He sat up and looked east, as he had regularly over the past two days, in the hope of seeing his brother. Angus had been gone a week now on what should have been a four day journey at best, and Alex was starting to regret having sent him. True, Angus was a lot quieter now, and had matured considerably since Culloden; but he was still Angus. Alex hoped to God that he hadn’t seen an opportunity to increase his redcoat count and embarked on some madcap raid. He sighed.
“He’ll be fine,” Dougal said, reading his chieftain’s mind. “Ye tellt him that he was only to find out if the rumours are true, no’ to actually do anything. He’ll no’ take any unnecessary risks, no’ when he’s got young Lachlan wi’ him.”
He had a point.
“Aye, I hope not,” Alex replied. “Even so, he’s taking longer than expected.” He raised his face to the sun and closed his eyes, letting the warmth soothe him. It really was a glorious day. He’d just sit here for a few minutes more, then he’d go for a swim.
The sudden shout made him jump, and he jerked to his feet, instinctively reaching for his dirk which was on the bench next to him. He felt dizzy from sitting in the sun too long, and realised that he must have fallen asleep. He shook his head to clear it, and then saw Angus loping towards him, his fair hair tangled on his shoulders, his bare legs streaked to the knee with mud.
It was Dougal who had shouted as he’d seen Angus, and the other clansmen now began to converge on Alex’s house, eager to hear the news from Fort Augustus. As if by magic, Morag appeared from the direction of the loch and ran to her sweetheart, who smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in to his side. They continued together until they reached Alex, then Angus released her and sank down onto the bench. She hovered by his side, clearly unsure as to whether she should sit down on the chieftain’s bench without an invitation.
“Christ, I’m tired,” Angus said by way of greeting. He did look tired. His eyes were red, and his face was pale and drawn with fatigue.
Alex looked round.
“Where’s…?” he began.
“Lachlan? Away to his bed. I had to carry him the last bit of the way. His legs wouldna hold him up. He’s fine. He did well.” He scrubbed a hand over his face in an attempt to stay awake.
As eager as Alex was to hear what Angus had discovered, he could see that his brother was completely exhausted. Maybe he should have a couple of hours sleep first. He was just about to suggest it, when Angus got up again and walked round the side of the hut where Janet had left a pail of water earlier, in case anyone should want a drink. He picked it up and tipped it over his head, shook himself like a dog, and then came and sat down again, his shirt clinging to his torso, his kilt sticking to his legs. He pushed his dripping hair out of his eyes and smiled.
“I’ll be fine now, for a while,” he said to the eager crowd who had gathered round the bench in a semicircle, awaiting the news.
Alex sat down next to him, and indicated to Morag that she could also sit.
Angus reached up and pulled a twig of heather out of the thatch of the roof, stripped off the smaller twigs with his sgian dubh, and leaning forward used it to draw a square on the ground. At the corners of the square he drew smaller elongated squares which intersected with the bigger one.
“So, this is Fort Augustus,” he said. “As ye ken we blew it up in March, and much of it’s still a ruin. Some of the colonels and suchlike live inside the walls, and the Campbells built a wee house for Fat Billy, wi’ a roof o’ sods and heather and suchlike, and he lives in that. The ammunition and provisions are stored inside the bits o’ the fort that we didna destroy, so we canna get at that. The food for Billy and his hangers-on is cooked inside the fort, but the soldiers shift for themselves.”
“How the hell d’ye ken all that?” Alex said. “Ye were tellt to stay away and watch from a distance.”
Angus was gouging out a thick line above and below the fort to show the rivers, but paused to look up and grin.
“I’ll come to that. The soldiers are all camped in lines, like streets, near the River Oich, here,” he pointed, “thousands o’ the bastards. Too many to raid, and ye canna even take out a few here and there, unawares. Well, ye could, because some o’ them sneak out at night to go plundering, but Cumberland’s posted extra sentries to stop them, so the risk o’ being caught’s too high, and they’re killing any Highland men they dinna like the look of anyway, including some of the ones trying to hand in arms and surrender.
