Rory [Jones]

by L. L. Muir

  “We?” Her eyebrows raised, the hope in her eyes, undeniable. “You’ll be available tomorrow?”

  His mouth opened but nothing came out. In his urgency to get her away from here, he’d misspoken. He had absolutely no idea where he’d be tomorrow. He looked away, unable to meet her gaze. “I canna promise…”

  When he looked back, the hope had drained from her eyes.

  “No,” she whispered. “I didn’t think so.”

  The pain of letting her down tightened his chest and he reached out to slide a thumb along her jaw. It wasna much of an apology, but ’twas all he had to offer. When she turned away, he followed her toward the sounds coming from the devil’s shed.

  “Mr. Kintray?” Lilly called into the dim recesses of the outbuilding. “Are you in there?”

  A clank, followed by a disparaging oath, drifted out to them. “I told ye to get off my land!” Simon’s voice boomed through the shadowed interior.

  Lilly’s chin came up, though her breath was a bit ragged. “I need to talk to you.”

  “I’ve naught more to say to you!” Simon bellowed. “My warning stands. Heed it, for yer own good.”

  The hackles rose on the back of Rory’s neck at Kintray’s tone, but he held himself in check, trying to honor Lilly’s wishes for a peaceful resolution. He took her arm, hoping to lead her away. “Let McAdams handle things, lass. Ye’ll do no good here.”

  Lilly shook her head and took a step forward, pulling free of his grasp.

  “Please, Mr. Kintray?” She tried again. “I have some paperwork I’d like to show you.” A few, steady grinding sounds came from inside but no other response. “Perhaps we could go to your house, out of the wind? I want to share the information I have with you.” Her hopeful expression turned to exasperation when nothing but the long, methodical sounds of scraping continued. “Perhaps Mrs. Kintray, then.” Lilly challenged. “I’ll just go speak with her, so I don’t interrupt your work.”

  “Ye’ll no’ dare speak to the woman!” The booming voice warned.

  “Shall we come in, then?” Lilly pressed. “Or do you prefer to come out?”

  Och. Rory’s frustration mounted by the minute. A stubborn lass, attemptin’ to reason wi’ a stubborn arse! He prayed Kintray would come out. Rory didn’t think he could abide going inside, and Lilly was clearly not going to give up.

  “What I prefer,” Simon snarled, “is yer absence.”

  “Well, I’m not leaving, Mr. Kintray, until you agree to view these papers.”

  Lilly’s face colored at the graphic expletive Simon offered in response, but she stood her ground.

  “Ye will speak to this lady with a civil tongue,” Rory warned in a hard tone, “or I will cut it out and feed it to ye!” He’d tried. In truth, he’d tried mightily hard, but he could hold his anger no longer.

  “Ye dare to tell me how to talk on my own land?” Kintray bellowed. “In my own shed?”

  The wind moaned around the open doorway as if it, too, despised being here. The door itself hung to the side at an odd angle, in contrast to all the other neatly tended areas. Pale yellow shards of freshly splintered wood hung from the hinge as if the door had been ripped from the frame. A recent show of Kintray’s temper?

  “Come then!” Kintray ordered. “I yearn ta see if ye have the mettle to accomplish such a foolish threat. Otherwise, ye best remove yer cowardly carcasses from my property. And, dinna come back!”

  Lilly turned her furious gaze on Rory. Clearly, she felt he’d ruined her chances, yet again.

  “Let the courts handle this, Lilly.” He pleaded in a low tone. “I beg ye. Nothing good will come of entering that shed, or continuing this at all, today.”

  “I’m going inside,” Lilly said, tightly. “I’m not about to throw away the opportunity to settle this dispute because of a pissing contest between two bull-headed oafs.” She looked bewildered when he didn’t respond. “Fine. Stay out here if you want.”

  “Lilly,” he fought to keep his voice even, “ye know I canna let ye go inside alone. ’Tis no’ only me he’s threatened.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said dismissively. Then seeming to rethink her sharp tone, she sighed and laid her hand on his chest. “Please understand, Rory. I need this chance.”

  Images of the inside of the shed filled Rory’s mind. Obvious improvements had been made to the outside of the structure, but evil surely still tainted the inside. His stomach twisted and the nausea returned with renewed strength. His legs felt like weights, staked to the ground. He’d rather perish all over again than go back in there. ’Twas bad enough just to stand on Kintray land. He couldna go back in that shed!

