Once Upon a Highland Moon (The Highland Moon Series)

by Gwyn Brodie

  The two men were on their feet in seconds, readying the horses for a quick departure.

  Galen raced past them to where Sorcha sat rubbing her eyes. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Quick, lass. We must leave this place."

  "What is the matter?" she asked, trying to keep up, as they hurried to her horse. He practically pitched her into the saddle, and Cinead tossed Sorcha her reins.

  "Men are headed this way." Galen swung into the saddle, and kneed his stallion into a run, with the others close behind. If they were lucky, they'd reach Ravenskull before the men following caught up. Then they'd have Kade's garrison to aid them, should a battle ensue.

  They rode at the fastest pace possible along the narrow glen. Galen glanced over at Sorcha. Her long hair whipped out behind her, her green eyes wide, her lips and cheeks red from the wind. Saints above! She was exquisite.

  Not wishing to exhaust the horses, Galen slowed the pace.

  Sorcha fell in beside him. "Which is it? Alexander, or Archibald?"

  "I'm not certain, lass. Whoever 'tis, they're in a hurry. If we can make it to Ravenskull, we'll not have to worry about being outnumbered in a fight." "Galen, we've reached MacLachlan land." Duncan pointed to a tower shaped rock that marked the MacLachlan boundary.

  "Aye, 'tis not much farther now." Galen smiled at Sorcha. "You'll be sleeping in a warm bed tonight, lass."

  Sorcha's cheeks became even redder.

  He smiled, wondering what thought had passed through her mind.

  Shouts and the thunder of hooves echoed through the valley. The garrison had drawn closer than he'd expected.

  Cinead swung his horse around. "Go! I'll catch up after I find out how much of a lead we have, if any," he said, heading back the way they'd just come.

  "Have a care, Cin," Galen called after him.

  The three of them kneed their horses into a run, heading straight for Ravenskull.

  "What of Cinead? He'll never catch up to us now," Sorcha said, keeping her horse at a steady pace beside Galen's.

  "Och, don't fash yourself, lass. Cin's Shadowmere is faster than any horse I've come across."

  Sure enough it wasn't long before Cinead was running with them once again. "There's perhaps twenty to twenty-five men. The man leading them is not Alexander MacPherson. He is tall and sits a white horse."

  "'Tis Archibald," Sorcha cried out. "He's a vicious man. He'll kill all of you if given the chance." Tears streamed down her cheeks, but were quickly dried by the wind whipping across her face.

  Galen had come to care a great deal for Sorcha and was determined to protect her against Campbell, even if it meant putting his own life in jeopardy. Admitting his feelings to himself was like a kick in the chest, but it spurred him on. No matter what it took he would get her to safety. "We'll take the path along the cliffs," Galen said. "'Twill save us at least a two hour ride."

  Duncan frowned. "'Twill be dangerous if we don't slow our pace. But I agree, 'twill save us time."

  "Aye," Cinead said, his brows lowered. "The three of us have used it many times over the years, but if the lady's horse takes one false step, she's done for."

  "Then she'll ride with me. Halt your horse, Sorcha," he shouted, quickly bringing his mount alongside hers. He curved one arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.

  She swung her leg over the horse's back, then held onto the saddle.

  Galen wrapped a protective arm around her, glad to have her near him in case of trouble.

  Duncan grabbed her mare's reins and raced off to join Cinead farther ahead.

  Soon the glen lay behind them and below them, the sea, beating an age's old rhythm against the jagged rocks. They'd been forced to slow their pace, lessening the risk of being injured or perhaps even killed, but also giving Campbell time to catch up. Galen was certain the man would soon realize they'd left the road and come after them.

  Galen looked up at the sky. 'Twas afternoon and none of them had eaten a bite since the evening before. Food would have to wait until they reached Ravenskull.

  Nearby, voices rose and fell with the sound of the waves. He glanced over at Cinead, who'd already brought his stallion to a halt and slipped to the ground.

  Cinead crawled on his belly to the edge of the cliff and peered over. Then hurried back, pointing down, signaling that the garrison was on the shore below. He swung back into his saddle and they hurried on.

