“Hard enough. It would appear that we have no choice but to wait until he awakens.”
“By then their spies will have discovered what we have done and set out to inform the others.”
“There is nothing for it.”
“Aye, there is, but it would be best if the lass was nae here tae see it,” Malcolm informed them.
“What is it?” Jonathan asked. It was clear by his tone that he was willing to do whatever it took.
Malcolm moved to the fireplace, picked up the iron poker, and shoved it into the coals. He looked to Tristan in question. Tristan nodded and bent to remove the man’s boots. Jonathan turned to Amelia. “Leave the room, Amelia.”
“Nay,” she shook her head.
Tristan looked up and met her eyes, “Do as your brother says.” He held her gaze, not moving. “Now.”
“Nay.”
Tristan looked to Fergus. Fergus nodded and came over taking Amelia by the arm. “’Tis best if ye do as ye are told, lass. Such sights are nae for a lady tae witness.”
“I will not go.”
Tristan released the man’s foot and walked over to Amelia. Without saying a word, he bent over, flipping Amelia onto his shoulder and lifted her off of her feet. “What are you doing?! Put me down!” she protested, pummeling his back with her fists. Tristan ignored her and kept on walking.
“Fergus,” he called over his shoulder for the Scotsman to follow.
They walked through the door and Tristan carried her up the stairs to her room. He removed the key from the inside of the lock and set her down on the floor. He shut the door in her face and locked it, handing the key to Fergus. “She is not to leave this room under any circumstances short of the house burning down. If anyone attempts to enter, you know what to do.”
“Aye,” Fergus nodded.
“Let me out,” Amelia yelled as the sound of her fists beating upon the door reverberated through the wood. “Let me out!”
Tristan returned to the library just as the man began screaming in agony. Malcolm stood holding the red-hot glowing poker to the man’s feet, while Jonathan held his legs up. The smell of burning flesh turned Tristan’s stomach. “He is awake now,” he remarked.
“Aye,” Malcolm nodded and removed the poker placing it back in the coals.
Jonathan dropped the man’s legs. He cried out in pain as his feet hit the floor. “Who are you?” Jonathan demanded to know. The man spat in his face. Jonathan struck him, wiping the spittle from his face with his sleeve. “Who are you?” No answer.
Malcolm took the poker from the flames and moved toward the man once more. There was neither enjoyment or regret in Malcolm’s face, only the knowledge that what he was about to do must be done. The man whimpered in fear as the hot poker drew closer to his skin. “Martin! My name is Martin!”
“Martin?”
“Martin Ives!”
Malcolm backed the poker away.
“Where have you taken my sister?” Jonathan demanded.
The man clenched his jaw. Malcolm moved the poker closer to the man’s feet. Ives whimpered but did not answer. “Do ye consider yerself tae be a brave and loyal man, Martin Ives?” Ives closed his eyes in fear but did not answer. “Perhaps a place dearer and more precious tae ye would be better? Perhaps here,” Malcolm raised the poker to hover above the man’s lap. Ives squirmed, sweating profusely. “Or here?” he raised the poker even further to directly in front of Ives’ eyes. He moved it forward threateningly.
“Mousa! She is in the Broch of Mousa!”
Malcolm backed away and looked up at Tristan. Tristan nodded and he and Jonathan rushed from the room calling for horses to be saddled. “Fergus!”
“Aye?”
“We have it. We know where Grace is being kept,” Jonathan called up the stairs.
“May I release the Lady Amelia, My Laird?”
“Yes, please do and tell her to prepare for a long journey.” Jonathan turned to Tristan. “She has earned the right to be there when we find Grace.”
Fergus descended the stairs. “The man is in the library. Keep him here while we are gone until we have verified that he has told us the truth. Once we return with Grace, he will answer for his crimes,” Jonathan instructed. “You are the only man I can trust with such a task other than Tristan. See if you can get from him who else is responsible and knowledge of any further threats to anyone else in the family.”
“I will do as ye ask. Just bring our lass home safe.”
“I will, Fergus. I would ask you to watch over Amelia, but I know that if I left her here, she would only follow.”
“Aye, that she would. And what will I be tellin’ yer faither when he arrives and ye are nae here tae explain why ye have a man tied up in yer library?”
“Tell him the truth. He will understand.”
“I hope that ye are right about that, otherwise I may be hangin’ next tae that lot for kidnappin’.”
Tristan knew that Fergus was right. He reached out and touched his friend’s arm. “Jonathan, he is right. If you insist upon traveling with us to retrieve Grace, then you should at the very least leave Fergus with a letter explaining everything that has transpired in your father’s absence. You should also speak to the rest of the staff so that they know not to interfere with him while you are gone. It would be better if you remained here to explain it yourself.”
