Highland Bride

by Colleen French

  "Well," Kara said. "Why don't you go through that basket of cloth and see what can be salvaged for making new garments? I'm going to go find Harry and see what he wants prepared for the evening meal. His mother is expected today."

  Isla frowned. "Mistress, his lordship, he done rode off an hour ago. I seen him myself from the window."

  "Rode off?" Kara's heart tripped. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on Harry while Ian was gone. He and Dungald and a dozen men had ridden off at dawn to round up the cattle reivers. They were not expected back until tomorrow. "Rode off with whom?"

  "Rode off with nobody. With himself."

  Kara stood for a moment in indecision and then bolted for the door. She ran down the stairs and into the great hall, where she found several of Dunnane's men gathered about one of the fireplaces, playing cards. "You, sir," she called to the nearest man. A small but muscular man with a short-trimmed beard turned to her. She recognized him as the same man who had brought Isla to Dunnane's hall.

  "Me?"

  "What is your name?"

  The clansman looked away from her in obvious disregard. He glanced at the other men, amusement on his face.

  Kara was suddenly aware that she was alone in the castle without the protection of Ian. Even when he wasn't in the room, his presence in the castle made her feel safe. No clansman would look at her with such disregard in Ian's presence.

  She spoke louder. "Rise and give me your name, sir."

  He rose from his chair, but took his time. "Gilean McClean, my lady." He bowed, but his movements were exaggerated, mocking.

  "McClean, I am in need of assistance. I would ask that you have a horse saddled for me and one for yourself as well. I'm in need of an escort."

  "'Tis not safe for you to go riding, my lady."

  "I do not wish to take a leisurely ride. The earl has gone out unescorted and I must find him."

  "Pardon, my lady," McClean said entirely too casually, "but my orders were to remain within the walls of the castle."

  "Even if I order differently?"

  His dark-eyed gaze met hers defiantly. "Even if the Lady Dunnane orders me so."

  She dropped one hand to her hip, her temper rising. She didn't have time for this nonsense. Harry had left the castle unescorted. There were a thousand dangers for a boy riding alone. Anything could happen; he could fall from his mount, he could be robbed, he could even accidentally come upon the reivers. "These orders were given by whom?" she demanded.

  "From the master."

  Kara immediately thought of Ian. But of course Ian wasn't the master of the household. Harry must have told the men to stay put. Of course it was Harry. He wanted no one to follow him. "Lord Dunnane may have told you to remain behind," she said carefully, not wanting to discredit her husband before his men. "But he is young and impulsive. He doesn't realize the dangers—"

  "It was his lordship's wish, my lady."

  "You heard him speak these words yourself?"

  He lowered his gaze."'Twas Dungald Gordon who spoke to me directly, but 'twas the earl's order, to be sure."

  She glared at McClean. The earl's order? She doubted it. It was more likely that Dungald knew Harry wanted to go with the men so badly that he suspected he might try to follow them. She guessed Dungald had given that order in Harry's name. Dungald might even have encouraged Harry to follow them.

  "Sir, I demand that you see two horses saddled and that you escort me north in the direction my husband, the Earl of Dunnane, has taken."

  The Scotsman shifted his weight from one leather boot to the other, lowering his gaze. "Again, my apologies, my lady, but I must not disobey. 'Twould be a flogging I'd get for my troubles. Perhaps 'twould be better if you returned to your quarters and—"

  Kara swore under her breath as she turned away. Didn't anyone here understand the danger of the young heir riding out alone? Didn't they care? If the other men in the room served Dungald like McClean, perhaps not.

  She ran out of the hall. If no one would ride out after Harry with her, she would blessed well ride alone.

  Chapter 7

  "Isla, I cannot allow you to ride in your circumstances," Kara said, tightening her mount's girth.

  Isla threw a saddle over the other horse in the same stall. "My circumstances! I mean no disrespect, mistress, but my circumstances ain't kept me from workin' in the fields nor scrubbin' floors on my hands and knees till they ache."

