"I'll go with you. We'll lead the men down together, alright?"
She nodded, happy enough with that. Baldric was listening to their argument, one eyebrow raised in amusement — but she was pleased to notice that he didn't interfere or seem to doubt her skill at all. It was clear he'd had some experience with the headstrong MacClaran women, she thought with a grin, feeling an odd sense of pride to be counted among those women like this.
It only took a little while to find the now-familiar path down the side of the cliff that led to the entrance. It was a narrow entrance though, and she frowned, wondering whether there was a better way to get the men into the cave. But time was of the essence — they'd have to go in one at a time through the narrow passage into the cave, she realized as she cleared some of the undergrowth away, but that was the best they were going to do. Brendan was eager to get the men into the cave as soon as possible before sundown, reasoning that if the creature was nocturnal, they might catch it sleeping.
As she'd promised, she backed off once the way into the cave was clear, climbing back up to level ground and watching as the men followed her instructions, carefully climbing down to the low platform outside the cave entrance, their weapons in hand and their torches lit. Brendan hung back with her, wanting to see what happened — she was grateful for his presence at her side, and even more grateful when he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it tight, just briefly, making sure that none of the men saw.
Was this really going to be the end of it, she wondered as the men readied themselves to enter the cave? Could this really be the end of the Black Annis? For their sake — and for the sake of the missing children — she hoped so.
Chapter 24
It was late afternoon when the men entered the cave. It felt strange, waiting up on the top of the cliff for them to return… she found herself fidgeting, wanting to be down there with the men, exploring the cave, tracking down the lost children. After coming so far to enter these caves, it felt ridiculous to know that a bunch of guards were exploring them before she was… but Brendan was right. Without any way to defend herself against the dangerous creature that was no doubt sleeping down there, it would be foolish for her to risk her life that way.
They'd been gone for maybe twenty minutes when Brendan and Helena first began to suspect that there was something wrong. She thought she could hear muffled shouting, deep under their feet — worried she was dreaming it, she moved closer to the edge of the cliff, Brendan following her with a concerned look on his face.
"What's wrong? Did you hear —"
And then she recoiled from the edge in fear as the shouting grew louder. A man came bursting through the narrow passageway at full speed, barely grabbing hold of a tree at the edge of the little ledge and stopping himself falling. He came scrambling up the little path, his eyes wild with fear, and Helena realized with a shock that he was badly wounded — there were several deep gouges on his neck and shoulders, and he was breathing hard as he got as far from the cave entrance as he could. But he wasn't alone. More and more men were pouring out of the cave, shouting and screaming in fear, chaotic in their desperation to get out of the cave. Brendan was shouting down at them, trying to get them to be sensible, but to no avail — men were scrambling up the side of the cliff, fear palpable in their every movement. Just about all of them were injured.
But the worst was yet to come. As more and more men fled from the cave, the ledge was growing more and more crowded — and Helena screamed, reaching out helplessly as she saw the inevitable happen. Two men at the edge of the ledge were crowded right off it — she heard one bellow in fear as he was knocked clear of the ledge, reaching out frantically to grab hold of a slender branch of a small tree that was growing on the edge of the cliff. But its roots were no match for the weight of a grown man in armor, and both men and the little tree went plummeting from the edge of the cliff. Mercifully, they were quickly out of sight — and Helena didn't hear the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground under the shouting and screaming of the men still on the cliffside.
Brendan was roaring at the men, trying to get them up onto level ground — slowly but surely, they all climbed up, bloodstained and trembling. Baldric was the last man to emerge from the cave — Helena had been searching for him, worried that he wasn't among the men coming out of the cave. He had a deep wound across his cheek, and he looked thoroughly shaken by whatever he'd seen in the cave, and she bit her lip hard as he joined them at the top of the cliff, breathing hard.
