Highland Rake

by Terry Spear

  "You are no' in charge of the clan, Dougald," another Cameron said. "We do this for Connell."

  Dougald dipped his head in agreement. "As do I."

  Alana suddenly turned away from the gathered men, and Dougald took her arm. "Alana, are you all right?"

  "Aye," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "My brother is ready to go with us." She closed her eyes briefly.

  "What is wrong now?"

  "Seana wants to come, and he doesna want her to because of what might be said."

  Loving Alana for caring about his sister and her brother and their trials, Dougald kissed the top of her head. "They will have to sort it out between themselves."

  Someone had already ordered their horses saddled and they were brought to them.

  As they mounted, Dougald asked the redheaded MacDonald, "They wanted Connell out of the way so that Alana would marry a man who would take Laird Cameron's place someday, aye?"

  Gair said, "We guessed as much when we learned not only had Connell been murdered, but that Laird Cameron was arranging for the marriage of Lady Alana to Hoel."

  "Why tell us?"

  "'Tis too late. Once you married the lass, 'twas too late to rectify the situation. Whoever is behind this will most likely attempt to murder you next. With Connell's murder, some thought it justified. With yours, the situation would look too suspicious."

  "If this is what your laird wishes, why tell us? Your enemy?"

  "Too many would wish to avenge your death. Your Viking bodyguard. Your brothers, cousin, clansmen. Even Lady Alana. As I said, Connell's death was expected—angered husband bent on avenging his honor. No one had considered it might be anything else. But with you? The clans could go to war over it. Many of us dinna like the idea."

  As another rider drew close, Dougald glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see Turi join them. Dougald thought Turi always remained at the keep to manage duties there while Laird Cameron was away.

  He nodded at Dougald, greeting him, but not saying a word.

  An hour later when they arrived at the croft where half of the peat roof had caved in, the stone walls still intact, Angus hurried to help Alana down from her mare.

  Gunnolf came out of the shieling, shaking his head. "No one here."

  "Here!" one of Cameron called out.

  When Dougald and the others went to see what the man had found, he observed a pile of freshly mounded dirt the length and width of two bodies.

  The men began digging and found the remains of a man and a woman in the shallow graves.

  Alana stifled a cry of distress and quickly moved away from the site. Angus and Niall and the lads hurried after her.

  Dougald examined the decomposing bodies. "Stabbed."

  "Aye," Turi said, shaking his head.

  "Are they…?"

  "Aye," Turi said, frowning. "That is Ward and his wife, Gwyn. Laird Cameron isna going to like this."

  ***

  "You whore!" Seana shouted, making Alana turn quickly to see Seana screaming at Ward's dead wife.

  Alana's stomach was still reeling with upset after seeing the decomposing bodies. But now that she could observe Gwyn—alive and well—in ghostly form, but to Alana she looked just like the last time she had seen the woman, she actually felt a little better. The woman was wearing a green léine, no brat, her red hair hanging loose about her shoulders, her green eyes flashing with anger. Seana was so outraged over the woman, her fists were planted on her hips and her cheeks rosy, her dark brown eyes nearly black.

  "Who are you? Another one of his conquests?" Gwyn shrieked.

  "I am his friend!"

  Alana stared at Seana, shocked to hear her say it as much as she and Connell always argued. Though Alana knew her brother well enough to realize he teased Seana to get a rise out of her in a playful manner just as he'd always done with Alana.

  Swords began clanking, signaling a fight, and Alana swung around, worried that Dougald was fighting the MacDonald, when she saw Connell battling Ward. "You were incensed I had been seeing Gwyn, but you had neglected her for years. And then? You got her killed! For what? Money? Power? Position? For what, you greedy bastard?"

  "You didna deserve to live," Ward said, thrusting his sword at Connell.

  "Neither did you!" Connell parried and then took a vicious swing at Ward, slicing through his torso, but not doing any damage. "You murdered me, but who killed you?"

  "That bastard Duff," Ward said. "If I could, I would murder him."

  "Duff," Alana said. "'Twas Duff who convinced Ward to kill Connell?"

  "Duff?" Turi said, his eyes widening.