  "Galen, I'm terrified that Archibald will kill all of you." Sorcha clutched his forearm. "I couldn't bear it, for I've grown very fond of the three of you."

  "Och, lass, I hope you're fonder of me than you are of those two, after that kiss last night," he teased.

  She glanced over her shoulder and smiled up at him. "You ken I am. I care a great deal for you. That's why I couldn't bear to see your life ended because of me."

  He didn't wish her to blame herself should that happen. "'Twould be my own fault, Sorcha, not yours. Remember, I'm the one who kidnapped you." He kissed the top of her head. Galen had come to care a great deal for her—more than any other female he'd known—but such words had never come easy.

  Aye, he loved the lasses, but after a night of passion, he'd simply gone his own way. But his feelings for Sorcha were somehow very different.

  They'd passed over the cliffs unscathed, and were almost at the crest of the knoll, where a wide meadow lay at the bottom on the other side. Once they crossed the meadow and turned left, 'twas a straight shot through the gates of Ravenskull.

  "MacKinnon," shouted a voice from behind them. Galen didn't have to ask Sorcha to ken it was Campbell. He could see it in her frightened expression. "Let my betrothed go and you and your friends might leave this place with your lives still intact."

  "Nay," Sorcha cried, "he lies, for Archibald Campbell's pride will never allow any of you to live."

  Galen frowned. "How the devil does he ken who I am?"

  "Alex must have sent him a missive."

  He nodded. "Aye, that makes sense."

  Galen, Cinead and Duncan halted their horses in unison, and swung about to face Campbell. Duncan and Cinead brought their horses around to flank Galen's stallion.

  Campbell and his garrison had stopped their advance. He was up to something, Galen was certain of it, and he didn't like it one bit.

  "The lass does not wish to marry you, Campbell. Why do you think she left?" Galen shouted.

  Campbell threw back his head and laughed, bringing Galen's heated anger to a boil.

  "No matter, she's betrothed to me and thus will do as I say. If she does not come to me, I will have no other choice than to take her from you."

  Galen looked from Cinead to Duncan. No way in hell was Campbell going to have Sorcha. "We fight."

  "Aye, we will at that." Cinead raised his broadsword into the air.

  "I agree," Duncan said, with a nod.

  Knowing it would further anger Campbell, Galen tilted Sorcha's face up to his and kissed her passionately on the lips. To his surprise, she fervently kissed him back. Shaken to the core, he jumped off his horse and helped her down. After leading her out of Campbell's line of vision, he quickly lifted her up onto her own horse and handed Sorcha the reins. "Once you cross the meadow, you'll come to a road. Turn left and that will lead you to Ravenskull. Tell Kade what has happened here. Godspeed, lass." He took her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles, before letting her go.

  With tears sparkling in her eyes, she nodded, then raced away.

  Saints above! She looked magnificent, with her hair streaming out behind her as she rode over the knoll with the skill of a warrior. Galen looked after Sorcha, until he could no longer see her, then swung onto the back of his stallion.

  "You'll pay dearly, MacKinnon, for forcing yourself upon the woman I'm to marry," Campbell said, before turning to speak with several of his garrison.

  Galen quickly assessed their surroundings. "We need a place to hold them off until Kade can get here. We can't let Campbell ken that Sorcha is no l
onger with us. If he realizes she's gone, he'll go after her."

  "What about that circle of rock, beneath the overhang," said Cinead, pointing up and to their left. "'Twill be a hard place for his archers to hit us, and we won't have to worry about watching our backs."

  Duncan nodded. "Aye."

  "Then let's go, before Campbell gives his men orders to attack." They quickly dismounted, grabbed their weapons and hurried up to the rock formation. With targes and dirks in place, they unsheathed their broadswords and waited for Campbell to make the next move.

  "What if Kade doesn't reach us in time?" Duncan asked.

  Galen snorted. "I've faith in the lass. She'll find Kade soon enough."

  Duncan and Cinead nodded.

  "Kill them, but bring the woman to me unharmed," Campbell shouted to the six men already racing up the rocks toward them.

