The Highland Commander

by Amy Jarecki

  However, there was nothing like being surrounded by potential enemies to keep a man on edge. Once they’d eaten their meager meal, darkness came on fast—not that there had been much light belowdecks, but at least there had been shadows. Now Aiden could barely see his palm in front of his face.

  Maddie remained quiet. He tried to put his arm around her shoulders to provide comfort, but she scooted farther away. How could he blame her? Should he expect her to turn around and pretend he hadn’t carried on like a lout for the past few sennights?

  He patted the hay. “You’d best try to sleep.”

  She chuckled, her sultry voice stirring. Aiden had forgotten how much her voice could move him. “I do not think I can.”

  “Aye, but there’s naught to do but wait. It will be morning before we moor off the coast of the River Aln.”

  “Have you been there before?”

  “Aye, off the coast. Alnwick is inland about five miles. The ships moor in Alnmouth Bay and riverboats ferry the wares to the village.”

  “Oh.” She sat in silence for a time, sighing now and again. “Aiden?”

  “Mm.”

  “What will happen to us?”

  He’d been thinking about that, too. “As soon as we reach Alnwick, I aim to send a missive to your father. He is our best chance to help us prove your innocence.”

  “And your father?” she asked. “Do you think he will help?”

  “Knowing my da, he’d be much more inclined to help if first presented with proof of your innocence.” Aiden clamped his lips together. He couldn’t tell Maddie that his father had all but forbidden him from seeing her. Not that the Duke of Atholl had any say in the matter now. Besides, telling her the truth would only serve to hurt her feelings all the more.

  The night wore on, and finally the lass gave in and fell asleep, curled into a ball, her back against Aiden’s thigh. Her every breath made his heart swell—as if he’d found a new connection to her. If only they could stay connected forever, he’d pledge an oath never to move his leg. Even her warmth soothed him. Raising his hand to caress her, he hesitated. She mightn’t want him to touch her, though his fingers itched to do so. Letting out a long breath, he placed his hand on her shoulder. When she didn’t rouse, he rubbed, ever so gently. If he could turn back time, he’d go back to the day she came aboard the Royal Mary. Though that was the same day he’d received word of John’s death, he would still act differently if given the chance.

  He should have sought Magdalen’s succor rather than push it away. If only he’d allowed himself to fall into her embrace. But no. He was a Murray, and Murrays always bottled up their emotions and pushed away succor.

  Over and over he replayed the twist of events that had led a marquis and an earl’s daughter to the darkness of the bow of a rickety merchant brig. But idle time aboard a swaying ship always lulled him to sleep. Leaning his head back against the timbers, he closed his eyes. He carried a sword and a dirk, plus a dagger tucked into each of his hose, and he prayed to God that would be enough weaponry to see them safely to Edinburgh.

  If all goes well.

  Fortunately, they had a head start on the English, even if the queen’s navy did pursue the brig up the coast. With luck he’d spirit Maddie into the Highlands, where they could wait until the whole misunderstanding was resolved.

  His eyelids grew too heavy to stay open. It wasn’t until a beam of light shone down from the hatch that Aiden again opened his eyes. The rolling of the sea had ebbed to a smooth sway, a clear indication that they were again sailing through shallow waters close to shore.

  “Drop anchor,” a man hollered above.

  Aiden wriggled his toes and tightened his buttocks. His blasted arse had gone numb during the night, and he flexed his knees to ease the pins and needles. He didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice but to shake Maddie’s shoulder. “We’ve arrived.”

  “Hmm?” Stretching, she sat up and scooted away. Aiden’s thigh chilled.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

  “I think so.” She rubbed her eyes. “Better than I thought I would. And you?”

  He grinned. “Put me on a rocking ship, and I can sleep standing upright.” Though he would have liked to stay there a bit longer, he needed to go up top and have a look at their mooring. With luck the captain would let them sail ashore with the first skiff of supplies.

  Aiden stood and offered his hand. “We’d best go have a chat with Captain Child.”

  “And something to eat. I’m starved.”

