“Och, Muir, I told ye he would come for us.”
“Och, Callum ye would think in a situation such as this that ye would no lie.”
“I am no lying. I am sure I said it a time or two.”
“Cease yer prattle both of ye,” Gavin snapped, losing what little restraint he had left.
Both Muir and Callum immediately went silent.
“Who put ye in here?” Gavin asked.
“Broderick.” Muir limped forward.
“But how did he get ye?”
Muir looked at Callum.
Callum dropped his head to his chest.
“It makes no never mind how we got here, jes make sure we get back out, aye?”
“I can try. I have been having a hard time getting from one place ta the next. When did all these doors get down here?”
Muir looked at Callum and then back to his Laird. “What doors?”
“Bloody hell, Muir, all the ones down the…” Gavin stopped talking. He shut his eyes and reopened them.
Muir was right, there were no doors, only two open-barred cells. He looked back to where he had just come from, for the other passageways, the ones he spent so much time getting lost, but there was only one. The one he remembered from the last time he was down here.
“What kind of witchery is this?”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND
The Past – the Cottage-Greystone Lands
Paige had thought the worst thing that could happen to her while she was in the past was to be locked in a room full of dead people, however that was quickly becoming a preferable predicament to her current one.
“Let me go you bastard!”
Broderick bent down and got real close to her face, so close in fact that she could smell the rancid odor emanating from his mouth as he spoke.
“Now, now, little witch. Ye can yell all ye like, it will only bring the creature of the Loch ta take ye sooner rather than later.”
Paige’s temper flared. She gathered what little amount of saliva she had in her mouth and spit it directly into his ugly face.
Broderick grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back to the point her neck made cracking sounds. “Careful witch. I did no say ye had ta be alive ta be a sacrifice,” he growled.
Paige immediately regretted letting her anger take control but what was she to do? Give up without some kind of fight? Her mind said no, but her aching neck and head said otherwise.
“Say yer sorry, witch,” Broderick scathed. His rancid spittle sprayed her face.
Tears were forming in her eyes from the pain but she would be damned if she told that bastard she was sorry….
Broderick jerked her head back even more.
Paige cried out in pain. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s more like it.” He released her head with a shove.
Stars danced before her eyes. Everything was a blur. Broderick, the men standing back watching; even the red-head on the hill.
Wait—what?
Who was she?
Paige tried to focus.
Broderick took a step away and wiped the spit from his face. When he dropped his hand he noticed his men, the ones he hired were watching him with a cross between amusement and horror. He didn’t care about the men. There was only one face he sought in the crowd. His eyes met hers for a brief moment and then she turned away.
Anger spiked through his veins. Turning back around, Broderick back-handed his prisoner with such force, her head snapped back.
Everything turned black and Paige could see no more.
♦
It didn’t take nearly as long to get out of the dungeon as it did to get inside. And Gavin couldn’t help but wonder the cause. Was it really some kind of witchery or was he losing his mind? Strangely enough, he hoped it was the former and not the latter. Because he needed to keep his wits about him or else he would never be able to find his lass.
“Where is everyone?” Muir asked, holding onto Callum as he skirted the perimeter of the courtyard to the secret door that led outside of the walls.
“I do not know.” Gavin had a bad feeling. Honestly, it was more than that. He was having a premonition of sorts. Something bad was about to transpire, he felt it in his gut. Stopping for a moment, he helped Muir get Callum outside and slipped out behind them. The wall shut with a shuddering groan.
The moon that was a sliver before was now full. It seemed as though a lot of time had passed since Gavin was last outside but he expected as much, what he didn’t expect was for there to be a full moon in the sky and not the sun.
“Can ye go ta Shamus and ask him ta help Callum?” he asked Muir.
“Och, Shamus is a traitor,” Muir grumbled.
“He will help Callum, he owes me that much.”
“Why can ye no ask him?” Muir shifted Callum’s limp body in his arms.
“I can no do that. I have ta find the lass.”
“Where is she?” Callum asked weakly.
“I have an idea.”
“Where?”
“At the loch,” Gavin said. “Broderick will be wanting ta make a sacrifice ta the creature in exchange for the treasure.”
“Laird, ye can no go alone. Broderick has too many men.”
“Well neither of ye will be of much help,” Gavin rebuffed.
Muir didn’t argue. “Aye, I can take him.”
“Good.” Gavin placed his hand on Callum’s shoulder. “Ye get the help ye need.”
Callum nodded mutely.
“Muir, stay off the main thoroughfare, keep ta the woods like we used ta go, aye?”
“Aye. I will.”
“No get on with ye both.” Gavin gave them both a brief hug and then let go.
“Can ye no wait for Graham and Alec? I am sure I can find them in a day or two?” Muir asked.
“Nay.” Gavin shook his head and immediately regretted it because it made his vision blur. “I can no wait.”
“But…”
Gavin silenced Muir with a look.
Muir sighed, knowing he would no be able to budge the Laird once he set his mind ta something. “Best of luck ta ye, Laird.”
“Aye, I will need all the luck I can get.”