  Cinead, a good four inches taller—with much longer arms—than either Galen or Duncan, took the first two men out with one wide swing of his broadsword.

  Another drew his last breath at the end of Galen's dirk, while Duncan injured yet another when his blade sliced along the man's ribcage, leaving him writhing on the ground and yelping in pain.

  The last two men hesitated. It didn't appear they wished to rush into battle as quickly as the others had, especially with them being outnumbered and outsized. They glanced back and forth between the three warriors facing them.

  "What are you waiting for, you fools?" Campbell shouted. "I ordered you to kill them."

  Instead of obeying their laird, they turned and hurried back down the knoll and to their garrison.

  "You idiots, if you can't follow my orders, you're no longer needed," shrieked Campbell. He struck one of the men with his fist, knocking him down. The second moved out of his reach. After the man crawled up from the ground, the two of them mounted their horses and rode off in the opposite direction.

  Without warning, Campbell's archers let loose a steady stream of arrows.

  Galen, Cinead and Duncan, barely had time to get behind their targes, before they rained down around them, one coming to a stop in Galen's targe, and another in Cinead's, while yet others bounced off the surrounding rocks. The air stilled and they carefully got to their feet.

  Campbell rode back and forth before his garrison like a rooster before a flock of hens.

  "Och, he'll not have Sorcha. I'll see to it," Galen said through clenched teeth.

  Cinead leaned back against the rock and grinned, his gaze on the scene below. "The lass has taken your heart, then?"

  "Did you not see, Cin, how moon-eyed he's been ever since he first laid eyes on her?" Duncan said, keeping a close watch on the happenings below.

  "Aye, I saw. When I went to wake him this morning, he was sleeping as contentedly as a bairn in its ma's arms, with his own arms wrapped around the lass."

  "'Tis true that in the couple of days we've been together I've become very fond of her." Galen watched Campbell gather another half-a-dozen men around him.

  Cinead chuckled. "Even a blind man could see that. It didn't help matters none that you kissed her right in front of the man she's supposed to wed. But under the circumstances, I would have done the same. She is a comely lass."

  Galen quickly glanced over at Cinead, who wore a broad grin.

  He smiled. "Aye, she is at that," Galen said, not minding a wee bit of teasing.

  Duncan chuckled. "A bit jealous, are we now?"

  He grinned. Cinead and Duncan, along with Kade, were his closest friends. He trusted them with his life and would trust them with Sorcha's, as well. If they'd not come along with him on this journey, he'd more than likely be dead by now and she would once again be in Campbell's cruel clutches.

  Several of Campbell's guards dismounted and were now climbing up the rocks toward them.

  Galen looked over at Cinead.

  His pale brows were lowered and his broadsword held high.

  Duncan gripped a dirk in one hand and his broadsword in the other, the bulging muscles of his forearms proof of the immense strength he possessed.

  What an ironic twist of fate. Two days ago, he'd kidnapped Sorcha, and today he'd entrusted her with their very lives.

  Chapter Six

  Tears stung Sorcha's eyes as she kneed her horse into a run. She'd found the road leading to Ravenskull Castle, just as Galen said she would.

  She'd imagined herself in love with John, but what she'd felt for him was naught compared to the feelings she had for Galen. The thought of never again feeling his strong arms around her, his warm lips against hers, or his breath hot against her cheek, caused her tears to flow unchecked. She had to find Kade. Determination spurred her onward.

  Voices reached her from the wood to her left. She cut the mare in that direction, staying close to the horse's neck to keep from being knocked off by low-hanging branches. She prayed it was Kade and his men she would find there and not a band of highwaymen.

  The wood opened up into a field, and a garrison surrounded a man she guessed to be Galen's friend, Kade. He stood as tall as Galen with a similar build and dark hair that reached to his shoulders.

  "I'm in much need of your help!" Sorcha screamed as she raced toward them.

  All eyes were on her as she rode into the circle of men and halted her horse. "Laird MacLachlan?" She asked the man she thought to be him.

  He raised a brow. "Aye. And who might you be?"

  "I am Lady Sorcha MacPherson. Galen, Cinead and Duncan are doing battle as we speak and are in need of your help."

