The Great Scottish Devil

by Starla Kaye

  “Is being taken to Urquhart. The Campbell’s wagon as well.” He didn’t look particularly happy about the matter.

  “Ye are naught leaving in a tinker’s wagon agin! I willna have it!” The MacKay snapped.

  If she’d had the strength, Annabel would have marched right over to him and gone nose-to-nose with him about it. Instead she nodded toward her injured leg. “I will not have you ordering me about; trying to deny me what is rightly mine.” His face puffed up at her countering him, but she didn’t care. “My medicinals are in my wagon.”

  Rose put a hand on her husband’s arm. “I willna have the two of ye fighting. She doesna ken us. We must be patient. Please, Braden.”

  The anger cleared from his expression as he gazed gently down at his wife. “Patience isna my best quality, luv. But I will try.”

  Satisfied, she hurried over and once more kneeled down to examine the injury. “We must look at yer leg. I have some basic herbs in my satchel,” Rose said. Tears swelled in her eyes as she looked up at Annabel and pleaded, “May I look at yer wound? I only want to help.”

  Annabel was reluctant, still feeling somehow disloyal to Katherine, who had mothered her all of the life she remembered. Yet she couldn’t refuse the seemingly desperate need Rose had to help her in some way. “’Tis only a scratch. I was very lucky.”

  Brodie gave a curt nod. “Aye, ye were.” Then he turned away toward the many men who had been waiting patiently and quietly nearby. “Get the horses. And find the other men. We will work our way out of this forest this day and go back to Urquhart on the morrow.”

  Annabel flinched as Rose carefully examined her leg, tsking in distress at the bloody mess. She glanced from her father to Brodie and asked anxiously, “What of Alastair Sutherland? Have you seen anything of him?”

  Before Brodie could answer her father said in a fierce snarl, “He will pay with his life fer what he has done. Word will at once be sent to King Edward. But I will hunt him down myself. I will take his life.”

  Rose gasped at the vehemence in his voice and then nodded acceptance.

  Brodie stated grimly, “Ye will naught be hunting him alone, MacKay. I will be going with ye.”

  “But Agatha…” Annabel said in concern. “Ye are to marry her…”

  “The marriage can wait. Finding Sutherland and making him pay fer what he has done to ye and to the MacKays canna wait.”

  * * *

  They had been back at Urquhart for three days by the time Annabel had reached the limits of her patience with being smothered. She had refused to stay in bed another day and went down to the great hall to break her fast, but her “mother” had been trying ever since to get her to go back upstairs. Idleness due to her injured leg had strained her patience and put her in a bad mood. Dealing with two people who were determined to make her love them for who they rightly were in her life, only frustrated her farther. And they—especially Braden MacKay—was more frustrated than she. He was used to getting his way. She was not cooperating. They had begun to wage a silent battle yesterday when she refused to leave Urquhart with them. He didn’t understand that Urquhart had become her home while she’d stayed here and the people here had reacted with such happiness at her safe return. She was reluctant to go, even though she knew she should.

  “Ye look too pale, my Roseanna,” Rose fretted from where she sat next to Annabel. “I really think ye should—”

  “Enough! Please stop it.” Annabel shoved her chair back from the table and stood. The sudden movement caused her a moment’s pain, which she ignored. “I am going to check on my wagon.” Checking on her wagon wasn’t necessary, but it was a source of comfort to her in her confused world these days. She needed to touch the things she was familiar with. She needed to feel the presence of what had been her other parents’ life.

  She stepped back and tried not to see that far too many eyes had turned their focus on her. Now even the people gathered in the hall to break their fasts looked worried about her. She was tired of it all. She was confused and weary. And she’d barely had two seconds alone since Brodie had carried her into the keep and up to her former bedchamber.

  Before she could move away, The MacKay said in his most commanding tone, “Dinna speak so rudely to yer mother, daughter. Apologize. Now.”

  The stubborn streak in her came out strong at that moment. She glowered at him, not really intimidated, more annoyed than anything. “I have nothing to apologize for. I am simply tired of being constantly watched and fretted over.”