“All of the fields around the fort are full of cattle,” he continued. “Thousands upon thousands of them. The message ye got from Lochiel is right, Alex. The redcoats are driving them in from all over the Highlands. They’re burning the houses, trampling the crops that have survived the rains, killing the men they can find, and then driving all the cattle away. No’ just the cattle, but all the livestock, sheep, goats, horses, everything. No doubt about it, they intend tae starve us into submission. All of us, loyal or rebel.”
There were murmurs of anger from the men then, but Alex raised a hand and they fell silent.
“There are dealers coming up from the south, frae Scotland and England too, and they’re buying the cattle in their hundreds for almost nothing. They have auctions twice a week and the cattle are selling for about half a crown each. That’s English money, they’ll no’ take the Scots pound.”
“Half a crown?!” Iain, who knew English money, said, appalled. “That’s a pound Scots, is it no’?”
“Just over,” Alex said. “But aye, that’s disgraceful.”
“But why would they sell them so cheap?” Dougal asked. “They could get five times that wi’ no effort.”
“Because they’re no’ doing it for profit,” Alex said. “They just want rid o’ the cattle in case the clansmen get organised enough to raid them, and they havena paid for them so any money is better than none. Angus is right; they mean to starve us. Or have us so busy trying to find food that we’ve neither time nor will to continue the fight. Cumberland’s a bastard, but he’s no’ stupid. If he was only to burn the people out, all he’d have for his trouble would be thousands of angry armed men burning for revenge. But if he takes their means of subsistence too, then he’s won, because they’ll no’ be able to fight, even if they want to.”
Everyone was silent for a moment as they took this in. They were safe for now, because they were too far south for the redcoats to easily reach, and the nearby fort at Inversnaid had been burnt to the ground and was uninhabitable. But it was only a matter of time until Cumberland’s attention turned their way.
“What are ye thinking to do, Alex?” Kenneth asked.
“Ye didna find all this out by hiding down by the river, did ye?” Alex asked Angus, ignoring Kenneth’s question for now.
Angus abandoned his map-drawing and sat up.
“No,” he admitted. “I discovered about the cattle and where the soldiers are camped and that they’re sneaking out to plunder. But it was Lachlan who found out about the auctions and the prices and suchlike. He went to one of them.”
“What?” Alex said, his voice rising. “Ye let him actually go in the fort? Alone? Have ye run daft, man? The laddie’s eight, for God’s sake!”
Angus reddened, but met his brother’s angry gaze with his own.
“No, I’ve no’ run daft,” he retorted hotly. “Ye tellt me to find out as much as I could about the livestock, and what’s being done wi’ them. So I did. And then I was going to come back. It was Lachlan who suggested he get closer. He wanted to do more than just sit wi’ me and watch. We talked it through together, and came up wi’ a plan. I still wouldna have let him go, mind, but then I managed to get a bit closer one night without them seeing me, and I saw something that made me realise that he’d every chance of learning more without much danger. So I thought some about it, and we both decided it was worth the risk.”
Alex stood and scrubbed his hand viciously through his hair and all the clansmen, as one, froze. Angus stood up, his fists cl
enched, muscles tense. Morag scrambled off the seat and stepped away from the brothers to the edge of the crowd of men. Several of the men looked round, instinctively searching for Duncan to make the peace. Then they remembered, and sighed.
“I ken ye’re fashed, Alex,” Angus said, “but hear me out before ye decide I’ve the wrong of it.”
Alex closed his eyes and held back his temper with difficulty. He knew it was his fault for sending Angus in the first place. He knew what his brother was like. If he’d wanted someone who’d have followed his orders without question, he should have sent Alasdair instead, or Dougal. And he recognised that some of his anger was frustration because he hadn’t been well enough to go himself.
“Sit down,” he said. “I’ll hear ye out.”
The men collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Angus sat down again.