  He was hungry, too. “Very well. A chat with the captain and then we’ll see if we can’t find an oatcake.”

  Stepping onto the deck, Aiden shaded his eyes. Though there was cloud cover, the light of day still hurt. But his senses had told him right. They were moored but a half a league from the sandy shore.

  “Move the empty barrels portside,” said the captain from his place near the helm.

  “Aye, Captain.” A pair of sailors rolled and stacked quarter casks against the rail. Each was fitted with a metal loop attached to its iron belly band, used for tying the barrels down to prevent them from rolling out of control in rough seas.

  “Are you picking up cargo?” Aiden asked. He’d assumed they were taking wares to Alnwick.

  The captain strode toward them, his eyes narrow and his chin tipped up. “These are for brandy. It seems they don’t distill enough in London,” he said with a sure hint of irritation in his voice. Aiden didn’t think much of it until the man’s eyes shifted and his hand slipped around the handle of his cutlass. Footsteps sounded on the deck behind. Instinctively Aiden pushed Maddie against the rail, then trapped her with his back, guarding the lass against attack. His fingers slipped into his basket hilt.

  “I wouldn’t draw my weapon if I were you,” said the captain.

  Aiden glanced right. Two sailors closed in. “What is the meaning of this? Are you in the habit of threatening paying passengers?”

  “We all saw the dragoons on the wharf.” Captain Child slid his thumb over the dagger in his belt. “You’re in some kind of trouble, and I’d reckon someone’s willing to pay a bounty for your capture.”

  Dipping into a crouch, Aiden drew his sword with his right hand and his dirk with his left. “Jump!” he shouted over his shoulder.

  A sailor lunged. Aiden deflected the blade downward.

  “What?” Maddie screeched.

  “Jump!” With a backhand he sliced his dirk across the attacker’s throat. Eyes bulging, the man clutched his neck while blood streamed through his fingers.

  “I can’t,” Maddie said, her voice filled with terror.

  Christ, Aiden couldn’t look back. Fighting forward, he cut down the man on his right while kicking the captain to the deck.

  Seconds were all he had before he’d have to fend off another onslaught of charging attackers.

  In a heartbeat he spun, dropped his sword, and hurled Maddie over the rail. Her scream rang in his ears, but he’d end up with a blade in his back if he dived in after her now.

  In one fluid motion, he swooped down for his sword and fought off another two seamen while he tossed a quarter cask over the side. Shouting, more crew members rushed him. Aiden glanced back, praying Maddie had swum for the barrel.

  His sword clanged, knocked from his hand. Blindly he leaped over the rail, plunging downward with the speed of a cannonball.

  Sorry I cannot linger, you bleeding bastards.

  Before he hit he searched for Maddie. Damn it all, she was nowhere to be seen. Only the quarter cask bobbed in the water.

  With a slap his body slammed into the surf as if he were falling onto a slab of rock. Icy water stabbed him while the air whooshed from his lungs. But this was no time to go soft. Shoving his dirk in his belt, he opened his eyes and used his legs to spin. A flash of white flickered.

  A hand!

  Though his lungs burned with the need for air, he dived straight for Maddie. After three powerful strokes, he clamped on to her h
and. She thrashed, her eyes wide with terror. Yanking her up, Aiden kicked with all his might, but her skirts were too damned heavy.

  “Kick,” he yelled while salty water filled his mouth and throat.

  She must have heard him, because in the next moment she grew lighter and the life-giving surface grew near. He sucked in a huge gulp of air as his head broke through, and then with all his might he pulled Maddie up.

  Gasping, she sputtered and coughed while her head kept dipping below the waves. “I—” She sank under. Aiden gnashed his teeth and drew her up.

  “—can’t swim.” She went under again.

  A musket cracked. A ball smacked the water a foot short of their heads.

  Spying the cask, Aiden wrapped his arm across her chest and swam to it.

  “Fire!” roared the captain from the deck.

  “They’re s-shooting at us,” Maddie shrieked.

  Aiden grabbed the metal loop on the cask. “Hold on to this, use it to protect your head so you don’t end up with a musket ball in your skull.”

