The Twisted Laird

by Cherime MacFarlane

  Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 Cherime MacFarlane

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Author's Note: The battle of Culloden was the basis of another mass exodus of Scots to other countries. The Union is still being fought against by close to half of the people living there.

  License Notes:

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Artwork: The Graphics Shed

  Dedicated to those who do what is necessary, regardless of the cost to them. To quote one, "It needs done damn it, I'll do it if it kills me!"

  Acknowledgments

  First, I wish to thank my family puts up with hearing all about the latest cast of characters with good grace.

  Second, Allan is always in my thoughts. I think Allan and my Dad are cheering me on in heaven while my Mother shakes her head.

  Aili Lara’s Prologue

  MacGrough, I have all the notes in chronological order, and anyone who wishes may see them. Uncle, Da, or Hamish; I never am sure what to call you now that I am finally married to Birk. I suppose as I have called you Uncle since my birth, Uncle Hamish you shall remain.

  I'm sorry if I caused any of the family distress by my delving into the history of the MacGrough who made the chest. Aunt Lori, I do understand how this matter of "the sight" frequently upsets you, as it bothers my da.

  How far back it goes into the MacGrough line is a question I cannot answer. I do feel it goes far back beyond Gideon, the Templar. It has come to your family through Ailene, the MacGrough, Gideon married.

  Because my particular gift needs something tangible to put me into contact with spiritual matters, I may never know who passed it down to Mum and me. That mystery does not bother me unduly, as I have more than enough here in the glen to occupy my fascination with the past.

  Perhaps someday, I will do one of those DNA tests, which is supposed to tell you things about your distant ancestors. For all I know, I may be a shirt tail MacGrough.

  Here I am, off on another hare trail again. Sorry, back to the research on the chest Davina bought for your anniversary. Edan MacGrough came alive for me the moment I touched the chest. I could see him vividly in my mind.

  He does/did not look like a MacGrough. I feel that must be the Campbell in him through his mother. But, he has/had the heart and his soul is/was Highland MacGrough through and through. I'm not sure what you will all think of this retelling of his story. I hope everyone gets something from it.

  Edan was a good man caught in a dangerous time. He did the best he could for his family. There was a time he slipped away from the path. But the family stepped up and held on until he found his way back. Now then, here it is. I hope you will not be disappointed.

  P.S. As you can see, I do know how to write proper English, I just choose not to speak it, as it is not me. Love, Aili Lara.

  Chapter One

  Edan followed the game trail up and over the mountains. The horse was as exhausted as he was. Shortly, they would need to find a place to rest for a few hours. Then, they must be on their way again. Hamish's body was bound on the horse. Edan didn't know how he kept from being seen, as he hid on the edges of Culloden Moor after the butchery. Somehow, he found Hamish and what was left of Clan MacGrough.

  The sound, the keening he so desperately wanted to make, could not be uttered. The grief in his heart far outweighed the pain in the calf muscle of his right leg. Had it not been for the brace Hamish devised when Edan was but a bairn, were it not for the rigorous warriors training Hamish insisted Edan participate in, Edan knew he would lie dead as well.

  The night before the battle, Hamish took Edan to one side. He told Edan he would not be returning to the glen. When Edan would have remonstrated with Hamish, his older half-brother put a hand on his mouth.

  "Wheesht! Laddie, I've ah duty for ye. Rhona is with child. She's nae gontae agree, mind? She will fight ye like ah wild thing, but all we have left is tha bairn she carries in her womb. Ye will be laird, laddie. Ye must protect what little there be left of MacGrough."

  "Nae, Hamish! Has she said? How can ye ken what is to happen?"

  Hamish sighed. Wrapping his plaid a bit closer to his body, he tapped Edan lightly on the chin.

  "I've tha sight, laddie. I've seen tha carnage ahead. This will be tha end of Scotland Tha Brave for ah long time. But I need ye tae care for tha bairn. If ye can keep yerself, tha lad an Rhona alive, someday, I ken, tha glen will be ours again. But 'tis so far ahead in tha mists, it may be generations away. Much as tha begats in tha good book, from Adam to Jesu."

  Edan shook his dark head. The things Hamish was saying caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise.

  "Ye cannae ken this. Tis nae given to mortals' tae see such."

  "I have seen. I ken tha truth." Hamish placed his broad hand on his heart. "For years, laddie I've been preparing ye tae pick up tha mantle. T'was evil tried tae wipe us out when yur leg were twisted. But ye have overcome. Ye're as braw as any man. Be wise as ah serpent, Edan, an when tha bloody traitors come, hide behind tha lame leg."

  "Hamish, if ye ken this, why do ye go intae ah battle which will cost so dearly?"

  "I've nae choice. Honor gives me nae choice. But ye're MacGrough's only hope, ye an tha bairn. The bairn needs Rhona tae survive. Ye shall have need of her strength an courage as well, once she is of ah mind tae live. Tha will tae live will come when she feels tha bairn move inside her. Until then, ye must keep her alive. Give her nae choice, Edan."

  "She willnae believe me. Let me go in yur place, brother. Only ye can curb tha hellion."

