Highland Lies (The Band of Cousins Book 4)

by Keira Montclair

  He kissed her lightly on the lips and waited with her until Constance returned. The only words he could think of were, “Be careful.”

  He mounted his horse and tugged on the reins. Unable to stop himself, he glanced back once and had to smile. Constance was pulling Rose toward the castle while Rose stared back at him. She lifted her hand in a brief wave before turning around.

  Daniel snorted. “Are you going to thank me?”

  Roddy pulled his horse abreast of Daniel’s and said, “For what? I wish you’d taken longer.”

  Daniel drawled, “If I hadn’t come along, you’d have bedded her, and I’d be taking you both to the abbey to get married.”

  Roddy shook his head, annoyed by the implication. “You’re such an arse sometimes, Ghost. After all my mother endured, I would never treat a lass that way.” Before meeting his sire, his mother had been abused by a bad man. His sire had told him the story when he was old enough to understand it.

  Daniel arched a brow at Roddy, then sent his horse into a full gallop. Roddy did the same, and easily matched his pace.

  They hadn’t traveled far when an odd feeling overtook Roddy. He glanced up at the sky, noticing a few birds circling overhead—the falcons and one other. He couldn’t shake the strange sensation, but he couldn’t decide exactly what to do about it either.

  Not long after, they caught sight of a few horses up ahead. Braden and Will had dismounted and were talking with Maggie, Gregor, and Uncle Brodie.

  Once they came alongside of them and dismounted, Roddy asked, “Your headache is gone, Maggie?”

  She gave him a look that told him the reason she was here was not a good one. Sighing, she whispered, “Aye, my headache is better but only because I know what’s to come.” She beckoned them all closer so they could talk quietly. Even though no one else was around, he guessed talking loudly would risk bringing Maggie’s headache back. “I fell asleep and dreamed of two people working together against one. One was of the cloth—man or woman, I couldn’t be sure. The other was verra wealthy, and I’m quite sure ’twas a woman. They were discussing two large shipments of lasses. Some were in nuns’ clothing. And I saw one other strange thing. A bird.”

  “Was it one of my falcons, do you think?” Will asked. The falcons called out overhead as if they knew they were the topic of discussion.

  Roddy glanced up at them—and when one of them swooped down, he realized he recognized the third bird of prey circling them.

  Braden echoed his thoughts, “’Tis an owl.”

  “Hellfire, nay.” Roddy’s gut clenched in response to the soft “hoo” the bird called down to him. He knew at once it was the same owl he’d seen at the abbey.

  “What does he want?” Braden muttered, stepping away from the group.

  “I know not,” Roddy said. “But I’m going to find out if I can.”

  “Shite, Roddy! Is that the same one you saw before?” Daniel asked, as they all stared up into the sky.

  Roddy rubbed the rough stubble of his beard. “I think so, but I won’t know until I see it up close. I need to see its eyes.”

  “We’ll get him down here then,” Will said, his confidence obvious as he strode over to his horse. “You know I would trust any warning or foreboding from a bird.”

  The creature swooped in closer, hooting several times as if to get someone’s attention.

  Will pulled something from his horse’s saddle and carried it over to Roddy. “Here,” he said, setting the bit of fabric on his arm, “See if he’ll alight.” He arranged it carefully and stepped back. “Hold your arm up.”

  “What the hell does an owl have to do with all this?” Gavin asked, seemingly mystified.

  Uncle Brodie said, “You don’t question certain things, lad. You just accept them, whatever the reason. Step out farther, Roddy. He fears the rest of us.”

  “Agreed,” Will said. “Move away and lift your arm higher. I’ll send my falcons off.” He waved his arms and the two creatures flew away. The owl dipped even closer. “And when he lands, the rest of you are to be quiet. This is between the owl and Roddy.” He motioned them all back a few steps.

  The owl looked as though it had tall, erect ears, though Roddy knew them to be just feathers. He stared at it in wonder as it swooped even farther down, almost alighting on his arm, but then glided up again, as if checking to see all was safe.

