The Renegade (The Renegade, Rebel and Rogue)

by Christine Dorsey

  “Are you sure you wish to go alone, sir?”

  “I’ve no choice, Captain. I’ve given my word.” Fox pulled on his riding gloves.

  “Sir, if you don’t mind my saying it, I question whether the MacLeod can be trusted. You could very likely be walking into a trap. He doesn’t seem the type to give himself up.”

  “I appreciate your concerns. And believe me, they echo my own. But in a strange way, that I can’t explain, I believe Keegan MacLeod will do what he said he would.”

  “Are you telling me you think him an honorable man?”

  Fox took the reins from the corporal. “Is that what I’m saying?” He gave his head a shake. “I don’t know.” He mounted on one fluid motion. “But we will see, Captain Monroe, we will see.”

  ~ ~ ~

  From his vantage point on the ridge he could see the whole like a miniature scene. The shimmering loch, the gently sloping hills, the bay, the castle. Anchored off the craggy shore was the sloop, The Rebel’s Pride, just as he’d arranged.

  Just as Keegan Macleod had asked.

  Fox lifted the spyglass to his eye, squinting till he could focus on his sister. She was there, among the others, waving toward the longboat heading toward shore. Keegan MacLeod was there as well, standing a bit apart as befitted his role as chief of his clan.

  A role he would soon relinquish.

  Fox watched as the renegade glanced about toward the hills, his hand lifted to shade his eyes. He could tell he’d been spotted when the Scot moved to Zoe’s side. He bent down, saying something to her, then took her arm. Together they started toward the path that led to the hills.

  ~ ~ ~

  “I don’t understand what’s so important that we must see it now,” Zoe lifted her skirts and quickened her pace, rushing to keep up with Keegan. “What of the longboat? It’s almost to shore. We don’t want to miss it. What if it doesn’t wait for us to return? Keegan!” Zoe grabbed at his arm in frustration. He appeared not to hear a word she’d said. “Will you stop a moment and listen?”

  “Damnit, Zoe, there’s no time.” Keegan halted his headlong press up the side of the mountain. He turned to face her, softening his tone when he saw her expression. She didn’t understand. And who could blame her? He’d lied to her. For all that he told himself it was a necessary lie, it was a lie all the same.

  He didn’t want to hurt her. But he would. And his only consolation was that someday she would see it was all for the best.

  “What is it Keegan? What aren’t you telling me?”

  He had started walking again, but not before she’d seen the regret in his eyes. Zoe hurried her steps, racing around in front of him. She was breathless now, from running, from fear. A quick look behind her, down toward the bay showed the longboat nudging the shore. Everyone was huddled on the beach waiting to embark on their new life.

  “Keegan.” She batted at his chest, but still he wouldn’t stop. Tears were streaming down her face now. She couldn’t seem to stem them. “Why are you doing this? What of our house in the Carolinas? What of—”

  “Stop it, Zoe.” Keegan reached out, cupping her shoulders. He leaned back against the rockface that formed one side of the gorge. His eyes closed for a moment, then opened, revealing a tortured soul. “Ye must not carry on so, lass. Ye promised me ye’d be strong today.”

  “But how can I, Keegan, when I’ve no idea what you’re doing. What we’re doing.” Zoe’s head whipped around, the wind catching her golden brown hair. “Look, they’re climbing into the longboat, Keegan. They’re going to leave us.”

  Keegan took a deep breath, letting the air escape slowly. “Aye.”

  “But why? We’re going with them. We’re going to the New World.” Zoe tried to control her sobbing, tried to stop the tears, but it seemed as if her life was disappearing into the mist that was drifting down from the hills.

  “Nay, Zoe, we’re not.” Keegan watched her face and cursed himself for bringing her to this. “I’ve been playin’ myself the fool, Zoe. Wantin’ what I cannot have. This land. A new life... ye.” He lifted his hand, letting his fingers skim her cheek before jerking away.

  “Morgan!” he yelled, his voice carried by the swirling wind. Then he grabbed Zoe’s arm and pulled her along over the rise and around the bend in the path. And there he stood.