  All around them shots hissed through the air and pierced the sea. Swimming for his life, Aiden refused to look back. His muscles burned, drained by the cold and his efforts to pull Maddie up from the depths, but he focused on the shore and swam with all his might.

  “Keep kicking,” he growled through clenched teeth, tugging her with his left hand.

  “I… am.”

  “Harder. Faster.” Soon the captain would be lowering the skiff and the crew would be after them. It didn’t matter how much their muscles burned, they must swim for their very lives.

  “What… next?” she asked, still breathless.

  “Hit the shore and run like hell.” Water splashed in Aiden’s mouth with his every word.

  “I don’t like our odds.” Maddie’s head dipped under again. Clearly she was tiring.

  “Och. We’ll be all right.” He used a wave to help project them toward the shore. “Keep kicking no matter how much your limbs burn and beg you to stop.”

  The lass did, too, and in no time their feet hit the sandy bottom. Panting, Aiden continued to pull Maddie in his wake as he ran, but her wet skirts were even more difficult now that they were on sand. Stopping, Aiden bent down to tear them.

  She batted his hands away. “No.”

  “You can hardly move.”

  “We’re in the middle of nowhere and you want to rip my gown?”

  “Can you hold up your skirts?”

  “But—”

  “Do it or I tear off your overskirt right now.”

  Aiden took her hand and ran straight for a copse of trees just beyond the beach. He needed a mount. Fast. In the trees they had cover, but it wouldn’t protect them for long. And Maddie was slower than treacle. He stopped at a clump of broom. “Climb under and hide.”

  Sucking in gasps of air, she looked at him as if he were daft.

  “Hide, I said. I’m off to find a horse. Hurry.”

  She did as he asked, then he took a switch and covered their tracks. After turning full circle, Aiden sprinted north.

  Holy crosses, Maddie had thought she’d been petrified with fear when they shackled her wrists and locked her in a coach with iron bars, but that was nothing compared to being tossed over the side of a ship and nearly drowning. And then the blackguards had fired musket balls at them.

  Her teeth chattered as she crouched under the thick brush. Aiden had picked her up and thrown her overboard like a sack of grain.

  She could hardly think for the cold.

  But when she blinked, she saw a picture of Aiden fighting in front of her. He’d guarded and protected her from attack. If they’d stayed aboard the ship, he wouldn’t have been able to fight them all. Still, he’d just tossed her into the sea. How many lassies did she know who could swim—and with layers of skirts and petticoats?

  A twig snapped in the distance.

  Holding her breath, Maddie listened, her eyes shifting back and forth.

  “This way,” a man’s voice said.

  Footsteps grew nearer.

  Taking shallow breaths, Maddie shifted backward until something sharp prodded her shoulder. She didn’t dare cry out. She squeezed her fists against her mouth while her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

  A pair of worn boots stopped directly in front of her hiding place. “They came past here for certain.”

  The boots turned and faced the brush.

  Gracious Father, they’re so close, they can hear the hammering of my heart.

  “Do you know who they are?” asked another.

  “Nay, but the queen’s men were after them.”

  “Outlaws, yes? Do you think the captain will share the reward?”

  “If he doesn’t, he’ll have a mutiny on his hands.”

  A sickly chuckle rolled from one of the sailors. “Did you see that blighter fight? He’s been trained well—better than me for certain.”

  “Perhaps so,” said the man with the worn boots. “But he’s not likely to take on all three of us and live.”

  Three? Oh God, what if they set an ambush?

  More footsteps crunched the ground, moving away from Maddie’s hiding place. “Come. It looks like they went this way.”

  After the footsteps faded, Maddie pushed up to her hands and knees, crying out with a muffled grunt when the thorn in her shoulder dug in and scraped down her back with the sound of tearing fabric. She bit her knuckle until the pain subsided to a dull ache. If the men were good trackers, they’d soon realize only one set of tracks led north, and she didn’t want to be there when they returned.