  “Don’t move, Roddy.”

  The bird began to make snapping sounds intermittent with squeals, odd sounds he’d never heard a bird make before.

  “He’s not going to attack him, will he, Will?” Maggie asked.

  “Nay. Hold strong, Roddy. He’ll fly straight at you, then lift his wings vertically to slow his descent. His talons will come at you first.”

  Roddy held still with his arm extended, stunned as he watched the large owl come at him just as Will had described. He fought the urge to run from the bird of prey’s talons and held solid until the big bird landed on the material Will had provided to protect his skin.

  “’Tis the same one, Roddy?” Daniel asked, but Will shushed him.

  Roddy stared at the great bird, its wings now tucked in at its sides, its goldish orange eyes fixed on Roddy’s. “Greetings, my friend.”

  The owl snapped its beak several times again, its wings lifting briefly before it tucked them in again. It couldn’t speak to him in the traditional manner, but he could intuit its message much as he could intuit the meaning of Rose’s gestures and mouthed words.

  “Rose is in trouble, isn’t she?” he asked. “You want me to go after her, do you not?”

  The owl closed his eyes as if in relief and said “hoo” three times.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rose led Constance to some of her favorite spots on the cliffs, demonstrating her agility on the rocks. Her friend had a more difficult time clambering over the rocks, though mayhap that was not so surprising. The gowns given to them by the abbey weren’t exactly conducive to free movement. They were moving across one more set of rocks down near the edge of the loch when Rose saw something from the corner of her eye. She held her hand up to her friend. They both came to a stop, and Rose pointed out toward the loch.

  Then she saw it again.

  A beacon.

  Constance gasped. “I saw that.” Her voice dropped to the barest of whispers. “Is that what they’re looking for, Rose?”

  Rose traced the letters of the word “bad” on Constance’s palm.

  “Och, if ’tis bad, we must leave. We can go after Roddy.” A worried look rose on her face. “Nay, we don’t have horses, do we?” Her finger played with her lower lip. “What shall we do? We had best hide. I don’t wish to see your mother. Though it doesn’t mean she’ll be here, does it? How many servants work for her?”

  Rose held up three fingers, then gripped her friend’s hand and led her back to the caves. They could sneak inside the castle and stay in the cellars. There they would be able to hear anything that took place in the castle or in the caves.

  They found their way into the cellars of the castle, and Rose led Constance into a small chamber with two beds in it. “What shall we do?” Constance asked. “There’s a ship coming this way. Is it docking here or at the other place? Why would it shine a beacon? Who could it be signaling? There’s no one here. I don’t understand. Oh, where are the lads? We need them.”

  Constance tended to babble when she was upset, so Rose let her do so. Then she heard the voice she’d dreaded.

  Her mother.

  She was arguing with someone, but Rose couldn’t hear the other voice.

  “Why did you allow the child to leave? If I’m lucky, the fool will get lost in the forest and eaten by a pack of wolves. She’s always been naught but trouble to me, ever since the day she was born.”

  Constance jerked and grabbed both of her hands. “Rose, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Rose shook her head, attempting to tell her friend not to be sorry for her. She knew her mother was a cruel
woman…and yet, the words had a bite. Her own mother wished her dead.

  “And I hope you’re not going to turn out to be the fool Walter was. He coddled that lass as if he’d given birth to her himself.”

  “Now, Jean. Forget about your daughter for the moment. We must deal with this exchange. The other one failed, so this one must go ahead if you wish to make coin. Your friend in England may not send us another ship if we don’t make this shipment. We can deal with Rose when she turns up, and she will. For now, you must follow my lead. You’ve never dealt with these men before, and trust me, they are not what you’d call an ethical lot.”

  Rose and Constance stared at each other, wide-eyed. Did Constance recognize the voice the same way she had?

  “Father Seward,” Constance whispered. “I’m frightened, Rose.”

