A Good Man, page 10
“I hate to disappoint her like that,” Ross said to Iain.
“I know, son,” Iain answered. “There’s nothing that can be done about it now.”
William reported the rider was close not long after the meal was completed. Ross and Iain stood at the top of the steps that led into the castle and watched the lone rider as he rode through the gates.
“I can’t believe it,” Ross said smiling. “I’d know that rider anywhere.”
“You know him?” Iain asked.
“Better than anyone,” Ross said as he started down the stairs. “You met him briefly at Tarmon; it’s my twin brother, Ham.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Ross said to his brother as he dismounted and turned, giving Ross a quick embrace.
“I wanted to make sure you made it safe, and everything was going well,” Ham said.
“It’s been going well,” Ross assured him.
“Where is my new sister?” Ham asked, then looked up as Angela came down the steps to greet him.
“Ham,” she said, giving him a hug, “it’s so nice to see you again.”
“You too,” he told her, returning her hug. “I was a bit worried about you both. I’ve heard some disturbing reports about Lachlan Stewart. It seems he’s telling everyone he can how Ross stole his bride.”
“He didn’t steal me,” Angela said her face flushing in anger. “He attacked me, and tried to force me into marrying him.”
“I know, sister,” Ham said. “That’s why my Da suggested I make the trip here and let you both know what’s being said.”
“How is everyone back home?” Ross asked.
“Everyone is good. Eadan and Nessa are getting excited about the baby arriving soon. We received a letter from James recently, and he’s planning a visit home this summer sometime. He’s enjoying his studies at University very much. Rory is home now and has taken over as the village tanner, and Craig will finish his apprenticeship in a few months and then he’ll also be returning.”
“And Alastair and Owen?” Ross asked, needing to hear about all his brothers.
“You know Alastair,” Ham said chuckling, “he’s happiest when he is with the horses. He’s visiting at Tarmon this week, we all sneak over and see the babies as much as possible. Da is the worst; I think our sister has to fight with him to get her children back sometimes. We haven’t heard from Owen, but he’s probably training and traveling with the King’s Guard.”
“I was afraid it was going to be Jacqueline when they said a lone rider was coming in,” Ross told him, laughing out loud.
“Those days are over for our sister. Motherhood has calmed her down a bit, although I believe she ends up across Connors’ knee quite often,” Ham said smiling. “They are still planning a trip to Gleann in a few months, and I hope you and Angela are still planning to come as well.”
“Angela and I do plan on being there,” Ross told him. “I just need to deal with Stewart first. He’s becoming a problem, although he now has one less finger on his right hand.”
Ham’s smile quickly left his face as he told Ross, “I think I may have met up with him on my way here.”
“Where?” Ross asked.
“In a village a day’s ride from here. A group of men rode in while I was resting in the tavern, one had a freshly bandaged hand and was complaining about being attacked and his finger being cut off,” Ham told him.
“I didn’t attack him. He’s lucky to be alive, I stumbled when I threw the knife, or he wouldn’t be,” Ross told him. “Do you think we can catch up with him?”
“Nay,” Ham said. “The group was talking about leaving again after they had something to eat and drink. I didn’t hear where they were headed.”
“I see we have a guest,” said Catrina as she came down the steps towards the brother’s and Angela, she grabbed her husband’s arm and pulled him along to give a proper greeting.
“Catrina and Iain McCarthy,” Ross said. “I’d like you to meet my twin brother, Hamish McCabe the younger.”
“You’re named after your Da?” Catrina asked.
“Aye. My oldest brother Eadan is named after our Grandda who passed away shortly before his birth,” Ham told her.
“Then that was a wonderful way for your parents to honor his memory,” Catrina said. “Are you hungry or thirsty, Ham?”
“I ate not long ago, but I could use something to take the travel dust out of my throat,” Ham admitted to her. “Then I would love a tour of your new home, brother.”
“Angela and I were going to head into the village soon,” Ross said to him. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“I’d like that,” Ham said as he followed them into the hall where he was also introduced to Kenna and Rhona who had also been curious about the visitor.
Soon, Ross, Angela, and Ham were off for the village that lay not far outside the wall of Castle Tioram. They weren’t alone, accompanying them were William and ten other castle guards. “The village here is much bigger than Gleann,” Ham commented.
“Aye,” Ross answered. “It’s even a bit larger than Tarmon.”
“Impressive,” Ham said.
“Iain is a good Laird,” Ross told him. “He’s been introducing me to the tenant farmers and the villagers. I’ve come to see that they’re happy here, and from what they’ve told me there is always plenty of food to make it through the winter months. There’s a blacksmith, tanner, tinsmith, weavers and other tradesmen; they even have their own priest at the kirk.”
“You are happy here then?” Ham asked him seriously.
“I am, brother,” Ross said. “I do miss the family, but luckily, we’re only a two-day ride from Tarmon and three-day ride from Gleann. We can visit often.”