  Kara stood in debate as her stubborn young companion continued to saddle the horse. If Isla didn't accompany her, she would have to ride alone. She had been unable to find any other man in the castle willing to escort her. The stable boys would not even saddle the horses. Apparently anticipating her attempted departure, Dungald had passed word to everyone in the household that the Lady Dunnane was not to be aided in any way. What he had not anticipated, she guessed, was that she would dare ride alone.

  "Isla, really, I can go myself," she argued lamely.

  "Ride where?" Isla caught her mount's reins and led it out of the stall. "Ye told me yourself you're not from here. Me, I know these hills like I know my lye-burned hands. Now come on with ye, mistress, time's a'wasting. We got to find the young sir before he's hurt or lost."

  Kara's gaze met Isla's. The girl was right. There was no time to waste. Harry was Kara's responsibility and she had to find him. "Have you got the supplies?" Kara followed Isla out of the barn.

  The women walked past the gawking stable hands. None of them dared try to stop them from departing, but no one dared help them mount either.

  "I got the food, blankets and some other things I thought we might need. If we don't make it back tonight, we'll be cold and hungry by nightfall." Isla walked to the closest fence and used the lower rail to climb astride.

  Kara did likewise, mounting her horse. She was thankful she had dressed sensibly in boots, two woolen skirts and one of Harry's heavy riding coats. Though it was April and the sun was warm on her face, spring came harshly in the Highlands. Should they be out after dark, she would be thankful for the weight of the wool clothes and the thickness of her knitted stockings.

  Once astride, Kara reined the horse around and started in the direction Isla had seen Harry go, praying she would find the boy before trouble found him.

  * * *

  By luck and the aid of a few scattered hoofprints, Kara and Isla came upon Harry late in the afternoon. He sat on a rock, huddled under his cloak, dejectedly hitting stones into the air, using a tin whistle as a baton. His horse was nowhere to be seen.

  Relief washed over Kara as she saw from a distance that the boy was unhurt. He was missing his bonnet, his cloak was torn and his brow was swollen, but he was safe.

  She rode up to him and dismounted on her own when he didn't offer his hand. "Harry, are you well?"

  The boy stood and kicked at a stone, his eyes downcast. "I couldn't find them. Ian said they were coming this way. The reivers are supposed to be camped right around here. I even found lots of tracks." He twisted his mouth. "But I couldn't find them. Then my stupid horse stumbled and I fell and hit my head." He touched his brow. "Then he ran away."

  Kara reached out to gently wipe the dried blood from above his lordship's eye.

  He flinched. "Ouch. That hurts, Kara. Don't."

  Isla walked up beside her. "Water, my lord?" She offered a skin bag she'd wisely packed.

  "Thank you. I've been dying of thirst. I forgot water." He lifted one shoulder as he drank from the skin. "Usually someone brings water for me when I travel."

  Kara watched the boy drink greedily. Now that she knew he was safe, her fear was turning to irritation. "You should not have left the castle, Harry. Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be out here alone?"

  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I just wanted to see the cattle reivers. I just wanted to go with Ian. But he doesn't want me with him."

  "That's not true. Your brother's first priority is your safety." She turned and walked away. This was not the place
to have this conversation, not here in front of Isla. When they got home, when Ian returned, the three of them would sit down and discuss Harry's making wiser choices concerning his safety. "Come. You mount up behind me and we'll start back for Dunnane. It will be getting dark soon."

  "Mount behind you?" Harry frowned. "You're my wife. You mount behind me; better yet, ride with your maid." He tapped his undeveloped chest. "I'm the lord of the keep. I should ride alone."

  Kara eyed him as she would any insolent boy. "Ye've lost one mount today, sir. I think one is sufficient, don't you?" She brushed past him, grabbing her horse's reins. Without glancing back, she walked to the rock he'd been sitting on and used it to give herself a boost into the saddle.

  Isla mounted her own horse.

  "Ye riding or walking, Harry?" Kara asked impatiently. She'd had enough of Harry's immaturity and lack of respect for her and the others who depended on him. She understood that she couldn't expect from a thirteen-year-old what she could from a man, but she expected him to at least attempt to behave maturely.

  "You, girl." He pointed his finger. "Move forward and I'll ride behind you."