  Her mother’s usual vindictive tone bounced off the stone walls of the castle. “Your abbey has sloppy guardsmen. How could they not notice a lass sneaking out of an abbey? For heaven’s sake, there were two lasses.”

  “I told you, they were stolen away by several young warriors. My guards tried to follow them, but two of the men lost their lives because of it. I was not willing to lose any more of them until this exchange is made. There are seven lasses.”

  “Find my daughter and her friend and we’ll sell them, also.”

  Constance gasped and gripped Rose’s arm, the fear in her eyes clear, but Rose would not allow her mother to control her any longer. She would not let her win, not when the stakes were so high.

  She patted Constance’s hand and mouthed the words, “Do not worry. The lads will come.” This seemed to calm her friend a bit, but she was still noticeably upset. Would she be able to stay calm when the time came to act?

  Rose checked the dagger sewn inside her gown. She would stay calm, without a doubt.

  Her mother began to pace, the sound of her footfalls echoing through the drafty old castle. “Where would those lads take my daughter and her friend?”

  “They’re not here, my sweet. Stop worrying your pretty head about it. In fact, we have just enough time for a brief tumble in your sheets before the boat arrives. No one else is here except your steward, and he’s busy down by the dock.”

  “Nay. We have to find her. I want her on the boat,” her mother said with a surprising amount of vehemence.

  Father Seward said, “Nay, we’ve agreed. She’s not going on the boat. I want her to stay.”

  “I know, Bernard. I know you’re fond of the lass and wish to keep her at the new abbey, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll get good coin for her. She’s suspicious and I don’t like it. I want her gone. What if she remembers?”

  Father Seward’s pleasant tone changed in an instant, his voice loud enough to cover Constance’s shocked gasp. “I don’t care if you don’t like it. We had an agreement and you’ll stick to it.”

  The two lasses stared at each other in disbelief.

  “Bernard, are you suggesting what I think you are? She’s much too young for you.”

  “You said you wish to go back to England. You’ll never have to see her again once you leave. She’ll live at Abbey of Angels. I’ll tell her you died, if you like. But I’ll not give her up.”

  ***

  Roddy pushed his horse to the point of exhaustion, driven by the fear of something happening to Rose. He couldn’t stomach the thought of anything happening to her, hadn’t realized how much she meant to him. He’d quite liked having her tucked in front of him on his horse and holding her in his arms to kiss her senseless.

  Why didn’t it bother him that she couldn’t speak?

  Because it didn’t. Others would probably question him, mayhap even call him a fool, but she was a quick learner, and soon she’d be fluent in reading and writing. They could communicate that way.

  Daniel and Connor were at his side, and another friend, the owl, flew just ahead of him as if leading the way.

  Will yelled to them from behind. They’d just crested the highest spot along the loch, giving them a panoramic view of the water. Roddy tried to understand him, but he couldn’t until he noticed Will’s pointing finger.

  The beacon had passed the spot where they’d thought it would dock at the firth, instead heading straight for MacDole Castle.

  The owl’s cry filled the air.

  Roddy refused to let his fear get to him.

  The owl would lead them straight back to Rose.

  ***

  Rose cracked open the door to their chamber in the cellars because she could no longer hear clearly. Her mother’s voice had dropped, and she’d missed something she’d said, but Father Seward answered her clearly enough to be heard down on the loch.

  “Jean, you are a cruel woman. I cannot believe anyone would treat their own child the way you’ve treated that sweet lass. For heaven’s sake, she can’t hear or speak.”

  “Oh, you dimwitted hedgehog. I’ve told you she can hear quite well. I just frightened her enough never to speak again. You helped me scare her or do you not recall? You tied her down and held her.”

  “But she was so medicated she does not remember. Does that memory not haunt you? I’ll hear that child’s screams for the rest of my life.”

  Her mother began to mutter and pace again, but Rose could barely hear it. A sick feeling had begun to creep from her core through her limbs. Something caught in her mind, something Father Seward had said. How he’d held her down. Why? What had happened to her? She had to know. Her mother would not get away with any more secrets.

