Fated Hearts 02 - Highland Echoes

by Ceci Giltenan

  “I do. But if I go missing when either ye or Gordon are on watch, will ye not be blamed?”

  Conan’s face screwed into a crooked smile. “Aye, we would, but ye aren’t going missing on our watches. Ye are going to go missing on Roddy’s watch, or Kenneth’s next one.”

  “How?”

  “At the end of my watch, when Roddy looks in, ye need to be curled up in the bed with the blanket over ye. Make sure ye move a bit, so he can see ye’re really there—maybe say something. There is a ladder to the hayloft in the stable. As soon as Roddy has settled in, Gordon and I will use it to fetch ye down through the window and then take ye to yer friends. Ye need to put yer pillows under the covers to look like yer still in bed sleeping. If it doesn’t fool them when Kenneth takes over, Roddy will be blamed. But given that they are both hopeless eejits, I expect it will fool them and Kenneth will be blamed later. Can ye do this?”

  “Aye, and I thank ye for keeping me away from Fearchar, but what about the lies they told the Sutherlands? How will I get Kristen back?”

  “Kristen is safe with yer granny for now.”

  “Aye, but—”

  “I know, ye need to get her back. But as long as she is safe, ye will stay here with yer friends for a little while.” The tone of Conan’s voice brooked no argument. “I will send someone back with evidence of who ye really are. Ye must be patient for a while and for the love of God, don’t do anything as stupid as ye did the first morning. I’m sorry about yer feet, but I couldn’t stop that and still see ye safe in the long run.”

  She looked contrite. She knew trying to run away then had been a mistake as soon as she had done it. “I’m sorry. I pa—”

  “Panicked. I know that. And I hope ye learned yer lesson. It never helps to panic. Ye must keep yer wits about ye, Grace.”

  Grace nodded. “Aye. I will.”

  “And ye understand the plan?”

  “I do. I’ll be ready to go after Roddy checks on me at the end of yer watch.”

  “See that ye are.” He started to leave.

  “Conan?”

  He turned back, looking irritated. “What?”

  “Do ye have a daughter?” She couldn’t help but wonder if that was how he knew what she was thinking so easily.

  He snorted, as she had heard him do often over the last couple days. “Nay. I had the good sense only to have boys.” With that he left.

  Grace was glad she had slept for a few hours earlier because she was too tense to sleep for the rest of the night. She quietly gathered her things. The rain had stopped so she opened the shutters. She didn’t want to risk making any noise later. When there was nothing left to do, she curled up under the blanket.

  Although she and God hadn’t been on good terms lately, she recognized a blessing when she saw it. She thanked God for ensuring that her father had been able to save Conan’s family and for keeping Kristen safe until they were together again. She also thanked God for sending Conan and Gordon to help her and she prayed they would not suffer because of it. Then she prayed that the bundle of pillows would fool Roddy and Kenneth in the morning because more than anything, she wanted Kenneth blamed. She could see no redeeming qualities in the man. Not that Roddy was much better, but Kenneth had taken such pleasure in describing what Fearchar would do to her, she thought it only fair that he experience a bit of Fearchar’s wrath himself.

  Dawn was pinking the sky when Roddy unlocked the door to check on her at the start of his watch. She raised her head up sleepily, looked at him, groaned, and pulled the blanket over her head.

  “That’s right, sleep while ye can. Ye won’t get much more for a while,” he sneered.

  She heard the lock click and she lay still for a few minutes. When all was quiet, she sat up, and waited. Before long she heard something bump softly against the back wall. She hurried to the window. Below, Conan held the ladder steady as Gordon climbed it.

  She handed him her small bundle of belongings. Gordon steadied her as she tried to climb out the window without making any noise. Then, he descended the ladder behind her. The rungs of the ladder caused pain to shoot through her feet and her eyes watered, but she didn’t utter a sound. When she reached the ground, Gordon immediately removed the ladder, carrying it back to the stable as Conan scooped her into his arms. She started to protest, but he scowled at her and it died on her lips. He was right, she couldn’t move fast enough on her own. He ran with her, out of the stable yard, down the lane and around a corner, not stopping until they were well out of sight of the inn.