  On her belly she slithered through the brush until she came to a large oak. Reaching for a branch, she tugged up her filthy, wet skirts and threw a leg over. Once she found her balance, her strength returned and she climbed high enough not to be easily spotted from the ground.

  Hugging the tree tightly, she panned her gaze across the scene, peering through the golden autumn leaves. To the east the beach was only about a quarter mile away, and the brig sat at anchor while two skiffs rowed toward her and one away.

  The foliage was too thick for her to see anything inland. Taking tiny steps on the branch, Maddie swiveled around. To the north a horse and rider cantered over the crest of a hill, straight toward her.

  Aiden!

  Out from the foliage below, the three sailors rushed toward him, swords drawn. Maddie’s heart lurched. One wielded a musket. He knelt and leveled the weapon at his shoulder.

  No! Maddie’s throat constricted as she tried not to scream out loud.

  Aiden leaned forward on the mount, spurring his horse straight for the musketeer. With a puff of smoke, the blast from the gun cracked like a bullwhip.

  At the same time, Aiden leaped his mount as if there’d been a fence in their path. Gaining speed, he was nearly upon them.

  Did he leap over the shot?

  The shooter sprang to his feet and skittered backward, tugging the bayonet from the musket.

  Not fast enough.

  Aiden cut the musketeer down with a swing of his dirk.

  Bellowing, the other two charged.

  Aiden spun the horse in place, his dirk clashing with a sword. He pulled a dagger from his sleeve and threw it into the heart of the other man. The second man clutched at the knife in his chest and dropped to the grass.

  The blackguard with the sword attacked the horse’s flank.

  Aiden spun in time. Targeting the sailor’s unprotected temple, he slammed the pommel of his dirk in a deadly strike. The man dropped on his face.

  Leaping from his horse, Aiden grabbed a sword and then remounted as if the movement had been choreographed. Slapping his reins, he galloped toward Maddie’s hiding place.

  Scurrying down the tree, Maddie called out, “I’m here!”

  As his mount leaped over the brush, he reached down and grabbed her hand. “Jump.”

  Wet skirts and all, Aiden pulled her onto his lap, both of her legs draped over the horse’s shoulder
.

  She slung an arm around his waist and latched on while the horse took up a canter. “I cannot believe you dispatched all three of them.”

  He glanced down to his leg. Blood streamed from his calf onto the sorrel horse’s barrel. “Not without a graze from the damned musket ball. The arse must have been a sharpshooter.”

  “My word,” she gasped. “We need to find a healer straightaway.”

  “Nay, ’tis only a flesh wound. We must spirit north as fast as this old nag will carry us.”

  Maddie turned her attention to the horse’s mane and drew her fingers through his coarse hair. “He’s fearless.”

  Aiden grunted. “He’ll do for now.”

  “Where did you find him?”

  “The farmer over the hill—charged me double the going price for an old gelding.”

  “He didn’t happen to sell you food?”

  “There wasn’t time, lass.” His arms tightened around her. “Can you hold on until I spirit us away from here?”

  “Aye.” After nearly drowning and then being terrified she’d be caught by their pursuers, she didn’t have much of an appetite—but it wouldn’t be long before she started shaking with hunger.

  For now all she wanted to do was flee England nestled between Aiden’s powerful arms.

  “Sit back,” he said as if he could read her thoughts. “It will be a long ride.”

  The icy breeze cut through her wet garments and she curled into Aiden’s warmth. “Do you think Captain Child will send someone after us?”

  “You can count on it, lass.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Midafternoon they stopped in an English village. The signpost indicated they’d arrived in a wee burgh called Wooler. The horse needed to be rested, and Maddie was so dizzy from hunger she couldn’t see straight. Aiden ushered her into an alehouse. Dark inside with mahogany-paneled walls, it held a bar, stools, and a few tables. Aside from the barman, the place was empty.

  Ever the gentleman, after holding her chair, Aiden sauntered up to the bar. “Two pints of ale and two bowls of pottage, please.”

  The barman poured the ale and Maddie’s mouth watered when Aiden returned with frothy tankards. “This will set you to rights until the food comes.”