“Right,” he said. “While Lachlan and I were watching the troop movements, trying to see if there was a pattern to them that might be useful in case ye’re planning a raid, we saw that there were a lot of women and bairns coming in from the countryside in the evening, going up to the soldiers and talking to them, and some of the soldiers would speak to them and some would push them away. So that’s when Lachlan asked if he could join them and be one o’ the bairns, and see if he could hear anything useful, him having the English an’ all. I thought on it, and saw no harm, because none o’ the women were being hurt. So we decided to stay an extra day so he could mingle wi’ them. The women and bairns are the ones that have had their homes burnt, and they’re awfu’ thin. They were begging for food from the soldiers, offering pennies or shoe buckles, whatever they had that they thought they could trade. Lachlan heard some of them asking if they could have the blood of the butchered animals, anything. They’re desperate, Alex. It made my heart burn, when Lachlan came back and tellt me.
“Anyway, some of the soldiers gave them some meal and bread, but then Lachlan heard one of the men tell them that Cumberland had said they’d be flogged if they were caught giving anything to Highlanders, so the others were sent away. The next day they all went to the fields where the auctions were, maybe hoping to beg some food from the dealers, so Lachlan went down again to see what he could find out, just hanging around, listening to the soldiers talking. And that’s where he heard everything else, from the price of the cattle to the men complaining that the officers got their food piping hot from the kitchens in the fort, while they had to make do wi’ bread and cheese and what they could cook on their fires. And they were laughing about the primitive grass hut the Campbells made for Billy, saying that no doubt the Scots thought it a palace because they all lived like dogs themselves. I doubt the Campbells’d be over happy an they heard that.”
After he’d finished, Alex sat for a few moments, head bent, looking at the map Angus had drawn on the ground.
“He wasna in any danger, Alex,” Angus said softly after a time. “I wouldna have let him do it if I’d thought there was. And he’s a sound head on him, too. I kent he wouldna do something daft. He didna go in the fort. He learnt everything from listening.”
“Aye,” Alex said. “Ye did well. Ye’d the right of it. I’m sorry, I misjudged ye.”
“So,” said Kenneth. “When are we leaving? Ye are planning a raid, are ye no’?”
Alex was still staring at the plan, but now he looked up at the men, who were avidly waiting for his answer. They were desperate for action, he could see that, and he had to give them some, and soon. It was driving them mad sitting here planting corn and tending cows, while a few miles to the north the country was on fire; but it could be weeks, months even before the redcoats dropped their guard and started looting in smaller groups that could be picked off a few at a time.
It would be suicide to try to raid Fort Augustus with fifty men, bristling with redcoats as it was. He needed to think. He stood up.
“Away and enjoy the sun,” he said. “Come back at sunset, and I’ll try to have an answer for ye. Angus, away to your bed.”
He turned and went into his house, and the men dispersed slowly to chat in groups about what the chieftain might do.
Morag went with Angus to his house, where he kissed her and embraced her, and then went to his bed. Alone.
After an hour, Alex emerged from his house and called one of the children to fetch Iain. Half an hour after that, he sent for Graeme.
As the sun disappeared over the horizon, streaking the sky with gold, purple and rose, and turning the water of the loch red as blood, Alex emerged again to ask one of the children to fetch the men, but found them already assembled along with the women, who had finished their washing, all of them blind to the glories of the sunset, all of them eager to hear their chieftain’s decision.
Alex came out, followed by Iain and Graeme, and sat down on the bench. After a minute, he started talking, roughly outlining his plan to them. They sat and listened, at first eagerly and then with mounting disbelief. When he’d finished, they all sat in shocked silence for a minute.
“Ye canna be serious,” Kenneth, the first to find his voice, said. “Ye mean the three of ye to ride into Fort Augustus, buy two thousand cattle, and then just ride out again? D’ye think if it could be done, the Camerons or the Frasers’d no’ have done it already? They’ll no’ let a Scot within ten miles of the place.”
“Aye, but we’ll no’ be Scots,” Alex countered. “Graeme’s English anyway, for one thing, and ye’re forgetting that I was Sir Anthony Peters for over three years. I’ve no’ got the details yet, but I’ll be a cattle dealer from Yorkshire or some such place, Graeme here’s my right hand man, and Iain, who canna speak wi’ any other accent, is a deaf mute, but awfu’ good wi’ cows, as we all ken well he is, having been on so many raids an’ all.”
