Quietly, she tugged on her slippers, grabbed her cloak from the peg and waited while Alec checked the hallway for any of his brother’s spies.
Once he felt certain ’twas safe to move, he took her hand in his and led the way. Her palms were sweaty and her heart raced rapidly. Deftly, almost silently, they made their way down the hall. Leona did not breathe again until they were safely inside a second chamber.
Rose was fast asleep on her side, covered in heavy furs and blankets. Leona was much relieved to see her friend and went to her at once. Crouching low, she whispered, “Rose, wake up. ’Tis me, Leona.”
Rose grumbled incoherently and pulled the covers more tightly around her neck.
Alec came to them then. Crouching beside Leona, he placed a hand over Rose’s mouth and whispered her name.
Her eyes flew open at once, filled with fear until she saw his face.
“Wheest, Rose,” he whispered. “We’re here to take ye home.”
Confused, her brow furrowed as she gave a nod of understanding. Slowly, Alec withdrew his hand and stood to his full height.
“Rose,” Leona whispered again, her smile bright and beaming.
Stunned, Rose sat up in utter disbelief. “Leona!” she exclaimed.
“Wheest, ladies!” Alec admonished. “We must be verra quiet.”
Leona wrapped her arms around her friend and held her tight. “Och! ’Tis glad and relieved I am at seein’ ye.”
“Why are ye here? How? What is goin’ on?” Rose asked as she pulled away.
Alec helped her to stand and quickly set about explaining their plan. When he finished, she looked up at him and asked, “Are ye both mad?”
“Aye,” Leona and Alec answered in unison.
“Does Ian ken of this plan?”
Still smiling, Leona answered. “Aye, he does. He is no’ far from here. Soon, ye will be with him and returnin’ to McLaren lands.”
“But what of ye?” Rose demanded to know.
“As soon as I have ye safely back with yer husband, I shall return to retrieve Leona.”
Rose shook her head, hopeful the motion would bring some sense to the matter. “What if ye’re caught?”
Leona hugged her once again. “Do no’ worry it, Rose. I will be fine. Please, just do everythin’ Alec says and ye’ll soon be out of here.”
From the look on her face, Rose was not nearly as hopeful as she.
* * *
In short order, Leona removed her gown for Rose to wear. She also gave her the eyepatch and cloak.
“Do no’ worry and do no’ be afraid,” Leona told her. “’Twill all be over verra soon. Trust us.”
Worry was etched on Rose’s face. “I’ll no’ be able to rest until ye are back with us, Leona.”
They shared one last, teary-eyed embrace. “Be gone with ye now, and take care of that bairn,” Leona told her as she bid the two of them goodbye.
As soon as they were out of the room, her own worry bubbled up. Kneeling at the foot of the bed, she prayed fervently for her friend’s safe return to her husband.
* * *
Their retreat from the keep was as easy as their entry. With Rose perched atop his lap, the eyepatch carefully placed, the cloak drawn around to cover her large belly, they were soon out of the keep and on their way to her husband.
Once they were out of eyesight of the keep, Alec kicked his mount into a full gallop. “I be sorry to have to go so fast, but we must get ye to Ian before anyone discovers ye’re missin’.”
“What will happen to Leona should yer brother discover I be gone?” She dreaded learning the answer to that question.
“She will be fine. Dougall is there to watch over her. He will make certain she is unharmed.”
Wiping tears from her eyes, she asked, “And who is there to protect Dougall?”
Alec refused to answer that question.
28
It had been too risky to build a fire, so Ian and his men hunkered down inside a small forest. While his men kept themselves busy by sharpening their weapons or discussing the different ways they would like to kill Rutger Bowie and Charles McFarland, Ian paced.
Like a wild animal in a cage, every nerve, every muscle was coiled, ready to spring at the slightest provocation.
For the most part, his men left him alone. Occasionally, however, they would offer an encouraging word. “’Twill no’ be long now, Ian, and we’ll have our Rose back.”
