The Age of Knights and Highlanders: A Series Starter Collection

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Walter seized Niall’s shoulder and pushed him into the arms of two of his men. “Take him to the infirmary.”

  Gooseflesh marched across Ewan’s nape as he watched the warriors hoist Niall under the armpits and drag him away. While everyone had been distracted by the wedding, Mungo had probably infiltrated the castle. “Morley may already have discovered Ailig’s body is no longer in the cells. Question is, where is he now?”

  A loud banging on the door jolted Shona and Ruadh awake. Her heart calmed. It was Ewan’s voice demanding entry. She patted the hound’s head when he tried to get up. “Lie down, it’s all right, though it doesna sound like there’s news of Mungo.”

  She lifted the bar and opened the door, startled anew when Ewan gathered her into his embrace and leaned his forehead against hers.

  “I had to make sure ye were safe,” he growled. “Mungo is here.”

  A chill raced across her nape. “In the castle?”

  “He’s gone completely daft. Tied Niall to a tree and came back for Ailig’s body.”

  She struggled to understand. “But…”

  Ewan tightened his grip around her. “Aye. It’s been buried, though I dinna ken where. Might even have been thrown in the cesspit.”

  It was no surprise he wasn’t aware of the clan’s burial ground. The MacCarrons preferred the Mackinlochs not get wind of the location close to disputed territory. “Likely in the communal grave in the cemetery near Loch Alkayg,” she revealed. “But if he finds out, what will he do?”

  “No telling with a lunatic.”

  Shona shivered as a horrible memory assailed her. “I suspected he was mad when we were in the ruined church.”

  Alarm clogged her throat when hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor. Ewan drew his dagger and turned to protect her, sheathing the weapon when Moira and Isobel rushed into the chamber, clinging to each other. Red-cheeked and panting hard, both lasses looked like they’d run a considerable distance. Moira’s lovely blue wedding frock was disheveled, the hem torn and dirty. Grey smudges had replaced the happy glow on the new bride’s face.

  “The village,” Isobel sputtered hoarsely. “Fire.”

  Ewan stalked to the window, alarmed to see smoke billowing outside the gates. “This is Mungo’s handiwork. Two, possibly three cottages alight.”

  Shona shouldered her way to stand beside him and gasped. “Oh no, looks like Walter’s might be one of them.”

  “Aye,” Moira confirmed, “we were on our way back to Mam’s when we espied the smoke. We raised the alarm in the bailey. There’s men on the way with buckets.”

  “Stay here, all of ye,” he ordered, heading for the door.

  “Nay,” Shona exclaimed. “Members of the clan might be hurt. It’s my responsibility to be there. We’ll go by the Still Room and fetch salves and supplies.”

  “I’ll come with ye. Where is yer aunt?”

  “I dinna ken. Mayhap with Uncle Kendric.”

  As he was crossing the hallway, Jeannie came out of Kendric’s chamber, her eyes wide. “Fire,” she exclaimed.

  “Aye,” he confirmed. “We think Mungo set it. Stay here with the door barred.”

  “Morley’s here?” she asked.

  “No time to explain,” he replied.

  She nodded and returned to the chamber.

  Confident she was safe, Ewan beckoned the women and led the way to the Still Room where they quickly gathered what they needed. It irked that he was playing nursemaid when he should have been fighting the fire, but leaving Shona alone was out of the question.

  They hurried out of the castle and down the hill. A grim-faced Donald came to meet them. “The flames are mostly out,” he said hoarsely.

  Ewan surveyed the scene. Women and whimpering bairns huddled together, their faces pale and drawn. Shona and her maids hurried to offer help. Men with smoke-blackened faces and torsos tossed water on smoldering piles of rubble, but the chain of clansmen who’d formed a bucket brigade was breaking up, Fynn and David among them. He saluted his recognition of their help. He heard no weeping and wailing, which he took as a good omen. Cottages could be rebuilt. Lives lost were another thing entirely. “Damage?” he asked.

  “Two homes partly destroyed. The thatched roof has collapsed on the third. Walter’s. Appears to have started there.”

  He scanned the area for Gilbertson, perturbed when he saw Shona running towards him. “Come quickly,” she shouted. “Walter’s going mad, trying to get inside his cottage. He canna find Robbie.”