  It sounded as if her mother had dropped something heavy, but the sound felt far away. “Rose,” Constance said, shaking her arm. She’d obviously said it a few times already. “Rose? What did she do to you? Oh, you poor thing. How have you survived to be the sweet lass you are with such a cruel mother?”

  Suddenly the lies and secrets all weighed a little too much. Without thinking on it, Rose pushed the door open and chased up the stairway in a fury.

  What had her mother done to her?

  Chapter Twenty

  Rose opened the door at the top of the stairs, made haste through the kitchens and into the great hall, where she was surprised to find her mother alone.

  Her mother leapt up from her seat at one of the trestle tables. She greeted her quite appropriately, or so Rose thought.

  “You daft bitch. Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Have you not caused me enough trouble?” She raced over to Rose and grabbed her by the arm, squeezing her hard enough to bruise the skin. She pulled her other arm back to deliver a slap.

  Rose didn’t give her the chance, instead taking advantage of her balance to shove the woman, something that clearly shocked Lady MacDole because she fell against the table, hitting her head hard.

  Constance came up beside her, her eyes fearful but determined, and said to her mother, “You are a cruel bitch, are you not? Who treats their own daughter the way you have?”

  Her mother pushed herself away from the table and came at Constance, reaching out to slap her friend, but Rose was faster, catching her arm and pushing her backward. That wasn’t enough to stop her frenzied mother. She charged around the table for Constance, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her backward. “Rose, you’ll do as I say or I’ll hurt her.”

  No longer afraid of the woman, Rose corralled the fury inside her into something strong. She mouthed the words, “Let. Her. Go.”

  Her mother laughed. “I’ll do as I wish with her. In fact, there’s a ship on its way here. If you don’t do as I ask, I’ll sell her to the men on that ship. They’ll pay me good coin for her. Unless you wish to lose your friend, you’ll heed my words.” She dragged Constance over to the wall, yanking a dagger down from a display case carrying weaponry. This she held at Constance’s back.

  Rose stared at her friend, who had begun to tremble, doing her best to tell her to be strong.

  “Go down the staircase, Rose,” her mother said. “We’ll be directly behind you. Do not run away or
I’ll stab your friend in the back. Do as I say and I won’t hurt her.”

  Rose knew exactly what her mother intended. She was going to lock them into the chamber in the cellar.

  She couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to stop her before they reached the staircase. Rose slowed her steps just to annoy her mother. How she hated it when her daughter didn’t do exactly as she was instructed. Then Rose’s eyes fell on exactly what she needed.

  “Stop delaying the inevitable, Rose,” her mother snapped. “Go down the staircase and hurry.”

  To throw her mother off a wee bit more, she began to walk in a strange path, teetering one way and then the other.

  “Rose MacDole. Do as I say!”

  Rose continued meandering, swinging her arms out as if she needed the help to stay balanced.

  “Rose, I’m warning you!”

  She swung her arms one way and then the other, back and forth, giving herself a wide berth. At the last second, she grabbed two apples from a crate on a table and flung them at her mother, one catching her in the forehead, the shock of the blow forcing her to drop the dagger. Constance squealed and ran free.

  Using one of the moves Roddy had taught her, Rose grabbed her mother, spun her around, and pinned her to the floor among the rushes. Yanking out her dagger, she held it against her mother’s throat.

  Her mother spewed hatred. “For once, you’ve surprised me. I did not know you had the strength to do such a thing. You’ve always been so weak.”

  Rose couldn’t handle the vile words coming from her mother’s mouth. She mouthed the words she wished to tell her, starting with, “Hate you. Cruel.” Then she looked at Constance for assistance, mouthing a few words to her because she knew her friend would get her point across better than she ever could.

  “I’d be glad to tell her for you. How could you be so mean? You told her having her courses was punishment for kissing a lad. How could you say such a thing? You intended for her to stay at the abbey forever, didn’t you? She’d never stop having her courses so she’d never return here, would she? Just because you loved Father Seward? What else do you wish for me to tell her, Rose?”