After he watched Muir safely get Callum into the woods, Gavin took off running toward Loch Morar.
♦
For some reason unbeknownst to him, Gavin felt like it was taking a very long time to get to the Loch. No matter how fast he ran up each hill, it seemed there was another in its place for him to run up. Something holy unnatural was afoot. He could feel it in his gut. Normally, Gavin didn’t give credence to the dark arts but in this instance, it would seem the like was in play trying to prevent him from reaching his destination.
♦
The moon was full and pressing down on every person standing on the rocky shores of the Loch Morar, awaiting the arrival of the creature from beneath.
“Where is he?” Broderick yelled, threading his fingers through his greasy black hair.
All the men, the ones he hired, gave him a blank look.
“Wake her up!” he yelled, pacing back and forth.
A man walked over and gingerly patted her face. “Lass,” he said, trying to be gentle. The side of her face was swollen well and good. He looked warily back to Broderick. “She is no waking up.”
“Then get some damn water from the Loch and dump it on her.”
Reluctantly, the man walked over to the water’s edge, bent down and put the water in a leather flask. Standing once more, he slowly made his way back to the lass.
Broderick growled, “Do it!”
The man, lifted the flask and dumped it on her head.
Paige sputtered awake. She thought she was dreaming but when she opened her eyes she realized it was not a dream at all, but instead, a waking nightmare—one she was the star of.
“Are ye awake, witch?” Broderick scathed, inches from her face.
Paige wished her hands were fre
e. If they were she would have scratched his loathsome eyes out. “I already told you. I am not a witch!”
Broderick scoffed. “We will see about that.” He turned and strode off towards the other men.
Paige was glad for the momentary reprieve, although she almost wished oblivion would come and lay claim to her again. That way, when the creature showed up, she would not be conscious when the blasted thing decided to eat her.
Lifting her sore face, and wincing from the pain, Paige scanned the faces of each man across the rocky shore- line. There were only ten that she could see, some old, some young and a few she had no idea about—those numbers didn’t seem that terrible, but there may have been others behind her. She doubted that though—she was too close to the water. The later it got, the men seemed to move farther away. She hoped they kept right on going too, but she knew she probably wouldn’t be that lucky.
Broderick stepped in front of her so his back was to the Loch and her face. “When the creature appears ye will all have ta be swift as ye go in the water ta retrieve the treasure.”
Paige narrowed her eyes and mentally shot death daggers at his loathsome back. When that did nothing, not that she thought it would—she gave up and strained to hear what else he was saying. It was hard though with the wind picking up strength. On another occasion, she might have enjoyed the low hanging clouds and the howling wind—one of her favorite before the storm moments—but then she remembered—it did the same thing the last time she was here. “Oh Hell!”
♦
“Bloody Hell!” Gavin swore, swiping his hands over his face in frustration and then letting them drop back to his sides. He looked up into the darkening sky at the fat bellied gray clouds that were roiling above and knew time was running out. It was always the same when the moon was full and soon the mist would come as well. He knew it like he knew the sun would rise on the morrow. He just didn’t know if he was going to be around to enjoy it. Or his lass, he thought disparagingly. A swooping sensation settled in his belly much like when he was riding in the metal beast from the future.
He shook his head “Nay, it can no be this way.” With grim determination, he forced his unresponsive body along with his gruesome thoughts, onward up the crest of the next hill. When he reached the top, he paused once more. In the distance, he could finally see the Loch. He looked upward in relief, saying a silent bit of thanks and then he took off running again. Spurred with renewed resolve, his body moved agilely over clumps of grass and rocks. Once he reached the base of the hill, he moved slower so he was not detected.
He still had no idea how he would free the lass, and or get the treasure from Broderick if he somehow got it from the creature but that was the least of his worries at the moment for when he reached the crest of the hill, there were five pairs of boots blocking his path. “Bloody Hell!”
♦
Paige was trying to force herself into oblivion by holding her breath. Of course, that didn’t help her in the least save for becoming breathless and a bit light-headed. Hearing a commotion, she looked up at the crest of the hill. Elation shot through her at the sight of Gavin and just as quickly disappeared when she realized he was being dragged down said hill by Broderick’s men.
Dirty stinking rotten lowlife scumbags, she thought angrily, using just about every adjective she could think of as she clenched her fists to the point her fingernails were cutting into her palms.
Gavin didn’t bother to struggle—he knew it would be of no use. There were simply too many men to fight at the moment.
Once they were down on the shore, he was shoved to his knees. He saw another pair of boots enter his line of vision and looked up into the black eyes of Broderick.
“I see ye are not so high and mighty now, are ye, Laird,” he scathed.
Gavin spit on his boots.
One of the men clouted him in the head and made his vision blur. Teary-eyed he looked back up into Broderick’s sneering face. “I will kill ye for that,” Gavin promised.
Broderick obviously not liking the threat to his person or the shiver of fear that rushed through him from the threat, took a step back and although it lacked conviction, he laughed. “Ye and what army?”
“Ye will see soon enough,” Gavin rebuffed.