  "Aye," Alana said.

  "Why?" Turi asked, sounding as shocked as she felt.

  Connell thrust his sword again at Ward. "Why would Duff want me dead?"

  "Your da kept throwing his sons in the dungeon and after your da was murdered, your uncle kept putting them there. No' that they didna deserve it. Hoel promised he would release Duff's sons and they would never be imprisoned when he was in charge."

  "Then Duff meant to have my uncle killed also?" Connell asked.

  "Aye, Duff did," Ward said.

  "Why would Duff want you dead, if you worked for him and did what he wished of you?" Alana asked Ward.

  "To get rid of us so we couldna tell who was behind all this," Ward said, pausing in his fight with Connell, that earned him another stab, which didn't affect him either.

  "What about my da's death? Who was at the site looking for me and wanted to turn me over to someone else? And who was the person who wanted me?" She frowned as Ward lowered his eyes, bowed his head, then looked back at her, appearing guilty as sin, and she knew then…she knew he had been there. "'Twas you!" She could barely get the words out, she was so shocked. He was the one who had been standing so close to her, his boot brushing against her arm. She had looked up at him and the shock at seeing one of her own kin searching for her to turn her over to someone else had stolen the breath from her.

  "I told you that you would remember, Alana. You had seen him all along when he was so close. You couldna have avoided looking," Connell said. "I knew it!"

  "You were in on the murder of my da," Alana said to Ward, stricken.

  "Nay. MacIverson wanted to talk to your da to stop the marriage contract."

  "Why?" She had to know if her aunt was at the root of it.

  Ward didn't say.

  "My aunt? Was she the reason?"

  Ward actually turned a little red. "Aye, Lady Alana." Ward frowned at her. "Ye saw me in the forest that day and said naught to yer uncle?"

  "I dinna…I dinna remember. 'Twas your voice, though." She tilted her head and tried to recall the words. "Whispered. I didna recognize them. You didna see me?"

  "Och, the devil take ye. Where were ye?"

  "Hiding in the leaves at your feet."

  He shook his head. "We thought ye would be running away. And then ye were too greatly guarded for anyone to make a move after that."

  "Who were you supposed to turn me over to?"

  "MacDonald. He intended to have rescued you, and then he would have offered to have his son wed you."

  "Nay," she said, frowning. "Connell was still alive. My uncle would have wanted me to be a laird's wife. It wouldna have worked if MacDonald had wanted Hoel to wed me with the intent of having him take over the clan as my brother was only five and ten and still very much alive."

  "Aye, my lady. He intended for ye to wed his eldest."

  "But an arrangement to marry me to Evnissyen was never initiated," Alana said, glancing at Turi to see his response.

  "Nay, Lady Alana, you were never betrothed to his eldest son," Turi said.

  Ward sheathed his sword. "Evnissyen didna like that ye were different. Hoel wanted ye. MacDonald only wanted ye wed to his son Evnissyen to tie the clans together. After yer da was murdered, Laird Cameron wouldna agree to another marriage arrangement. He canceled the one with MacIverson because of his dallying with Cameron's own wife, and mayha
p he believed MacIverson arranged to have yer da murdered. Then when yer brother died so fortuitously, Laird MacDonald pushed to have ye married to his younger son."

  "Did Laird MacDonald also push to have my brother murdered so that Hoel would rule the clan should my uncle die prematurely as well?" she asked.

  "Nay," Gair said.

  "Be quiet," Gunnolf told the MacDonald clansman.

  "I dinna know for certain who planned yer brother's murder. Just that Duff paid me, but 'twas more than that. I would have killed Connell anyway when I learned what he was doing with my unfaithful wife," Ward said, giving Gwyn a scornful look.

  Thinking that Duff had been so involved in all of this, Alana became alarmed about Turi's daughter and Pelly. "You had Duff take Brighid and Pelly to Brighid's sister's manor. If he was involved in my brother and da's death, did he take the women where you had ordered him to, or no'?" she asked Turi.

  "I will ride at once to see," one of the Cameron said.

  Turi looked ill. "Aye, and take three more men with you."