"What happened down there?" Brendan asked in a low voice. All around them, the men were improvising first aid supplies, tearing up their clothing to bind one another's wounds. There was something heartwarming about seeing men from both sides helping one another… but it didn't do much about the sick feeling in her stomach, knowing without even asking that the men had encountered the Black Annis down there… and it hadn't gone well for them.
"The cave system is enormous," Baldric said after a pause, clearly working through the best way to tell this story. "Once we were all in, we started to split up to explore properly. I could hear the men calling for the children, see their torches on the walls… we must have gotten a few hundred yards into the cliff. I had no idea all that was down there," he said with a frown. "We've been on this land for decades and never known what an extensive network of caves is here. I'd have thought it would have been used by smugglers, or robbers, or bootleggers, a cave that big, but… nothing. No trace of any kind of human presence."
"Did you find her? It," Helena corrected herself, feeling a little strange about talking about the creature like it was a person… especially when it had done so much harm. "Was it there?"
"We did," he said heavily. "It must have been waiting for us… we'd hoped to find it sleeping, but I suppose we woke it up. The chaos it caused… it slashed one man across the face and then we were all running and yelling. Dropped the torches, lost our bearings… Can't say I got a good look at it… only felt it swipe me."
"And did you find any trace of the children?"
"Didn't see anything before the thing attacked us," Baldric said heavily. "But I thought I heard weeping, much deeper in. This is…" He rubbed his face, careful to avoid his wound. "This is a terrible thing."
"We need to rethink this strategy," Brendan said bleakly. "It's too dangerous, just sending half an army through the cave. We need to figure something out, to…" He rubbed his face too, dejected and exhausted. "We need to get down to the bottom of the cliff and fetch the men who fell," he said bleakly.
Baldric nodded, turning to head for his horse. "I'll go. You keep an eye on the men here."
It was clear that there was no chance of going back into the cave today — not with most of the men injured and terrified. They spent another half hour there, doing what they could to tend to the wounded… it was clear that morale had been devastated by the attack from the Black Annis, their utter failure to find the children, and by the confirmed deaths of the two men who'd been knocked from the cliff in the chaotic mass exodus from the cave. One thing was clear — if another attempt was to be made on the caves, a smaller group would have to go.
"I hate leaving them in there," Brendan said heavily as they mounted their horses to make the long trek home. "But it won't help them at all for more men to die in attempting to save them."
It was a slow, thoughtful ride home. They didn't travel much faster than a walk — after all, there were bodies to be carried. Helena and Brendan, as the only non-injured members of the party, had offered their horses for the purposes of carrying the dead men home — they'd been carefully wrapped in cloth and attached to the backs of the horses, and there was a horrible sense of déjà vu about it. The Black Annis had claimed another two victims… not to mention the children who were still in its clutches. It was reassuring, in a grim way, that Baldric had heard the children crying… at least that meant that they were still alive.
Helena was a little unsettled to realize that her theory about the Black
Annis was correct. It hadn't been taking the children to eat them… it had wanted them as company in its lair. Its lonely, empty lair… she thought of her dream, thought of the dread and the isolation of it, and shivered a little. It was a monstrous thing it had done, stealing away those children to keep them in the freezing caves away from their parents… but on a strange, awful level, she understood why the creature had done it. Was that why she was having those dreams? To help her understand the Annis… maybe to help her defeat it? It hadn't done her much good, she thought sourly, looking around at the exhausted, wounded men around her. Nor had it helped much with this attack.
Baldric and his men bid them farewell and set off back toward Weatherby's manor, and then they were alone as the shadows stretched longer and longer. Night had fallen by the time they reached the castle. Oliver had left them, too — he'd been among the men who'd emerged first from the cave, and had avoided being too badly injured, though he had some nasty scrapes that he assured them his wife would be more than capable of tending.