“I will not be left behind to pace in fear and uncertainty. I am going.”
“Then do what you can quickly. I will meet you at the horses.”
Amelia came barreling down the stairs dressed in her brother’s clothes, with a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. “I am ready,” she informed them then dashed out of the door.
Fergus and Jonathan went into the library. Shortly after, Malcolm came out. “Are you ready to return north?” Tristan asked.
“Aye,” he nodded.
“This is not your fight. You can return home.”
“Nae,” Malcolm shook his head. “I promised the lass that I would help her find her sister and that is what I will do.”
“Thank you, my friend.”
“Aye.”
They walked out of the door to the waiting horses. Mrs. O’ Boyle came running out of the house with a bundle of food and handed it to Amelia. She turned to look at Tristan. “Ye bring both our darlin’ girls home safe.”
“I will,” he promised.
Jonathan exited the house and stepped into the saddle. He met his sister’s eyes. “For Grace.”
Amelia nodded, steely determination in her eyes. “For Grace.” Then they turned their horses north and galloped off into the night
Chapter 23
The ride north was long and difficult. They rode as swiftly as they could only stopping long enough to collect Henry from Slantonshire and to sleep when they could no longer remain in the saddle. They rode the length of Scotland until they came to the very same shore that they had been forced to turn back from before. They hired a boat to take them to the island, leaving their horses behind.
They approached the island at enough of a distance so as not to alert Grace’s captors of their presence. Amelia prayed that the kidnappers had not been warned in advance of their coming, but she knew that it was a risk. She shoved the worry and guilt of what might happen to the back of her mind in order that she might concentrate on the present moment.
When they approached the broch, Amelia stared up at the imposing stone edifice. She had never seen anything quite like it before. It lacked a roof of any kind, and there were no openings that she could see from where she crouched in hiding. She assumed that the door was on the other side. Grace has been held prisoner in that? There is no way to stay clear of the weather. She would have been rained on, with nothing between her and the elements. Amelia’s heart cried out for her sister.
“I dinnae see any men outside o’ the broch,” Malcolm noted. “I could walk o’er and see if there is anyone inside. They will nae ken who I am as nae one has seen me.”
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br /> Tristan nodded. “Go with care. They will be suspicious of anyone who approaches.”
“Aye, they should be.” Malcolm slipped over the side of the bluff that they were hiding behind and walked over to the back side of the broch. He moved around to the other side disappearing from sight. He was gone for several moments before he reemerged waving for them to join him. Amelia scrambled up and raced for the broch before anyone could stop her.
Amelia ran to Malcolm’s side. “Where is she?”
“She is nae there, lass.”
“What do you mean she is not there?”
“’Tis clear that someone was here, lass, but that was days ago. There is nae one here now.”
“Nay, that cannot be!” Amelia ran as fast as she could around the side of the broch and through the door. The broch was empty. There were signs of recent habitation, but no Grace. “Nay!” she cried out falling to her knees upon the cold hard stone. “Grace!”
Jonathan and Henry entered the broch behind her. Upon seeing that the broch was empty with his own eyes, Henry collapsed onto a protruding stone, sitting down hard upon its flat surface. His face contorted in pain. “We did not make it in time.”
“Where is she? Where have they taken her? What have they done to her? Please God do not let any further harm befall her for what we have done chasing after her. If she is killed it will be all my fault for not being able to let it go and trust in Father and Henry to procure the ransom. I just could not escape the feeling that if we did not find her first something terrible would befall her, but now I fear that that something terrible is me.”
“Nay, darling sister. You have been the bravest and best of us. You have shown more courage and determination than anyone could ever have asked for. This is not your fault. This is the brigands who took our sister’s fault and for which they will dearly pay,” Jonathan replied, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Tristan entered the broch. “I have sent Malcolm to inquire about the island for Grace and her captors. I thought it best to send a Scot as I rather got the impression from the boatman that Englishmen are not very welcome. If anyone has seen them, Malcolm will find them. Until then, it would be best to make camp and return to the mainland upon the morrow.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Jonathan answered and walked over to sit beside Henry.
Henry examined the walls of the broch, the blue-gray sky lighting its interior. “How can anyone have survived in such a place? There is no means of escape from anything. She would have felt every moment of cold and discomfort to its fullest extent. My poor Grace.” He looked up at Jonathan, his eyes filled with panic. “We must return immediately. If they have demanded the ransom in our absence and I am not there to pay my part…” He could not bear to finish the sentence for its conclusion was too gruesome to consider.
“They will kill her,” Amelia finished it for him.
Tristan reached down and pulled Amelia up from the stone floor. “Come, rest, eat. You will need your strength for the journey back to Canterley.”
“How can I with what has happened?”
