“I have some fine items given to me by a lady when she and her husband sought shelter during a storm. I have no use for them.” Allyson kept her voice low, hiding the noticeable refinement in her speech, and she was careful not to show the man her palms. He would see her smooth skin and realize in an instant that she wasn’t a farmer’s widow.
“Where did you say you were from?” The man countered.
“I don’t recall that I did, but I’m from Inverlochy.”
“You don’t sound like a Highlander.”
Allyson fought to keep from clenching her jaw. “I want to blend in. I dinna need anyone wondering what I’m aboot on account of them thinking to thieve me.” She attempted to sound like Maude Sutherland and the other Highland ladies she knew, whose brogue slipped out from time to time.
“Right you are, right you are.” The vendor examined the gloves and stockings Allyson placed on the counter of the stall. “These are fine quality. What do you want for them?”
“That they are. Tell me what you’re willing to pay, and I’ll tell you whether I’m willing to sell them to you.”
“A silver groat.”
Allyson laughed. “Four pence is what you’ll pay? I’ll be saying good day for aught under a gold quarter-noble.”
“That’s the real thievery. I won’t pay more than a shilling, let alone a shilling and eight pence.”
“Sold for a shilling!” Allyson grinned as the man realized his error. They exchanged the goods for the coin, and Allyson tucked it away but once more didn’t touch the pouch she had hidden. She pushed through the crowd until she made her way to the far end of the market, where the least profitable vendors set up their stands. She would make her money stretch since she didn’t know how long she would be on her own. She found a woman selling material, but Allyson had no time or way to sew her own clothes while she was on the run. She feared there wouldn’t be a merchant with premade gowns at a price she was willing to pay, but the last stall had what she needed. She purchased two more kirtles before leaving the market and moved along the streets to find the more permanent shops.
Allyson peeked through open doors, scanning the occupants for elderly shopkeepers most likely to need an assistant. She came to a bakery, where an old couple attempted to serve a line of customers while the woman shuffled back and forth between the counter and the kitchens. The smells wafting from the oven made Allyson’s stomach growl, and the long line was a testament to the shop’s popularity. Allyson lingered in a corner out of the way, attempting to appear inconspicuous. She was about to approach the couple as the crowd thinned when she was certain her father’s voice carried through the open door. She peeked around the edge of her hood and caught sight of her father standing in the street with Ewan and Eoin. Allyson forced herself not to panic, but she slid past the counter while the couple was busy and darted through the kitchen, praying that there would be a second door that led outside from the kitchen. Otherwise, she would hide abovestairs in the couple’s private residence. She breathed easier when she spotted the door and dashed toward the town stables. She hadn’t expected the search party to reach Glasgow so soon. While she was in a city, it wasn’t large enough for her to go undetected her first day. Allyson would stand out as a stranger. She approached the stables but ducked around a corner when she recognized men in both the Elliot and the Gordon plaid. She cursed under her breath as she tried to figure out how she would gather her horse and escape with none of the guardsmen spying her. She made her way to the back of the stables and found a stable boy mucking out the back of a stall.
“I need your help,” she whispered and waved the boy over. He couldn’t have been over ten or eleven summers, but he appeared strong. “I fear those men will make shameful comments if they see me retrieving my horse. Could you bring him to me?”
The boy narrowed his eyes at her until she lowered her scarf but kept her head covered. The boy nodded his head several times, understanding the beautiful woman before him would draw unwanted attention. Allyson covered her face again and waited until the boy returned with her mount; then she slipped several pence into his hand and mounted on her own. She kept off the main thoroughfares and galloped out of Glasgow without looking back.
Chapter Eight
Ewan wanted to drive his fist into something or someone. He couldn’t explain why his senses screamed that Allyson was nearby, but his temper was running thin as Kenneth continued to ignore his suggestion that they divide into smaller groups and work their way through the vendors. Ewan was certain Allyson would need less-conspicuous clothes than what she wore at court. Elizabeth informed them that Allyson was wearing a plain gown and carried one satchel, which Ewan also guessed had no food or provisions.
“Laird Elliot, even if she hasn’t been visiting vendors for clothing, she will need to eat. She may have gone to buy food, and someone might recognize her description.”
“The lass is more likely to wander into a tavern and order a meal there than to know how to negotiate with street merchants. She didn’t go to fairs or markets often at home.”
Ewan wanted to bellow that the lass hadn’t lived at home in four years and demand to know why the man couldn’t recognize that four years at court had changed Allyson. In Ewan’s mind, they wasted precious time searching the town’s taverns when he understood Allyson wouldn’t be foolish enough to enter one unless it was dire. She’d realize the danger a tavern was to an unaccompanied woman, and she had to guess that her father would look there. Ewan sighed and waited until Kenneth continued the search among the permanent shops.
“The mon worries aboot his daughter; give him some credit for trying,” Eoin whispered as Ewan passed him once more during his pacing.
