Highland Song

by Young, Christine

  Fat sheep grazed calmly as Lainie and Slade rode by. A crop of some sort covered one of the fields. From high above them a falcon dipped and soared catching the wind, floating, then soaring even higher, finally landing in a tree to watch the passing strangers with a weary eye.

  "It's good to be in England," Slade said and spurred his horse forward with the same deceptive ease he did everything.

  They galloped through the iron gates and down the tree, lined lane to the big house where a woman, wearing a yellow day dress and hair as black as the night stood on the porch. When she saw them, she ran out into the yard.

  "Aaron is that you?" she called out to the rapidly approaching rider. "Aaron Slade why didn't you let us know you were coming?"

  "It's me," Slade said. "Didn't have time to send a letter."

  He reined in Baby to a prancing halt and added dryly. "If it wasn't me, Stephan would be on the porch with his sword drawn."

  "That's true," Stephan said, stepping out from the house. "Can't be too careful these days. Never know who or what kind of vermin is going to wander buy."

  "Still being bothered by the Scottish rogues coming down from the borders and raiding?" Slade asked, noting the sword in the other man's hand and the grim expression which was just beginning to fade.

  Stephan shrugged. "Raiders, thieves, they're all the same. Too many people moving out from London."

  "Moving to the countryside?" Slade asked. "Thought everyone in the city only cared for balls and gambling."

  "They don't give it up because they're in the country," Stephan said.

  "I can't imagine what they will find to entertain them out here."

  "They bring their entertainment with them. The parties are wild and outrageous.

  I'd watch your friend real close." Stephan let his attention focus on the person who was just now riding up to the porch.

  "Did you hire a boy to--" Josie asked, cocking her head sideways and staring at Lainie as she rode toward them.

  The change in Slade's emotions stopped Josie mid-sentence and had Stephan gaping then chuckling softly.

  "Not quite," Slade said. That's my, uh, friend."

  Lainie was close enough to hear Slade's words. It didn't seem that Slade wanted to tell his sister and her husband she was a woman, let alone his prisoner. She reined her tired horse next to his and took over the introductions that he was plainly reluctant to make.

  "My name is Lainie MacPherson," she said quietly. "You must be Slade's sister."

  Josie's cheeks pinked and she laughed. "Oh, my. I'm sorry. Yes I'm Josie Campbell, and I should know better than to assume everything in pants is a male."

  Stephan looked at Lainie thoughtfully. "Don't think I could ever mistake you for a boy," he said.

  "I'm Stephan Campbell," he said to Lainie. "Get down and come inside. I'll have one of the stable boys come get your horse. I'm sure if you are with Slade, he made you ride long and hard. Friend are you?" he asked, once again looking at her thoughtfully then seemed to study the strange expression on Slade's face.

  "Yes, do come inside," Josie said quickly. "You must be tired. My brother can be unreasonable at times."

  Josie's generous, welcoming smile was like a balm on Lainie's pride as well as her heart. Her answering smile included Stephan, who was as big as Slade but seemed a good deal more gentle, especially when he was smiling as he was now.

  "Thank you," Lainie said. "The ride was a long one, and I am tired." She hoped Slade would keep quiet about her status. She hoped he wouldn't mention she was his prisoner, and they'd made an unholy bargain. Friend was not exactly what he meant to make her. She bit her lip, whore was more the right description.

  "Don't get too comfortable," Slade said curtly as she dismounted. "We're only staying long enough to switch horses and get supplies before heading north."

  Stephan's eyes narrowed as he watched Slade and looked at Lainie. Then he grinned.

  Josie seemed to say what was on her mind. "Aaron Slade, where are your manners? Not to mention your common sense. From the way you both look, you could both use a good rest. I don't think Lainie could ride another mile today."

  "Someone might be following us. I don't want to bring them down on you," Slade said flatly and looking behind him as if he'd see shadows in the distance. "You and your family's safety is a major concern."

  "That fat General laying for you again?" Josie asked sweetly. "Seems as if the two of you should find a way to settle your differences.”

  Lainie inhaled a sharp breath, her stomach rolling at the subtle mention of Bertram.

  Slade looked surprised.

  "Soldiers don't have much to talk about out here except other soldiers," Stephan said dryly, defending his wife. "One of my workers has a soldier friend. His brother is one of Bertram's trackers. So, if it's not Bertram on your backside, who is it?"

  "Jericho Manning and the men who ride with him. I'm sure you've heard of him and his mercenaries."

  The feral smile that came over Stephan's face made Lainie swiftly revise her idea of his gentle nature. He looked as if he'd relish a good fight with the likes of Jericho and his men.

  "And here I thought you'd forgotten my birthday," Stephan said. "It's really good of you to bring a little excitement around here. I've heard a few tales of that man and his solders for hire. Too bad we can't put him at the bottom of the ocean."