  "Nay, wait," Dougald said. "We should return to the keep and question Duff there. We need to take him into custody now before he does any further damage."

  "Aye," Turi said, sounding rattled. His face had lost all its color.

  "Did you know about my aunt, Turi?" Alana asked, as Angus helped her into her saddle.

  Turi said, "Nay—"

  "I know she was having an affair with MacIverson. Dinna try to hide it from me," Alana said.

  Turi frowned as he mounted his own horse. "I am sorry, Lady Alana. I never wished you to know."

  "Dinna be sorry. The matter wasna your fault."

  "You canna leave us out here like this," Ward said.

  Connell helped Seana onto his horse and hurried to climb on behind her. "You made your bed," Connell said to Ward.

  Gwyn folded her arms and scowled at Connell. "So this is the way 'tis. I am gone and ye find someone else?"

  "You helped your husband to murder me. What did you expect? That I would return for you? Seana is the only one for me. I have finally found the lass I want…" He paused and gave Alana a heart-warming smile. "…above all others."

  Tears filled Alana's eyes. In death, had her brother finally settled down and found real love?

  Seana was still scowling at Gwyn. Alana wasn't certain if Seana believed Connell yet or not.

  Dougald urged them back to the castle in all haste. "If Duff is behind all this, what if he frees MacDonald's men?" He glanced at Gair. "Did you know of this?"

  "Nay."

  Alana didn't know whether to believe the man or not, though he had told them more than she thought they would learn.

  Before they reached the outer bailey, they heard fighting taking place inside the inner bailey—the striking of swords, the clanking of metal ringing out, the yells of men, some angry, some in pain. Her heart was already pounding hard, but now she was terrified her uncle might be in the midst of it should he have returned from the hunt already.

  Dougald immediately began issuing orders. "Take Alana to the stables and watch over her there," he told Angus, since she couldn't reach the keep with all the fighting going on.

  Not only had the MacDonald men been freed, they had been armed as well.

  Her uncle was in the middle of the fighting as she had feared.

  "Alana, go with my brother."

  "Aye, Dougald." She would not fight him on this. Her wee dagger would not keep her safe from a man armed with a sword. As soon as several lads hurried to take the horses to safety and Alana was with them in the stables, she urged Angus, "Go, help your brother. Tavis and Callum will stay with me."

  Angus looked fraught with indecision, stay as his brother had commanded him and protect the lass, or leave her with the two lads and the stable hands while he helped his brother in the fight.

  Two of the young men grabbed pitchforks. "Ye can go if ye wish," one of the lads said. "Ye fought in the Crusades. Ye can fight them out there better than we can, and we will protect the lass in here."

  Alana was watching through the open stable doors as the men fought when Angus noticed and hurried to move her away from it. "My duty is to the lady," Angus said to the lads.

  Then Connell stormed through the doorway. "Tell Seana she must join you in here!"

  "She canna be hurt. What is she doing?" Alana asked.

  "She is throwing things. That is what she is doing! She is giving me a near heart attack!"

  Alana shook her head. "Angus willna let me leave. Tell her I told her I am afraid, and I need her to stay with me."

  "All right." Connell stalked back outside.

  Everyone in the stable cast small glances at each other, and Alana folded her arms. "Lady Seana, Dougald's sister, is throwing things at the MacDonalds. She is a ghost, for those of you who didna know it," she said for the benefit of the stable hands.

  Everyone crowded around the door to watch.

  "Look, there, a spear jabbed that mon in the arse," one of the stable hands said.

  Angus cleared his throat and the lad looked a little red-faced and bowed his head to Alana. "Sorry, my lady." But then he went back to watching the fight. "No one is wielding it!"

  "Lady Seana is," Alana guessed. She couldn't get near enough the doors to watch.

  "Oh!" Tavis said.

  "What?" Alana asked, trying to get closer, but Angus turned and gave her a warning look to stay away from the doors.

  "Well, what then?" she asked, annoyed.

  "The MacDonald mon took the spear from the lady—I guess—and swung it…at naught but air. Then a rock lifted off the ground and was thrown at his head—only no one was doing the throwing—and after it smacked him in the forehead, making a nice bloody imprint, he ran away," Tavis said.

