Everything In Its Time

by Dee Davis

  "Nay, lass, I dinna think so. He has no idea where you are, or even who is holding you."

  Katherine swallowed back her panic. "And do you know who is responsible for this?"

  "Aye."

  "Tell me who."

  "Alasdair."

  Katherine sat in stiff silence, absorbing the new information. Alasdair. A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of his hands on her body. She shook herself, trying to concentrate on the present, and to hold her vivid imagination at bay.

  "I see." She paused, studying Sorcha. The older woman's hands were bound, but unlike Katherine's they were tied in front of her, allowing more freedom of movement. Her feet were free, and she had a small bruise on her left cheek. It was just beginning to show color. Her hair was loose and tangled about her shoulders and there were bits of mud clinging to the hem of her gown.

  "Sorcha, I don't understand any of this. If you were captured in the clearing with me, then where have you been all this time?"

  Again, color swept across Sorcha's face. "I wasna captured in the clearing. The mad dash to find Iain was a trap."

  "A trap?"

  "Aye. Alasdair planned it." Sorcha looked directly into Katherine's eyes, her own full of regret. "And I... I carried it out."

  "You? You're working with Alasdair?" Katherine looked pointedly at Sorcha's bound hands. "He certainly seems to be showing his gratitude in a funny way."

  Sorcha flushed an even deeper red. " 'Tis no' his gratitude that left this." She gestured awkwardly at the purpling bruise on her cheekbone. "But I canna deny I was helping him in the beginning. At the very least, I owe ye the truth of it."

  Katherine struggled to force these new facts into her tired brain. "So you pretended Iain was hurt to lure me away from Duncreag?"

  Sorcha's lips parted in what might have been taken for a smile, except that her eyes reflected only pain and guilt. " 'Twas only part o' the ruse. When I left Duncreag, Iain was alive and well." The smile faded. "But I canna say how he fares now. Alasdair wants him dead."

  "Dead?" Katherine couldn't seem to do much more than echo Sorcha's pronouncements. She tried unsuccessfully to blow a thick strand of hair out of her face.

  Sorcha knelt beside her and using her bound hands, carefully moved the hair away from Katherine's face. "There now, that's better."

  Katherine watched through narrowed eyes as Sorcha settled against the wall beside her. "How did you get here, Sorcha?"

  She glanced over at Katherine, her look painfully apologetic. "I lied to Iain and said that I had followed you to the clearing. I told him you were out for a walk and I was worried you'd lose your way. Then I told him the mon who took you was a Macpherson.

  "It was all part of Alasdair's plan. He told me he wanted to hold you for ransom, in payment for all that he lost when Iain married you and no' Ailis. He wanted Iain to think it was the Macphersons so that he could get the ransom without incurring Iain's wrath. I should have known there was more to it."

  She paused, looking out of the window, and then with a sigh continued. "I couldna stand the sight of Iain's pain." She turned her tortured gaze back to Katherine. "He loves you verra much, you know. Anyway, I stayed in my chamber most of the day, avoiding him. I was afraid he'd see the truth in my eyes. I woke up sometime during the night and realized I'd had naught to eat. So I went to the kitchen to see what I could find. The fire was out in the hall, so I thought I'd sit in the solar. The fire there is always banked. But when I reached the top o' the stairs I realized there were already people there. I could hear young William telling Iain he had o'erheard me telling you about Iain being injured. I panicked. If Iain knew I lied, he'd soon enough figure out I was a part of your abduction. So I left for Tùr nan Clach, thinking that Alasdair would want to know that Iain had discovered my part in the deception. It wasna easy. It was dark and I was on foot. Alasdair has his men carefully guarding the border between the two holdings, but I convinced them I was an ally with important news and they let me through."

  She drew a deep breath, as though mentally preparing herself for her next words. "I got to Tùr nan Clach about midday and was told that Ailis and Alasdair were taking their meal in their private hall. So I set out to find them. When I reached the solar, I started to knock on the door. I could hear Alasdair talking. I canna say why I stopped, but I did. He was chastising Ailis for failing to capture Iain's attention. I heard him hit her." She winced as though feeling the blow herself. "The puir wee girl barely cried out. I pressed myself against the door, uncertain what to do. Alasdair was raving about how all his careful plans had been thwarted, how part of it at least was Ailis' fault. He hit her again, and then it was quiet. I wanted to leave, but at his next words I froze.