  Ewan headed in the direction of the commotion, his heart bleeding for the man who’d become a staunch friend and ally. To lose a son…

  Bellowing Robbie’s name, Walter struggled with several villagers trying to restrain him near the doorway of the smoldering ruin.

  A lass Ewan assumed was Walter’s wife knelt on the ground, weeping, her face buried in her hands. Shona caught up and knelt beside her, pulling the distraught woman into her embrace. She looked up at Ewan, green eyes brimming with tears.

  He stood nose to nose with Walter. “Ye canna go in there.”

  Gilbertson gritted his teeth. “My son is buried ’neath the roof.”

  Ewan glanced inside the ruin. The thatch was gone but heavy beams still hung precariously. “And if I let ye go in and ye dinna come out, what will become o’ yer wife?”

  “Wal…ter,” the woman wailed.

  Glowering, Gilbertson shrugged off his neighbors and knelt to console his distraught spouse. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ewan squared his shoulders and entered the smoke-filled ruin, turning a deaf ear to Shona’s shriek of protest.

  Shona’s instinct was to follow Ewan. But she had a duty to comfort Walter’s wife in this time of dire uncertainty, just as Ewan had answered the call to save Robbie. She loved him for it, but what was he thinking?

  For long minutes, there was no sound except the shouts of men extinguishing the last of the flames and women consoling frightened bairns. Then, suddenly, timbers crashed and smoke billowed from the doorway. Shona feared the worst, but Ewan’s shout calmed the snake writhing in her belly. “I’m all right,” he yelled. “Just a beam.”

  He emerged a short time later, dirty, coughing and bleary-eyed, but without Robbie. Jaw clenched, Walter tried to push past Ewan. “I thank ye, but I’ll find him.”

  Ewan blocked his progress. “Are ye sure he was at home? There’s no trace of him inside.”

  Walter looked to his wife.

  Heather clenched her fists in her lap, avoiding her husband’s gaze. “I left for a little while. Just to go for water. I stopped to chat with Kirsti. He was playing…I thought…”

  “He was outside?” Ewan asked.

  Heather nodded.

  “Then where the fyke is he now?” Walter thundered.

  A shout from Fynn drew everyone’s attention as he approached with two men. Shona thought she recognized them, but they were filthy, and her nose soon let her know they were the workers who’d begun cleaning out the cesspits.

  Evidently aware of their stench, Fynn bade them halt while he came close. “I was on my way back to the kitchens to see about the stag when I ran into these men. They encountered Mungo as they were coming up the steps from the cesspit.”

  Ewan drew his dagger. “He’s gone up to the secret chamber.”

  “But why?” Shona wondered. “He’ll be trapped.”

  Fynn shifted his weight, looking uneasy. “He’d a boy with him. He told them he’ll exchange the lad for Ailig’s body.”

  “He’s a dead man,” Walter hissed, as he and Ewan started back towards the castle.

  All heads turned to the tower. Shona gasped at the sight of the red-haired giant standing on the roof, waving like a conquering hero. “He truly is mad,” she murmured, narrowing her eyes at something Mungo had lowered over the side of the tower. “What’s he got hanging…”

  The words died in her throat as Heather scrambled to her feet and set off at a run. “Robbeeeee!” she screamed.

/>   Are Ye Deaf?

  Ewan and Walter halted at the foot of the tower where a small crowd had gathered, everyone craning their necks to see the boy dangling helplessly from the top. Many gasped, covering their mouths as Mungo reached for the rope with both hands and set Robbie swinging.

  Women hurried to console Heather when she arrived, Shona not far behind.

  “Be brave, son,” Walter yelled.

  Robbie looked down and nodded, but didn’t cry out.

  “Canny lad,” Ewan remarked, wracking his brain for a strategy that would save the bairn’s life. “Mungo’s got both hands free. He must have the rope tied to something.”

  “And looped around my son’s chest,” Walter replied through gritted teeth. “But he’ll slash it if we rush him.”

  “Nay, nay,” Heather sobbed.

  Walter embraced his wife. “Robbie’s smart. I’ve told him often enough to always keep his wits about him, and he will.”

