Highland Soldiers 1: The Enemy

by J. L. Jarvis

  Mari looked up at Duncan with a faint smile that did little to hide how she missed Callum. Duncan took her face in his hands. With a gentle smile, he bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead. “Happy Hogmanay.”

  Mari lifted her eyes. She looked as though she might say something, but all that came out was, “Happy Hogmanay to you, Duncan.”

  They turned back to the window, and Mari’s mood lightened. “Oh—I nearly forgot, Mistress Durie asked if you would stop by her apartment for first footing.” A smile lit her eyes. “She thought that since you’re so handsome, you might bring an extra measure of luck.”

  A trace of a grin crept into his expression. “Oh, she did, did she? The poor woman is daft.”

  “Aye. But not so daft as a man who would pay someone’s rent.” She leveled a knowing look at him.

  “Och, that. It was nothing.”

  “But it was something.”

  “No, Callum asked us to look after the things he used to take care of.” He looked out the window and studied the crowd down below.

  “I thank you, but I cannae let you keep doing things for me.”

  “Even if I want to?”

  “I’m not your responsibility.”

  “You could be.”

  Mari flashed a questioning look.

  Duncan hastened to add, “If you’d just let me help you. Just for now, until you ken what you want to do.”

  Mari’s eyes drifted away. “I dinnae feel right about it.”

  “What would Callum have wanted?”

  Mari offered no answer, for she knew that Callum would have wanted just this, for her to be cared for.

  Duncan said, “He would want things just so, and you ken it.”

  Mari followed Duncan’s gaze to the street as her eyes filled with tears. “I dinnae ken what to say. At some point, I will need to make plans.”

  “Give it time.”

  Mari was troubled, but said no more about it.

  With a deep breath, Duncan shook off his dark mood. “Come, lass. Shall we go see Mistress Durie?” he said with a reassuring wink.

  Mari reluctantly smiled. “Aye.”

  “Good. Now, we’ll need some whisky, of course, and some coal.”

  Duncan gathered all that they needed to ensure the landlady’s good luck. He held the door for Mari, and the two headed on down the stairs to call on Mrs. Durie.

  24

  The Visitor

  Duncan lay asleep on the floor outside of Mari’s closed bedroom door. The knob twisted and the door to the apartment gently opened. A floorboard gave way with a creak. In an instant, Duncan clamped a tight hold onto an ankle and gave it a yank. A large body fell to the floor with a thud. After a scuffle, Duncan held the intruder pinned down with a dirk poised at his throat.

  “Duncan, it’s Charlie.”

  “Dammit, Duncan!” said Alex, as he gripped Duncan’s wrist.

  “Dammit yourself! You woke me from a sound sleep,” Duncan complained as he released Charlie with a shove, and returned his dirk to his belt.

  Charlie lifted a brow. “Did I, now? I had plans for my own peaceful slumber just before you threw me to the floor.” He sat up holding his shoulder and rotating and extending his arm for dramatic effect.

  Making no apologies, Duncan said, “I was protecting the lass.”

  “And a fine job you’re doing,” said Alex as he added a log to the fire’s burning embers.

  Duncan cast an annoyed look toward Alex. “I was not expecting the two of you back until morning.”

  “Aye,” said Charlie. “Well, on rare occasions I let a night pass without bedding a woman.”

  “No one would have you, eh?” Duncan said, with a glint in his eyes.

  “It was my choice,” Charlie protested.

  “Aye, choice,” Alex said with a smirk.

  “Well, I do have my standards,” said Charlie.

  “Aye, standards,” said Alex, as he poured whisky into three glasses.

  “Where’s Hugh?” asked Duncan.

  Alex laughed. Charlie scowled. Duncan’s face lit up with a rare ear-to-ear grin. “He’s with a woman.”

  “Aye,” said Alex, smiling.

  “Not just any woman,” Duncan said, studying Charlie. “But the one that you wanted,” he said with a triumphant smirk.

  “Shut your gob, Duncan, or I’ll shut it for you,” said Charlie, who was in no way amused.

  “Will you now?” Duncan smiled and folded his arms, standing ready.