The rest of the men weren't quite so lucky, though. Once they were through the gates of the Keep — it felt good to be home, despite the miserable day they'd had — the guards on the walls raised the alarm, and it wasn't long before a kind of triage had been set up in the courtyard. Audrina was there within minutes, a bag under her arm that it turned out was full of medical supplies, and Helena hovered by her and Brendan, trying to find ways she could help.
It was admirable, how Audrina had coped with the medieval setting. In her bag she had clean bandages, sharp needles for stitches — even a little bottle of alcohol for sterilizing her tools, she explained, smiling as she worked quickly on the most severely wounded men. She cleaned their wounds with care, stitched what needed stitching — there were several men with very deep gashes indeed — and sent them on their way with strict instructions to rest and to keep the injuries clean.
By the time the men had all been seen to, it was fully dark, and Helena realized she was swaying on her feet, faint with hunger. It had been a long time since the bread they'd scoffed down while riding… but still, it was hard to feel much of an appetite after such a grim day. Brendan took her by the shoulders when she swayed the third or fourth time, a worried look on his face. He'd been assisting Audrina with applying medical treatment to the men, and she could tell from his face that he was as exhausted as she was… but still, it was her he was worried about.
"You need to rest," he told her firmly. "And eat something, I'd imagine. You look shaken, Helena. It's been a rough day."
"Same goes for you," she objected, annoyed that he was worrying about her while ignoring his own needs. "You've been on the go all day — you need rest as much as I do."
"Fine," he said, exasperated, though she could see a smile playing about his eyes regardless. "How about I make you a deal. I'll go in and eat dinner if you come in and eat dinner with me."
"Agreed," she said with a smile. She didn't want to admit it even to herself, but she didn't like the idea of leaving his company. He made her feel safe, feel protected… the prospect of being all by herself right now was unthinkable. So she was glad that he was willing to eat with her, grateful for the way he slipped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to his side in a comforting hug as they walked up the stairs to the castle.
There was a somber mood in the dining hall when they entered. It seemed word had spread of what had happened, of the missing children and the disastrous attempt to recover them from the sandstone caves. The servants were whispering amongst themselves, and it seemed like every table was haunted by worried faces sharing what they knew about the disaster. The name 'Black Annis' was on every pair of lips — Helena supposed with a sigh that it would have been too much to hope that the details would have stayed between them.
Brendan brought her a steaming bowl of stew and some freshly baked bread rolls, and they set about eating. Though she didn't have much of an appetite still, she could feel that her body was in sore need of the food, so she forced herself to finish the whole helping. It did help… and what helped more was the two mugs of ale Brendan disappeared to retrieve from the kitchens. She'd never been much of a beer drinker, but this was absolutely delicious… and the alcohol was just what she needed to ease the stress and misery of the day.
"What are we going to do?" she said softly, once they were both halfway through their drinks. "We can't send any more men into the caves like that… not if they're just going to get sliced up by her. She's too strong."
"I talked to a few of the men," Brendan agreed heavily. "While we were tending their wounds, they told us about fighting her. They said they tried their best to harm her with swords, but her flesh seemed to turn the blades aside like they were made of grass, not hard steel. She's invulnerable."
"Then how do we kill her?" Helena demanded, gritting her teeth. For all the strange sympathy she had for the creature, she knew it had to be put to death. With the harm it had done, with its clear determination to kidnap children… it was too dangerous to leave it alive. But Brendan just shrugged, looking utterly exhausted.
"Tell you what," he suggested suddenly. "I think we should give it a rest for tonight. It's been a long, awful day, and talking about it over and over isn't going to do anything but make us more miserable."
She nodded, smiling a little ruefully. "I wouldn't mind some time off." But still, as they finished their meal and he offered to walk her up to her room, she couldn't help wondering about the creature. Where was it now? Was it stalking the moors, in search of more sheep to eat, or more children to steal away to its lair? Was it angry that its caves had been invaded… did it want vengeance? Would it come to the castle tonight as it had the other day, using its terrible talons to climb up the side of the building again?