  He regained his place beside Ewan when Fynn and David arrived, laden with blankets. “We can make a softer landing if he drops,” Fynn suggested. “We’ll need men with two good hands,” he added with a wry grin.

  Several volunteers eagerly sorted the biggest and best, and stretched it out below the dangling boy.

  Mungo pointed his dagger at Robbie. “I’ll cut his throat if I dinna see my brother’s body right soon.”

  The men holding the blanket looked to Ewan for instruction. He waved them to stand to the side as an idea struck him. He cupped a hand behind his ear. “What did ye say?” he said to Mungo in a normal voice.

  A man behind him started to speak. “He said…”

  Ewan swung round and glared. “I ken what he said. I want him to think I didna hear him.”

  Folk nodded as the plan dawned on them.

  He turned back to the tower. “I canna hear ye,” he mouthed, careful to make no sound.

  “Are ye deaf? I want Ailig’s body,” Morley bellowed.

  Keeping his eyes on Mungo, Ewan spoke to the crowd. “Shrug as if ye canna make out what he’s saying.”

  “They’re playing their parts well,” Walter told him a few seconds later.

  Ewan cupped his hands to his mouth. “Ye’re too high up,” he said softly.

  Mungo copied his gesture. “I canna hear a word,” he yelled.

  “He’s losing his temper,” Shona warned, coming to stand by Ewan.

  “I want his attention off Robbie,” he explained. “I need to convince him to let me get up there to parlay.”

  Tears welled. She didn’t want him to go, but the resignation in her eyes told him she knew he must.

  He turned to Walter. “Is yer lad strong enough to climb up the rope?”

  A glimmer of understanding flickered in Gilbertson’s eyes. “Aye.”

  Ewan shrugged and pointed to himself, then skyward. “Hopefully he’ll allow me to the top.”

  “Nay,” Mungo bellowed, pressing the blade to the rope. “Ye’re not coming up unless ye bring what I want.”

  Shona leaned close to Ewan’s ear. “On the one hand he’s not as daft as we think. On the other, how does he plan to escape with a corpse if ye take it up into the tower?”

  He slapped his palm against his forehead. “He hasna thought that far ahead, but ye’ve given me an idea. We need a body.”

  Shona wasn’t the only one who at first didn’t understand what Ewan meant, but David stepped forward right away. “I…I…I’ll do it.”

  Moira gasped and leaned into her mistress. “Has he nay done enough already?” she murmured with a sniffle. “We’re newly wed this day.”

  Conflicting emotions swirled in Shona’s heart. Her maid deserved happiness, but Robbie…

  Fynn came to the rescue. “Better a one-handed man play the role, lest he demand proof. I came to Creag pretending to be a laird, surely I can be a convincing corpse.”

  Even Walter smiled at the grim humor.

  Ewan took charge. “Go get yerself shrouded then, laddie.”

  Fynn, David and a few others hurried away to the keep.

  Shona worried. “He’s a mite bigger than Ailig.”

  Ewan put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “We have to hope the idiot willna notice.”

  He looked up at Robbie again then turned to the men holding the rescue blanket. “Keep a wary eye on the boy. Ye might have to get into position quickly if the rope gives way. I dinna trust Mungo to have secured it properly.”

  Time dragged as they waited. Shona wandered over to Heather. “The sound of yer voice might keep Robbie’s spirits up,” she suggested.

  The woman walked closer to the wall but the vacant look in her eyes was disconcerting. “It’s like she’s in a trance,” Shona whispered to Ewan.

  As if sensing his wife’s distress, Walter stood behind her and put his hands on her waist. “Talk to him.”

  She nodded and finally looked up. “Dinna worry, Robert.”

  Walter nuzzled her nape. “Louder,” he urged.

  Heather clenched her fists. “They’ve gone to fetch Ailig and then Mungo will let ye go. Ye’ve always been a good bairn and God willna let aught bad happen to ye.”

  She slumped backwards into her husband’s arms, a forced smile on her face.

  Robbie made no reply but Shona could have sworn Mungo wiped away a tear as he peered over the wall. “He’s like a child,” she murmured to Ewan.

  He smiled grimly as he gathered her into his embrace. “Aye, but a dangerous one.”