That got a laugh from the audience, at least.
“Why no’ take me, then, instead of Iain?” Angus asked. “I ken the land now, a wee bit at least.”
“Because I need you to lead the clan while I’m away,” Alex said. “Iain canna do that, and most of the rest of you have wives and bairns, apart from Kenneth. And we’re no’ supposed tae ken the land. We’re from Yorkshire and somewhat afeart to be in this savage land. But we canna resist the chance to make our fortunes.”
“So ye’re going to buy two thousand cows, and then just drive them here? D’ye no’ think the redcoats’ll notice? And where the hell are we going to keep two thousand cattle, or feed them?” Alasdair countered.
“And where will ye get the money tae buy so many cows, cheap as they are?” Peigi asked.
Alex and Graeme exchanged a look, then Alex nodded and Graeme spoke up.
“When Beth married Sir Anthony, she brought a dowry with her. It was held in a bank in Manchester. But when she discovered who Sir Anthony really was, she realised that if he was ever found out, her brother would try to claim the dowry. Those of you who’ve had the misfortune to meet Richard or hear of him know he’s a piece of shit. Rather than let him have it, she withdrew all of it, and got me to hide it for her. I’m the only one who knows where it is.”
“It’s in England,” said Alex, taking over. “We’re going down to get the money we need. Then we’re going to go straight to Fort Augustus and buy the cattle. We’re no’ bringing them here. I’ve heard tell of a place where they can be hidden safely, then we’ll put out the word to those in need, and they can come and take them, a few at a time. The redcoats have already burnt their houses and taken everything. They’ll no’ come back again, they’ve got too many other places to plunder. We’ll take a few for ourselves, but the plan is to help feed the likes of the women and bairns reduced to begging off the redcoats. I think that’s a good use for the money, a use Beth would have approved of.”
“Where’s this hiding place, then?” Kenneth asked.
“That I canna tell ye,” said Alex, “for it’s no’ my secret to divulge. But I’m away off tomorrow to speak wi’ the man whose secret it is, and once I’ve his answer, we can go ahead. Or no’, a
s the case may be.”
“It’s an interesting plan,” Dougal said thoughtfully, “but it’s awfu’ risky.”
“No’ as risky as being Sir Anthony,” Alex pointed out, “and no’ as risky as being a MacGregor, but here we all are, alive.”
“And we’ll no’ get to go on a raid,” Alasdair put in sadly, to a chorus of agreement.
Alex looked up at them and smiled, something he’d done but rarely since he’d heard of Beth’s death.
“Aye, I’ve every intention of ye going on a raid, if things go according to plan,” he said. “But first I’ve to meet wi’ the man who’s got the hiding place. I should be back within the week, and I’ll tell ye more then. It’s about time we got our swords bloodied again, I’m thinking. I’ve sat on my arse for long enough. I’m healed now, and I’m ready to start fighting back, in whatever way I can. It’ll no’ be on a battlefield, wi’ lines of us facing lines o’ the enemy. But I think we’ve had enough of that kind of fighting, for now, anyway. It’s about time we showed the redcoats why we’re named the Children o’ the Mist. Are ye in agreement wi’ me?”
The resulting roar from the assembled MacGregors assured Alex that they were, indeed, very much in agreement with him.
* * *
“No,” MacIain said flatly. “I’ll have no part of it. I’ve surrendered.”
“The Grants surrendered too, and much good it did them,” Alex pointed out. “A whole lot of them are rotting in jail now, and others who are trying to surrender are being shot or hung for it. Ye must have heard the news, man. It’s all over the Highlands.”
“Aye, I’ve heard the news,” the MacDonald chief agreed, “But I surrendered last month, and I’ve been left alone since then, even though Glencoe is only a morning’s march from Fort William.”
Pursuit of Princes (The Jacobite Chronicles Book 5) Page 13