  “Ok, lass, where do these friends of yers live?”

  “I can walk now, ye needn’t carry me.”

  Conan snorted. “Ye can’t walk nearly fast enough and I have to get back to the inn before anyone notices I’m gone.”

  She directed him down several streets, to the center of the village, where the merchant’s shops were. “Go around to the back. That’s where the door to the kitchen is. The family quarters are above the shop, but they will hear us knocking on the kitchen door.”

  They had to knock several times. When the door open, Dugald appeared fully prepared to chew the face off of whatever soul was pounding on his door at this hour. When he saw Grace, in the scarred warrior’s arms, he pulled them inside and called for Mary.

  Conan lowered her to a chair before telling Dugald, “Grace will tell ye what has happened. I must not be caught away or her safety is in danger. Grace, I will send word soon about how we will proceed with the Sutherlands.” He pinned her with a stern look. “Stay put until I do.” With that he left.

  She sighed. She was out of danger for the moment. Now she had to focus on getting Kristen back.

  Chapter 30

  Bram, Ian, and the six men who rode with them kept a relentless pace, traveling as fast as the horses could tolerate. They arrived in Durness just after midnight two days later. They had slogged through rain for the last several hours. Bram wanted to go straight to the docks but Ian talked him out of it.

  “Bram, it’s pouring rain and there won’t be anyone to ask at this time of night anyway. Besides, if they haven’t left yet, they won’t be able to leave until tomorrow and if they have, ye won’t be able to follow them until tomorrow. Let’s find an inn.”

  Ian was right.

  The innkeeper wasn’t overly pleased to be awakened in the wee hours of the morning. “Be off with ye, lot of miscreants. My rooms are full anyway.” He started to close the door on them.

  Bram stopped the door with his hand and pushed it open again. Under Bram’s intimidating glower, the innkeeper took a nervous step backwards.

  Anxious and short tempered since learning Grace had been handed over to the Morrisons, Bram’s patience now was nearly stretched to the limit. Still, after two days on the road with only short stops and then riding hard through a storm for the last few hours, they were travel worn, soaked, and mud-spattered. They must be a sorry sight indeed. He took a deep breath, reining in his temper before addressing the innkeeper in tight, measured tones. “Good sir, I’ll admit in our current state we look disreputable. However, I am Bram Sutherland, Laird Sutherland’s heir, and we have good coin to pay for whatever shelter ye can provide us for what remains of the night.”

  The innkeeper heaved a sigh of relief. “I apologize, my lord. Ye do look…well…” he shrugged in apology. “Aye, of course I can find some place out of the rain for ye. There is room in the stable for yer horses. I’m afraid all my stable hands have gone to their homes, but ye’re free to use whatever ye need. As fer ye, like I said, all of the guest rooms are full tonight but ye can bed down in the hall. I’ll stoke the fire and find some blankets for ye while ye tend to yer beasts.”

  Bram nodded. “Thank ye.”

  The rain had tapered off a good deal by the time they returned to the inn. In addition to the blankets, the innkeeper had set out bread, cold meat, and flagons of ale. Bram was hungrier than he realized. After they ate, most of the guardsmen who had ridden with them grabbed a blanke
t and as clean a spot on the floor as could be found to get some sleep. Thankfully it looked as if the rushes had been changed very recently. Otherwise the stable might have been a better smelling option.

  Bram, Ian, and Donal sat on benches at a table in one corner of the room, finishing off the ale. Bram stared broodily into the fire.

  Ian nudged him. “Get some rest. Ye could use it. Ye wouldn’t let Michael come with us because of the condition he was in but ye don’t look any better now than he did then. Ye’ve barely slept for two days. I’ll keep watch for a bit, then wake Donal.”

  “I’ll rest when I know she’s safe.”

  “Bram, we may be in for a battle. For the love of God, close yer eyes for a bit.”

  Bram shook his head. “I know yer right…”

  “Then do it.”

  It was true. He would not be fit for a fight if he didn’t have a little rest. “Fine, I’ll try.” He grabbed a blanket and a spot on the floor behind Ian. He fell asleep instantly.