“And the mon doesnae ken his daughter even a tad. She isnae going to give herself up so easily. She might have been foolish to run, but she isnae foolish enough to get caught this soon.” Both men lapsed into their Highland burrs as they felt more themselves away from court. “What I said is true. Even if she didna go to the street vendors, she needs food and clothes. I’d venture to say she also kens she needs coin. If she hasnae already traded, then she’ll have the sense to look for employment.”
“Employment? What can she do? She hasnae been to any of the taverns, so where else would she ken to go?”
Ewan glared at his brother. He didn’t understand why everyone underestimated Allyson after she’d escaped two well-fortified keeps, evaded detection for the most part, and remained elusive after more than a day on the run.
“She can sew at the least. She may have found a dressmaker or haberdasher where she might trade her services for a roof over her head.”
Eoin paused and considered what his brother suggested before nodding his head. “Mayhap she can cook, too. Mayhap she’ll hire herself out as a maid.” Eoin grinned at what seemed like nonsense to him. “She’s a lady-in-waiting nae some village lass. She doesnae ken how to do any of that. Nae when she’s had someone to do it for her, her entire life.”
Ewan’s scowl darkened before turning toward Kenneth. “Laird, did Allyson spend any time in your keep’s kitchens before she left for court? Does she ken how to run a household?”
“Aye, she knows because her mother taught her how to be a chatelaine. As for the kitchens, I have no idea. Perhaps.”
Ewan wanted to ram his fist into the man’s belly for knowing so little about his daughter. He swept his gaze up and down the street, peering into any doorway he could see. Movement across the street caught his eye. The very merchant he suggested they visit had a shop in front of him. He squinted against the daylight to glimpse the people milling about the bakery, where the scent of warm bread wafted from the doorway.
“There! She’s in there. I’m certain of it.” Ewan pushed his way across the street and dashed into the store, but he didn’t see Allyson. He was certain he had, but instead of finding her, he heard a door slam shut. He followed the sound, disregarding the elderly couple’s complaints when he entered the kitchens. He r
an to the back door, but when he looked down the alleyway in each direction, there was no one to see. He ran toward the public stables. Intuition told him that if Allyson had been in the shop and feared being found, she would claim her horse and disappear from Glasgow. The streets were congested and while being a large man made it easier to see over people’s heads and to intimidate them into moving aside, it left little space for him to maneuver. He slowed his pace several times before he found a stable boy mucking out stalls. Gordon and Elliot men still lingered about the front of the stables, so Ewan suspected Allyson would have found someone else to gather her horse.
“Aye, a young woman asked me to fetch her horse. Said she feared the men out front and what’d they say. Face like an angel, ma mama would say. She gave me a few coins, and I brought her horse out. She didn’t linger and spurred the beast as soon as there was room. I watched her go.”
Ewan thanked the boy and ordered the guardsmen to ready all of their mounts. Ewan gave up politeness as he steered through the people milling about until he reached his brother and his potential future father-by-marriage. He wasn’t sold on the idea of marrying Allyson, but he didn’t want her to come to any harm, especially not after Laird Elliot explained what happened to her older sister. The story had haunted him the entire ride to Glasgow, and he felt shame now that he understood how real Allyson’s fear was.
“She’s run again. A stable boy just gave her back her horse and said she barreled out of the city gates. We missed her. Again.”
* * *
As the day wore on and another night approached, frustration grew among all the men. Ewan wanted to throttle Allyson for sending them on the least merry chase he could imagine. He was grimy and tired, and what he wanted most was a hot meal and a pint of ale followed by several drams of whisky. For the first time in ages, a willing woman wasn’t on his list.
“Allyson may have gone to the Hermitage. She doesn’t know anyone there, but the keep is under our clan’s protection. She would find shelter there with few people recognizing she’s my daughter. I say that’s where we try next.”
“The Hermitage? That’s barely more than a league from the border.” As a Highlander, Ewan detested being in the Lowlands, but the possibility of traveling to the border was unpalatable. He had no respect for the English, and no desire to go anywhere near them.
“So is our keep on Elliot land. Allyson grew up within miles of the border and will be more comfortable in this area. While most wouldn’t recognize her face, they would recognize our clan’s name.”
“And you assume she’d give that out. She must understand that along the border, she’d be a prize to capture. She’d be held for ransom; a ransom you couldn’t pay because you’re not home to receive the demand.” Ewan ground his teeth as he looked south. He would shake her when he finally got his hands on her slim figure.
It was too late for them to continue riding, so they made camp. Ewan settled on his bedroll and looked at the stars. He was certain they shone brighter in the Highlands, but he picked out patterns just as he and Eoin had done countless times as children. His mind wandered to where Allyson must have been spending the night. He pushed away the guilt, reminding himself that she’d chosen to run away and not return with Edward. While he didn’t want her to come to harm, he still believed it was her fault if she did.