  Knowing he was no match for Duncan, Charlie shrugged and grumbled, “At the moment I’d rather drink than fight. But dinnae try my patience.”

  Duncan merely grinned, having nothing to prove. After Charlie walked away to sit down, Duncan took his drink and went to the window. He leaned his shoulder against the frame and looked into the night.

  Alex said, “You should have seen our Hugh tonight. The lassies all fancied him, and he looked like Charlie used to look back when the girls fancied him.” Alex was turning to smirk at Charlie when he heard something from the bedroom. “What was that?”

  Duncan was first to reach the bedroom. “Mari?” He rattled the door latch. It was locked. “Mari!” When she failed to answer, he kicked the door in.

  Alex stopped at the doorway, with Charlie beside him. Mari stood on the other side of the bed facing them. Her white linen nightgown was crimson with blood. Clenched in her fist was a sgian dubh from which drops of blood fell to Lieutenant Kilgour. He lay struggling to take halting breaths. Duncan shot a look to Alex and Charlie, who moved toward Kilgour, while Duncan rounded the foot of the bed to reach Mari. Kilgour took a few halting gasps and lurched toward her. Alex reached for Kilgour just as Mari lifted her arms and sank the sgian dubh into his chest. She struggled to pull it back out, then she stabbed him again. He fell back, lifeless.

  As she pulled the weapon back, Duncan slowly drew closer behind her. “Mari.” He spoke in a low, soothing voice. Firmly but gently, he gripped her wrist while he circled her waist with his other arm. “Mari, let it go, darlin’.” He spoke quietly in her ear until she let go and it dropped to the bed.

  “Mari?”

  She did not respond. Duncan coaxed her away from the body and into his arms.

  An instant later, something caught Alex’s eye at the window. “The son of a bitch used a grappling hook to climb in through the window.”

  Charlie pulled the bedding over the lifeless body. Duncan cast a dark look at the others as he circled Mari’s waist and led her out of the room, leaving the others behind to clean up.

  She began to tremble as Duncan brought her to stand by the warmth of the fire. For a long while she was silent.

  “I’m so cold.”

  Duncan pulled her into his arms and held her, wrapping the end of his plaid about her.

  Her teeth chattered. “I woke up and he was in my bed. He came in through the window.”

  “I know, darlin’.”

  Duncan held her tighter and cursed himself for not thinking that someone might scale the wall several floors up to the window. The thought of sleeping inside her room had been out of the question for a number of reasons, so he had decided to sleep outside of her door, thinking he’d keep her from danger. He stroked Mari’s silken hair and held her head to his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’ve been sleeping with Callum’s sgian dubh.”

  “Aye.”

  “I had to stop him. I had to stop him. He would have killed me just like he killed Ellen.”

  “You did what you had to. You’re a brave lass.”

  Duncan heard a scuffling sound and kept his arms about Mari, shielding her from the sight of Alex and Charlie carrying Kilgour away. They had wrapped his plaid about him to cover the blood, and carried him out to the street as though he were a drunken friend who had passed out. From time to time, they passed people, most of them too drunk or tired to notice or care about the three drunks who clung to the shadows. Along the way, they gathered rocks in the
folds of Kilgour’s plaid, where they tied them. They walked along the Nor’loch until they found a small boat, which they rowed out to the middle. There they rolled Kilgour’s weighted body over the edge and watched him sink into the dark water.

  With that business done, they returned to the apartment and burned what they could of the bedding. What they could not clean or burn, they took back to the Nor’loch and bundled tightly with rocks, and then dropped it into the middle of the loch. They returned to find Duncan by the fire with Mari asleep in his arms.

  By morning the apartment was clean of blood, except that which had dried on Mari’s nightgown.

  * * *

  Mari awoke with a start and lunged forward. “No!”

  “He’ll no harm you again.” Duncan pulled her back and said softly, “He’s gone. It’s all over.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Aye, very sure. The lads took him away.”

  She looked at Alex and Charlie, their clothes stained with Kilgour’s blood.