“Because if you do not, you will be unable to make it back home in time to save Grace. You have nary had a moment of sleep or decent repast since leaving Canterley.”
“I cannot believe that after all we have done, she is not here.” Amelia felt as if she were in a never-ending nightmare. “In the end, in spite of all that we have done, it falls to waiting for the unknown outcome of a ransom. Who is to say that they will not kill us all once they have the money? Even if by some miracle Grace is returned to us, the men who have done this will escape justice to go on to do it again to another poor girl’s family.”
“If they are on the move again, then someone will have seen them. Once we have Grace back, we will be free to pursue the men who took her without repercussions. I have a friend in London, a man well versed in Britain’s underbelly. If you are not opposed, once we have Grace back, I can have him look into the matter.”
“How does an Earl have the friendship of a criminal element from London?”
“The man saved me from being attacked by thieves.”
“I remember you telling me of that. We were still quite young men then. It was after that that you began to carry a cane sword during out trips to London and encouraged me to do the same,” Jonathan remarked as he joined them.
“Yes, the very same.”
“He is discreet, this man?” Amelia asked.
“The utmost,” Tristan reassured her.
“Then do it now. Do not wait. We know not if we will be alive to tell him of it after.”
Jonathan frowned at his sister’s words. “The ransom clearly states to tell no one.”
“We are well past that point, Jonathan. When my own gentle brother turns to the torture of another man for information, we are well past any such points of inquiry.”
“Yes, I suppose we are at that,” Jonathan nodded, resignedly. “You may do as she asks, Tristan.”
“Very well. I will send word to London immediately upon our return to England,” Tristan agreed. “With a large sum to be exchanged such as this, if anyone has had word of it, he will know the moment the brigands begin to spend it. Men of such ilk do not tend to wait very long at all before enjoying their spoils in the nearest house of ill repute.”
“By a woman they will gain their fortune and by a woman they will lose it,” Amelia noted, suddenly viewing such ladies of the night with new eyes. “Fitting.”
She could hear her father’s voice telling her that such thoughts are not appropriate for a lady of breeding and she smiled. No matter the outcome, when this is over, I have no intentions of remaining at Canterley to be ruled by my father’s hand. If the past weeks have taught me anything, it is that I do not belong there and that I am capable of far more than any lady of breeding is accredited.
“That is a devious smile if ever I have seen such a thing,” Tristan murmured in her ear. “Is that a glimmer of hope that I see or jubilation at the chance of revenge? Something else perhaps?”
“Can it not be both?”
“I suppose it can, but I know you well enough to know when you are hiding something, and you are definitely planning something.”
“Well, if you know me as well as you claim to, then it should not be too difficult for you to find me out.”
Tristan stopped her with a touch to her elbow, while Jonathan continued on to where the boatman had begun to set up camp. “Do not do anything foolish.”
Amelia sighed. “I have had more than I can bear of many things, Tristan. What I do once Grace is returned home safely and weds her beloved Henry, is no one’s business but my own. It is most certainly none of yours.” She turned to walk away.
Tristan grabbed her by the arm. “How can you say that? After everything that we have been through together, how can you possibly say such a thing to me of all people?”
“And why should you matter above all others?” she retorted jerking her arm free of his hand.
Tristan stared at her, his features relaying a mixture of pain, anger, and disbelief. “You are the most infuriating woman I have ever had the misfortune of being in love with!” Grabbing her by the shoulders he crushed her to him in a kiss of such passionate fervor that she thought she might never breathe again. His lips began to awaken feelings and sensations within her that she had never felt before and she responded to his touch, surprising herself by returning his ardor.
When he released her, he did so as abruptly as he had grabbed her, then turned and walked away without another word. Amelia stood alone upon the shore gazing after his retreating form. She regretted her words to him immensely. “I am an interminable fool,” she murmured with only the sea to hear her. She turned to the camp and awaited Tristan’s return, but he never came.
Upon the morn, Malcolm returned with news of the kidnapper’s movements. “They have returned tae the mainland.”
“And Tristan? Why has he not returned with you?” Amelia asked.
“He left on a boat for the mainland last night. He said for all tae return tae Canterley without him.”
“That is odd,” Jonathan noted. “Perhaps he has gone to London to speak with that chap he spoke of last eve. I cannot imagine why he did not wait to go with us now.”
“He appeared tae be quite determined tae get tae London.” Malcolm gave Amelia a knowing look and she blushed with shame for her previous behavior.
“Had I known of his plan I would have gone with him,” Henry remarked. He had spoken nary a word since discovering that the broch was empty. His face was pale and drawn. “We cannot delay a moment longer. I must provide my part of the ransom. I was foolish to think that any other course of action was the answer.”
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