  How could he tell her ’twas his own cowardice he couldna face? The memories were just too much. Too raw, even after all this time. His back burned from the memory of old scars being flayed open with the making of new ones. The shame of his whimpers when his strength and endurance failed him, all his weaknesses, hatreds and fears had been born in that shed. They’d lived and breathed and been perpetuated there, year after torturous year. They’d finally tormented his ten-year-old mind and body until he’d fled Jascol’s tyranny in sheer desperation, afraid he’d no’ survive another lesson.

  And now Lilly, though she dinna realize it, was asking him to return to the very spot where all the pain and degradation took place. That reviled shed had been so full of his cries he half expected to hear them, still hovering inside, on the stale air. Surely, his blood still stained the post and the ground around it.

  Sweat beaded his forehead. “Dinna ye ken McAdams could—”

  “I want this settled before I go back to New York.” Lilly’s voice was quiet. Almost too quiet. Devoid of emotion. “I’ve told you that already. I’ve come too far to take a chance on a sluggish court system, and I may not even need McAdams. I’m going to talk to Simon! He’s loud and he’s clearly a bully, but I don’t agree with you that he’s dangerous.” She gave Rory a look of firm resolve. “I’m sorry you don’t agree with my decision. But I’ll ask you not to oppose me on it, any more. I’m going in there, with or without you.”

  “Show yerself, Kintray,” Rory hollered, desperate for some control over the situation. He needed Kintray to come out here. “Or do ye wish us to think ye afraid?” His heart raced, fearing the disgrace he might bring to himself, and Lilly, if he went back inside where his nightmares reigned. The old humiliation filled him, worse for his inability to control it, even though he knew full well Jascol could no longer harm him. He’d no’ be able to hide his fear and shame from Lilly and once she saw it—saw him for the coward he was, she’d never look upon him the same.

  “I dinna give a pig’s poke what ye think,” Kintray replied. “Ye’re on my land and the law gives me the right to protect it. So come. I dare ye.”

  Rory stared at Lilly. The slight quiver of her fingertips, clutching her papers, didn’t dispel the determination in her eyes. She still meant to go in.

  So, then, must he. That realization nearly took him to his knees.

  Surely, for Lilly, he could bear the weight of the grief and memories lurking inside. For Lilly. He replayed those two words in his mind, like a drum-beat. Could it be that she was the inner strength he’d prayed for? Was it loving her that would get him through that door?

  His breath caught. Loving her?

  ’Twas the second time such a thought had erupted in his head and heart. Nay. Surely love, real love, couldna happen this fast? This easily? This unexpectedly? Shouldna there be a lightning bolt? A rumble in the earth? A shift in the sun? Something other than this blasted wind?

  He couldna pinpoint the moment he’d started caring for Lilly, but he suddenly knew ’twas his truth. And just as surely, he knew there’d be pain. Lilly’s life had already been laid out, and there was no place in it for a ghost who’d lost his way. No’ even if he had a life to give her.

  ’Twould be pointless, even cruel to tell her he loved her. But he could give her what strength and protection he cou
ld. And if that meant facing his darkest fears, he would do it with whatever courage he could muster.

  Rory made Lilly agree to let him go first. She’d protested, but ultimately conceded, he suspected, just to get him moving.

  Familiar, gut-wrenching scents assailed him as he searched warily for Simon’s bulk in the dusty shadows. The sound of systematic scraping drew Rory’s gaze to the far wall where Simon sat at a grinding wheel. Several shovels, hoes, and a peat spade; all lined the wall. Simon’s foot systematically worked the treadle as he ground the edge of a long, thin blade and without glancing their way, began to whistle a slow, chilling tune.

  Breathe. ’Tis only Simon. No’ Jascol.

  Rory deliberately kept his gaze on Kintray, studiously avoiding the center post, though his peripheral vision confirmed the iron rings were still attached to either side. They taunted him, just as Jascol had. He didn’t need to look closer to know the blood stains would be there, too, driven into the wood as solidly as the rings.

  The whistling continued, oddly intensified by the rhythmic grinding of the wheel.