“It makes me happy to hear that,” Ham told him. Ross could tell his brother was happy for him. “You never showed me your armor that you were waiting on.”
“Everything happened with Angela, and I left without picking it up,” Ross told him truthfully.
Ham laughed. “I’ll be heading to visit with Owen in a few weeks. I’ll be happy to pick it up for you if you’d like. I can take it back to Gleann, and you can get it when you come to visit.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Ross told him, slapping him on the back, as he picked up a scent in the air and stopped walking, “I smell smoke.”
“So do I,” Angela, who had been quietly listening to the brothers talk, answered. “I hope nothing in the village is on fire.”
“You are not to leave my side, wife,” he said as they hurried in the direction they believed the smell was coming from.
“Oh no,” Angela said as they got closer and could see the smoke rising into the air. “Something is definitely on fire.”
“William send one of the guards back to the castle to let Iain know what’s happening,” Ross said.
“Do you want him to escort Lady Angela back to the keep?” William quickly asked.
Ross only thought about it for a moment before telling him, “nay, she stays with me. One guard would not be enough to protect her if this is the work of Stewart.”
William quickly gave the order to one of the guards as the rest rushed towards the fire. They rounded a corner and finally found the source of the smoke. Two cottages and the shop where brooms and brushes were made and sold, were burning. Flames were already crawling up the sides of the buildings, and the roofs were beginning to catch fire. Villagers were running towards the blaze, buckets in hand, ready to battle the flames that were quickly spreading.
“My son,” a woman screamed as she ran towards one of the cottages, “my son is inside sleeping.”
Ham didn’t think twice as he took off running towards the burning home, kicking the door open and barging through the flames to get inside. He emerged minutes later with a limp boy no older than three summers in his arms. “Where’s your healer?” Ham said as he coughed from the smoke he had breathed in.
“She’s coming,” one of the villagers said back. “Is he breathing?”
“Barely,” Ham said as he handed the child to his mother, who cradled him in her lap as she sat on the ground.
“We need to form a line,” Ross said, trying to organize the villagers in a bucket brigade from the well to the burning buildings. He turned back towards William and told him, “I need to help. Do not leave her side.”
William nodded at him as he took Angela’s arm and led her off to the side where they would be out of the way. “I feel like I should be doing something, William,” Angela said to him.
“There is nothing we can do right now, My Lady,” William said to her as he stopped well out of the way of the villagers who were throwing water on the fire. “My orders are to stay here and guard you, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.”
The pair were so engrossed in watching the fire and the effort to stop it; they didn’t hear the footsteps that quietly snuck up behind them until it was too late. Angela heard a loud thump and seen William fall to the ground next to her. She began to turn around to see what had happened but barely had time to start her turn before a hand covered her mouth and quickly pulled her back into the trees and out of sight of the rest of the village.
Within a few minutes, her hands were tied in front of her, and she was thrown on a horse in front of none other than Lachlan Stewart. “I told you that you’d be mine,” he said snarling at her.
“My husband will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done and catches up to you,” Angela spat at him.
“Shut up,” he said, slapping her across her head hard enough to make her head spin. “He’ll never find us. I was willing to be a good husband and treat you well to be the Laird of Tioram, but you ruined that for me. I’m sure you’ll understand that I have to punish you now for taking it all away from me before I make you my wife.”
“I’m already married,” she said. “No church will marry us.”
“It’s amazing what even a man of God will do for money,” Lachlan said to her. Angela began to scream for help, but Lachlan was faster, he wound a gag over her mouth, silencing her before kicking his horse forward, motioning for the ten men that were with him to follow.
Chapter 13 Rescue
“Ross, Ross,” he heard his name being yelled as he threw another bucket of water onto the fire. He turned to see William holding his head, blood seeping through his fingers.
“William?” Ross said, confused at first and looking around for Angela “Where’s my wife?”
“I don’t know,” William told him. “We were standing back out of the way, and someone hit me over the head. When I awoke, she was gone.”
“Stewart has her,” he said as Iain rode up with at least another twenty guards who immediately dismounted and joined in the battle to control the burning buildings.
“Who does he have?” Iain asked, dreading the answer he knew he was about to receive.
“Angela, he has Angela,” Ross told him. “I’m going after her, and this time I’m going to kill him.”
“I’m going with you,” Ham said, he had overheard the conversation as he approached.
“It could be dangerous, brother,” Ross told him. “I don’t know if I’m heading into a trap or not.”
“We entered this world together, and if need be, we’ll exit it together,” Ham told him, patting him on the shoulder.
“Aye,” Ross said, actually grateful Ham was going with him. “I need to go back to the castle for a quick moment and grab my weapons.”
“As do I, brother,” Ham said as they each grabbed one of the horses from the guards who had just arrived. The fires were under control and with the men that had come with Iain, would be put out shortly.