  "There're two things which will put doubt intae her mind, enough doubt that, if ye're careful, ye will be able tae make her listen. First, I told her before we marched she was with child. Second, I told her I was sending ye back tae care for what is left. Tis a bad business, laddie, I ken, but ye're up for it, Edan."

  "Hamish, she will think I've deserted ye!"

  "Nae, Edan. In her heart, Rhona knows ye would never leave me unless ordered tae do so."

  "Nae! I've nae wish tae be left behind. I love ye, brother. How can we survive without ye?"

  Hamish, laird MacGrough, leaned forward to pull Edan into his embrace.

  "Ye've always been the best of brothers, Edan. God kens how I will miss ye. But I'm commanding ye tae do this. Ye must, or all ceases here. Dinnae tarry tomorrow, laddie."

  Hamish put his big hand against the back of Edan's neck. The younger man leaned his forehead against that of his elder brother. A groan escaped him.

  "Dinna make me, Hamish. Dinna leave me alone. Please?"

  At some point in the early morning hours, Hamish Cadell MacGrough, hit Edan in the head with something. Edan knew not what, but it knocked him out until near mid day. He also hid Edan deep beneath a gorse bush away from the battlefield. Now, Edan knew the third reason why Rhona would believe him. The knot on his head was proof of Edan's lack of choice.

  Unfortunately, he tarried. He disobeyed Hamish when he searched for his brother's body on the field. Edan left his plaid where Hamish had hidden him. Due to his lame leg and the need to wear the brace, Edan never wore a kilt, but always wore trews. Not the close fitting kind, usually wo
rn, but long, loose trews, which covered his legs to his ankles.

  His habit served him well, as no one questioned a lame scavenger dressed in worn leather trews. Edan was unable to bury the other warriors who died protecting Hamish. He could only hope the enemy would take pity on the dead and bury them. Likely, it would be a mass grave somewhere close. But, Hamish would be buried on clan land. Hamish represented them all.

  Somehow, Edan managed to hoist the dead weight of his brother onto his back. Struggling from the field, Edan hobbled back to the place where Hamish had hidden him. It was then that he found the horse. Edan was not looking for the horse when he woke, as his only thought was to find Hamish and stand with him.

  But the Laird MacGrough planned well. There was also a pack containing food and a Campbell plaid. As Edan's mother had been a Campbell woman, he was entitled to wear it. Hamish thought of everything.

  What awaited Edan was nearly as frightening as the battle would have been. Rhona was a hellion of the first water. Only Hamish was able to gentle their wild third cousin. She became nearly biddable, once safely married to Hamish. The woman would be wild with grief. Edan tried to think of ways to deal with her. How in the name of God would he keep her from killing the three of them?

  Edan knew where to find her. Hamish commanded her to wait in the old cottage below the corrie.

  He slept little and walked as far and as quickly as he could. But he must hurry. Not only was Hamish's body deteriorating, there was the gold. He must get to the keep. If others got there before him and took possession, there would be no chance to get the gold.

  Edan found it far easier to plan what to do with the Templar's treasure as he hurried homeward. He would leave the jewels. They would be safe. Perhaps later, when the glen was theirs again, the jewels would be useful. Attempting to sell them, would only put him in a position of having to deal with questions he would be unable to answer. The gold was another matter. Gold could be easily used to buy what they would need to stay alive.

  "Laird of MacGrough!"

  Mumbling under his breath, Edan shook his head. Laird of a few women and children, with nary another man to work the land. They must have the gold or they would all starve. He could not hold the glen without warriors. The fields would be impossible to plow and seed without men. Attempting to keep the cattle safe with only the children, was a fool's errand.

  The women would try. He knew they would work as hard as they could, but there were not enough MacGroughs left to do what was needed. They were always a small clan and now they would suffer for lack of numbers.

  Glasgow was the only path open Edan could see. In order to survive in the city, they would need money. Even the gold they possessed would not be sufficient to keep them very long in the city, if they did not have some way of earning money.

  When he stumbled and nearly fell down a rocky incline, Edan knew he must rest. A small meadow, only wide enough for the horse to graze in, opened before him. Edan slumped down against the trunk of a tree. He tied the horse's reins securely to his wrist. The animal would wake him once all the available greenery was consumed.

  Edan woke to find the horse had pulled him away from the tree and to one side of the trunk. Shaking his head to try to clear the fog of exhaustion from his mind, Edan set off again.

  He was skirting the edge of MacNab lands. If he could continue on, by tomorrow eve he would be in the glen. Then, God help him, he would be dealing with Rhona. Edan hoped her mother, Evina, would be able to calm her down enough so they might get Hamish's body taken care of.

  The first order of business would be to get Hamish buried in the glen. He would do whatever it took to keep the witch under control. Edan was not above tying her to a tree if need be.

  There was no love lost between him and Rhona. All through childhood, Rhona made his life hell. Never once did she let him forget he was lame. Even when he matched Hamish stroke for stroke with a sword, Rhona was there to remind him of his twisted leg. It got to the point where he hated the sight of her.