Their Rose. Mackintosh and McLaren alike loved and respected his wife. They thought of her more as a beloved sister than simply their mistress. It did lift his spirits to know how fondly they thought of her.
Dawn broke out over the horizon, painting the sky in lavender and wine. As he stood watching the sun come up, he could not help but wish his wife was there to enjoy it with him. Never again would he take for granted the majesty of a rising sun or the blessing he had in Rose.
His attention was drawn away by the sound of very distant thunder. He scanned the sky, looking for rainclouds, but could not find any. Soon, he caught a glimpse of something in the distance, far to the east. Something glimmered in the morning light.
As soon as he realized ’twas the sun glinting off steel, his stomach turned and his heart all but seized. ’Twas not thunder, but men on horseback. Hundreds of them.
* * *
He let loose with a shrill whistle, an alarm call to his men. Jumping to their feet, they came to see for themselves what had brought forth the alarm. It took only a glimpse to realize hundreds of men were heading their way.
“Has the Bowie come around to attack us from behind?” one of his men asked. All eyes turned then to Gylys, Fenner and Davy.
The three men backed away slowly. “I do no’ ken who those men be,” Kyth said. “It can no’ be the Bowie.”
Three of Ian’s men had swords on the Bowie’s in the blink of an eye. “If ye have played us false,” one of them warned, “we will gut ye before they arrive!”
None of the Bowies made the slightest attempt to either flee or fight. “We have no’ played ye false. If it be the Bowie, ’tis only because somethin’ happened at the keep,” Gylys said, holding his hands in the air.
From the expressions on the three Bowie men standing nervously before them, Ian knew their confusion was as real as his own. “Mayhap yer leader, Alec, has played us all false?” he asked, his voice filled with anger.
The Bowies were insulted. “Alec would never play anyone false!” Gylys ground out harshly. “If it be the Bowie, ’tis only because Alec’s plan did no’ work.”
“What do ye want us to do, Ian?” Fergus called out as he watched the army of men fast approaching.
Ian’s mind raced for a plan. “We can no’ go to the west, fer that be Bowie lands,” he said as he headed toward his horse. “Mount up!” he called out. “We shall head north and east and see if we can no’ circle back toward our keep.”
“What about these unholy bastards?” Seamus asked in reference to the three Bowie men.
Ian clenched his jaws together as he stared at the men who could very well have betrayed them. “Go back to yer leader. If what ye say is true, he needs yer help. If what ye say be false?” he said as he grabbed the reins of his horse and mounted. “Then I’ll meet all of ye in hell.”
* * *
As everyone scrambled to mount, the sound of horses grew louder and louder. Nearly all eyes were on the three Bowie men as they carefully watched them take to their own horses.
“I shall keep an eye on them,” Ian told Seamus, “while the rest of ye hie off to the west.”
“Nay!” Fergus protested. “What if they turn back? Ye can no’ fight them all alone.”
Ian pulled his own sword from its sheath. “Then tell me brother and father I died gallantly! Now be gone with ye!”
“We fight with ye, Ian.” Fergus argued again. “We’ll no’ leave ye here to die alone!”
While he admired the man’s loyalty, he knew someone had to get word back to the
people left at the keep. “Damn ye, Fergus!” Ian yelled as the sound of approaching horses grew louder. “I need someone to get word to the keep!”
Suddenly, Seamus called out from atop his horse. “Wait!”
Quickly, Ian and the rest of his men spun their horses around.
“It be no’ the Bowies!” Seamus said, sounding much relieved. “Look! That be a Mackintosh banner!”
Squinting his eyes to get a clearer look, Ian stared at the approaching army. His horse snickered and stomped at the ground, gave a great shake of its head. Ian reined the horse in, whispering to quell its nervous anticipation.
There, running in front of the army of men, was the red Mackintosh banner. In the center was the gold emblem of a cat with its claws extended.
Relief washed over him. His shoulders and muscles relaxed. It mattered not how they were here this day of all days; he was mightily glad to see them. Another banner soon came into view, one that belonged to Clan Graham.