  “Fox.” Zoe took a step toward her brother, then stopped. She glanced back at Keegan, still not certain what was going on. Neither man had a weapon aimed at the other. And for the first time she realized that Keegan had no weapon at all. No pistol. No broadsword. “Someone tell me what is happening.”

  “What was destined to happen from the beginnin’. I’m givin’ ye back to yer family.”

  “But I don’t want...”

  “ ’Tis for the best, lass.”

  “No, no it isn’t. I want to stay with you.”

  “Well, ye can’t.”

  “But—” Zoe looked from one man to the other. They both stood tall and straight.

  “Ye can’t go with me, Zoe, for I’m... I’m turnin’ myself over to the authorities.”

  “But they’ll hang you.”

  Keegan tried to shrug. “As I said, ’tis what was destined from the beginnin’.”

  “I don’t believe that. What did you do—trade your life and me for safe passage for the clan?” Keegan said nothing, but she could tell by his expression that she was right. Zoe dove toward her brother, pounding his chest. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you take him from me. I won’t.”

  “Zoe.” It was Keegan’s voice that sliced through her hysteria. “We both knew this was t’ be the end of it. Ye were my captive, and that was all. And now I’m handin’ ye over t’ yer family and doin’ the only thing I can t’ stay in Scotland.”

  “What are you saying, Keegan MacLeod, that you never loved me? That I should look upon this as an... an adventure and go off with my brother and pretend it never happened?”

  Keegan stared at a spot over her head. “Aye, that’s what I’m sayin’.”

  Zoe’s voice was calm. “I don’t believe you.”

  Keegan turned toward Fox. “I’m turnin’ myself over t’ ye, but I’d just as soon get this over with if ye don’t mind. Have ye soldiers nearby?”

  “Over the ridge.”

  “And are they expectin’ me?”

  “They are.”

  Keegan nodded. “Then with yer permission I’ll be goin’ off t’ meet them.”

  “Go on then.” Fox motioned him along the path with his hand. Perhaps he was being foolish, allowing the renegade to go off. He could disappear again, hide in the hills and never be found. Except Fox didn’t think he would. He trusted him, irrational as it was, he did. And he admired him. He wished things could be different. For like Zoe, Fox didn’t believe for one moment that the Scot didn’t love his sister.

  He loved Zoe, and he loved his clan and he was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of both. Fox wondered if given similar circumstances he could be as noble.

  For long moments after Keegan walked away Fox didn’t look at Zoe. But he could feel the icy prickles of her stare, feel her pain. And he could feel the Scot’s pain. Almost as if it were his own.

  Fox tried to fight it. He was a soldier, sworn to do his duty. “Zoe, someday you’ll understand this is for the best.”

  Their eyes met then, and he could read the truth of her words in hers. “I’ve always loved you Fox, and I always will. I’ll learn to forgive you for this. But I will never... never think this was for the best.” She straightened her shoulders. “Do not expect that from me, brother.”

  Her words seemed destined to be etched in time, time that Fox saw sprawling out in front of him. Zoe was right. She’d never think this was for the best. And he’d never truly believe it was either. The knowledge would haunt them both.

  “Go to him.”

  “What?” Zoe scrubbed her hands down her face. She would cry and carry on no more.

  “Go to him. Bring him back.”
Fox let his breath out. “I want you both on that schooner and gone from here. No, don’t hug me. Get that damn Scot back here.”

  Fox watched as his sister ran along the path, calling out Keegan’s name. It was still hard for him to reconcile this beautiful woman with the sickly girl he’d always known. But he imagined he had the Scot to thank for the metamorphosis.

  She was telling him now, and though Fox couldn’t hear from this distance, he could sense the other man’s reluctance to believe. He shook his head, and squared his shoulders. But Zoe persisted, and when the Scot finally glanced toward him, Fox signaled for him to come back.

  Now that he’d made his decision Fox was anxious to be done with it. But he didn’t begrudge the time it took the Scot to lift Zoe off her feet and twirl her around. Or the kiss they shared.

