Scarlet Nights

by Jude Deveraux

  Sara looked at her mother, and they smiled at each other. There was nothing on earth more masculine than a man in the ancient Scottish costume.

  Mike was looking at Sara in the long mirror that Ellie had set against the wall, and he read what was on her face.

  “There’s no time for that,” Ellie said. “You two’ll have to wait until tonight.”

  “Since when did you ever wait for what you want?” Mike asked his mother-in-law.

  Ellie laughed. “Not often. Sara! Go put on your skirt. I’ll give him back to you after the first battle. If the Fraziers haven’t mutilated him, that is.”

  “Hmph!” Sara said. “My Mike will pulverize them.” With her nose in the air, she went back to the bedroom.

  Mike was looking after her and smiling until he saw Ellie glaring at him in the mirror.

  “You hurt her and—”

  “I know,” Mike said. “I’ve already been warned. You won’t mind that she lives with me in Fort Lauderdale for a few years until we move back here?”

  “All I want is for my girls to be happy.” Bending, she pulled on the hem of his kilt. “Everything will go all right today, won’t it?”

  “As soon as Sara sees Anders and tells him she’s married, she’ll be taken away from here until they’re all in custody.”

  Ellie nodded as she adjusted Mike’s shirt, and he was quiet because he could see that she had more to say. “About the marriage … I know you did it for the case, but—”

  Mike smiled at her. “That was just an excuse. There’ve been a lot of women I could have saved by marrying them, but I didn’t. Stop worrying. Concern yourself about what those giant cousins of mine are going to do to me today.”

  “Now that I’m not worried about,” Ellie said as she turned away, but then she went back and hugged Mike. “Thank you. It was horrible to have to stand by and see my daughter so unhappy after the way Brian treated her. I understood why she took up with a jerk like Greg Anders, but I still didn’t like it.”

  Mike said nothing. Later, as he bandaged Sara’s hand to hide her wedding rings, he thought that if Ellie knew the truth about Brian Tolworthy and what had been done to him and why, she’d probably kidnap her own daughter and hide her away somewhere safe. That’s just what Mike wanted to do, but he knew that as long as the Vandlos were out there, Sara would never be out of danger. Mitzi was well known for taking revenge, and if only her son were in custody, she would go after Sara for destroying what had taken them a long time to put into motion.

  Today, the main goal for all of them was to catch Mitzi Vandlo.

  When Mike got to the fairgrounds, his curiosity about the Fraziers came into play. Size didn’t always make the best fighters. Luke had told him the basics of the mock sword fight he was to perform with the Fraziers today, but Mike wasn’t interested in that. What he wanted to know was how the Fraziers felt about Sara. She spoke of them with affection, but then she sounded that way about everyone in Edilean. Even while she complained about her sisters, you could hear the love in her voice.

  The way she talks to me, Mike thought and couldn’t help his smile.

  Minutes before, he’d reminded Sara that she wanted to tell Colin Frazier what she thought about his not telling her that Greg Anders was having affairs. Mike wanted to see how the oldest Frazier son reacted to being bawled out by a woman half his size.

  Surreptitiously, Mike made his way around the fairgrounds as he followed Sara. Twice, he gave a slight nod to men he knew were there undercover. When Sara reached Colin, Mike stepped into the shadows.

  He had to admit that it was amusing to watch Sara talking to Colin. As she talked to the huge young man, her head was so far back it was almost touching her spinal column. Colin kept his eyes on her and seemed to be giving her his total attention. But when he glanced to the side and saw a wooden crate beside one of the rides, he took Sara’s arm and led her there. From the way she didn’t stop talking as she stepped up on the crate, Mike thought it was something they’d done many times before.

  Two rides over from them was a Ferris wheel; Colin was facing it, and Sara had her back to it. Mike heard a yell and saw a red snow cone dropping down from the sky, and it looked like it was going to hit Sara. Mike started to leave his hiding place, but then Colin put his hands on Sara’s waist and moved her to the right, her feet not touching the ground. The snow cone splattered on the ground, inches from where she’d been standing, then Colin set her back on the crate and kept listening.