  Alex followed her gaze and looked down at his leine. “Mari, are there any of Callum’s leines we could wear? I’d rather we not draw suspicion.”

  “Aye, there are some in the bedroom.” They turned to leave, but Mari hastened to add, “Not the one hanging on the nail. I’ll get you some clean ones.”

  Alex and Charlie changed into clean leines while Mari washed their plaids with a feverish vigor.

  Duncan watched her with a troubled expression. “Mari, I’ll do this. Go take care of yourself.” He took over the washing. His eyes drifted down to the dried blood on her nightgown. “Get cleaned up, lass. We’ll want to burn that.”

  Duncan finished washing the plaids and laid them out by the fire to dry. They were dark enough to mask any blood stains remaining, and as they were dragoons who had fought in recent battles, blood was not an unexpected sight on the men’s plaids. Mari bathed and emerged in clean clothes.

  Alex and Charlie spoke quietly by the fire, while Duncan went to Mari and said, “How are you, darlin’?”

  She shook her head. “I killed a man.”

  “To defend yourself. You had no choice.”

  His words did little to ease her troubled soul. There was little talk after that. Duncan took the last seat, next to Mari. He reached over and squeezed her hand for a moment to reassure her. He started to slip his hand from hers, but she held on. There they sat, staring into the flames.

  * * *

  The following day, Mari sat in St. Giles Cathedral and prayed. Duncan sat beside her, concerned. For a long while they sat there, until Duncan leaned over and said gently, “It’s time to go.”

  She looked at him with round shimmering eyes, and she nodded.

  As they left, she accepted his offered arm and clung mournfully to him. They stepped into the daylight. The sun brought into relief the uneven stone road and the shadows it left untouched on the stone walls around them. In silence, they walked. When they came to a close, Mari pressed her palm to Duncan’s arm, gently urging him to stay while she went into the shadows and wept.

  Duncan followed and stood at a distance as long as he could. Then he lay his hand on her shoulder. “Och, Mari.”

  She spun round as he reached his arms out. She flew to his embrace. When she’d cried herself dry of tears, she said, “Duncan, I pray and I pray, but I feel as though God will never forgive me.”

  With a force that looked almost like anger, Duncan said, “If there is anything to forgive, He has done so already. If that isnae true, may God strike me dead right here on this spot.”

  Mari gasped. “Duncan, no! You must not speak so!”

  “Aye, well I’m still standing here, so you must believe that He forgives you.”

  “Then perhaps it is I who cannae forgive myself.”

  “Och, well then, to that I’d say that if God forgives you, who are you not to agree?”

  “I ken what you say. It makes sense. But my heart aches with the guilt. I have broken a commandment.”

  Duncan lifted her chin and gave her a dark, piercing look. “Lass, I have killed men in fights and in battles. I dinnae ken how many lives I have taken, but there’s one thing I ken. It never is easy, but sometimes it is necessary.”

  “A few days ago, I would have said that you’re wrong. I dinnae ken anymore.”

  “Well, I do. We both ken what would have happened if you had not fought back.”

  “Aye. It was all I could think of. I couldnae let him do that to me.”

  “Then you did what you had to, aye?” Duncan wiped her eyes dry with his thumbs. Then he brushed strands of hair from her face. His gaze swept over her face and rested on her lips for a moment. “Give it time, lass.” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her at a safer distance.

  Reassured, Mari nodded.

  A pair of men brushed past them on their way through the close. Their admiring eyes settled upon Mari until Duncan pulled her possessively into his arms and glared at the men. When they were well on their way, Duncan said, “In the meanwhile, you are not alone. Nor will you be. I’ll be here.”

  Mari leaned her head on Duncan’s chest. Duncan stiffened and said, “So will Alex and Charlie and Hugh. We will help you through this.” With a quick kiss on the forehead, he led her back into the sunlight.

  25

  The Truest Heart

  In the days that followed, Mari spent more time asleep than awake. One day she awoke at midday. When the shops opened after Hogmanay, the lads had bought a new mattress and bedding for Mari, and leines for themselves.