  "Like we did his brother?"

  "I wouldn't want it any other way," Stephan said with a wicked grin that rivaled anything she’d ever seen on Slade.

  Laughing softly, Slade shook his head and accepted the inevitable.

  "All right, we'll stay for dinner and maybe even the night. Lainie needs the rest. And I want to see my nephew."

  "You'll do more than that," Josie said quickly.

  "Sorry, Josie," Slade said. "We've got too much ground to cover. This was only a little detour. As I said before, all I wanted was to change horses and get some supplies."

  "What's the hurry?" Stephan asked. "Is old Jericho that hard on your trail?"

  "No."

  Stephan's dark eyebrows rose at the curt answer.

  For a moment Slade looked away then he shifted in the saddle and thought of what he could say that wouldn't be a lie and wouldn't be the truth: he was damned uncomfortable bringing a thieving little spy and a woman who had sold her favors to the fat general into his sister’s home. He didn't want Josie to know Lainie had a bounty on her head, and that he hadn't decided if he was bringing her in for trial, or taking her home.

  Yes, and I manipulated her into selling her favors to me. Does that make me any better than Bertram?

  Frowning, he brushed off his thoughts. "It's late in the season to be taking on the back roads," Slade said. "And I'm on a time table to get her to Edinburgh if that's where I decide to take her. I might be taking her farther north just to let her kin deal with the trouble she has made."

  "I have a home in Glasgow. You could take me there," Lainie said sweetly. "And I didn't make trouble. It was that pig…"

  "You won't be staying at your home in Glasgow if I decide to take you anywhere besides North," he told Lainie looking sideways at her. "You'll be staying in the tower and we both know it."

  "Where will she be staying?" Josie asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

  "I'm not real good at lying, and something inside me doesn't want to let Lainie anywhere near Bertram," Slade said.

  "Oh," Josie still looked confused.

  Slade looked like a man who was through making explanations. "I've said too much." He brushed his sister off. "Like I said, we'll stay the night but that's all."

  Stephan shaded his eyes and stared down the road leading to his house. High on a hill a handful of trees burned with the yellow torch of fall. He stared for a few minutes more.

  "Do you have time to come to some decisions about the girl?" Stephan asked easily. "I'm sure no one is counting the minutes until you get to Glasgow, Edinburgh or MacPherson land."

&
nbsp; Slade shrugged. "I'm not betting against time. And time could come to hurt me if I don't come to grips with the decision I'm about to make."

  The set of Slade's mouth said more than his words. He wasn't going to stay at his sister's home a moment longer than was necessary. But he was going to use the time to decide what he meant to do with Lainie.

  "She's in trouble and you're her savior?" Stephan said without rancor. "You always were on the side of the underdog no matter what. It would help if you told me a little more."

  Slade nodded curtly.

  "Well," Stephan said thoughtfully, "Before we talk, you might think about Lainie. She looks more than exhausted. She looks as if you've already drug her through the highlands. Maybe you should leave her here to rest up, while you figure out where your head is."

  Though nothing in Stephan's voice or expression suggested he thought there was something unusual about a Scottish lass riding through the countryside with an English soldier, a man who wasn't her husband, fiancé, or blood relation, Lainie's face colored.

  "I'm his prisoner," she said without rancor and effectively ending whatever suspense or confusion, Slade had created.

  "That's right," Slade retorted.

  Stephan's dark eyebrows lifted.

  "It's a long story," Slade muttered.

  "Then it will take a long time to tell, won't it?" Josie demanded, she looked ready to torture her brother until he gave her the answers she was looking for.

  "Josie…" Slade began warning her to back off or suffer the consequences of his wrath. "I didn't want to bring a prisoner into your home.”

  "Don't you Josie me, Aaron Slade. I’m not afraid of you," she interrupted, putting her hands on her hips and planting herself in front of her brother. "She doesn't look like a criminal to me. I doubt if she is dangerous."

  "Now just a min - " Slade began.

  It was no use.

  "Even if you both got fresh horses from the stables and galloped until sunset," Josie said, talking over her brother, "you wouldn't get more than a few miles down the road. You're staying for a time, and that's that. It's been too long since I've seen you, and I want a chance to get to know Lainie MacPherson before you take her for whatever reasons back to her clan."

  "Darling, it's--" began Stephan.

  "You stay out of this," Josie turned on her husband. "Aaron's been away too long. He's forgotten all the manners our mother taught us."

  Lainie watched Josie with a combination of fascination and horror as she faced down the two large men. If Josie realized her husband and brother were a foot taller and far stronger than she was, it didn't slow down her tongue one bit. And it seemed Josie had either not heard her statement that she was his prisoner or chose to ignore it. "We both know he isn't going to turn her over to Bertram."

  Yet neither man struck Lainie as the kind to step back for anyone, much less for someone who was half their weight and a third their strength.