  When he was a child, he once asked her why she hated him. With a toss of her black braids, Rhona told him he was ugly with his mismatched eyes and limp. He never again spoke with her, unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Daracha came into his thoughts. She took his hand in hers last fall. She was fair, all red gold curls, blue eyes and skin like fresh cream. He nearly fell over when Daracha kissed him. The thought of their first kiss was a heady thing, affecting him much as a dram of uisge did.

  For a moment, he stopped plodding along. The horse shuffled to a halt behind him with a soft whoosh of breath against his back. Edan had not considered how his being with Daracha would affect the other women. Their men would not be coming home.

  His head began to throb again. Edan took another step then one more. He and Daracha would need to put off any thought of marriage for a good long time. It would not be right to force the others to watch the two of them, when all their lives were ripped apart.

  Edan began to curse the Sassenach whore's sons who took their freedom and the lives of the clansmen he called kin. He thought of cursing Hamish for placing this burden on him, but could not. Instead, he began to pray for the lost. Edan prayed God would welcome them with open arms. They were all good men and deserved a place at the feast table in heaven. Then he prayed for strength and the wisdom to protect what was left.

  Clan Campbell was another matter entirely. His mother's people once again, chose the winning side. It was the reason Hamish left him the Campbell tartan, it was a message to hide himself under their banner.

  "Nae! I willnae! I was born MacGrough and MacGrough will be on tha tombstane I lie beneath!"

  A rock slipped beneath his right foot. A sharp pain shot through his right calf muscle as he fought to stay upright. His tight grip on the reins of the horse jerked its head downward. The animal reared backwards slightly, pulling him upright. It arched its neck and sidestepped against the pull of the reins.

  "Och! Easy now. We're nearly home an you've been a great help tae me, beastie."

  Edan patted the horse's neck. He crooned softly to the animal, as he used the time to steady himself as well. The pain in his leg eased some, but Edan was certain without the brace, he might have fallen.

  For an instant, the thought of leaving Hamish's body here, so he might ride the balance of the way home flitted into his mind. The dull ache in the muscle and bone of his leg brought on the dishonorable notion.

  "Bugger that! Hamish carries tha clan in him. We bury him, we bury all."

  Leaning his forehead against the muscled neck of the horse, Edan took a deep breath, then turned and began to walk again.

  Chapter Two

  It was late afternoon when Edan, the horse and its burden, entered the head of the glen. It was a beautiful spring day. Small puffy white clouds drifted in from the west coast. Stopping the horse on the brow of the hillside he viewed the scene laid out before him.

  Entirely too quiet, there was no movement to be seen below him. The cottages and the keep looked small from where he stood. They also looked deserted. Edan hoped the women and bairns had taken shelter in the old cottage, where Rhona was supposed to be waiting.

  The cliffs where the MacGroughs' quarried stone lay to his left. Beyond the quarry lay a thick forest below the lip of the corrie. The burn tumbled out of the corrie to flow along the left side of the glen. In the shelter of the forest lay the old cottage.

  "Och, Hamish. I've brought ye home, laddie. I'm thinking to put ye beneath tha lip of tha cliff an loosen tha blessed thing. None will ever find ye. Yur bones will be safe here. But, we willnae be able tae stay. I'm praying ye saw tha straight of it, an someday MacGroughs will fill this glen. For now, I'm off tae beard yur lioness in her den. Dinnae be angry with me, if I must hurt her ah mite."

  Tugging on the reins, he encouraged the weary horse by clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. There was no hope for it. Hamish needed to be put to rest and Rhona dealt with.


  The pain in his leg was a constant thing now. Edan wondered if it was so greatly damaged that it would ache forever. It mattered little. Ache or not, he must get the gold, get Hamish interred and get the chests out of his workshop.

  Besides farming and fighting, there was one other skill he possessed which might keep them alive in Glasgow, he could do anything with wood. Over the winter he made the chests, eight in all. The finish work was yet to be done, the mounting of hinges and locks. It was something he usually left for the good days, when he could work outside.

  They would fill the chests with whatever provisions were left, place them in a cart and leave the glen. The tool chest was another matter. Edan was not sure he could even lift it to transport the thing. It was something he would need to deal with later.

  Daracha and her grandmother were expert weavers. If they still had another horse it might be wise to dismantle both looms and take them along. Good weavers could turn a bit of coin.

  Edan found the game trail he was looking for and followed it past the base of the quarry toward the stand of trees. With a heavy sigh, he plodded on. His right heel was dragging slightly as he moved slowly forward. Very soon, he would be in the middle of a storm he was not ready to encounter.

  As he entered the clearing around the cottage, Edan gave a shout. The door opened and several women rushed out. Rhona was in the lead.

  She took several running steps toward him, before she looked at the plaid wrapped bundle on the horse. "Where are the rest, Edan?"

  "There's only me, Rhona. I could only bring one back. I brought Hamish, as he was the MacGrough. Ye ken?"

  The scream bounced back off the walls of the cottage. As he watched, she released Hamish's body from the back of the horse. When it fell to the ground, she knelt beside him threw herself on the woolen wrapped corpse and began to wail.