Ayrshire Murders

by E R Dillon

  Table of Contents

  Excerpt

  Praise for E. R. Dillon

  Ayrshire Murders

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Historical Notes

  Scottish Words, Terms, and Customs

  A word about the author…

  Thank you for purchasing

  Also available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  “Since you didn’t check his condition, how did you know he was dead?”

  “Oh, he was dead, all right,” Inchcape said. He stepped aside to let them enter the room, favoring his left leg as he did so. “See for yourself.”

  The sight of Inchcape’s limp made Kyle wonder whether the man might have been the assailant on whom he inflicted a flesh wound with his dirk last night. There was no use asking him how he came by his injury because he would only lie about it, as the guilty were prone to do.

  Looking into Sweeney’s murder was more important at that moment, so Kyle brushed past Inchcape to open the door and walk into the small room.

  The metallic scent of blood tainted the air, as he expected. What he saw was totally unexpected. “God have mercy!” he cried, stopping so abruptly that John bumped into his back.

  John leaned around Kyle’s shoulder to peer into the room, only to draw in a sharp breath.

  Praise for E. R. Dillon

  “The relationship between England and Scotland was long marked by blood, and Dillon highlights a particularly violent time—the late 13th century. …the background and history are well-drawn and presented with just enough detail to convince….”

  ~Publishers Weekly

  ~*~

  “A deputy sheriff balances patriotic loyalty against sworn duty in late-13th-century Scotland. After he lost his wife and child in a fire, Kyle Shaw hired out his battle ax to King Philip of France…. Kyle is an attractive hero trying to do right by both Southrons and Scots.”

  ~Kirkus Reviews

  Ayrshire Murders

  by

  E. R. Dillon

  Deputy Kyle Shaw Mysteries

  Book 1

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Ayrshire Murders

  COPYRIGHT © 2019 by Evelyn R. Dillon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

  Cover Art by Abigail Owen

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

  Publishing History:

  Previously published by Five Star Cengage, 2014

  First Tea Rose Edition, 2019

  Print ISBN 978-1-5092-2843-0

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-2844-7

  Deputy Kyle Shaw Mysteries, Book 1

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To my son, Paul J. Tuger, whose knowledge of the Middle Ages proved to be a valuable resource to me in writing this story.

  Acknowledgments

  My thanks and appreciation go to Gary Greene, DVM (Covington, Louisiana), who suggested opiate alkaloid (powdered poppy) to incapacitate a horse without killing it (two grains is sufficient to put a large animal into a stupor for three to four hours), and to James Mackay, whose biography William Wallace: Brave Heart served as a source of historical reference.

  Chapter 1

  Ayrshire, Scotland

  April 1297

  Crimson tongues of fire licked at the dry thatch on the roof of the stone cottage. The blaze flared up into the night sky with the brilliance of a bonfire. A flock of white-faced sheep, bawling in fright, milled about the fenced enclosure adjacent to the fiery dwelling.

  Seven men inside the sheep pen only added to the confusion. One stood alone with his back to the gate. The other six rode horses in the shrouded anonymity of dark cloaks and hoods.

  Kyle Shaw advanced on the scene just as the horsemen began to close in on the lone man on foot. From what he could see by the light of the flames, steel glinted in every man’s hand. The drawn hoods marked the horsemen as raiders who preyed on helpless folk and left them bereft of their stock and sometimes their lives.

  The man guarding the gate looked anything but helpless. He brandished a long weapon over his head to keep the raiders from driving the sheep from the pen. His comportment was more like that of a warrior than a cottar, and he seemed well able to defend himself. He was nearly as tall standing on the ground as the raiders were seated on their dark horses.

  Kyle rode toward the sheep pen at a full gallop, intent on foiling the raid in progress. He leaned forward to urge his sorrel gelding to leap the low stone fence. The horse landed in the churned mud among the sheep, sending the woolly creatures scurrying in all directions.

  On approaching the raiders, Kyle drew his battle axe from the leather loop on his saddle. Although a sword hung from the belt at his waist, the axe was his weapon of choice. With a tapered blade on one side of the metal head and a spike on the other, it was deadly at close range.

  “Stand down in the name of the law!” Kyle bellowed. His voice cut through the cacophony of bleating sheep, shouting men, and roaring fire. His deputation was as yet unofficial, but no one there would know that.

  The nearest raider, who appeared to be the leader, swung around to face the intruder. He beckoned with his sword for one of his companions to come with him. The other raiders remained in position to continue their harassment of the man on foot.

  The two raiders started toward Kyle, taking care to maintain a six-foot span between their horses.

  Kyle spurred the gelding forward to meet the raiders head on. He recognized the formation in which they rode, for he and his comrades-in-arms used that same tactic many times in battle to strike Flemish horsemen from both sides at once.

  When the raiders were nearly upon him, Kyle veered his mount to the left to force a confrontation with the leader.

