Diverting from the path, the man and horse dipped into the trees, and slowly made their way through. This was the most agonizing part for Andrew. On the road, they had been able to race at speed toward Juliana, but they had to be careful, slow, and steady as they stepped over broken branches and ducked under others. Every moment counted, and every slow step was another chance for the bandits to pack up and leave.
There was the smell of a fire. That spurred on his hope. They had stopped by the river, and a fire meant that they were cooking. He only hoped that he did not get there to see a smoldering fire and nothing else. He was too close now to risk the horse stepping on something and sending a crack resounding through the trees. He dismounted and tied the horse up, giving it a welcome pat on the back of its neck.
Andrew crept through the trees, in the direction of the fire, using the scent of it to guide his way. The trees were thick, and he could not see the smoke coming from it. He looked down at his bandaged side, seeing blood on his shirt, and touched a finger to the bandaged wound. There was no pain at all there, which worried him.
Closer and closer, he snuck through the trees, until he caught sight of the glowing orange flames. He ducked down behind a bush and could count two men, the leader and one of the other bandits, along with Juliana, still bound and sitting next to the leader. The third man was not there, and they were not eating. That could only mean that one of the bandits had been sent out to hunt. Andrew smiled.
The hunter becomes the hunted.
He could not have hoped for anything better. First, his horse had come back to him in his time of greatest need, then the bandits had stopped to eat, and he had got there while one of them had gone out hunting. He had never believed in a higher power, but he was starting to think that there was someone watching over him. He looked down at his bandaged wound again and wondered if he would find out soon if he was right or wrong about the afterlife.
He shook the thought from his head, he did not have time to stand there doing nothing. The bandit had been incompetent at fighting, but that did not mean he was not a good hunter, and he could be back to the others soon if Andrew waited too long. He had his chance, and he had to take it.
Andrew crept closer to where the two bandits were huddled around the fire. He could see the horses tied to the tree and the road. The third bandit would not have gone toward the road, he would have ventured deeper into the forest. Andrew moved silently away from where the three were sat and went in search of some tracks.
He found them immediately. The bandit had no reason to cover the path that he had taken, and there were some small broken sticks where the bandit had trodden and a crumpled flower. Andrew followed the tracks, stopping to bend down and pick up a branch the same length as a sword. It would do to protect him if the bandit spotted him before he had a chance to attack.
The tracks stopped suddenly, and Andrew spotted a trap in the undergrowth. For a moment he was taken by the placement of it, the trap was exactly where he would put it if he were hunting rabbits and, if that was the case, then the bushes to his right were the perfect place to take cover and hide.
Andrew turned as the bandit leaped from the bush, sword drawn. He parried with the stick, knocking the metal sword to the side. The bandit swung again, knocking the stick to one side and almost out of Andrew’s hands. Another swing sent Andrew jumping back to avoid it.
It was like being on the training ground. When Andrew had first moved to the Castle, he had worked as a blacksmith, but his size and strength had soon brought him to be a soldier and, before he was allowed to pick up a sword, he had practiced with the other boys, using rounded wooden sticks. They were a match for other wooden sticks, but no match for a real sword.
A sharpened sword would cut the stick in half if the wielder knew what they were doing. Thankfully for Andrew, the bandit did not. Instead of slashing first at the wooden stick, and then at Andrew, the bandit only had eyes for Andrew. This gave Andrew the opportunity to deflect the blows until he could maneuver the bandit into a favorable position.
Andrew kicked the bandit in the hip and sent him flying to the ground. As the bandit scrambled to get up, he found a rock crashing down on him. The bandit fell to the ground, unconscious, with a large bruised lump forming on the side of his head. Andrew knew that the man would wake much later with a splitting headache.
He took the sword and crept back to where the other two men were. He crouched close to the clearing where they had made the fire and waited. He did not know how much time he had, but he knew that the men would not leave without their friend, and Andrew had infinite patience. It did not take long for the leader to become worried about the one they had sent off to find food.
“Iain has been away for too long,” said the leader. “He should’ve been back by now. Go find him, and if he daesnae have some food for us, I’ll give him such a beatin’.”
The other bandit stretched and got to his feet, not even bothering to draw his sword. There was no threat that he could conceive. As he was doing this, Andrew backtracked the way that he had come and found a place to hide. He had his sword drawn, waiting to strike. The bandit soon passed by where Andrew crouched unseen.
“Hey,” whispered Andrew as he emerged behind the bandit. The man stopped and turned. There was a moment of confusion as the bandit tried to get a mental grip of what was happening. Andrew could see the thought running through the mind of the bandit as the expressions on his face changed. Here was the man that the bandit had left for dead, for he was the one who had stabbed him in the side; he had been without horse or weapon, yet here he stands with a sword in his hand.