  ~ ~ ~

  “I could have told you he wasn’t to be trusted.”

  Fox stood at attention. “Yes sir.”

  “The very idea of taking one of these damn Scots’ word for anything, let alone a renegade like MacLeod was ludicrous. And I hope you learned your lesson Major Morgan.”

  “I have, sir.”

  Upton leaned back in the leather chair. There was nothing he enjoyed more than being agreed with... unless it was proving one of his officers, especially an arrogant bastard like Morgan, wrong. And this time the righteous son of a bitch had screwed up royally.

  “Well, at least he’s dead. But it could have just as easily been you, or one of your men who met that fate. You wouldn’t wish to inform some hapless widow that her husband died at the hand of a Highland brigand that you trusted to surrender peacefully.”

  “No sir... but as you say, it was Keegan MacLeod who took the bullet and fell from the cliff.”

  “Into the sea.”

  “Yes sir... into the sea.” Fox noted the tinge of disbelief coloring the colonel’s voice. But he kept his own firm. Upton could think what he might, but proof was another story.

  Colonel Upton folded his hands. “What of your sister, Major? Rumor has it she was with the Scot. Did you find her?”

  “I fear not. Another of his lies I suppose.” Fox relaxed his shoulders. “If you’d known Lady Zoe, you’d know she would never have survived long at the Scot’s hands.”

  “So you assume she is dead as well?”

  “Yes, another casualty of this rebellion.”

  “Indeed.”

  There were more questions. More answers. And then Fox’s announcement that he was resigning his commission. To do what, he didn’t know. He was a younger son. His brother, the Earl of Warwick, despised him, and the feeling was mutual. But he couldn’t stay in the army. He couldn’t stay in Scotland where the hills and lochs, the glens and even the mist seemed to call to him.

  Fox left Colonel Upton’s headquarters and took a deep breath. Unable to stop himself his gaze turned toward the Highlands.

  Then with a firm step he headed south, toward England.

  Epilogue

  “You’re thinking about Captain Rafferty, aren’t you?”

  “Aye.” Keegan slipped his arm about Zoe’s shoulders. She’d come up beside him as he stood on deck, staring out at the gentle swells of the grey Atlantic. “How did ye know?”

  “Call it wifely intuition,” she said, smiling up at the handsome man at her side.

  Keegan chuckled and shook his head. “You’ve developed that skill after but one day?”

  “I’m a fast learner.”

  Keegan leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Are ye feelin’ any better?”

  “Some.” Zoe leaned her elbows on the polished wood rail. “I don’t want to complain...” She slanted him a look through her lashes. “At least not too much,” she added when he laughed.

  “Ye needn’t think I doubted yer illness this morn.” He’d awakened to find her bent over a pail. “The sea was a bit rough last night.”

  “Mmmm,” was all Zoe said.

  “I had a talk with Padraic... Captain Rafferty.” Keegan played absently with his new wife’s hair. “While ye were sleeping.”

  “Was he the man you remembered from Culloden?” Yesterday as they boarded the schooner, Keegan thought he recognized the vessel’s captain. But there was little time to discover the truth, for there was much excitement about Keegan and Zoe’s arrival.

  François had told the clan about Keegan’s deal with the English major. Their freedom and transport to the New World in exchange for Zoe’s return to her brother, and Keegan’s surrender. So it was with a great deal of enthusiasm that the pair was greeted. And when Keegan, after a quick word with the captain, announced there would be a wedding that night, the celebration escalated.

  It wasn’t until less than an hour ago that Keegan had a chance to question the captain. “Aye, he was there. And he remembered both my father and me.”

  Zoe hesitated. “And Fox?”

  “Aye, him, too.” Keegan took a deep breath and cuddled his wife closer. “As it happens I came close to killin’ the good captain, and he doin’ the same t’ me.”

  “He was in His Majesty’s service?”

  “Nay, but the scoundrel was garbed as if he was. Wore a red tunic, he did.” Keegan chuckled. “But he was in disguise, hopin’ to find the Bonnie Prince and carry him off before the British could capture him. But he was wounded, and found shelter near where I took my da.”