  While the other raider thundered by on the far side, the leader swung his sword in passing at Kyle, who raised his battle axe to block the forceful stroke. He brought the gelding around and rode back to where the leader was wheeling his mount to take him on again.

  The leader charged, striking out with his sword.

  Kyle presented the shaft of his axe to deflect the blow. The edge of the sword blade stuttered along the protective strip of metal riveted along the length of the hardwood handle.

  The leader swung back his arm for another stroke. Kyle urged the gelding to crowd his horse, forcing him into the lethal strike zone of the short-handled axe. The clang of metal rang out as Kyle thwarted the downward stroke of the sword with a backhanded swing leveled at the man’s neck.

  The leader flinched to the left at the last second, suffering only a glancing blow
to the back of his right shoulder, rather than the loss of his life. He reeled in the saddle as he swung his mount’s head around and set spurs to its flanks. The horse thundered across the enclosure toward the low stone fence, scattering sheep in its path.

  The other raider, who by then had circled back, was now bearing down on Kyle, who pivoted the gelding to face him.

  Moonlight glimmered on the steel head of the battle axe in Kyle’s hand. The sight of the weapon poised and ready to strike appeared to intimidate the raider, for at the last instant, the man stood up in the stirrups and hauled back on the reins.

  The raider’s mount made a valiant attempt to stop, but its muscular shoulder slammed into the gelding’s chest. Both horses scrabbled in the soft mud to keep their footing, snorting and rolling their eyes.

  Kyle grabbed at the saddle bow to keep his seat.

  The raider took advantage of his foe’s momentary inattention to thrust the sword at him at point-blank range.

  The churning movement of the horses spoiled the raider’s aim, and the tip of the blade skidded along the leather scale armor under Kyle’s dark red cloak, bruising the flesh beneath instead of piercing it.

  The raider cursed his luck, more concerned it seemed with missing an easy target than with moving out of range. Before the raider could rectify his fatal error in judgment, Kyle leaned toward him and delivered a hacking blow to his skull. The axe struck the man’s head with a metallic clunk, to Kyle’s surprise.

  A savage oath died on the raider’s lips as he tumbled from the saddle. The frightened horse bolted, dragging the dead man through the muck for several yards before his booted foot slipped from the stirrup.

  Kyle turned the gelding and rode over to where the man on foot still held the other raiders at bay.

  None of the raiders appeared eager to test the lone man’s prowess with the weapon he wielded. At the sight of their leader departing in haste, all four readily abandoned their post. They wheeled their horses and took flight, plowing through a sea of sheep that parted to let them pass.

  As Kyle drew closer, he recognized the long-handled weapon in the hands of the lone man on foot. It was a Lochaber axe, favored by Scottish folk for its versatility. With an eighteen-inch blade on one side of the head and a sharpened hook on the other, it served as a tool to reap grain and to pull fruited branches within reach.

  Its other use was far more formidable.

  In half a dozen bounding strides, the man on foot overtook the retreating raiders. He thrust out the Lochaber axe to drag the slowest horseman from his mount with the metal hook. A single chop with the wicked blade silenced the scream that came from the crumpled figure of the raider writhing on the ground.

  The two riderless horses followed the other raiders over the low stone fence and trotted after them into the night.

  The lone man turned his bearded face toward Kyle, his hands on the long handle of the Lochaber axe, his booted feet braced in the mud. The glow from the flames on the roof gilded his scowling countenance. A leather belt bound the waist of his homespun tunic, the frayed hem of which reached only to his bare knees.

  Since pursuit of the raiders in the darkness was futile, Kyle halted the gelding ten feet from the man. He returned the battle axe to the loop on his saddle and held up his open hands to show they were empty. He remained mounted in case the man mistook him for a raider.

  “Kyle Shaw, deputy sheriff of Ayrshire,” he said. “Do you want help dousing that fire?”

  The man cast a fleeting glance at the smoke rising from the smoldering thatch. Most of the straw-like material was reduced to ashes, leaving the charred rafters to jut skyward, reminiscent of enormous ribs. The four stone walls of the cottage remained intact, blackened with soot, but undamaged by the blaze.

  The man’s gaze returned to Kyle’s face. “Too late for that now,” he said with the soft burr of a Scotsman. He rested the butt end of the axe handle on the toe of his boot. “How came ye to be here, friend?” His manner was amiable, but he kept both hands on his weapon and never relaxed his stance.

  “I saw a light from the road. I hoped to find a place to rest for the night before continuing on my way.”

  “And ye just happened to pass along that lonely stretch of road,” the Scotsman said, a dark eyebrow cocked in disbelief. “At this hour?”

  “Aye,” Kyle said, returning the man’s steady gaze.

  “It is unwise to meddle, even if ye are a man of law, as ye claim.”

  “Reginald de Crawford, sheriff of Ayrshire, will vouch for my deputation.”

  After a moment of thought, the scowl faded from the Scotsman’s face. “The name’s Macalister.” He slung the axe across his brawny shoulders like a yoke, draping a hand over either side of the long handle as he started toward the wooden gate.