  Isla reined in her horse. "Isla, my name is Isla, my lord."

  Harry ran and leaped up behind Isla in the saddle.

  "Nice mount," Isla said.

  Harry grinned. "Thank you."

  "Have you any clue where your horse went?" Kara asked, scanning the horizon. She was tired and hungry and wanted to start for the keep, but she couldn't leave a valuable horse behind without attempting to search for it.

  "He just ran off," Harry declared with a sweep of his hand.

  "How far up?"

  "Here."

  "Here?" She turned back, riding up beside Isla's horse. She stared incredulously at her husband. Harry's story was getting better by the moment. "Your horse threw you and you didn't start back for the safety of your castle walls?"

  "Well, I certainly wasn't going to walk!"

  "Ye weren't going to walk?" she spit angrily. "You were just going to sit here and wait for the wolves to devour—"

  An explosion of pounding hoofbeats came from behind, taking them by complete surprise. As Kara sharply reined her horse around, she prayed it was Ian and Harry's men, but her hope was short-lived.

  The riders who quickly surrounded them were rough men with haggard faces, weighed down heavily with firearms. Their mounts were dressed for traveling, with blanket rolls and saddlebags.

  The cattle thieves, she thought.

  "Look what we've found, lads." A wild-bearded redhead rode directly up to Kara.

  Kara backed her horse up a little within the confines of the circle, trying to shield Harry. Her gaze met the leader's. It was odd, but she wasn't really afraid, not for herself, at least. She feared only for Harry and Isla. She lifted her chin. "Move aside, sir, and allow us passage."

  His broad face widened in a grin. He was probably a handsome man beneath the shaggy beard. "Allow you passage? Ye speak as if we detain ye, my lady, when we but attempt to greet fellow travelers." He spoke like a gentleman, odd for a thief.

  "Have you any idea who I am?" Harry declared loudly.

  Out of the corner of Kara's eye she saw Isla elbow Harry so hard that it took the wind out of him. He bent forward with a gasp.

  "We're bound for home sir, and in a hurry. Unfortunately we haven't the time for fellow travelers."

  The redhead's gaze shifted from Kara to Harry, then back to Kara. "Who is he?"

  Kara held the man's gaze. "An insolent brother who knows not when to keep his mouth shut."

  The man stared hard at her for an instant, then tipped his head back in jovial laughter. "Clever, ye are, my lady... whoever you are." The redhead passed his reins to one leather-gloved hand and offered her the other. "Robert the Red, my lady, at your most humble service."

  Kara didn't want him to know who they were for fear they would take them for ransom, or worse. The Earl of Dunnane would certainly bring a high price, in the right man's dungeon.

  "A pleasure to meet you, Robert the Red," she replied. Every muscle in her body was tense. Every fiber of her being was focused on getting Harry away from these men. "Now I beg you, allow us to pass." She lifted her reins. "I must be getting my little brother home."

  He leaned forward, drawing unacceptably close to her.

  "Who are you?" he cajoled softly. "For surely you are the bravest, most beautiful traveler I have ever encountered in the Highlands."

  "I'm a woman who, should she not return in a timely manner, will have an angry husband," she lied smoothly. "An angry, violent, vengeful husband."

  He sat back in his saddle, chuckling. "I must tell ye, you are the most refreshing—"

  "Riders!" one of the men in the band cried in warning. "To the north!"

  The other riders immediately reined south in alarm, but Robert the Red did not react. Instead he sighed. "Alas, I suppose I must be off. Your husband, mayhap?" He lifted one red brow.

  "I'm quite certain."

  "Well, give Ian my best," he said, reining his mount around. "And do get your young husband abed before he takes ill... Lady Dunnane."

  Kara gasped. He knew who she was. Who Harry was. "You will not get away with stealing our cattle," she hollered after him as he broke into a gallop.

  He lifted his plaid bonnet from his red head and waved it in salute. "Until we meet again, my lady. 'Tis been a pleasure."

  The cattle reivers thundered off in a stampede of flying grass and pounding hoofbeats. What seemed like only seconds later, Ian appeared out of the brush to the north, followed by Harry's men. They shot past Kara, Isla and Harry.