  The next thing he knew, Donal shook him awake. The sun was up, but it was still very early, perhaps just before prime. “Get up. Something is happening,” whispered Donal.

  “What is it?” Bram was on his feet instantly as were the other men.

  Donal shook his head. “I don’t know. I just heard a commotion from upstairs.”

  In the next instant a man’s voice rang out from the stairs. “Get the men down here, now, Kenneth! How the hell did she escape?”

  Bram motioned his men down. Some reassumed sleeping positions while others appeared to be waking up as the man reached the hall. “When did ye lot get here?” he asked, clearly angry.

  Donal immediately stretched out on the bench where he had been sitting and turned his back on the man. “A few hours ago. Let a man sleep.”

  “Sun’s up, eejit,” growled the man.

  Bram glanced at Donal. He was the only one of the guardsmen with them who was in the hall when the Morrisons took Grace and he was clearly hiding his face. Bram caught his eye. Donal nodded ever so slightly and held up one finger. The message was clear, this was the leader of the Morrison men who took Grace—the one named “Roddy” who claimed to be her husband. By the saints, was she somewhere in this inn? Had he slept while she was enduring God knew what?

  Bram started to his feet, but Ian grabbed his leg from where he lay on the floor. He shook his head, put his fingers to his lips, then pointed at one ear. Aye, he was right, they needed to see what they could learn before acting. Bram nodded at him.

  Bram stood and stretched. “Aye, lads, the sun is shining.”

  His men feigned waking up slowly as three other men entered the hall, one very young man and two others who were roughly the same age as Roddy.

  “What’s happened?” asked one of Roddy’s peers, yawning.

  “What do ye think happened? Grace is gone,” said Roddy.

  He called her Grace. Bram tried to stay calm.

  “How’d ye lose her, Kenneth?” the yawning man asked.

  “Ye’re an arse Derek. I didn’t lose her. Roddy did,” said Kenneth.

  “I didn’t lose her either. She was there at the start of my watch,” said Roddy.

  “But she’s not there now. I think Kenneth has the right of it, this is yer problem,” said the man called Derek.

  “Nay,” Roddy growled, “it is our problem and we need to find her.”

  “Well, ye can make finding her our problem, but if we don’t, ye’ll be the one to answer to Fearchar, not us. She was there when I went off duty,” said Derek.

  “What the hell is taking Conan and Gordon so long? Augie, go tell them to get down here now.”

  The youngest man nodded nervously and headed for the stairs.

  “Ye don’t suppose he helped her, do ye?” asked Derek.

  “What could he have done? He had the second watch and was in the room with Conan and Gordon. He couldn’t have slipped away on them.”

  “This is yer fault,” said Kenneth.

  “Nay Kenneth, if ye hadn’t scared the wits out of her by telling her what Fearchar does to people who defy him, she might not have run,” hissed Roddy.

  “I didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t true. Ye are the one that made her walk.”

  “By the Almighty, ye are an eejit, Kenneth,” said Roddy.

  Bram had heard about enough but before he stepped in, Ian spoke up. “What’s wrong, lads?”

  “It’s not yer concern,” said Roddy.

  “Suit yerself. It just sounded like ye have lost someone. There are eight of us, maybe we could help.”

  “Eejit,” muttered Roddy. Still, he appeared to be considering what Ian said. “Ah…but now that ye mention it, maybe ye could be some help.”

  “None of us would mind searching for a bonny lass. She is bonny, isn’t she?” Ian grinned cheekily.

  “Aye, she is. Green eyes, reddish hair, maybe a bit too slender but don’t get any ideas. She is a clanswoman and we are takin her home.”

  “What did ye say her name was?” Ian asked.

  “Her name is Grace and she must be found. Aye, ye can help. There might even be a reward in it for the man who finds her.”

  The youngest guardsman, Augie, reappeared with two much older men, one who had a badly scarred face.

  Roddy went on attack immediately, further demonstrating his poor judgement. Both men looked more than capable of crushing him. “It took ye long enough. I knew it was a mistake to bring old men. Grace is missing. It was only pillows under the covers. She must have escaped on yer watch, Conan.”