  Stephan and Slade looked sideways at each other while Josie inhaled. Stephan smiled, then began laughing softly. It took Slade longer, but in the end, he gave in to his little sister.

  "All right, Josie. But only one night. We're leaving at dawn."

  She started to object, looked at Slade's eyes, and knew more arguing would be pointless.

  "And only if you have breakfast on the table early," Slade added smiling as he finally dismounted seeming to give up on the idea he would leave in a few hours.

  Josie laughed and hugged her brother.

  "Welcome home, Aaron. I've missed you."

  Slade hugged her in return, but his eyes were shadowed as he looked beyond Josie's dark head to the house and the meadow where livestock grazed. He knew this was what he wanted. He had always wanted a home of his own and a family. Since he had given this land to his sister, he had no home save the townhouse in London. He didn't believe he could ever call London home.

  For the first time in his life, the thought bothered him. It had been a long time since he'd thought about a wife and children. And that had been a lifetime ago.

  The dining room smelled of the lamb stew, scones and berry pie that Lainie had insisted on making for dinner. He'd listened to their conversation. Josie hadn't put up much of a fight, letting her cook go home early and seeming to realize Lainie didn't want to be treated as his friend but as someone independent from him.

  Slade hadn't been pleased to find Lainie in the kitchen when he came in from choosing horses and readying the packsaddles for an early start tomorrow, but it was too late to object. Lainie and Josie were sharing kitchen duties, and talking together as if they were old friends.

  Lainie had bathed and changed into an old dress of Josie's. Lainie was smaller than his sister. Still the dress did little to conceal Lainie's figure. Such as it was, it made a man want to measure the slender waist with his hands then peel off the soft cloth to get at the silken woman beneath.

  The dress was so much better than the britches she'd been wearing ever since he first found her in that tiny hidden campsite. He had been afraid she would continue to wear the britches in Josie's house as a way of getting back at him for saying he wouldn't take a lying thieving spy into his sister's house.

  He hadn't meant the remark as an insult; it was simply a fact. He had too much respect and love for his sister to parade a woman who had demonstrated few moral values her short life through his sister’s home. Yet he was doing just that. He swore silently at himself, the situation as his turbulent emotions for Lainie.

  "Oh, darn," Josie said. "I forgot Robby's diaper."

  "I'll get it." Lainie set the last plate on the table.

  "Thanks. Robby's diapers are in the bedroom next to yours."

  Lainie turned and saw Slade's cold disapproving eyes. She inhaled a sharp breath for courage, straightened her shoulders and strode past him without giving a second glance.

  His sharp eyes followed the unconscious swaying of her hips until he could see them no longer. Only then did he turn back to his sister and his nephew.

  "Here," Slade said, grinning at his sister. "Let me hold him. You deserve some leisure time."

  "Your concern is noted. But I love the little rascal and being with him is what I want to do."

  "Well, then, don't deprive me of enjoying him too. You'll have him again after we leave in the morning."

  Laughing, Josie stepped aside.

  Slade picked up the child and held him close, blowing bubbles on his neck until the child gurgled with pleasure. The baby reached for Slade with chubby little fingers. Slade drew back, but not quite soon enough. Robby grabbed hair and pulled.

  "Robby's hands are almost as quick as yours," Josie said with a laugh as she watched the two play.

  "You don't say?" Wincing, Slade moved to disentangle the small fingers. Despite the baby's happy yanking, Slade was careful not to truly discourage his nephew. He eased the fingers from his hair, gave them a smacking, tickling kiss, and laughed when Robby's eyes widened with surprise and delight.

  The baby gurgled and made another grab for Slade's hair. This time Slade had the baby's range and tilted his head back to avoid the fingers.

  "Don't try that again," Slade warned while laughing at his energetic nephew.

  Robby's arms windmilled. Josie looked up from the stitchery in progress, saw her child's delight, and shook her head.

  "You spoil him," she said, but there was no censure in her voice. "How will I cope when you're gone?"

  "One of the pleasures of my life," Slade agreed. "You know I don't get to see him often."

  "And whose fault is that?" Josie asked. "You know you are always welcome here. But you never stop or spend any time with us. You could change your ways--resign your commission. It's time you know."

  With a joyful shriek, Robby grabbed hold of Slade's hair again. "Easy there, little guy." Slade ignored Josie's pointed statement. “I’m trying to resign my commission. Lainie is part of that plan but I’m afraid I’m going to make my situation with Bertram worse not bett
er.

  Gently he disentangled Robby's fingers one more time so that he wouldn't end up with a bald patch if Robby yanked.

  “How is that,” Josie asked with a tilt to her head. “It’s Bertram that wants her. If I don’t bring her to Edinburgh, I’ll still owe Bertram time. I made a bargain with the general, I’m already regretting.”