  "He said something about all no' being lost—he'd still get what belonged to him, and he'd see Iain dead and you in his bed before he was through. I ran after that. You have to believe I never meant any harm to come to Iain, or to you for that matter."

  Katherine tried to pull together her riotous thoughts. "Why didn't you go to Iain with this?"

  "I wanted to. But Alasdair must have heard me. Before I could even reach the gate leading out o' Tùr nan Clach, two o' his guard caught up with me and dragged me back to Alasdair. He accused me o' betraying him and said I'd ne'er see Duncreag again."

  "Did he give you that bruise?"

  "Aye. And afterward he told his men to bring me here." Sorcha gave Katherine a weak smile. "I dinna think he meant for us to be here together. But I had a wee talk with the big mon guarding the door and convinced him that we'd be easier to take care of if we were in the same chamber."

  "Beag Dougall?"

  "Is that his name? Well, he's certainly no' a small man, is he? More the type to put a scare in a body, I'd say, but he really wasna all that hard to convince. He may be a giant o' a mon, but I dinna believe he's given to deep thought."

  Despite everything, Katherine felt a bubble of laughter rise from her throat. She sobered quickly. "Sorcha, why did you do this? I mean why were you involved at all with a man like Alasdair?"

  Sorcha leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. " 'Tis a long story."

  "I've got plenty of time," Katherine answered dryly.

  Sorcha shrugged. " 'Tis no' a pretty tale." She sighed. "But I suppose 'tis best to start at the beginning.

  "I was a young girl when I first saw Angus Mackintosh, but even then I knew he was the mon for me. I think I fell in love with him almost at first sight. He was a year older than I was, but already with the look of a mon about him. Tall and straight he was, with clear green eyes and fine thick hair, I used to dream about what it would feel like to run my fingers through it. We were all friends, we were: Angus, myself, my brother Dougall, and my younger sister Moire. We played the silly games of youths that summer. And every day I loved Angus a little bit more.

  "He came the next summer, too, and the one after that, his father sending him to foster with my father. And as we grew older, my girlish crush grew into something more. I thought I'd surely die if I couldna have him. But Angus had other plans. He had eyes for no one but my sister Moire.

  "Moire was the beautiful one. She was tiny and graceful and as good and kind as a person could be. We all loved her fiercely, but no one more than Angus. That last summer, he asked my father for her hand. I cried for days, my puir heart broken into little pieces. But no one could begrudge Moire happiness. She was such a wee fey thing. A good wind could have carried her away.

  "She went with him, o' course, to live at Duncreag. Father tried to arrange for my own marriage, but I would have none o' it—if I couldna have Angus then I wanted no one at all. The years passed and Iain was born. He was the light of their lives. I visited them a time or two, but couldn't bear it often. They were so happy, the three of them. And all I could see was what I might have had.

  "They wanted other children, but it seemed Moire was no' to be so blessed. Then one winter we got the news that Angus and Moire were expecting a second c
hild. Iain was with us then, fostering with my father and Dougall. There was much rejoicing at Corybrough and we all eagerly awaited the birth. Then came devastating news. Moire was dead, and the wee bairn with her. 'Twas a girl. They named her Suisan after my mother. She lived only a few hours longer than Moire.

  "I suppose what I did next might seem a wee bit forward, but these are harsh times and you have to take happiness where you find it. So even in my grief o'er my sister's death, I recognized the chance to realize my own dreams and grabbed it with both hands. I convinced my brother that someone had to see to Angus and his kin and that that someone should be me.

  "I arrived at Duncreag in the early fall to find an Angus I hardly recognized. He was still devastatingly handsome, but the light had gone out of his eyes. It seems his heart had died with his wife. But I was still young enough to believe I could change that. So I set about making Duncreag a home again. No' that there was anyone to notice. Iain returned to Corybrough and Angus was always locked away in his sorrow. Alasdair came to foster, but he had no time for me. He was too busy playing up to the Laird, coveting what would never be his." Sorcha paused for a moment to catch her breath, then continued.

