The sound of hooves came from behind. Three bandits were chasing them, and Juliana and the Highlander were running for their lives.
10
Loss And Retribution
Andrew pushed his horse to ride faster and faster. He spurred it on and hoped that Juliana would do the same. He wanted nothing more than to stop and take on the three bandits, but Juliana was a complication. He could not risk her being injured. No matter what he did and how he protected her, if she was injured by anyone, the Laird would only blame him.
As dangerous as the situation was, it was a welcome one. He had spent the duration of the journey from the lake to this point in complete silence. It was not that he did not want to speak to Juliana, it was that he was unable to. He did not know what he would say, and he was ashamed of his behavior.
If he had known of the situation, he would not have put so much pressure on her. He had not known the details and, in a way, he was thankful for that. The ignorance of it all had led to a blissful situation, and he would not change that for anything in the world. Now, it pained him that he had tried to alter her course when she was only protecting her family. He wiped all thought of it from his mind as they were pursued by the bandits.
If they could keep the pace, he was sure that the bandits would give them up as too much trouble. They were far from the main roads, so this was not an ambush, it was a moment of opportunity.
He whipped the reins up and down, relieved that Juliana was keeping pace with him. From the sounds of the hooves behind them, the men were close, but they were not gaining. It was not far to the village, but there was no chance that he and Juliana would be able to keep up the pace all of the way there. He just hoped that their horses could outpace the other three, or he would be forced to confront the men.
Then, without warning, there was a horse beside him, with a bandit snarling at him. It was not the one who had feigned injury on the road. Andrew went for his sword but did not have time to draw it before the bandit pulled the reins and forced the horse into his. Andrew’s horse was scared and moved away, almost colliding with Juliana’s.
On the other side of Juliana, much to Andrew’s anger, another bandit had pulled alongside and was performing the same move. He bumped his horse into Juliana’s and sent it bumping into his. Both horses slowed as they tried to right their path, both scared by what was happening. Andrew tried to calm his horse, but it did not work.
The two bandits, working in unison, did the same again, bumping into both horses at the same time, and sending them colliding together. Andrew’s horse reared up on its hind legs, and he could see Juliana’s horse continue forward.
“Go!” he shouted. “Head for the village.” The last thing that he saw before he fell from the horse was the confused look on Juliana’s face, and he knew that she was not leaving him. He wished that she was not so stupid, or caring, or whatever it was that stopped her from running off. He hit the ground soon after.
The wind was knocked from him, but he was up in time to meet the two bandits who were dismounting as he was knocked from the horse. He could not see the third bandit anywhere, the one who had followed them from the start.
The one who they had passed on the side of the road had been ragged and worn looking, but he had some size to him. The two that were with him now were small and wiry and did not look like they had eaten for days. Perhaps they were lost, and that was why they had been on the deserted road.
Andrew met the first one’s swing with his own sword. The metal clanged against metal as he struggled to get up, and he fell back down onto one knee, yet was quick enough to block the second swing and bring himself up to push the bandit backward.
He looked around for the third bandit and Juliana but had become disoriented when he had fallen from the horse. He did not have time to locate them when the second bandit was on him and swinging his sword too. Andrew had been trained in the Castle, and these two bandits had obviously learned to fight out of desperation.
The two men swung violently with their swords, but they did not swing with accuracy, neither did they work together. If they had some more training, then they might have stood a better chance. Andrew was disciplined and had practiced a lot, both in the Castle and in battles. He knew exactly how to take on multiple enemies, especially ones as naive as this.
Andrew positioned himself so that one of the men could not get behind him, and moved so that the two men stayed side by side, making it hard for both of them to attack at the same time.
If only I’d the time with the two of ye, I could whip ye both into shape. You’d make adequate soldiers.
The two men attacked again, but they were no match. Andrew swung his sword confidently, knocking one of the men back, before slashing at the other, catching him on the shoulder, and ripping the fabric open. Blood appeared soon after, soiling the fabric, and the man clutched it for a second but did not seem hurt too badly.
This only angered the two bandits, and they attacked with more ferocity and less discipline, which only made it easier for Andrew to defend against the two men. He was in no mood to play with them and needed to get to Juliana as soon as he could. He slashed at one of them again and kicked back the other. He could feel that he had cut one of them in the leg, but was not sure if it was the same bandit.
Still, the two men came at him. They were wavering now, and Andrew knew that it was only a matter of time. He swung more violently, but with the same discipline that he had always shown in the heat of battle, and cut the second bandit on his shoulder, making it hard for both of them to swing their swords. He was about to go in for the kill when he heard a shout.
“That’s enough!” shouted the leader, the man who had been sat at the side of the road.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see two figures stood there, and he looked around wildly to see Juliana in the clutches of the bandit. The leader was standing behind her, and he had his sword drawn and pressed against her neck. The skin was pushed in, and Juliana was having a hard time breathing. She looked terrified, standing there.