  ’Tis Simon, no’ Jascol, Rory repeated over and over in his mind while his skin crawled and his back burned. Ye’re no’ a child now, to be beaten without recourse. ’Tis no’ Jascol. Jascol is dead. Rotted. Gone.

  Breathe. Breathe in, out. ’Tis over. He’s gone.

  Despite his resolve, Rory glanced higher on the post where the whip had hung on a spike, its tip trailing down like the tail of a serpent, its bite no less venomous. ’Twas impossible for it to be there still, Rory knew, but its dark energy remained. He shuddered, recalling its sting on his back.

  Lilly had entered behind him, but gave him a curious look as she passed, reaching for the papers inside her folder.

  “Wait.” He hoped Lilly, and especially Simon, hadn’t caught the rustiness in his voice. He forced his legs to move. One step. Then two. His chest burned and he trembled all over. But he couldna allow Lilly to get close to Simon, without his protection.

  The whistling stopped. Then the wheel. Then Simon lifted the blade and tested the edge with his thumb.

  A thin beam of light from a high, narrow window slanted across the floor near Simon’s feet. Heavy motes of dust and filings thickened the air as Lilly held her papers up to the light.

  “This…” She cleared her throat and tried again. “This is a copy of my grandmother’s trust disposition. You will see that she has conveyed the property to me. There is a legal description, so there can be no confusion on where the borders are.” She pulled out another paper. “This is a copy of my deed, signed this morning at my solicitor’s office. Everything is in order. If you’d like, you can check the Register of Deeds, regarding her ownership. And now, mine.”

  Outside, the wailing wind pestered the cracks and crevices of the old shed, contrasting sharply with the thick silence inside. Simon hadn’t bothered to look up at Lilly’s display. He spit on his blade and polished a wide spot with the edge of his dirty sleeve. “Doesna mean squat. I got papers, too,” he snarled.

  Lilly’s huff of disbelief hung on the stale air. “That’s impossible.” She paced a few steps toward the door, then marched back. “Produce them, then. Let me see what you have.”

  Simon stood and swung the blade in an arc, as if testing its weight. “I dinna need to prove anything ta ye.”

  Rory stepped forward, pushing Lilly back, toward the door. “Go,” he ordered. “Wait for me in the car.”

  “I will not!” Lilly folded her arms, mashing her papers against her chest. “I’m staying right here until he produces whatever paperwork contradicts mine.”

  “Suit yerself.” A smug grin spread across Simon’s face. “ ’Twill be dark soon, and I’ll be lockin’ up the shed. Gets mighty cold out here, especially in a storm like the one brewin’ outside. Ye can hunker in that dirty pile of straw near the barn, if it pleases ye, ’til the constable comes in the morning ta haul ye off for trespassin’.”

  He wiped the sharpened blade across his thigh, leaving a white trail of powdered shavings. “I’ve my rights, ye see. And ye’re violatin’ ’em. I gave ye fair warnin’, but here ye stand, right inside my private building. The law will side w’me. I’m only protectin’ myself and my property.”

  He stood his ground, wiping the blade back and forth across his thigh as he pierced Lilly with a hard stare. “Ye’ve no place here, Yank. Ye’d best go home.” He picked up a piece of straw and passed it over the edge of his blade, easily slicing it in half. “Scotland could prove dangerous to yer health.” The last was delivered in a sing-song cadence.

  Rory watched the color drain from Lilly’s face as rage built in his. He was at Kintray’s side, his fists full of the giant’s shirt-front before his brain could formulate a plan. “What did ye say?”

  Before Kintray could wipe the smirk from his face, Rory had shoved him backward, over the grinder.

  Kintray was surprisingly agile for such a big man. He was on his feet and rounding the grinder before Rory had time to prepare for the blow he knew was coming.

  “Stop! Stop!” Lilly screamed at them. “We’ll go! Rory, I want to go.” She stepped close enough to grasp his arm and tug. “Please, Rory. We’ll let the law handle it. I can prove ownership. I doubt Mr. Kintray can. But we’re not going to solve anything this way.”

  Rory heard the pleading in Lilly’s voice but he couldna take his eyes off Kintray. The blackguard had threatened Lilly in almost the exact words on the letter shoved at her outside McAdams’ office. Rory vibrated with the need to physically rip the truth from Kintray’s lying throat and find out what he was hiding. He prayed Simon would attack first, giving Rory the excuse to tear into him.