  "And so the years passed. I learned to hold on to any wee bit of interest Angus showed in me and told myself he would come out of it all in time. 'Twas naught but a lie, I know. But I never stopped loving him, never stopped hoping someday he'd wake up and notice me.

  "Then the time came for Iain to return home. He'd been away at Moy and Angus felt it was time for him to give up his wandering ways and settle down with a wife to produce heirs for Duncreag. One morning, soon after he had sent the missive for Iain to come home, Angus asked me to go for a ride. We rode across the holding to the bottom of a ridge Angus favored. We climbed to the top and stood looking out o'er the land, o'er Duncreag. I should have guessed that there was more to his invitation than the simple desire for my company, but I was ever hopeful of gaining his love.

  " 'Twas a fine day. The sun was shining through the clouds and the land took on a golden glow. Angus told me of his plans for Iain and how, with a new mistress in the offing, my service to Duncreag was ended. He spoke to me like an old faithful servant, with no trace of affection at all. I remember standing there, staring at him. I'd lost my voice. 'Have you gone daft, woman?' he said. 'You can go home to Corybrough now.'

  “Home,” she whispered, lost in the memory. “Home was Duncreag. I tried to tell him that, and it was as if a great dam inside me broke wide open. The words kept tumbling out. I told him how much I loved him. How I'd stayed with him all these years in the hope that he'd come to love me. I even begged him to marry me, to forget Moire. That was my mistake. He looked as if I'd struck him. He'd never forget Moire, he told me. She was everything to him. There would never be another. And even if there were, it wouldna be me.

  "I went a little crazy then. I've a fierce temper, and I've never been good at keeping it to myself. I ran at him. I dinna know what I thought I was going to do— beat some sense into him, I suppose. But somehow we stumbled. We'd been standing by the edge of the cliff, to better see the view. And in one short moment, all that I held dear in the world was gone. The cliffside crumbled away, and Angus fell. I can still hear his cry. I stood there, unable to believe he was gone. That I... that I had killed him." She paused, tears streaming down her face, her mind far away on a cliffside.

  Katherine sniffed as her own eyes filled with tears. "But Sorcha, it was an accident."

  She continued staring into her grief-filled past. "Aye, an accident, but if no' for my temper, Angus would be alive. Accident or no', I'm responsible for the death of the only mon I'll ever love. I finally understand a wee bit about his grief for Moire."

  Katherine waited while Sorcha pulled herself together, drying her tears awkwardly with her bound hands. "I still don't see what all this has to do with Alasdair."

  "Ah, but you see, there's more to the tale." She looked out the window again. "Alasdair was there that day. I still dinna understand how he came to be in that exact spot, at that moment. God's wicked sense of humor, no doubt. I couldna see the body from the ledge, so I was trying to find a way down, to find Angus, when Alasdair appeared at my elbow. He has a sneaking way about him, and it was as if he had conjured himself from midair. He'd seen the whole thing, he told me. And had found the body. Angus was dead, by my hand. He shuddered to think what would come of me now. But, he said, maybe he could help me. How? I asked.

  "He told me he'd make it look like an accident, that no one would even know I'd been there. All I had to do was help him get Iain to marry Ailis.” She sighed, staring down at her hands. “I have no excuse for what I did. But I was afraid and so numb with grief. He made it sound so easy, and Ailis was a nice enough lass. Iain wouldna do so badly if he were to marry her. So I agreed. Alasdair arrived at Duncreag the next morning with a story about a summons from Angus. It was easy then to arrange to search for the 'missing' Laird. We 'found' the body, and the worst of it seemed to be o'er.

  "All I was to do was throw Ailis at Iain at every opportunity. I invited Ailis for a visit under the guise that I needed comforting, which was no' untrue. She came, and Iain arrived shortly thereafter. Things seemed to be proceeding as Alasdair planned—until you arrived."

  "And married Iain."

  Sorcha drew up her knees, lifted her arms out of the way, and then dropped them, so that they circled her legs. "Aye. I knew Iain loved ye the moment I first saw you together. And I feared for you both. Alasdair is no' a mon to anger. He came to me after he realized ye were wed, threatening me with exposure if I didna help him kidnap you. I was afraid of him, and afraid of what Iain would do if he found out. I am no' a very noble or brave woman, Katherine. I was frightened, and so I agreed to help him. It was his idea to pretend that Iain was hurt."