She realized with a start that they'd walked all the way to Brendan's chambers without her realizing. She looked up at him with a rueful smile. "I'm not doing well at not thinking about it, I suppose," she said softly, getting ready to bid him goodnight and begin the long walk back to her own little room. She didn't relish the idea of being alone in there… the prospect of tucking herself up in her bed with nothing to distract her from thoughts of the Black Annis stalking the countryside…
Then, suddenly, she felt Brendan's hands on her waist, and he was drawing her gently but irresistibly toward him. She leaned into the embrace, not realizing how much she needed the physical contact… it had been such a hard day, and the tenderness of his lips against hers almost made her cry. The kiss was sweet, and gentle, and though she'd been half planning to walk back to her room, that idea seemed very far away now as he drew her in, the kiss deepening. She blushed, a little worried by how passionately he was kissing her in such a public place. What if someone walked along the hallway and stumbled upon them? But it was late, she realized dizzily. Most of the people of the castle were asleep. Nobody would notice if she…
She slipped into his room with him, her hand in his, a smile dancing across his handsome face as he closed the door behind them. Neither of them needed to speak… they knew why they were there, knew what they were doing. He kissed her again, pressing her back against the closed door behind her, and she gasped a little as she felt his hands tightening around her. It felt as though her body was waking up, hungry with desire for him, for the warmth of his body, the press of his lips against hers, the gentle scrape of his stubble against her face…
"Would you like to stay?" he breathed into her ear, his voice low and full of desire.
A grin spread across her face, and all she could do was nod.
Chapter 25
Their kissing had gotten considerably less polite as they'd warmed to the task, and though Brendan was being respectful she could feel the impatience in him as he kissed her harder and harder, his hands beginning to roam across her body. Grinning to herself, she reached up to unfasten the top of her dress, and she felt him breathe a sigh of relief at the unspoken permission.
Before she knew it, he
was assisting her to pull the dress down, freeing her of the confines of the garment… and she hesitated a little, remembering belatedly who the dress had belonged to. Had he helped Brigid out of this dress before, like this? Was he thinking of her now, remembering his wife and not seeing Helena before him?
She caught his eyes, realizing with a jolt that he was thinking the same thing. His hands slowed on the fastenings of the dress, and he shook his head just a little, a smile playing around his lips.
"It's you I want, Helena Crane," he said softly, and the passion in his voice was unmistakable. "There's only the two of us in this room right now, you hear me?"
That was all she needed to hear. Beaming, she pulled the dress down along with her jeans and undergarments, throwing herself into his arms — and he chuckled, pulling her into his embrace. Their passion rose, and before long she was dragging at his clothing, too, impatient to have his body freed from the irritating confines of his clothing… it felt like they'd been waiting for years to do this, centuries even, even though they'd barely known each other for a week or two. Was that a problem? she wondered. What were the sexual attitudes of this place? Would she be cast out as some kind of whore for sleeping with a man she wasn't married to?
"Will you —" She hesitated, breathless with desire but torn about the dilemma she faced. "Will you still … respect me. If we —"
He chuckled, his voice low and rich in the room, and in that moment she'd have accepted a thousand scarlet letters stitched into every garment she owned if it meant she could have him. "Of course I will," he said, reassuring and amused. "Will you respect me?"
She laughed breathlessly — and then she was in his arms, both of them pulling the blanket of his bed over them, blocking out the outside world. Here, finally in his arms, his bare body against hers, it was impossible to think of anything else… impossible to worry about the monster out there. All she could think about, all she could focus on was him, the heat of his breath against her skin as he kissed her mouth, her face, her throat, her breasts… she lost herself in the sensation of his hands on her, his lips lighting fires all across her skin. It had never felt like this before, being with a man… she'd had her share of sexual experiences, of course, but all of them paled in comparison to this one, to the passion in him, the way her body seemed to thrill to his touch.
Highlander Hunted: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander In Time Book 8) Page 19