“Seamus, come with me,” Ian said. “The rest of ye, keep an eye on the Bowies.”
* * *
Ian and Seamus rode out to meet the Mackintosh army. Ian soon caught sight of his brother, Frederick, and their long-time friend, Rowan Graham, riding at the front of the pack.
With a much-relieved heart, Ian raced to meet his brother. It had been nearly a year since last he’d seen him. Frederick was sporting an unshaved face and his hair was much longer.
“Ian!” Frederick called out as they drew nearer. Pulling rein, he slid from his horse, as did Ian. Frederick pulled his brother into a firm hug, slapping his back. “’Tis much reassured I am to see ye with yer head still attached to yer shoulders!”
“And ye as well, me brother!”
Rowan dismounted and came to offer the same greeting, pulling Ian in and slapping his back. “It has been far too long, Ian,” he said with a devilish smile. “We really must try to get our clans together at times other than war.”
“I do no’ ken how ye are here this day, but I am verra happy ye are,” Ian said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Frederick stood with his feet spread, his arms crossed over his massive chest, and took a more serious tone. “We left on the first of March, at me wife’s insistence,” Frederick told him. “A week ago, we met the messenger ye were sendin’ to us. We changed course and went to Rowan, who was all too happy to offer his aid.”
Rowan chuckled at Frederick. “Yer lovely wife was fit to be tied, Frederick. I feared had I refused her request, she would have had me head on a pike. And me own lovely wife would have fed me entrails to our pigs.”
Ian could imagine all too well how Aggie had taken the news of Rose’s kidnapping. The image of her angry, threatening to kill anyone involved brought an amused smile to his lips. And Lady Arline? She was never one to turn a blind eye to an injustice. “’Tis glad I am then that ye both married such stubborn women!”
They could do nothing but laugh in agreement.
“And ye?” Rowan asked. “I hear yer wife is just as stubborn as ours.”
Ian’s smile faded at the mention of Rose. “Aye, she is. In truth, knowin’ how stubborn she is has been the one thing to help me survive this ordeal.”
“Mayhap she has already gutted Rutger Bowie and is draggin’ his carcass to us now,” Rowan said in an attempt to lighten Ian’s mood.
Ian could only pray he was right.
29
Blood filled her mouth, her skin burned from the multiple strikes against her cheek. Rutger Bowie was furious and not afraid to let her know it. Repeatedly over the past half hour, he had back-handed her, kicked her in her legs when she fell to the floor, screamed, ranted and raved. Still, she refused to tell him what she knew.
“Tell me where she is!” he yelled, hovering over Leona.
Gripped with fear, her cheek and eye swelling to the point she could barely see out of it, Leona shook her head. “I tell ye, I do no’ ken who ye be askin’ after,” she told him.
“Ye lie, ye stupid wench!” His voice boomed and echoed off the gathering room walls.
“Nay!” she whispered harshly. “I tell ye true. I have told ye everythin’ I ken, m’laird.”
Rutger began to pace while he thought on what this young wench had told him thus far. “So me brother picks ye up at a tavern, brings ye here and spends half the night swivin’ with ye, only to wake ye before dawn to put ye in the room where me hostage was kept?”
Leona gave a slow, exhausted shrug. I ken nothin’ about a hostage, only that he told me he’d pay me well if I stayed there.” Every muscle hurt, her face burned, her eye throbbed painfully. “Aye, m’laird. ’Tis the truth. I swear it.”
Donnel McLaren had been watching from the long table as Rutger beat and interrogated the wench. As far as he was concerned, Rutger could kill the hapless creature, for she was the only thing standing between him and what rightfully belonged to him. “Seems too much of a coincidence, if ye ask me.”
Rutger spun to look at him. “What do ye mean?” he demanded loudly.
Donnel let out a long, heavy sigh. “I mean, she looks a bit too much like Rose Mackintosh,” he said. “If I hadn’t kent Rose the whole of her life, and her family, I would swear the wench before ye is her sister.”
“I have no sisters,” Leona whispered. At least no’ by blood.