  Katherine shifted, trying to find a comfortable position. "You said you thought he was only going to hold me for ransom."

  "Aye, but his plans were far more grievous than that. He has no love for Iain and, his time spent with Angus only served to make him greedy in his desire to possess all that is Duncreag. He wants Iain to die, and has arranged things so that his death will most likely be blamed on the Macphersons."

  "And me?'

  "I canna say whether he wants you because you belong to Iain or if 'tis your beauty that draws him. Most likely a bit of both, but either way he does want you. I heard him tell Ailis that his plan was to trick you into believing he'd ransomed you from the Macphersons, after he's killed Iain. But now you know the whole truth. 'Tis a poor penance, but 'tis the best I can offer. I'll no' ask ye to forgive me, but perhaps at least now ye can understand the why of it a bit better."

  Katherine sat in silence, letting Sorcha's story fill her mind. How dreadful it would be to love a man who had no feelings at all for you. Katherine thought about Iain and the strength of their love. It was a gift—a rare thing, and if given the opportunity, she'd make certain she never took it for granted. The thought of being without him pulled her back to reality with a snap.

  "Sorcha, we have to figure out how to get out of here. Do you think you can undo my hands?" Katherine sat forward, turning so that her back was to the older woman. She could feel Sorcha tugging at her bonds.

  " 'Tis no use, Katherine. The rope is tied too tightly."

  Katherine turned back to her. "Okay, wait. Let me try yours; maybe they're looser. Then when your hands are free, you'll probably be able to manage mine."

  Sorcha shoved her hands at Katherine's back. Katherine forced every ounce of will into making her hands feel the ropes at Sorcha's wrists. She struggled awkwardly with the knot and almost gave up twice, but then she felt a little give and with a small cry of triumph pulled the rope free.

  Sorcha rubbed her wrists, trying to restore circulation. "All right, lass, let me try yours again." They maneuvered into position once more. Sorcha had barely begun the effort when they both froze at a sound at the door. The restraining bar rattled as it
was removed.

  "Quick, Sorcha, put your hands together. Maybe they won't notice you're untied. It's our only chance."

  Sorcha threw a panicked glanced at Katherine, quickly gathered the piece of rope from the floor, and threw it out the hole in the wall. Then she moved her hands so that they were locked in front of her, palm to palm. She pressed her arms into her body so that the material of her dress covered her wrists, making it difficult to see that she was not still bound by the rope.

  Katherine sat back against the wall. She met Sorcha's eyes and tried to give an encouraging smile. But the sound of the voice outside made her blood run cold.

  "You put them together? You imbecile, if anything has happened, I'll hold you personally responsible."

  Katherine swallowed and tried to calm her pounding heart. Sorcha's face drained of color. Her voice was hoarse, just barely above a whisper. " 'Tis Alasdair."

  The two women watched as the door slowly swung open.

  Chapter 23

  RIDING INTO BATTLE was definitely not as romantic as the movies would have you believe. In fact, Jeff thought as he shifted on his horse, trying to find some part of his rear end that wasn't bruised, riding wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Basically, it hurt. He watched the others riding along and felt a wave of envy at the way they casually sat their horses. These guys, he mused, gave new meaning to the term "buns of steel."

  Fergus and Iain rode in the lead, their heads bent together in deep conversation. Following them, Jeff could make out Roger and several men he hadn't yet met. Ewan rode directly in front of him, having only just returned from escorting Ailis to the safety of Duncreag. The man must have ridden like the wind to have arrived in such short time, Jeff reasoned, wincing at the thought of what the ride must have felt like.

  Twisting around, he saw the rest of the company trailing behind him, with Ranald bringing up the rear. Jeff studied the boy immediately behind him. The guy didn't look a day over sixteen, hardly old enough to be heading for a showdown with this Davidson fellow. But then, Jeff reminded himself, life here was hard and kids grew up fast. For a minute, his mind flashed to a picture of some of the street gangs back in New York. Maybe things weren't really that different at home. Hard times seemed to produce hard children, in any century.