  But she hadn’t meant to hurt Rose’s feelings. The woman had been nothing but kind and loving to her. She looked down at Rose and said quietly, “You have been most kind, truly, but I need some time alone.”

  Rose gave an accepting nod, although she continued to look worried.

  Unable to keep looking at the older woman, Annabel shifted her gaze to Brodie. She’d sensed the way he had stiffened in his chair at her abrupt action and forceful statement. The pinched look and disapproval in his eyes told her he was unhappy with her. Yet he didn’t reprimand her this time.

  Agatha simply leaned closer to Brodie and did her best to ignore Annabel and distract her betrothed. She had been practically attached to his side ever since their return. If he came to visit her in the bedchamber, Agatha came as well. Not that she’d ever expressed a bit of sympathy or said a kind word to her. But she had made it clear that he belonged to her and only her. Annabel already knew that, but the constant reminder had been souring her mood. Added to the smothering and her mood was really not good.

  “I do naught understand this ‘time alone’ business,” her “father” grumbled and drew Annabel’s attention. He looked ready to jump up and force her to sit down again. Rose gently touched his hand and shook her head. Still, he appeared far less than pleased.

  “There is much you do not know about me, or understand.”

  Unable to stay there another minute, Annabel walked proudly around the table, stepped gingerly down off the raised dais, and wove her way past the long trestle tables to leave the hall. She struggled to keep her chin up and not to let the tears in her eyes fall. She didn’t like feeling so confused, acting so rudely to people who only wanted to care about her. But her life had been turned completely upside down, again. She couldn’t seem to be able to settle down and deal with anything. And more than anything else, she missed Brodie.

  “I will go after her and make sure she is all right.” Brodie pushed away from the table to stand. He gazed around the half-full hall and knew that everyone was concerned about Annabel. She was greatly loved here and no one wanted to see her hurt more than she’d already been. He, especially, had been watching over her, thinking about her constantly since he’d found her tied up in the forest. He had nightmares about that, dreams that he’d arrived too late.

  “She will be fine. Leave her be,” Agatha whined and looked up at him in disgust. “She is not your responsibility any longer. Let her parents handle her.” She glanced briefly at the MacKays and back at him. “In truth, I do not understand why they have not taken her with them back to their home.”

  Brodie heard The MacKay’s annoyed indrawn breath. The older man had no likeness for Agatha, nor did Rose. Brodie understood. He could barely tolerate her anymore. She hadn’t shown one bit of sympathy for the horrors Annabel had endured. All she’d spoken of was the upcoming wedding ceremony, of the fine plans she was making, and of who she believed they needed to invite. He didn’t want to marry her and he certainly didn’t want to talk endlessly about the plans. So far he’d been able to keep postponing the “blessed event,” but he didn’t think he could for much longer.

  “Ye will watch yer tongue, Lady Stonewall,” Brodie advised with a look he hoped would get her obedience.

  She blinked at him, her face draining of color. Clearly she understood his unspoken threat to warm her bottom if she continued showing such disrespect to the MacKays. He’d wanted to do it ever since he’d returned to Urquhart.

  “
Mayhap I should go talk to her,” Rose said uncertainly. “I—”

  “Nay. I understand yer daughter better than ye at the moment. I will go to her. I will help her.” Brodie met The MacKay’s gaze and they exchanged a look. Her father hesitated and then nodded. He understood what Brodie knew needed to be done.

  Annabel squirmed uncomfortably in her position face down over Brodie’s hard thighs. She had known from the moment they’d exchanged a look in the great hall after her snapping at Rose that she would end up this way. Mayhap she had even acted so rudely to get his attention. She’d yearned for his touch—even this kind of touch—since that day in the forest.

  His hard hand slammed against her bottom again, just as it had for far too many minutes now. “Ye have needed this spanking, havena ye?” he asked knowingly. “Ye canna settle yerself.”