  While they waited, Ewan thought back over the tumultuous events that had taken place since his arrival. “It’s possible none of this would have happened if we hadna come,” he whispered to Shona.

  “Nay,” she replied. “Ailig was a snake lying hidden in the grass, waiting to strike. The news ye were coming might have prompted him to act against Kendric sooner, but it’s evident he and his brother have been plotting to usurp the lairdship for a long while. They murdered my father before our betrothal was settled.”

  He hoped she was right. “Some of yer clan willna see it that way, especially if we fail to save the bairn.”

  “Ye willna fail,” she reassured him.

  He inhaled deeply, wondering how he had come to deserve the loyalty and trust of such a woman. “Just having ye close makes me stronger,” he whispered, wishing he could crush her body to his and simply soak up her love. “But here comes the corpse.”

  She kissed his cheek then moved away and watched with him as David and another man approached the tower. They bore a litter on which lay a shrouded body.

  Ewan beckoned them to bring it closer. The notion his grizzled kinsman lay beneath the shroud suddenly struck him as comical, especially if he still wore the cook’s apron. “’Tis hard to believe ye’re dead, Fynn Macintyre,” he lamented.

  “Dinna make him laugh,” Shona cautioned.

  Swallowing the nervous laughter bubbling in his throat, Ewan gestured to the litter and looked up. “Here’s yer brother,” he shouted. “What do ye want us to do with him?”

  Walter glared angrily. “Ye’ll get him riled up if he believes ye’re making fun of him.”

  Evidently he’d failed to hide his inexplicable amusement. “Sorry. I dinna ken why it seems so hilarious.”

  He sobered when Fynn sauntered into the courtyard. “Naught funny about my demise,” his kinsman rasped with a sly grin.

  Puzzled, Ewan looked again at the corpse on the litter. It was impossible they’d dug up Ailig’s body, but the whole situation suddenly seemed even more comical. He feigned a coughing fit while he controlled his hysterical need to laugh out loud. Shona slapped him on the back.

  Mungo’s high-pitched voice made it worse. “How do I ken it’s Ailig?” he asked.

  Ewan clenched his jaw. “How many dead men do ye reckon we have lying around here? Come down and see for yerself.”

  “I’m nay that daft.”

  Ewan avoided Shona’s gaze, sensing she was also close to losing her composure.

/>   “Show me the hand,” Mungo demanded.

  Ewan wiggled his eyebrows. “The moment of truth is at hand,” he quipped under his breath.

  David winked as he fished about in the folds of the shroud and pulled out the severed limb.

  It was a gory mess.

  Folk in the crowd gasped in horror.

  Ewan peered more closely. The bloodied end of a deer’s leg bone protruded from a ragged sleeve.

  “We squa…squashed ju…ju…juniper berries over it, for good measure,” David explained.

  Ewan composed his features, then looked up. “Satisfied?”

  The Corpse

  Shona shaded her eyes to look up. “He’s mad, but he isna stupid,” she whispered close to Ewan’s ear, not wanting to dash Heather’s hopes.

  An audible gasp rose from the crowd when Mungo hauled Robbie back to the safety of the parapet. He put an arm around the lad and shouted, “Secure my brother’s body to a horse. And I’ll need one for me and the lad.”

  Ewan arched a brow and shrugged. “He’s evidently shortsighted as well as dimwitted.”

  As soon as Mungo disappeared, Walter dispatched two men to the stables.

  Fynn and David lifted the corpse off the litter. “The antlers were too much of a challenge,” Fynn explained, “but we managed to get the rest o’ the carcass stuffed in.”

  Shona stared incredulously. “The head as weel?”

  David nodded. “Too ba…ba…bad.”

  “Aye,” Fynn agreed with a sigh. “We could have made all manner o’ useful things wi’ yon bones.”

  “No better use than saving a child’s life,” Shona replied.

  “Speaking of which,” Ewan said, “we canna let him ride out of here with Robbie. Walter, come with me.”

  They entered the doorway to the tower. Difficult as it was to watch him go, Shona accepted it was in Ewan’s nature to risk himself for others. His courage was what she admired most about him.

  “Where are the horses?” Heather cried impatiently. “It willna take him long to come down.”