  "I didna believe ghosts could throw things," Callum said.

  "I am no' surprised," Angus said. "When my sister was angry at me once, she slapped me upside the head with a flopping fish."

  Everyone looked at him, mouths agape.

  Angus shrugged. "I said something to make her angry and probably deserved it."

  ***

  Dougald fought against a much heftier Laird MacDonald, who was trying his damnedest to kill Dougald—most likely because he'd ruined his plans to have his son, Hoel, take over the Cameron clan someday. Mayhap sooner than later if some accident had befallen Laird Cameron.

  "What do you hope to gain by trying to kill me now?" Dougald asked MacDonald, feeling the same as MacDonald's own man did that it was too late for MacDonald to win this game.

  "The satisfaction in seeing you dead," the man said, his eyes black with hatred, his sword swinging with such power, Dougald tried not to falter under the impact, which might have given the impression he could not manage the onslaught. "I dinna believe that 'twas providence that you met Alana on your lands the way you did without you having been the instigator."

  Dougald wasn't about to defend himself. He wanted the truth of what had happened. "You killed Alana's da."

  "I had no need to. Duff and his sons, Ward, and Gilleasbuig, a couple of MacIverson's men—"

  "And some of yours?"

  MacDonald lowered his sword for a moment. Dougald did likewise and waited for him to answer.

  "I might have suggested that the lass would be in the wrong hands should she wed MacIverson, which was true. One of my maids had a cousin who worked as a guard for MacIverson and had overheard him talking to his men about the lass being a witch. 'Twas why my eldest son didna want her. But we still wanted the affiliation with the Cameron clan, so he would wed the lass by my order. Then Laird Cameron refused to make any agreement for the lass's marriage, and we had to bide our time. When Connell died, my son Hoel made it clear he wanted to marry the lass."

  Dougald didn't want to acknowledge why Hoel would wish Alana for his wife—the connection that Hoel and Alana had might still have pleased her.

  MacDonald swung his sword again, barely connecting. He was tiring. He had the
weight behind him, aye, but also he was older.

  "So if some of my men had taken it upon themselves to change Laird Cameron's mind about having the lass wed to MacIverson, it wasna my doing," Laird MacDonald said.

  As if MacDonald wouldn't have known. "And Connell's death?"

  MacDonald shook his head. "An aggrieved husband."

  As MacDonald lifted his sword to strike Dougald, a rock suddenly hit MacDonald in the side of the head. Dougald forced himself not to look to see where the missile had come from. MacDonald looked. Given the advantage, Dougald slashed at the man's sword arm, forcing him to release his weapon. As soon as MacDonald dropped his sword and yelled out in pain, grabbing his arm to stem the bleeding, Hoel dashed in to fight Dougald.

  He was Dougald's age, and more his size, not big and bulky like his da. He also was not as practiced a fighter—his swings not as decisive, his thrusts shallow as if he was afraid to get too close. He was driven by rage, so he made mistake after mistake. When he fell back to avoid being cut, he dropped behind farther than necessary. Dougald felt he had to chase after the man to get a good fight out of him. He wanted to end this now, to let the MacDonald clan know neither he nor the Cameron clan would allow anything further to happen to their people.

  Dougald must have moved halfway across the inner bailey, fighting Hoel as he kept parrying short, and falling back long.

  "You had Connell murdered so that you could take Alana as your wife and someday lead the clan," Dougald accused Hoel.

  "Ward had every right to kill the man for sleeping with his wife."

  "But you put him up to it!"

  "I dinna know what you mean."

  "If Connell had lived, your da wanted his eldest son to wed Alana. She was to be a laird's wife and married to you, she wouldna have been one. No' unless you had your brother murdered."

  "Conjecture and untrue."

  Dougald knew it was true, knew the man had been behind Connell's killing, but he couldn't prove it. He wanted to tell Hoel to hold still and fight like a man, but when Hoel tripped and fell onto his back on the grassy bailey, trying to catch his breath, Dougald stepped on Hoel's sword, planting it in place, his sword tip at the man's throat. "You were there, were you no', when Alana's da was murdered?"