  "Ian!" Harry cried, waving his hands. "Wait! I want to come with you!" He waved wildly as they crashed past them. "Ian, wait!"

  "Phewee!" Isla remarked, brushing her brow. "I thought we was mutton stew there for a minute." She turned to Kara in the saddle. "But I'd put ye up against cattle reivers any day, mistress."

  A single man turned back from the riders from Dunnane. It was Ian. He could be mistaken for no other, purely by size.

  "Are you all right?" Ian shouted, riding hard toward them. His question was meant for all three of them, but his gaze was fixed on Kara.

  She felt a flush of heat. Her heart gave a little kick. Heavens, she was happy to see him.

  "We're fine," she said, trying to keep her voice calm. Though now that the danger had passed she could feel her body trembling. Those men could easily have cut all three of them down and they would have been defenseless. "Harry... His Lordship," she corrected, "attempted to ride after you. His horse threw him. We found him and were returning to Dunnane."

  Ian leaped from his mount and charged toward them. "Ye let him leave the castle walls unescorted!"

  Her eyes narrowed. She was not in the mood for this. "I am not my husband's keeper, sir."

  The moment the words came out of Ian's mouth he regretted them. He'd just been so damned scared when he saw Kara alone amidst the cattle thieves. She could have been kidnapped, raped, or even murdered. He knew his first thought should have been for his liege, his little brother, but as they'd cleared the ridge and he had seen Kara's bright hair rippling in the wind from beneath her cap he had thought of nothing but reaching her, driving the thieves off. He had thought of nothing but drawing her into the safety of his arms.

  The moment his gaze met Kara's he knew he was in trouble.

  "He is the lord of the keep," she shot back angrily. "And I am only his wife. I have no authority to lock him in his chamber!" Her blue-green eyes flashed in challenge.

  He couldn't help but admire her. Because of his sheer size and reputation, both real and imagined, there were few men bold enough to provoke him, even in the best of times.

  Ian sat back on his heels at arm's length from her. She put out her hand to dismount and he rose to help her.

  "Ye should have known he would try to follow you," she chastised. "He thinks the sun rises and sets in you. He would follow you to the gates
of hell."

  Ian lifted her easily down from the saddle and was caught between wanting to feel her on his arm just one moment more and wanting to get as far from her as possible. He had little experience with women, at least women of Kara's station. And he'd certainly never met a woman with this kind of fire in her heart.

  "Harry, are you all right?" Ian released Kara's hand, stepping away.

  Harry jumped down off Isla's horse. "I'm fine. I was just about to run the thieves off when you came upon us," he boasted, throwing back his thin shoulders.

  Kara stared at him, shocked by his bold-faced lie.

  Surprising all three of them, Harry offered his hand to help Isla down. "Where have my men gone?" Clasping Isla's hand, he looked in the direction the men had ridden in. "Are they coming back?"

  "Dungald and our men will catch up with the thieves. They'll not get away."

  "You think not?" Kara, too, looked in the direction the men had gone. "Ye think Robert the Red won't outsmart him?"

  Ian turned sharply. "So it is old Rob." His brow furrowed. "How did ye know?"

  "He told me," she said tartly.

  Ian almost smiled. He didn't know why. Her tone just caught him off guard. Amused him. She caught him off guard often.

  He cleared his throat."'Twill be dark soon. I fear it's not safe to travel until morning. I know a place we can camp."

  "Camp!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, taking the water skin from Isla's saddle. "I've been wanting to camp out. Shall we cook our meal over the fire?"

  Ian snatched the water skin from Harry's hand and took a long pull. The last thing he wanted to do after a hard day of riding in circles in pursuit of the cattle thieves was to stay awake all night watching over women and children. He wiped a droplet of water from his mouth with his sleeve. "I should like to roast you over the fire right now, little brother," he said under his breath.

  "Aye," Kara said softly, her words meant only for Ian as she brushed past him. "But I should like the first opportunity."

  Ian threw back his head and laughed long and hard. Perhaps this would not be such a bad night after all....