  Kyle wondered at the abrupt change in Macalister’s attitude at the mention of Sheriff Crawford’s name, but he made no comment about it. As he nudged the gelding forward with his heels to keep pace with the man’s stride, he reflected on the letter he’d received six weeks earlier from Sheriff Crawford. In that brief communiqué, the sheriff wrote of his concern over growing civil unrest in the shire and the increase of rebel activity. He implored Kyle to come back to Ayr at the earliest opportunity to resume his former office of deputy.

  In Kyle’s opinion, one man of law more or less in the entire country would make little difference. King Balliol of Scotland still languished in the Tower of London for leading an unsuccessful revolt against Edward of England. To discourage further rebellion, King Edward had stationed English troops at every Scottish castle large enough to pose a threat. The aggressive tactic only served to inflame a Scottish populace already chafing under the harsh yoke of English domination.

  In spite of the uncertain state of affairs, Kyle complied with Sheriff Crawford’s urgent plea. If the old sheriff asked for help, he must truly need it. Reginald de Crawford was a proud Scotsman, like Kyle’s own father, James Shaw. Those two men held each other in high regard and shared a lifelong friendship because of it.

  The real reason Kyle decided to return home, however, was far more personal. Bitter words exchanged with his father in their last letters resulted in an abrupt end to their communication. Although that was over five years ago, Kyle’s presence in Ayrshire would afford him the opportunity to seek out his father and try to smooth over the breach.

  On reaching the gate, Kyle dismounted to stand beside Macalister.

  Kyle was taller than most men of his acquaintance, owing his height to his Viking ancestors, who also endowed him blue eyes as pale as ice and tawny hair that fell in waves to his broad shoulders. Macalister, though, loomed over him by half a head and carried twice his weight on a solid frame built like the trunk of a tree. From what he could see of the man’s features in the vague light of the moon, he appeared to be close to his own age of thirty-three years.

  Macalister laid the axe along the top of the low stone fence, but he stayed within easy reach of it. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “All clear!”

  His shout brought a couple of shadowy figures out from behind a wooden barn huddled in the darkness a short distance away. Silhouetted against the skyline, they took the shape of a boy and a stub of a man bent with age.

  As the old man approached the gate of the sheep pen, his pace slowed. His lined face was closed and wary. His homespun tunic bore the stains of long use, and his cloak flapped around a wiry body spare of flesh. The smell of sheep clung to his clothing.

  The boy trailed several yards behind the old man, his eyes wide in his ashen face. From what Kyle could see in the dim light, he appeared to be around eight years of age. He wore only a thin shirt under a homespun tunic gathered at the waist with a short piece of hemp rope. When he reached the gate, he crossed his arms over his scrawny chest to keep from shivering in the cold night air.

  “How many dead?” the old man said.

  “Two,” Macalister said.

  The news elicited a
grunt of approval from the old man. “Not near enough for the trouble they caused, though,” he said, spitting through the gap where his two front teeth were missing. His gaze shifted to Kyle. “Who’s that?” he said, squinting in suspicion.

  “The deputy that Crawford sent for,” Macalister said.

  Shrewd old eyes raked Kyle from head to toe, taking in the leather scale vest over the finery under his cloak. “He don’t look like much,” the old man said with a snort of disdain.

  “Ye lost nary a sheep because of him,” Macalister said.

  “I know that,” the old man said, annoyed. He waved a veined hand in the direction of the barn. “I watched from yonder.”

  The old man hardly seemed grateful, as if he assumed it was Kyle’s duty as a man of law to apprehend malefactors like those raiders, no matter the danger or how paltry the wage. Unfortunately, the assumption was correct, despite the fact that his appointment as deputy sheriff was still pending.

  He gave in to an urge to glance back at the old man’s cottage. When he did, the sight of the burned-out roof struck a discordant note in his orderly mind. The reaving of stock was practically a national pastime in this country, given the number of impoverished souls forced to eke out a living in it. Pinching a stray lamb now and then to feed hungry children was one thing, but the willful destruction of a man’s home was something else entirely. It smacked of a sinister motivation behind it.

  “Those raiders tonight came for more than sheep,” Kyle said to Macalister. “They meant to do some damage. And I happen to know one of them wore a helmet.”

  “Of course,” Macalister said. “They’re Southrons.” His tone suggested no further explanation was necessary.

  “English soldiers? But why did they come here?”

  “Southrons don’t need a reason.”

  “Do you know where they came from?”

  “I might, but I’d need to take a look at them to tell for sure.”

  “I’d like to see them for myself,” Kyle said.

  Wisps of smoke drifted in the air as they all walked across the sheep pen to where the dead men lay sprawled in the muck twenty feet apart. The raw gaping wounds looked black in the darkness, as did the widening pools of blood beneath the bodies. Macalister bent over the nearest corpse and drew aside the dark cloak.