  Conan, the man with the scarred, face snorted in disgust. “Roddy, yer memory is shorter than yer rod. Ye talked to her at the end of my watch. If she is gone, ye are to blame.”

  “Damnation! It doesn’t matter whose fault it is,” said Roddy. But clearly it did or he wouldn’t have tried to shift the blame. “What matters is that we find her. These men have offered to help us search.”

  Both Conan and the man Bram assumed was the one called Gordon turned to look at them. As their eyes landed on Ian, realization dawned. The men tensed, preparing for a fight. The Sutherlands responded to their change in stance by tensing for battle also. Bram had no doubt if they could have, they would have drawn swords. As it was, none of them were armed. According to custom, they had all surrendered their weapons to the innkeeper on their arrival.

  “What are ye doing?” demanded Roddy. “We need to find her before high tide and they’ve offered to help.”

  “Aye, I’ll bet they did,” said Gordon.

  “Ye’re a fool Roddy, they’re Sutherlands,” growled Conan.

  “How do ye know that?” asked Roddy, clearly not aware of the danger he was in.

  “That one is the image of the laird—probably his son,” said Conan, gesturing toward Ian.

  “Then they have every reason to help us. They know she’s my wife. They wanted rid of Nina,” said Roddy.

  Bram exploded when he said that name. Roddy was on the ground before he knew what hit him. Bram pounded him mercilessly. “Ye’ve already called her Grace.”

  “I meant Nina, I meant Nina. She’s my wife,” squealed Roddy.

  Bram continued throwing punches. He was vaguely aware that a brawl had started around him but his focus was on Roddy. “Ye lying sack of shite. She is Grace Breive and ye know full well.”

  “Aye…she is…Grace. Please…I beg ye…have mercy,” Roddy cried between punches.

  “Did ye show her any mercy?” roared Bram.

  “She didn’t ask for it,” Roddy whined.

  “She shouldn’t have had to,” snarled Bram, knocking Roddy unconscious with one vicious blow.

  Bram stopped and stood up. Roddy was a bloody mess. Bram grabbed him by the front of his léine and threw him on a bench against the wall before looking around. The man named Kenneth lay on the floor; he too had been beaten to a stupor.

  Derek appeared to be holding his own against a Sutherland guardsman until he fell backwards ove
r a bench, hitting his head and rendering him unconscious too.

  Donal had his left arm around Augie’s throat and Augie’s right arm bent up between his shoulder blades.

  The two older men, Gordon and Conan, looked as if they had exchanged a few solid punches, but now stood with their hands raised in surrender. They were surrounded by Bram’s remaining guardsmen.

  Gordon’s eyes travelled to the bloody heap that was Roddy and his face split into a huge grin. “Damn, I wanted to be the one to do that.”

  Bram’s eyebrows shot up.

  “And there’s no reason to break that sapling’s arm,” said Conan to Donal. “He won’t cause ye any trouble.” At the look of doubt on every Sutherland face, Conan too grinned. “I swear to ye.

  Bram considered Conan for a moment. One of the other men had suspected Augie of helping Grace. If that was the case, the younger man might know where she is. Bram nodded to Donal who released Augie.

  Augie stepped away, rolling his shoulders. He looked affronted.

  Bram returned his attention to Conan and Gordon. “Now, I want some answers. Where is Grace and why do the two of ye look so pleased?”

  Conan stared back at Bram as if sizing him up. Finally he asked, “Are ye one of Sutherland’s sons?”

  “What has that to do with anything?”

  “Ye want to know about Grace and I want to know who I’m dealing with.”

  “Aye, I’m Bram Sutherland, Laird Sutherland’s heir.

  “And I was right about ye?” Conan said to Ian. “Ye are a son too?”

  “Aye, I’m Ian Sutherland.”

  “Well then, ye should be able to answer my questions.”

  Bram was floored. “Answer yer questions?”

  “Aye,” answered Conan calmly. “Augie, ye didn’t hear a word of this. Understand?”

  “Aye, Conan.”

  Bram growled, “I have had enough. Where is Grace?”

  “Grace is somewhere safe.”