  Grinning, Mike started to move away. He’d seen what he’d wanted to: Sara was being protected. But before he could move, Colin looked straight into Mike’s eyes. He’d known all along that Mike was there and watching.

  There was a question on Colin’s face, asking if he’d passed the test. Mike gave a nod, then slipped away into the crowd. If he was to have cousins, he could do worse. The fight that was to take place in about an hour was going to be more interesting than he’d originally thought.

  Sara was sitting on the bleachers, wedged between three women from her church. Two benches below her, Ariel was sitting beside her youngest brother, Shamus, and Luke was making his way toward Sara.

  Below, on the large open field was Mike, looking so very handsome in his kilt and voluminous shirt. He was holding what Sara knew was a broadsword, a heavy weapon that weighed about thirty-five pounds. From the way he was letting the tip of it lie in the dirt, it seemed to be almost too much for him.

  Circling him, and wearing kilts that Sara had made for them last year, were three of the giant Fraziers. Sara knew that the idea was to re-create some battle where the single, lone soldier had given up his life for his clan, but right now she didn’t like that story. Every year the Fraziers participated in this, and she knew that they loved the boos and hisses aimed at them. This afternoon they’d redeem themselves as they played valiant warriors who won against the enemy, but this game was meant to put tears in people’s eyes, to remind them of what the Scots had gone through in their history.

  Luke got the ladies to scoot over so he could sit by Sara. “Scared?” he asked as he stuck his hand in her popcorn. “They won’t hurt him.”

  Ariel heard what Luke said and turned to look up at Sara. “He’ll be fine. My brothers decided that Pere and Lanny will back away and let Colin have him alone. I made Colin promise to be gentle.” She was acting as though she was telling this in confidence to Sara, but Ariel’s voice could be heard six benches away.

  “My hope is that Mike doesn’t hurt your brothers,” Sara said just as loudly as she stuffed her mouth with popcorn.

  Around them was muffled laughter from the townspeople, who were well aware of the lifelong animosity between the two young women.

  If there was one thing the Fraziers had in common, it was that when they raised their voices, they could be heard, and that was demonstrated on the field.

  “So you’re our cousin,” Colin bellowed, his voice sounding menacing. “You don’t look like us.”

  “The angels must have liked my mother,” Mike said back. His voice wasn’t as loud as theirs, but the natural throatiness of it made the hairs on the back of Sara’s neck stand up—and it made her remember last night when he’d awakened her with kisses. Unfortunately, Mike’s deep voice seemed to have had the same effect on other females, as some teenage girls started squealing.

  “I do believe he has a smart mouth on him,” Pere said. He was a year younger than Colin’s thirty, and as handsome as his brothers.

  “Smart anything must mean I’m not related to the Fraziers.” Mike’s words made the crowd cheer. For the townspeople, it was great to hear someone challenge that rich family.

  The circle of big men was drawing in closer around Mike.

  “Should we call our young brother Shamus for this job?” Lanny shouted. “Methinks this old man but needs a boy to take him down.”

  Lanny made a halfhearted strike at Mike with his sword, teasing him, but Mike reacted in an instant. He lifted the heavy blade as
though it weighed nothing and swung it in a circle above his head. Lanny and Pere stepped back, but Colin went forward. In one move, Mike blocked Colin’s sword hand with his left forearm and hit the other two weapons with his so that they flew down the field.

  When the motion stopped, Colin was left standing holding his sword, while his younger brothers were empty-handed.

  The crowd was stunned into silence. They froze in place, hands on the way to their mouths, drinks poised midair. Mothers stopped warning their children; men stopped watching the girls; and the kids just stared. Sara was the first to recover. She stood up and began clapping. When the slight sound didn’t rouse the crowd, she started cheering. Luke stood up beside her and added his voice to hers. An instant later, the people reacted with a roar as they came to their feet.

  In the center of the field, Mike didn’t show that he’d heard a sound. His eyes were on Colin, and he backed up to keep the younger men in his side view. When the crowd calmed and sat down, the two younger men stepped closer as they attempted to pick up their swords, but Mike grabbed one and threw it. It arced to the right, over the top of a tall stack of barrels to land on the other side, the blade going so deep into the earth that it gave a loud thwang sound.