“We will see about that, Laird,” Broderick scathed and nodded his head in the direction of one of the men standing behind Gavin.
“Gah!” Gavin groaned in pain as a boot landed between his shoulder blades and then pushed him into the dirt as his arms were stretched backward.
“Leave him alone you...you…disgusting backwoods heathens!” She jerked on the rope that had her hands bound.
“Och, lass…” Broderick turned towards her with a wicked gleam in his beady black eyes. “How much pain do ye ken he can bear?”
“Gee, asshole,” she deadpanned. “How much pain could you bear?”
Broderick narrowed his eyes. “Watch that vile tongue of yers, lass, or I may have a mind ta cut it out.”
Paige tried not to let him see how his words affected her. “I’d wager that you would still be an asshole.”
Broderick backhanded her in the face.
A shot of white stole her sight as hot tears clouded her vision. “Bastard!” she screamed but the name calling didn’t seem to faze Broderick. After the pain subsided, she tried a different approach and started laughing. It was a small laugh at first—forced, but as time wore on, she laughed even harder, and louder—even to her own ears she sounded a bit crazy.
“What’s so amusing, lass?” Broderick asked finally.
“You hit like a girl…” The taunt had the effect she wanted, for all the men who were close enough to hear her snappy retort, started to laugh.
Broderick’s face turned a purplish color, his anger palpable. “Ye will be sorry for that, witch!” He lifted his fist to take out his frustration on her, but something stopped him. Slack jawed, he froze.
Paige froze too. SHIT! Had her time run out? Was the monster finally here to lay claim to her? Trying not to make any sudden movements, she turned her head back towards Gavin. If she was leaving this Earth, she wanted to be sure to see him one last time, but he wasn’t looking at her. Typical, she thought. Still she tried her best to get his attention. “I love you,” she yelled, although she doubted her could hear her over the howling wind and the sudden screams of surprise from the men, running towards her.
Wait…that didn’t make any sense. Why in the Hell would they be running towards the water where the creature was? Then she remembered what Broderick had said about retrieving the treasure. Still, she couldn’t quite fathom the urgency since she remembered the last time the creature surfaced and she knew it wouldn’t be giving up its gold without some kind of fight.
“Get back and fight ye cowards!” Broderick screamed, unsheathing his sword—the metal rang out with chilling clarity.
Paige flinched from the sound. She was confused and rightly so. Why was Broderick yelling at his men? Tearing her eyes from Gavin, she suddenly knew the reason his men were running towards her.
There were at least twenty other men lined up on the crest of the hill, all with swords drawn.
“Thank God!” A surge of relief coursed through her body when she spotted the familiar faces of Alec, Graham, and Muir along with other men, ones she did not recognize.
She turned back towards Gavin. Her heart stuttered. He looked so beautiful illuminated in the glow of the full moon. Her momentary relief turned quickly back into panic. “Gavin, watch out!” she screamed.
Broderick lunged forward, his sword slicing through the air.
Gavin was slow to react. As he twisted to the side the sword nicked his shoulder. A sharp pain, accompanied by a searing heat, shot through his arm. Stumbling backward, he almost lost his footing on the rocks.
Broderick came at him again.
Gavin barely missed being the recipient of another deadly blow and used the opportunity to disarm Broderick. He barreled head first into his gut, k
nocking him backward.
His sword clattered to the ground.
Broderick, growled and pummeled his body with his meaty fists.
Paige was freaking out. She didn’t know what to do. She was helpless. So she tried the only thing she could think of that might make Broderick get off of Gavin. She lied. “I see the treasure,” she screamed as loud as she could, hoping like hell her ruse would work.
Broderick turned his head to look at the Loch.
Gavin retaliated and clouted Broderick in the side of his head with both hands.
Broderick howled and fell off his body onto the ground, grasping for his wayward sword.
Rolling to the side, Gavin pulled his dirk out of his boot and stumbled to standing. Shaking his head, he tried to get his vision to clear and his senses back in order but it wasn’t working too well. He couldn’t tell what he was looking at. It was all a blur. But still, he tried his best to remain standing, although he found that to be a bit difficult since it seemed the Earth was moving under his feet.
“Gavin!” Paige screamed in horror as the ground beneath her feet began to give way.
All hell was breaking loose. Men were running, the ground was rumbling and if Paige didn’t know better she would think the world was coming to an end.
Broderick being the coward that he was, gave up the fight and ran in the other direction.
Unsteady on his feet, Gavin made his way over to the shoreline. The water was bubbling up and he knew that soon the creature of the Loch would be emerging ta claim its sacrifice.
“Give me yer hands,” he said a bit too calmly considering the situation.
“Are you okay?’ she asked as she dutifully stuck out her hands. At least the damn ground had stopped moving but the water was still making some God-awful noises.
“Aye, I am now.” He gave her a brief smile of reassurance, that didn’t really reassure her at all and then cut through the ropes that bound her wrists together. “Lass, I need ye ta go into the mist when it comes.”
Lost in the Highlands, Volume Two Page 35