The bandit glanced down at the sword in Andrew’s hand, and his hand instinctively went to the hilt of his own. Before it had even got there, Andrew had swung the sword and connected the hilt of his own stolen sword with the man’s fleshy temple. Just like Iain, the bandit fell to the ground with a lump on his head. There would be two men who would wake after the sun had fallen, both would regret their choices in life.
For a third time, Andrew crept to where the leader and Juliana were sat, warming themselves around the fire, and waited. He dared not try to surprise the leader just yet, for he was too close to Juliana, and he had his sword in his hand. Andrew wondered if the small amount of intelligence the man had was what made him the leader. He hoped that he would be dumb enough to go off in search of the other two. Andrew found that he was not.
After waiting in the same spot for an eternity, the leader started to look around with frustration on his face. Andrew almost burst from the trees when the leader jumped up, pulled up Juliana, and brought the sword to her throat one again.
“I know that ye are there,” said the leader. “Ye’ve taken care of my men, but ye’ll have a harder time with me.”
The bandit leader gripped onto Juliana and wheeled around in a circle, trying to spot Andrew among the trees. Andrew moved in a circle, staying behind the man and Juliana while he alternated between placing the sword to her throat, and waving it at the trees.
“Ye can take one of the horses if ye want tae, but we leave first. I’ll not hurt the lassie if yer not stupid. If ye rush from the trees, then she’s dead. Ye value her life more than yers, I suspect.” Again, he waved the sword wildly at the trees, and that was Andrew’s chance.
Andrew had made sure to stay behind the bandit, and, as the man waved his sword wildly at the trees, trying to threaten Andrew, he made his move. He lunged silently from the trees, and plunged his sword upwards, and at an angle, through the man’s shoulder. The sword emerged on the other side, only a few inches from Juliana’s head.
Juliana let out a scream as the sword came close to her face, and ran from the bandit as he let her go. The bandit dropped his own sword and screamed out as Andrew pulled the blade from his shoulder. He turned to face Andrew with a stunned expression on his face, as the Highland warrior plunged the sword a second time, this time though the man’s chest. The surprised look glazed over, and the bandit lea
der fell to the ground, crumpling up like a wet piece of paper.
Andrew pulled out the sword and wiped it on the man’s shirt before placing it back on his belt.
“You came back!” shrieked Juliana. She ran at Andrew and wrapped her arms around him.
Andrew winced and pulled back a little. Juliana looked down at his shirt, where more blood had oozed through the bandages and stained in a large ragged circle of scarlet.
“You are hurt,” said Juliana. “I had forgotten. How did you find me? How did you get here? I thought that you were dead? The other two? Where are they? They went into the forest. We should go before they come back.”
“Calm down.” He looked Juliana in the eye, waiting for the worried look to pass. “Ye’re goin’ tae be fine. There’s no danger anymore. I’ve taken care of the other two.”
Juliana looked down at the bandit leader.
“They’re not dead,” said Andrew. “We should go, though, before they wake up. There’s a village not far from here, Drechten. We’ll be safe there and find some shelter.”
“We need to get you to a physician,” said Juliana.
“As long as we get tae Drechten, we’ll be fine. The castle, the Laird there is married to the sister of Laird Lochenbrew. She knows of yer arrival in the Highlands, and will surely help us. I’ve met her a couple of times, she’ll protect ye from harm.”
“What about you?” asked Juliana.
“I’m sure that I’ll be taken care of too,” replied Andrew.
“I will make sure that she does.” Juliana realized that she was doing too much to help Andrew once again, but she did not care. “She is to be my sister-in-law, after all.”
That hurt Andrew more than the wound, the subtle reminder that she would not be his, no matter what he did.
“Dinnae be makin’ demands on my behalf. Yer safety is what is important tae me, and that’s what’ll be important tae her too. Once yer safe, I’ll be taken care of, dinnae worry. Now, let’s get back on the road before I…”
“Before you what?” asked Juliana. “How serious is your injury?”
“Och, it’ll be fine, I’m just tryin’ tae get across our need tae get goin’. Come on, we’ll take two of the horses, and leave one for the two bandits. They might find another horse if they look hard enough, but we dinnae have time tae go back for it.”
He led Juliana toward the horses and untied the two strongest. He mounted one, and Juliana mounted the other. They rode away from the bandits, and toward safety. The village of Drechten was visible in the distance, and the Castle grew more imposing as they neared it.
“Tell Lady Drechten who ye are when we get there,” said Andrew as the village was almost upon them.
“Your eyes,” said Juliana. “Stay with me.”
“Just make sure that we get there.” The last thing that he saw before the blackness claimed him was the concerned look on Juliana’s face. Much like every other look that she had, this one was also framed by beauty.