“I’ll kill ye all!” shouted Andrew.
“Ye can try, but the lassie will die first,” said the bandit. “Ye know, I wouldnae have known how much she means tae ye if ye hadnae stopped fighting. As soon as I saw the look on yer face, I knew that we could bargain a wee bit.”
“Dinnae hurt her. Ye’ll be sorry if ye dae.”
“Aye, I am sure that I will. But, if she is hurt, it will be yer doing. Now, if ye drop yer sword, I’ll take mine from her neck. Then, we can talk like civilized men.” The bandit sounded sincere, but Andrew did not trust him one bit.
“Aye,” scoffed Andrew. He dropped the sword in the dirt, and one of the bandits raced over to grab it. When he picked it up, he swung the hilt and caught Andrew in the face before kicking him in the stomach. Andrew doubled over and felt the cut in his forehead open, and blood run down his cheek.
“Aye, very civilized,” said Andrew with a wry smile on his face. He looked at the bandit who had kicked him, and the bandit could not meet his gaze, even though the three men had the upper hand.
“That’s better.” He removed the sword from Juliana’s throat, but still held her tightly, and moved the sword down to her side, poking it just under her ribs. She flinched at the touch of the blade and let out a squeak.
“We dinnae have any money,” said Andrew truthfully.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” said the leader. “Search the bags.”
The other two bandits, under the glaring gaze of Andrew, went to the horse and searched through Andrew’s bags. When they came up empty-handed, the leader frowned but did not seem overly bothered.
“I told ye,” said Andrew.
“It disnae matter. We have the lassie, and we’ll get something for her.”
“A common lass,” Andrew lied. “What dae ye expect tae get for her?”
“Such fancy clothes for a common lass.” He gave Andrew a suspicious look. “Ye know, ye’re good at ly
in’, but she’s not. We had a wee talk on the way back tae ye. The clothes are worth a wee bit, and she disnae talk like a common lass.”
“She’s a maid that I picked up.” Andrew waved his hand and tried to act like she did not matter.
“Again, I’ll be the judge of that,” said the leader. “The English have money, and the clothes are from nobility. We’ll send word down there, and I’m sure that someone will pay to have her back.”
“Ha!” shouted Juliana. “You will not get any money from anyone down there and, when the Laird finds out that you have taken me, he will kill all of you.”
“So, ye’re going to a Laird,” laughed the leader. “Let me guess, ye’ve been promised as his wife? I cannae see any other reason why you’d be takin’ her up North. I guess that someone will pay then.”
Andrew shook his head. “Aye, ye can try, but ye’ll be killed before he hands over any money tae ye. There is nothin’ in this for ye. Ye may as well let us go or kill us both.”
The leader was silent for a second as he seemed to contemplate the two options.
“Yes, take me to Laird Lochenbrew and demand money for me. See how that turns out for you,” said Juliana.
Andrew shook his head and rolled his eyes, his forehead bunching up into a frown.
“I’m glad that this one talks.” The leader motioned to Juliana. “Now, we know exactly who tae send word tae.”
“This is not goin’ tae end well for ye. I’ll hunt ye down and kill the three of ye.” Andrew meant every word of it.
“Aye, ye’ll probably try.” He motioned with his head to one of the bandits.
The bandit who had fared better against Andrew, the one who only had one cut across the shoulder, drew his sword, walked over to Andrew, and plunged the sword into his side. Andrew gasped as the air was sucked from him and fell to the ground as the sword was removed.
“No!” cried a shocked Juliana. She wriggled out of the grasp of the leader and ran to Andrew. She bent down to take his hand, and looked at the blood spilling onto his shirt.
“I’m fine, just go with them,” said Andrew.
“Never,” said Juliana.
“Come with us quietly, and I’ll not have him cut again. Any resistance, and he’ll be dead before ye can finish yer next sentence.” There were three bandits with three drawn swords.
“I’ll come for ye,” whispered Andrew.
“You will pay for this,” spat Juliana, talking directly to the leader of the three men. She squeezed Andrew’s hand one more time before standing back up.
“No, lassie, someone will pay for ye.” The leader turned to one of his men. “Get rid of the horse.”
The third bandit walked over to Andrew’s horse and slapped it on the hind legs. The horse whinnied a high-pitched whinny, and ran away, straight into the trees. The leader walked over to Juliana’s horse and did the same, the horse bolting off in the same direction.
“The rope,” said the leader. He looked at Juliana. “Just a precaution.”
Andrew tried to stand up, but the pain in his stomach was stopping him. He lifted his shirt and could feel that the wound was not too deep. He had read something about the color of your blood being an indication of an organ being punctured, but he could not tell if his blood was the color that it should be or not. He did not feel that anything had been punctured.