  This time, Sara didn’t need to lead the cheering as people again came to their feet and started shouting.

  Mike had two of the heavy swords and he moved in a circle, both of them raised above his head.

  When Pere stepped closer, Mike lunged and came so close to slashing him about the neck, that the crowd drew in its breath. From the other side of the fair, people heard the shouts and started running. The roustabout who ran the Tilt-A-Whirl put the handbrake on and left the long line of waiting customers. When they protested, he yelled, “Follow me.” He passed a bunch of teenage boys and shouted, “Cage fight.” They nearly trampled people as they started running.

  On the field, Pere threw up his hands in surrender, then bowed to Mike. If he said anything, no one heard it over the noise of the crowd.

  Lanny waited, then turned and also bowed to the audience in surrender. He was booed and hissed at loudly.

  Only Mike and Colin were left, and neither of them looked as though he was going to give up. Mike had the two swords, but when the crowd calmed down, he smiled at Colin. “I wouldn’t want to beat you unfairly, cousin,” he said loudly as he threw the sword across the barrels where it landed within inches of the other one. The cheer that went up could be heard a mile away.

  “Isn’t he wonderful?” Sara breathed to Luke as she held on to his arm.

  He clasped her hand and smiled down at her fondly. “Mike is quite the hero, so cool he sweats ice cubes. But remember that Colin is no wimp. Mike’ll have to work to beat him.”

  The men bent and began circling each other. Colin was the first to make a move as he pushed his sword forward, as though to stab Mike in the chest. But Mike made a leap and hit Colin in the chest with his foot, stunning the larger man so that he staggered backward. Mike landed on his feet, then circled around, sword raised.

  After taking a moment to get his breath back, Colin stood up straight and said, “You’re no more bother than a mosquito.” At that a bunch of boys at the far end of the bleachers took Colin’s side and started cheering, “Frazier! Frazier!”

  Sara started a chant of “Mike! Mike!” and her side of the bleachers took it up. Except for Ariel and Shamus, of course, who stayed seated, but when people blocked their view, Shamus stood up and tapped the man in front of him on the shoulder. The man, an outsider, looked at the sheer size of Shamus, and sat down. Soon there was a path of seated people that allowed Ariel and Shamus to see the field while retaining their seats.

  When Colin made a lunge at Mike, he twisted out of the way, but the sleeve of Mike’s shirt caught on the sword, tearing it from shoulder to wrist. Big pieces of fabric dangled dangerously. Without losing concentration, Mike grabbed the hanging cloth and pulled. It ripped to the waist and he slipped what was left of it over his head.

  When the sight of Mike, bare chested and in a kilt, sent the crowd nearly into a frenzy, he made a run at Colin, who jumped back, but not before Mike’s sword went flashing through the air. The crowd drew in its breath in shock. This was a local fair, but Mike seemed to be playing it for real. In the last dash, had he cut Colin?

  Colin stood still, looking down at his chest as though expecting blood to spurt, but then he saw something the crowd didn’t. Smiling, he stepped back, raised his arms, and turned in a circle. As though in slow motion, Colin’s shirt began to fall away. Mike had deftly sliced it but hadn’t so much as made a mark on his cousin’s skin. When the shirt hung on Colin in big pieces, he pulled it off so that he too was bare from the waist up.

  Girls started cheering at the sight of Colin’s muscular torso, and Sara laughed.

  “Looks like Colin’s been working out,” Luke said, watching through the pathway of seated viewers.

  In the next second the men again started moving around each other and the battle began for real—or certainly too real for Sara’s taste. Mike was faster and certainly better trained, but fighting Colin was like battling a rock. Mike ran over the tops of the barrels and at one point he hit Colin’s shoulders with both his feet. Any swipe that Colin made with his sword, Mike easily eluded. Twice he jumped over the sword as it threatened to hit him in the stomach.

  “I don’t like this,” Sara whispered, and Luke put his arm around her. “Don’t let him get hurt.” She buried her face in Luke’s shoulder.