  She blinked at her tears and craned her head to look at him. They were in the rear of the paddock and he sat on wooden box. Her long skirt and chemise had been shoved over her back. He held her in place with one arm and held his hand in the air as their gazes met. Her bottom was already on fire. A fire for him burned inside her as well.

  “I do not know what to do anymore. They are kind enough to me, but I do not know if I can love them as they wish me to do.” She thought about the look her father had given her in the hall. “I think this is what The MacKay wished to do. Spank me.”

  Brodie smacked her once more and then held his hand on her hot buttocks. “Ye deserve it, too. The feel of his hand on yer bottom, I mean. Ye’ve been acting poorly of late. He isna a mon to go against.”

  She hissed as the last smack settled in. “I…I…” And then she burst into tears. “They want me to go home with them. Leave Urquhart,” she sobbed out. “I know I should…for you…for me. But…”

  The pain of her leaving filled his expression and he immediately pulled her up to sit on his lap. She winced at the touch of her burned bottom on his legs but leaned her head against his chest.

  “We have nay choice, lass. It breaks my heart, but I have nay choice.” He stroked her back, feathered his fingers through her hair.

  “I know. I respect you even more for holding to what you believe is your duty.” She sniffled and felt her heart pinch.

  He met her gaze, his expression torn but determined. “I leave with yer father on the morrow to hunt fer Sutherland. We have had news of where he might be.” He kissed the top of her head and heaved a deep sigh. “When I get back, I will wed Agatha. I canna put it off any longer.”

  Chapter Ten

  The wind was howling this early October morn and Scotland seemed to be going straight from summer to winter. Annabel sat curled up on a trunk in front of a window in her bedchamber. She had the fur covering from the rumpled bed wrapped around her and yet she still couldn't get warm. Tears trickled down her face, just as they'd done nearly every morn on wakening since Brodie and her new-found father had ridden away from Urquhart over three weeks ago. No word had come to them here at the castle about their progress in finding the elusive Alastair Sutherland. No word about whether or not the man she loved was even still alive. She worried incessantly about him…about The MacKay and the others, too. In truth, she worried about everything now more than she ever had. All of this worry was wearing her down.

  A soft round of knocks on the door startled her from her musings and she nearly fell off her perch.

  “Roseanna? Are ye all right? Can I come in, please?”

  Annabel sighed. Her mother, Rose, had been trying so hard to get to know her. She'd been resistant, feeling as if she would betray Katherine Henderson by even considering allowing this other woman into her life. But she knew this was wrong. Katherine would be ashamed of her for such behavior. Mayhap it was finally time to make peace with Rose, her past, and her future. And she needed to accept being called “Roseanna” instead of resenting it.

  “Come in,” she said, dashing away the tears, and forcing away the mountain of regrets in her mind.

  The heavy wooden door opened and Rose stepped hesitantly inside the chamber. She looked elegant, as always, in a beautiful jade green gown with her hair swept up into braids wound together on top of her head. Her expression mirrored her uncertainty at being welcomed, but her eyes held such hope. Annabel felt even worse for having behaved so poorly for far too long.

  “I am sorry,” Annabel said and tried to show how much she meant the words with a weak smile. “It has taken me too long to deal with these changes in my life.”

  Rose returned the smile, gently, and closed the door behind her. “This hasna been easy on any of us.”

  She walked closer, stopping a few feet from Annabel. “On ye especially.”

  Annabel blinked back a fresh batch of tears threatening to fall and swallowed a lump of emotion in her throat. After a second she said, “You have been very patient with me. I know this has been difficult for you as well. Probably far harder on you than me. I cannot imagine how you survived a child being stolen away and then suddenly returned to you—more or less—all grown up.” She didn't know the whole story, but what she did know was unnerving.

  Under the cover of the fur, she put a hand on her still flat stomach. She couldn't imagine staying sane if such a thing happened to her and her baby. This last week she'd been sick every morning and a bit now and then during the day, although she thought she'd managed to keep it from everyone else. Still, she knew even more now that she carried Brodie's babe. It should be such a happy event, but she couldn't let anyone find out. At least not until after she was far away from Urquhart. Eventually she would tell him, when she wouldn't disrupt his upcoming marriage to Agatha. She couldn't do anything to make him go back on his word. She just couldn't.