  Everything seemed to return to their former routine. Life looked very much like before, except at night Mari would not sleep alone in her room. Alex, Charlie, and Hugh took turns sleeping on the floor between the window and bed. It was the only way Mari was able to sleep. For a third time, Duncan made an excuse to avoid his turn, and Alex took note. He talked Duncan into going out for a drink. Hugh joined them, leaving Charlie behind with Mari, so she would not be alone. Before long, Hugh was at the bar, his attentions fully engaged by a pretty young barmaid.

  Alex and Duncan sat at a small table nearby. With no warning, Alex asked him, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m having a dram.”

  “Do you think me daft? We’ve known one another since we were bairns.”

  “Aye,” said Duncan. “Long enough to be sure you’re a pain in the arse.”

  Alex leaned back and watched Duncan with narrowing eyes. “I’m not talking about having a dram, and you well know it.”

  Duncan looked away as if he had not heard.

  Alex narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen you look at her.”

  Duncan cast a dark look sideways at Alex. “And I’ve seen you look at her, too.”

  “Aye. We all love her a little. But you love her a little too much.”

  Duncan stared into his drink, his face devoid of emotion. After a long silence, he said, “Did you never wonder why I went to sea?”

  “Well, no. I suppose that I thought you liked sailing.”

  “I hate sailing. It’s a wonder I havenae boaked my guts into the North Sea.”

  “How long has this gone on?”

  “Gone on? Nothing’s gone on.”

  “You went to sea to avoid your feelings for Mari.”

  “I went to sea because I needed the money to send home for the rent.”

  Alex nodded, unconvinced.

  “If left to my father’s care, my mother would lose her home, as you well know.”

  Alex said, “Aye, but that’s not all there is to it.” His gaze was relentless.

  Duncan met his eyes. “No.” He stared into his glass. “When I’m away, I think of Jenny.”

  Alex lifted a brow. “Jenny?”

  Duncan nodded.

  “The Jenny that Tavish was boasting about? Who promised herself to him the day after you left to come here?”

  “I hated her, and then I saw Mari and Callum and I hated Jenny even more. Mari was everything Jenny wasn’
t—constant and true. She loves Callum. There will be no other for Mari.”

  “And yet you torment yourself.” Alex’s look bordered on pity, and Duncan saw this and glared.

  “Having never lost love, you couldnae understand.”

  “Perhaps not. But you seem no better.”

  With a bitter chuckle, Duncan said, “No, I just know what I want.”

  “And that’s Mari?”

  “For awhile I thought it might be.” Duncan shook his head slowly.

  “Then what is it you want?”

  “I want love. I want love like Mari’s for Callum. Jenny loved me that way, at least for a time, and I miss it. It left a hollow ache inside me, and I see that in Mari.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And you think you can fill her hollow ache?”

  Duncan met Alex’s eyes with a caustic glare. “I willnae dishonor Callum, if that’s what you’re afraid of. And you denigrate Mari by even suggesting she might. I’ll take the insult myself. Once. But I willnae let you shame Mari. She knows nothing of this. Nor will she, because we’ll not speak of it again.”

  Alex was stunned. He had suspected that Duncan might have grown fonder of Mari since Callum’s death, but he’d had no idea to what depth. He could have imagined this coming from Charlie, perhaps. Even Hugh. But Duncan? He was always the one with his feelings in check. He did nothing without careful thought.

  Duncan finished his drink and got up for another. He brought another for Alex. “I couldnae sleep in her room. I dinnae trust myself with her. I might do something rash.”

  With a sharp look, Alex leaned forward. “Like what?”

  Duncan saw Alex’s alarm and hastened to say, “By my sword, I’d not force myself on her! How could you think that?”

  Alex had seen Duncan this angry few times, and that was just as well. “Aye, sorry. It’s just that—”

  “It’s Mari,” he said, finishing Alex’s sentence.

  Alex barely hid his relief.

  Duncan stared at his drink with sad eyes. “I would never touch Mari without her wanting me to, but she is as lonely as I. Just as I have, she could easily confuse that with other feelings. I’m not sure whether I would be honorable enough to help her to see the difference.”