  “Don’t you realize that they’re playing? There’s no danger to either of them, and certainly not to Mike. All three of the Fraziers could go at Mike and they’d never catch him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. You should watch this. Colin is about to wear out, but Mike could go on all day. What kind of training has he had?”

  “I don’t know. Tess said something about China and Brazil.” Sara handed Luke her BlackBerry. “Call Tess and ask her.”

  “And miss this fight? Ha! Come on, let’s go down closer to the fence.”

  She followed Luke, and he lifted her down from the fifth bleacher.

  She stood by the fence that was the boundary of the playing field and did her best to watch the fight, but it was difficult. Every slash Colin made with his big sword, Mike dodged. But now that they were closer, she could see that it was true that Mike was having a good time—and he looked like he wanted to continue all day.

  But he glanced at the fence and saw Sara staring at him, on the verge of tears of concern, and he nodded at her. For her sake, he would end it. In the next second, he spun around to the back of Colin, leaped upward to plant a foot on the man’s upper back, while at the same time lashing out at Colin’s calves with the flat side of his broadsword. Colin lost his balance and hit the ground with a pow! of force. Mike put his foot on Colin’s back and his sword at his neck.

  The crowd started cheering hysterically. The underdog had won!

  When Mike removed his foot, Colin got up, spitting mud out of his mouth. Mike held his arm out to Sara, and she went running to him. He swooped her up and spun her around—and the crowd’s shouts were deafening.

  When Mike kissed her, the outsiders laughed and shouted, but the people of Edilean stared in shock. Wasn’t Sara supposed to be getting married in a few days? To another man?

  “I think they’ve all seen us now,” Sara said, but she clung to Mike, her cheek against his bare, sweaty chest.

  “That’s the idea.”

  “And it’s why you married me,” she said.

  “That and a few Scarlet Nights of our own,” he said as he looked into her eyes.

  “Get a room!” someone from the crowd shouted, and everyone started laughing. Reluctantly, Mike set Sara down.

  She ran to Luke at the fence while Mike and Colin took their bows. Colin made everyone laugh when he grabbed Mike from behind and lifted him off the ground. Then, parodying what Mike and Sara had just done,
Colin swung Mike into his arms and pretended to try to kiss him.

  Mike did a flip and ended up standing on top of Colin’s shoulders, where he grabbed Mike’s ankles and held him. Colin started a drunken dance about the ring while Mike worked to keep his balance. When Colin stopped, Mike jumped down and hit the ground rolling. At the applause of the crowd, Mike took a bow and Colin chased him, his lips made into a kiss as they ran into the tent at the back of the arena.

  “My goodness,” Mrs. Frazier said, looking at the two of them, shirtless and dirty and laughing.

  Mike had never seen her before, but he recognized her from the tarot cards. She had on a gown of such richness that it would have done a medieval queen proud. Mike put one leg behind the other and bowed low to her. “Your royal highness.”

  Mr. Frazier, dressed as a prosperous merchant, stepped forward. “I think he understands who you really are, my dear.”

  Colin, from behind Mike, said, “He’s little, but can I keep him, Ma?” He made Mike sound like a puppy.

  “Beware the deadliness of the scorpion’s sting,” Mike growled.

  “Beware the cousin’s foot,” Colin shot back.

  Mr. Frazier stepped between them and held out his hand to Mike. “I hear your grandmother was my biological mother’s sister. Sorry, but I never knew either one of them, but …” He didn’t seem to know what else to say.

  “Oh, Grinny,” Mrs. Frazier said, “there’ll be time for that later.” She turned to Colin and obviously disapproved of his shirtless state. “You will find a clean shirt in the trailer.” She looked at Mike. “And I suggest that you also put something on.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” both men said in unison, then they ran out of the tent and back into the ring, where they immediately started punching each other.

  “Want to get something to drink?” Colin asked.

  “Wish I could but I have some things I need to do.”

  “Yeah, the whole town saw you with Sara.” Colin lowered his voice. “Listen, I know some of the reasons why you’re here, but not all of the story. If you need any help, let me know.”