The blackness came, and he saw no more.
12
Life And Death At Drechten Castle
Juliana watched as Andrew slumped forward on his horse. Her arm reached out instinctively to try and stop him from falling, even though he was too far away for her to grab onto him. The Highlander slumped forward but did not fall from his horse, instead lurching against its mane, and remaining stuck there.
Is this how my story with Andrew ends? I wish that I had not said to him what I had, but I have my duty, and he deserved to know the truth. He still has the tender smile on his face; I hope and pray that this is not how I will remember him.
He wore that smile as his head bobbed up and down in time with the horse trotting along.
Drechten Castle stood majestically on the edge of the village. The road from this side ran straight into the Castle, through the building, and out into the village beyond. Following the road, a traveler would pass through the village and out of it. Those were the only roads in and out.
The Castle had stood in the village long before the village had been named Drechten, and had gone through many names, until the family had settled there two hundred years ago, and claimed the rights to the fortress through family lines and wars.
The village had grown around the Castle, on one side, over the last hundred years, and had stood firm against all manner of attacks. It was not as beautiful as some of the more modern castles were, nor did it have some of the architectural flourishes that some buildings had, but it was solid.
We are almost there, the Castle, our savior. I had not thought what a Scottish castle would really look like. Is this like the one in which I will live? I can only see beauty here, it is a haven that will keep Andrew alive.
Some people compared the Castle to a large lump of rock. It was square in shape, with some rounding on the corners, and a distinct lack of turrets and towers. It had been built in defense at a time when there was no need to see the land in front of it. It was never built to be permanent, but there it was.
Of course, there was still beauty there. Each stone that had been used to build the walls was weathered with character and held the history of the building. Each crack, crumble, and hole was an attack from the enemy, the weather beating down on the rough material, or the passage of time ravaging the rock.
The stones had discolored over time, moving from light grey to dark grey, and they had stood firm, imposing their presence on the landscape. No one quite knew what the beauty was that they saw in the Castle, but there was something there, perhaps the long history.
Mountains were close by, but they did not provide a backdrop, and the trees around it were not particularly tall or breathtaking. The beauty was in the simplicity of everything. For Juliana, the beauty was in it being there. She loved the Castle for being her Highlander’s savior, even though it was her entrapment too. Once she entered the Castle, she would be with her future family, and there would be nothing that she could do to escape from it.
Come on, only a little more. If we can keep the pace, then we can save him like he saved us.
Juliana spurred on her horse, keeping it close to Andrew’s, and hoped that the other horse would keep the pace. As she moved faster, the horse beside her did comply, and Juliana pushed the horses to run fast enough to get them there quickly, but not so fast that they risked throwing Andrew from his saddle. She did not think that she would be able to get him back on the horse or carry him to the Castle if he fell off.
She tried not to look at the slumped body beside her. It was impossible to tell if he was breathing or not. The only thing that she could do was get him to the Castle and let the people in the infirmary do their jobs. She could not do anything more to keep him alive.
“Help!” Juliana shouted as they reached the Castle gates. “Help me! I need help!”
The sight of a woman on horseback shouting for help was enough to bring the two guards running from the small guardhouse at the front entrance to the Castle.
“You need to get him to the infirmary,” said Juliana.
“Tae the graveyard, more like,” said Arthur, the older of the two guards. He had a keen expression on his face, shaped by time, and a bushy mustache, also shaped by time.
“You need to help him,” pleaded Juliana. She dismounted her horse and went to Andrew, expecting the guards to come to her aide, but they stood where they were, surveying the situation.
William, the younger guard, took a step forward to see better the man slumped on the horse, but did not do anything to help the man, it was not their duty after all.
“What happened tae him?” asked Arthur.
“We were attacked by bandits.”
“Aye,” said Arthur, shaking his head as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Then he fixed his gaze on Juliana and looked at her with some curiosity. “Yer English? What are ye doin’ so far up North? Dae ye think this is some romantic place or somethin’? Did ye convince yer husband tae bring ye up here? It’s a dangerous place,
lassie. Ye shouldnae have come up here without protection.”
“He is my protection. If it was not for him, I would be dead, and your Lady Drechten would not be pleased, nor Laird Lochenbrew.”
“What dae ye know of the Lady?” Arthur was surprised that this English lass knew Lady Drechten.
“She will be my sister-in-law,” said Juliana.
That had some weight to it, and both of the guards looked at her with wild confusion. She had mentioned the Lady by name, but the situation was too unbelievable for them to believe it.
“Yer an English lass,” confirmed Arthur.
Consumed By The Lost Highlander (Steamy Scottish Historical Romance) Page 11