  His brows lowered. "Then where are they, lass?"

  "I'll show you," she said, spinning her horse around.

  "Mount up and ready yourselves for battle," Kade shouted to his men, swinging into the saddle of a chestnut stallion.

  After reaching the edge of the meadow she'd earlier crossed, she brought her horse to a halt. "A garrison, led by Laird Archibald Campbell, is at the base of the hill on the other side. Galen and the others are at the top."

  Kade unsheathed his broadsword. "Shaw," he said to the man beside him. "Take several men to the right and move in behind Campbell. He'll not be expecting us."

  "Aye, laird," Shaw said.

  Kade turned to Sorcha. "Stay put."

  "Nay, I'll not," she said, "I'm going with you."

  He lifted one brow. "Then keep behind me."

  She nodded.

  Quietly they made their way up the hillside, and as they did, the unmistakable sound of steel on steel became clear. But when they topped the hill, they saw only horses.

  "'Tis about time, you got here," Galen shouted from above them.

  Kade looked up at his three friends, obviously as relieved as she was to find them a bit bloody and battle worn, but still alive. "What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Galen?"

  "I'll fill you in later." Galen stepped over the dead and injured guards, and made his way down from the circle of rocks. Cinead and Duncan followed close behind. Sorcha dismounted and waited for him to reach her, then smiled up at him with tears sparkling in her eyes. His chest tightened. He ached to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. But that would have to wait. They had more urgent matters at hand.

  Galen helped her back onto her horse, then swung onto his own. Along with Cinead and Duncan, they joined Kade.

  Kade rode out to the edge of the knoll and they followed. There, they had a clear view of Campbell, who moved about, spitting orders to the remainder of his guards. "Campbell," Kade shouted.

  Campbell quickly looked up. "Who the devil are you?"

  "Laird Kade MacLachlan, and 'tis my land on which you're trespassing."

  "We followed the men who kidnapped my betrothed here. Her brother," Campbell pointed to Sorcha, "Laird Alexander MacPherson, sent me a missive regarding the whole affair, and let me ken the man who abducted her is a MacKinnon."

  Kade glanced over at Galen and raised his brows.

  Galen shrugged.

  "MacLachlan, give me l
eave to retrieve what is mine and to deal appropriately with these scoundrels, then I'll be on my way."

  Kade shook his head. "I'm afraid, Campbell, if I did that I would be giving you my closest friends for nearly a decade. How do you think they knew the shortcut to Ravenskull? Why do you think they came to me for help?"

  "Surely," Campbell shouted, "you don't mean to condone such behavior?"

  "Nay, but I also ken them well enough to realize there is most likely a good reason for what they did. Which I will soon discover for myself."

  "I'll not leave here without Lady Sorcha. We are to be married within a fortnight."

  Sorcha brought her horse alongside Galen's. "I don't wish to marry you, Archibald. You have mistreated me for the last time."

  Kade frowned and turned to Galen. "Is this true?"

  Galen nodded. "Aye, the lass carries many bruises and marks about her arms and shoulders. She can't go back, Kade. There's no telling what the whoreson might do to her once he has her in his clutches again."

  Campbell laughed nervously. "The lass has a tendency toward lying," he shouted back. "If she isn't returned to me immediately, I'll be sending the rest of my garrison to take her from you."

  Rage fired Galen's blood and he clenched his teeth. He'd like naught better than to wrap his hands around Campbell's throat and squeeze the life out of him.

  Shaw and a large portion of Kade's garrison suddenly rode out of the wood, surrounding Campbell and his much smaller garrison. The remainder of the men came up behind Kade and the others, showing the full strength of the MacLachlan's.

  Campbell shoved his fingers though his hair, then looked at Kade, and then Shaw, uncertain of what to expect from either man.

  "Shaw, 'tis good to see you, my friend," Galen shouted.

  "'Tis good to see you, as well, Galen," Shaw shouted back, keeping a keen eye on Campbell.

  "MacLachlan, don't be hasty with your decision," Campbell said. "Laird MacPherson will be arriving soon. Once we had his sister within our sights, I sent one of my men back with a missive."