  Keegan paused and studied the horizon. “He saw it all. My fight with the British troops, yer brother, the killin’ of my father.”

  “Keegan, I know how you feel about Fox, and that nothing he can do will ever make up for the horror but—”

  “I may have been wrong, Zoe.”

  “What?”

  “All this time I’ve been blamin’ yer brother.” He shrugged. “Perhaps I was askin’ more of him than any man could give.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m not sure I do either. But after talkin’ t’ Captain Rafferty I have a better idea of what went on. The horror.” Keegan shifted to look down at her. “I know that sounds ridiculous, for it was nothin’ but horror for me. ’Tis just that’s all I was seein’... what was happenin’ to me and mine.”

  “You can’t be blamed for that.”

  “Maybe not. But I think perhaps yer brother did try t’ stop the killin’.” He shrugged. “Captain Rafferty believes as much.”

  “He does?”

  “Aye, and ’tis sorry I am t’ have doubted ye all this time when ye tried t’ tell me about yer brother. I think... I don’t know but when I saw him, there was this odd feelin’ that came over me. The same strangeness happened when I set eyes on Captain Rafferty.” Keegan shook his head. “Now I wish I could talk t’ yer brother. Thank him again for lettin’ us leave.”

  “I think Fox knew how you felt. How I felt.”

  “I still can’t believe he let me live.”

  “Well, in the strictest sense he didn’t. He did kill off the renegade.”

  “Aye, he did.” Keegan started to laugh but his good humor ended quickly when he saw his wife’s face. “What is it, love, ye look a bit green.”

  “Do I?” Zoe tried to smile. “I... I’m not really feeling very well.” The deck rolled on a swell and Zoe groaned. But before she could say another word she was scooped up in her husband’s strong arms.

  “What is it, Zoe?” True, Keegan had felt at one time that Zoe had a penchant for exaggerating an illness. But this was no figment of her imagination. He hurriedly crossed to the hatch and made his way down the ladder to their cabin, wondering where Miss Phelps was when he really needed her.

  As carefully as he could, Keegan lowered his wife to the bunk. “Can I get ye anythin’? Do anythin’?”

  Zoe shook her head. “I’d say you’ve already done your part. At least for the next couple months or so.

  “Ye’re not talkin’ sense now, Zoe. What have I done t’ make ye so ill?”

  Zoe couldn’t help laughing. Her hand grazed his cheek. “Keegan da
rling, it isn’t what you did exactly. More what we did.” She paused, but could tell by his expression he was too agitated to understand her meaning.

  “And I’m not ill,” she continued. “Though truthfully it does feel as if I am. But the other women say it will all be better in a month or two. Of course it won’t be completely better until the babe is borne, but—Keegan!”

  Zoe sat bolt upright, her eyes big in her face and stared at the floor. Where her big, rugged, renegade husband lay, having swooned dead away.

  To My Readers

  Writing about a kilt-clad Scottish hero has long been a dream of mine. And Keegan MacLeod exceeded even my expectations. Of course, like Keegan, I adored Lady Zoe Morgan too. Their love was a delight to put on paper. I hope you enjoyed reading The Renegade as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  And The Renegade is only the beginning of the Renegade, Rebel and Rogue Series. Watch for The Rebel. It will be on line soon. You met the hero of The Rebel, Padraic Rafferty, in The Renegade. He’s a charming Irishman, a smuggler and chameleon of sorts. While masquerading as an effeminate dandy (not an easy task for our hero) Padraic uses his sword to wreak havoc with the English overrunning his homeland. Of course this charade is made more difficult by the presence of his father’s young widow, a woman Padraic finds difficult to resist.

  The Renegade, Rebel and Rogue Series continues as we return to the Highlands for The Rogue, which will follow The Rebel on line. Lord Foxworth Morgan, a man haunted by memories of Culloden, travels through time and space, meeting Grace MacCammon, and learning the secret that binds him to Keegan MacLeod and Padraic Rafferty.