A swift, hard boot to her thigh was Rutger’s response. His chest heaved with fury; sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes. He’d been beating the wench for nearly an hour and she’d yet to confess.
Turning his attention back to Donnel, he said, “Ye be certain Rose’s da never strayed?” He could not quite comprehend what could have caused the striking resemblance between the two women.
“Well I can no’ say that with a certainty, m’laird,” Donnel replied. “All I ken is there be no sister that I’ve heard about.”
Rutger turned back to Leona. She was curled into a protective ball, her knees drawn up to her chest, her hands covering her head. He was by no means nearly as ruthless as his cousin, Eduard Bowie, had been. In truth, the man’s actions had often sickened him. But right now? He was not above beating this wench in order to learn all that she knew. A fortune was at stake.
Worn out from beating her, covered in sweat, he needed to rest and think on what his next course of action should be. He’d already sent out seventy-five of his best men to track down Rose and whoever had taken her. If his sentry was correct, Alec had been gone for four hours before it was discovered that Rose was missing, and this whore had taken her place. Loathe as he was to admit it, his brother was probably the one who had taken her.
“Take her to the dungeon!” he barked the command.
Two men appeared from the shadows to do their laird’s bidding. Without any care toward her, they pulled her up by her arms and dragged her away.
* * *
Donnel was angrier than he could ever remember being. If it was the last thing he did on this earth, he would have the head on a pike of whoever ’twas that betrayed them.
He and Rutger had planned for every contingency. Or so they’d thought. What they hadn’t planned on was a traitor.
’Twas all beginning to slip from his grasp once again. The treasure, his future, his plan of living out the rest of his days in comfort.
If he could not get Rose back, ‘twould all be lost.
Infuriated, he jumped to his feet, pounding his fist on the table before him. “We must attack them at once!” he shouted. “We can no’ let them get away with this!”
Rutger glowered at him. “Do ye think I do no’ realize that?” he ground out. “I want that bloody ransom as much as ye do, ye fool.”
Donnel didn’t think it very likely that anyone could want the ransom paid as much as he. “Then call yer men to arms. We must attack before the McLarens have time to call on their allies!”
Rutger sprang forward, stood only inches away from Donnel. “If ye dare order me about again, I will have ye hanged.”
Donnel did not so much as bat an eye at the man’s threat. He’d lived and worked for Mermadak McLaren for far too many years to be afraid of this man. Still, he was no fool. “Fergive me, m’laird,” he said with a nod of respect. “I fear where me treasure is involved, I lose all patience.”
“Ye best pray I do no’ lose mine,” Rutger warned before stepping away.
He paced for a few moments, his own fury rising. Though he had no sure proof of it yet, he was all but certain his brother Alec was responsible for Rose’s escape. As soon as they learned Rose was missing and that whore had been left in her place, he ordered the drawbridge raised and men sent to investigate. That was nearly two hours ago.
Just as he was prepared to send more men out to bring everyone into the keep for questioning, two of his men came rushing into the gathering room.
“M’laird!” Adam Bowie shouted. He was a younger lad, tall and skinny in build. “I spoke with the men mannin’ the walls and gates.”
“And?” Rutger asked through gritted teeth.
The young man was reluctant to share what he’d learned. He swallowed hard before answering. “The only one in or out of the keep since last night was yer brother. He left at just before dawn with a whore.”
’Twas exactly what he’d suspected. Alec had betrayed him. Of that, there was no longer any doubt. Were his brother any other man, Rutger would have believed he had taken the woman to ransom her himself. But his brother was not cut from the same cloth as himself. Nay, somewhere, somehow the bloody bastard had inherited a streak of honor, a lust for peace. There were times, just as now, where he would have sworn they were not related, that mayhap their pious mother had strayed from her marital bed.
“Raise the drawbridge,” he said in a manner so calm it made even Donnel afraid. “Gather every available man. No one leaves or enters this keep without me order. Let our men ken we leave at dawn.”
Ian's Rose: Book One of The Mackintoshes and McLarens Page 25