He had been in enough battles and wounded enough times to know that his injury was not life-threatening. Of course, he would have to get to a physician first to get it stitched up before he lost too much blood. The village of Drechten was not too far from here, but he would not be able to make it on foot.
Andrew thought about getting up and fighting the three bandits, he had confidence that he could still defeat all three by himself, but he was also sure that the leader would make good on his promise to hurt Juliana. He remained where he was as he watched them tie her hands and feet, and place her on the back of the leader’s horse.
The leader mounted his horse, instructing Juliana to hold onto him, and that was the part that hurt Andrew the most, the thing that made him the most jealous. He had no right to be held by Juliana, he was nothing more than an evil little man.
The other two bandits mounted their horses, and the four of them left without even looking back. Andrew slumped against the tree behind him and was lost.
My life is over. I cannae return tae the Castle, not after what has happened. There is nae place for me anymore, and I feel at peace with that for I dinnae think that I’ll make it through the comin’ night.
Yet, none of that mattered. All that mattered was that he had lost Juliana. He had felt the sadness in his heart when he had realized that he could not compete with the Laird, not with what he had to offer, but he had come to accept that, mostly. He still clung to the notion that there was something he could do to save Juliana and her family if only he could think of it.
That did not matter anymore, either. Even if there was something that he could do, he did not have Juliana around to save. He knew that he loved her, and he had let her go to save her life. He was not sure if the Laird would pay to get her back, but there was a good chance that he would get her back, either with money or by killing the bandits.
Of course, there was also a chance that she would end up dead. Andrew did not believe in the afterlife, but he hoped that there was one and that he would see her there.
Stop bein' selfish. You cannae think only of yerself.
Andrew only wanted to see her again. His head throbbed with the enormity and seriousness of the situation, and he closed his eyes to think a little better.
In the darkness, he heard a welcome sound, the purring whinny of a horse. He opened his eyes to see his horse standing before him, its head bobbing up and down, and its mane ruffling in the breeze. It had run off but had returned to him.
That was the boost that Andrew needed. The pain in his side hurt less as the adrenaline began to pump through him. It was all that he needed to stand up and feel stronger than he had felt before. He ripped the sleeve off of his shirt and ripped that in two. He tied the two lengths together, ripped a smaller piece of his shirt to cover the wound, and tied the sleeves around his waist to shut the wound as best he could.
Andrew mounted the horse without feeling any pain. The blood soaked through the makeshift bandage and stained his shirt a little, but not much got through before the bleeding stopped.
With a flick of the reins, he was off after the bandits. He would save Juliana, even if it killed him.
11
The Chase
Andrew and his horse flew down the dirt path. He had seen the direction that the bandits had gone, and it was toward the village of Drechten, which was in his favor, as he knew people there, and would be able to get Juliana to safety when he rescued her.
As Andrew galloped on the horse, he did not feel any pain in his side, but he did feel the bandage become more soaked with his own blood. His only wish now was to catch up to the bandits before he lost too much blood. He knew that it would not take long by horse to reach Drechten.
He spurred the horse on, riding faster and faster. The horse would be able to keep a good pace most of the way. When he mounted the hill before him, he could see the village in the distance, and Drechten Castle, but it was still some way off, and there was the river to cross around halfway to the village.
Then, something caught his eye, that caused his heart to flutter. He saw three horses on the road, one with what looked like two people on it. He knew that it was the bandits and Juliana. He watched them for a moment and saw them pull off the road. They were nearing the village and were stopping for some reason.
He waited a moment, to make sure that they did not have another path that they were taking, and smiled when he saw the horses around a tree, probably tied to it. They were stopped, and they were not going anywhere. He only hoped that they stopped long enough so that he could catch them. He checked the road and saw that there was a long curving bend right befor
e the place that they had stopped. That would be where he would make his move.
The river was there, so they had probably stopped to drink. If they were stopping to eat too, then he had a chance to catch up to them before they were riding again, and that meant that he could sneak up on them without being seen.
Andrew kicked the horse back into action. He was on his way to Juliana, and his hand went instinctively to the hilt of his sword. It was then that he remembered that they had taken his sword, he would have to make do without, and would find a weapon when he needed one. The bandits were no match for him, and he would not need much to beat them in combat. He rode like his life depended on it, though he knew that it was Juliana’s life. He did not care about his own.
The horse had come back to save him, whether the animal knew it or not, and now it had picked up the pace and was running at a constant speed. Andrew wanted to kiss the equine. Before he knew it, they were only a few hundred yards from the bandits, that was if they were still in the same place. He had to hope that they were, and took the chance.
Consumed By The Lost Highlander (Steamy Scottish Historical Romance) Page 10