  Except Lilly was too close. She still held his arm. She’d be caught in the brawl. “Get out, Lilly,” he warned.

  “No. I will not!” Her grip tightened. “If you care for me at all, Rory, you will come with me. Right now.”

  His fists shook with the urgent need to strike Kintray’s smug grin from his wide face. Rory needed to protect Lilly, to avenge this attack on her, and her property. And…truth be told, he needed to face a Kintray.

  “Rory.”

  Blast her! She asked too much!

  He took a few steadying breaths, struggling to clear the haze from his brain, but still refused to take his eyes off Kintray.

  As if to taunt him further, Kintray folded his arms over his belly, and laughed. “Aye,” he smirked. “A hen.”

  “Rory!” Lilly tugged. “Come. With. Me.”

  The wind battered the old shed as Rory and Simon took each other’s measure.

  “I see ye for the black-hearted swine that ye are!” Rory shoved an accusing finger at Simon, unwilling to let it go. “ ’Twas ye that sent someone to deliver yer cowardly letter to Lilly. Mark me, before we’re through, I’ll peel back yer hide to expose the truth.” He dropped his hand and backed off a step. “Ye’ve my word on that.”

  “Hmmmph.” Simon snorted, waving them off. “Go lick yer wounds somewhere else. Ye’ve no more business here. And if ye come back, ye’ll answer to the constable, if ye escape an accidental swipe of my blade.”

  “Call him.” Lilly challenged. “Tell him I’ve promised to be back in the morning and I’m looking forward to speaking with him.”

  Simon’s face darkened and his mouth worked in the same ugly, soundless manner he’d used earlier. “ ’Tis possible ye won’t be fit to,” he finally spit out. “Besides, I dinna need a constable to swat two pesky, wee beasties off my land. I’ve done it before. If they annoy me, I just stomp them into the mud and they always disappear.” He stuck his face out and grinned at Lilly. “I use ‘em ta keep the hogs fat.”

  Lilly grabbed Rory’s arm to stop him from reacting. “In the morning, then.” She promised, stepping back and pulling Rory with her.

  It took as much inner strength for Rory to leave the shed as it had to enter it. He dinna understand Lilly. Even though Kintray had openly threatened her, she was
still determined to meet with the devil again, in the morning.

  How would he protect her? The day he’d given her, was almost over. The rest belonged to Soni and the 79, to fulfill his promise.

  He loved Lilly. He loved the 79. They were his family. He had a debt to pay to them, and for them. But loving Lilly came with a debt as well—to give all he had, all he was, to keep her safe.

  Where then, did his honor lie?

  In his heart, he knew he would carry no honor forward, if he abandoned Lilly. Her safety mattered more than his consequences. He would stay with her, protect her, do what he could to eliminate the danger she faced, until Soni came for him. He’d have eternity to deal with the consequences.

  No’ enough time for one. Far too much for the other.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Outside the shed, Lilly huddled next to Rory as a maelstrom of wind and swirling debris assaulted them without mercy. Even the weather seemed to back up Simon’s threats.

  “Are ye okay, lass?” Rory gathered her close as she fought to contain her papers in a manageable bundle against her chest.

  She shuddered, but not from the cold. The possibility that Kintray had been involved with that horrible man who’d given her the letter outside Mr. McAdams’ office suggested all kinds of sinister scenarios.

  “I… Yes. I’m fine,” she lied, her words all but stolen by the wind as they hurried toward the car. “No!” She huffed. “Actually, I’m not!” Anger had weaseled its way past her fear and fueled her march across the newly worked fields where loose bits of soil pummeled them, burrowing into their hair and the folds and creases of their clothes.

  “Can ye make it to yer vehicle?” Rory yelled, trying to shield her as much as possible. “This storm is about to show its teeth.”

  “Of course.” She spit both the words and the grit from her mouth.

  As if to underscore Rory’s prediction, a thunderous boom shook the air and like a shot, the low roiling clouds fired a deluge of icy, stinging rain. Rory’s attempt to shelter Lilly within his plaid came too late, but she hurriedly shoved her precious papers at him, tucking them inside the thick wool, praying they weren’t completely ruined as they ran the rest of the way.