  When Annabel had remained quiet too long, a frown creased Rose's lovely face. “What troubles ye, my daughter?”

  “My…”Annabel nearly blurted out about her worry concerning carrying Brodie's baby, since it was always on her mind. But she stopped herself in time. Feeling her face heat in embarrassment, she corrected, “The men. They have been gone so very long. I worry.”

  “Aye, I worry, too. Yet I ken in my heart they will be back soon. And they will be fine.” Rose cocked her head and studied Annabel again. “I fear there is more worrying ye than the men being gone all this time. I wish ye would tell me. Mayhap I could help.”

  It took her a second before she found something else to focus the conversation on. Annabel wasn't ready to confide in this newly found mother what truly bothered her. “I would like to know what happened all those years ago. Everyone has skirted around the matter, but I need to know.” She finally realized she did need to know the circumstances and the consequences of her being taken away.

  Rose's expression filled with pain and she paled. Slowly she crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. It took her several strained minutes before she raised her chin and looked directly at Annabel. “'Twas my fault. I have had to live with the knowledge all these years. Had to bear seeing Braden's pain and disappointment in me all this time.” She gave a quiet sob. “He has never come out and said I failed ye or failed him…but I see it in his eyes from time to time.”

  Annabel shoved aside the fur and hurried over to Rose. She sat down beside the distraught woman and put an arm around her trembling shoulders. “I do not for a second believe you failed me.”

  “But I—” Rose looked miserably at Annabel. “I did.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened.” Annabel could feel the heavy burden of guilt this woman—her birth mother—had carried for far too long. Something went wrong that particular day, but Rose was not guilty of anything more than losing her daughter due to some circumstance she couldn't have prevented. Annabel was certain of that. “I need to know…and you need to talk about it.”

  Rose continued to tremble and quietly sob for several minutes. Finally she straightened and looked determined. “Ye are right. 'Tis time.” She stared across the room, as if reliving the time. “Ye were barely six months o
ld. It was such a pretty spring day and I wanted to take ye to my favorite spot. Down by the lake.”

  She twisted her hands together in her lap. “Braden was busy with training, as always. He wanted me to wait another day or so, but I ken he would never find the time to go with me.”

  Her mother glanced sadly at Annabel and away again. “So I took ye and only two guards down to the lake. Ye were such a sweet babe. Even so young, yer eyes glowed with delight at being there, at hearing the birds singing nearby, at…”

  She crumpled into herself and once more Annabel put her comforting arms around the broken-hearted woman. “You do not have to say any more.”

  But Rose straightened and found some inner strength. “Nay. I need to tell ye how careless I was, how I lost ye.” She wriggled out from Annabel's hold. “Fer a while all was fine. We played in the tall grass. I tickled ye with flowers. Ye laughed. I laughed. Even the men laughed and all seemed fine.”

  Her body tensed and she paled even more. “The guards went down by the lake to water the horses before we would leave agin. I spotted a butterfly in the field and ye babbled in excitement aboot it. So I took ye to see it.”

  A shudder went through her and she pulled back into that moment again. “I put ye down fer jist a second. The next thing I ken, I awoke lying in the grass with my head throbbing. And ye…ye were gone.”

  Annabel's heart raced as if in terror. She had been too young, would not have known what was happening to her, but somehow she realized that she'd always felt as if something horrible had happened to her. She gasped, “The guards?”

  Rose looked at her and tears swam in her eyes, slid down her cheeks. “Dead. Shot in the back with arrows. I dinna ken why I was left alive, except mayhap to suffer all these years. I caused those men's deaths. I let ye be taken from us.”

  “Nay!” Annabel snapped, unwilling to let this gentle woman continue believing she was at fault. She couldn't have known what would happen. “The only person guilty here is whoever arranged for the kidnapping! You were trying to give your daughter—me—a happy time. You had guards with you; they should have protected you and me. For some reason they could not. But the reason had naught to do with you.”