavin started in after her.

  “How on Earth did I find you, Gavin Macgregor?” She whispered before she kissed him on the chin. “I’m supposed to be a farm girl in Fort Mary. Raising young ones and shearing sheep. Now here I am on the open seas, in the hold of a ship where I was held captive. And all I can do is think I’m the luckiest person in the world for having you here with me.”