The mixture of Gordons and Elliot rode hard until well after sunset, when they reached the Hermitage. A young man who bore a striking resemblance to the king welcomed them. There was little doubt that the Robert Bruce who stood before them was King Robert the Bruce’s illegitimate son. While Kenneth and Robert spoke in hushed tones, Ewan glanced around the Great Hall and up the stairs to the family and guest chambers. He wondered if she was hiding in one of them. His frazzled nerves tempted him to bound up the stairs and tear each room apart until he either found her or was certain she wasn’t in residence.
“The matter is worse than you think, Laird Elliot.” Robert’s words carried to Ewan, making him turn toward the young man. “We’ve had trouble with reivers over the past sennight. These men are more ruthless than the usual lot. They’ve done more than steal horses and cattle, terrorizing the local villagers. They aren’t men we’re familiar with, and none of our reivers know them. There're rumors that they’re from Chillingham.”
The group fell silent at the mention of the infamous keep where unimaginable torture was the norm. Ewan’s stomach clenched as he pictured John Sage getting his hands on Allyson if these reivers got hold of her—assuming she made it there alive. His mind flashed a picture of Allyson lying on the ground, battered and defiled, dead where they left her. He glanced at Kenneth, then Eoin, and knew they imagined the same thing.
“There’s naught we can do tonight. It’s too dark to track them, but we leave at first light,” Ewan announced. He’d deferred to Laird Elliot’s leadership until that point, but he’d lost faith in the man after they missed Allyson by a hairsbreadth. His opinion on marrying her and his opinion on marriage may not have altered, but he wouldn’t ignore any woman in such danger. He could admit to himself, and maybe even to Eoin, that he had liked Allyson and enjoyed her company up to the time when they discovered they were being forced to marry. He’d danced with her and shared jokes and easy conversation in the past. It was his fault things soured because he’d antagonized her in the passageway even before they’d learned of their fathers’ plans. Now he needed to collect his runaway bride.
Chapter Nine
Allyson didn’t know where to go. She considered cutting back northeast and making her way to Edinburgh. Now that she knew her father and Ewan were away from Stirling, she didn’t fear them finding her on roads outside the city. She discarded the idea because she sensed her father would have guards posted around the city just in case she made that very attempt. She set off south from Glasgow, wondering if she dared go to the Kennedys and use her friendship with Cairren as an excuse to shelter there for a few days. Laird Kennedy was only an acquaintance of her father, so she didn’t worry as much that the man would notify her father with haste. She glanced at the sun’s position and gained her bearings before galloping further south.
The sun was setting hours after she fled Glasgow. She approached a cluster of crofts that was more of a hamlet than a village. Men were gathering their tools and making their way from the fields. She strained to see the plaid draped over many shoulders. She sucked in a breath so sharply that it whistled. The further south she traveled, the easier it became to recognize the woven patterns. These men were Crichtons; she’d been certain she’d aimed far enough west to be entering Wallace territory. The great defenders of Scotland were well-known for their loyalty to King Robert after their most famous member, William Wallace, was butchered by the English while he fought for Scotland’s freedom. She thanked all the angels and saints that the Elliots had always been loyal to Robert the Bruce and not switched sides like so many other border clans. She didn’t intend to announce she was an Elliot, but if she had to disclose the information, at least she didn’t fear their response.
Allyson dismounted among a cluster of trees and hid in the foliage until after the sun set. She nibbled at some food she carried, but she was careful to ration it. When she saw no one who might question her, she eased away from her hiding place and guided her horse into a stable. She scanned the area and found there weren’t any horses in the small building, but there was some hay that looked edible for her mount. She looped the reins around a post, then huddled in the shadows until she drifted off, but she stirred at every sound and every time her steed shifted. It was well before sun up when Allyson left the building as quietly as she entered.
While the Lowlands didn’t have the same landscape obstacles as the Highlands, Allyson encountered several bodies of water that proved impossible to ford because of their size or the current’s strength. It forced her to double back a few times and alter her course more and more. The sun was nearing the western horizon after another full day in the saddle whe
n she glimpsed the top of a tower. She pushed herself and her horse a little further until the keep came into sight.
Bluidy bleeding hell! How can this be? How did I end up at bluidy Hermitage Castle? Wonderful. I do everything I can to escape my father and end up at a keep under the control of King Robert’s illegitimate son. The very man named after him. As though that isn’t bad enough, who did the king task with the keep’s guardianship? My father! Bluidy sodding hell.
Allyson fumed as she realized the blunder she’d made. In her attempts to remain far from Elliot land, she’d stumbled upon it. While her family didn’t reside at the Hermitage, plenty of people would recognize her. It was more because she stood out in her family than because she resembled anyone, but her blond hair and blue eyes were memorable. She’d approached their territory from a route she’d never taken, so she hadn’t realized she’d brought herself so close to home. Avoiding the castle wouldn’t even guarantee her freedom, since the people in Liddesdale were also likely to recognize her. She’d brought herself within five miles of the border and had nowhere safe to spend the night. Several more oaths and curses crossed her mind as she tried to decide what to do next. In the meantime, she turned her horse away from the castle and rode a short distance to ensure guards who had an elevated vantage point wouldn’t spot her.
A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance Page 6