“I’m going too,” Iain said, mounting his horse. “That’s my daughter he has.”
“I’d like to go to, Laird,” William said. “I feel responsible. I was supposed to be keeping her safe.”
“This is not your fault, William. It was a well laid out distraction that worked. Pick out five of the best soldiers in the guard to accompany us also,” Iain nodded at him and said. “We leave in ten minutes.” With those words, the group quickly headed towards the keep to grab the weapons they knew they were going to need for the coming battle.
“This time I’m not going to let him live,” Ross said. “I made that mistake once.” Ham and Iain just nodded, agreeing with him.
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“Don’t touch me,” Angela said as Lachlan pulled her down from the horse for a short break. They had been riding for hours.
“Get used to it, My Lady,” he sneered at her. “I’ll be touching much more of you later tonight.”
“I’d rather die than have your hands on me,” she said.
“I like it when the ladies fight back,” he said as he pulled her close to him so only she could hear. “It makes my cock hard.”
“You’re sick,” she spat at him.
He just laughed and told her, “if you have personal needs to take care of you need to do that now. I’ll escort you into the woods.”
“I would like a moment of privacy,” she said to him.
“I’ll turn my back. That’s as private as you’ll be getting. I don’t trust you not to run off,” he said.
“Where would I run too?” she asked him. “I’m not even sure where we are.”
“I still don’t trust you,” he told her. “You’ve already said you’d rather be dead than with me. That would ruin all my fun.”
Angela said nothing else as he led her into the woods and to a small clump of brush. “Quickly now,” he told her, “unless you need my help.”
“I don’t,” Angela said to him as she rushed behind the brush. Lifting her skirts just high enough for her to take care of her business but not so high that he would be able to see if he tried.
“Should have lifted your skirts just a bit higher,” Lachlan said as she returned, confirming her fears that he had been watching her.
“Pig,” she said as she tried to march past him.
Lachlan grabbed her by the arm and spun her towards him, putting his face close to hers he said, “watch how you speak to me. You already have a severe punishment coming later, what you say to me the rest of this day, will determine how bad it will be.”
Although his words made her shiver in fear, she refused to show it, marching passed him without even looking at him. She silently prayed that Ross would find her before nightfall.
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“How far ahead of us do you think they are?” Ross asked Ham, as he studied the tracks they had found.
“Maybe an hour,” Ham answered. “He’s either not concerned about leaving a trail, or he’s not smart enough to cover his tracks.”
“Keep your eyes open and watch for an ambush somewhere along the way,” Iain told them. “I know we all want to rush and catch up with them, but we won’t do my daughter any good if we get killed first.”
“I agree with you, Iain,” Ross said, “but I won’t slow down so much that they get further ahead of us. It makes me sick to think about what that monster could be doing to her.”
“Try not to think about that, son,” Iain told him. “I’m struggling with the same thoughts, but I know I have to stay alert to save her.”
“Let’s mount up. If the rest of you plan on stopping for the night that’s fine, but I won’t stop until we catch up with them. I don’t know how it happened so quickly, but I love that woman too much to let anything happen to her,” Ross told them, mounting his horse.
“I’m with you, Ross,” Iain told him. “I love her too.”
“I’m with you, brother,” Ham also said, “always. You know where you go, I go. Been that way since we were young.”
“Why are we standing around talking,” William said from behind them, “let’s get moving.”
The rest of the men remounted and took off once again following the trail Lachlan Stewart had left. Five of the most skilled guards from Tioram followed in their path, knowing a fight was likely to happen when they caught up with the men who had taken their beloved Lady Angela.
They stopped once again a while later at the side of a small river, letting the horses drink and have a short rest. They had been riding them hard trying to catch up to Lachlan and his man. “They crossed here,” said Ham. He then crossed the river, wading a small distance downstream searching for the tracks from where they emerged from the water. “Found them,” he called. They remounted once again, continuing north. “From the look of the river, I’d say they are less than half an hour ahead of us now. The dirt their mounts churned up from the bottom of the river hasn’t even had time to settle yet.”
“We need to travel quietly then,” William commented. “If we’re that close we sure don’t want them to hear us coming.”
“Agreed,” said Ross, slowing his horse and the rest of the group down a walk. “As much as I want to catch up with them, I don’t want them to know how close we are. When we do catch them, Lachlan Stewart is mine.”
“Make sure it’s painful,” Iain said to him, “that’s all I ask.”
The group, traveling much slower, followed the tracks left by Angela’s captors. This time they kept their eyes open for any sign of a camp being made for the night, knowing they were closing in on them, and this would all be coming to an end soon.
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“We camp here for the night,” Lachlan told the group of mercenaries he had hired as he stopped his horse in a small clearing. He dismounted and pulled Angela down after. “Make a small fire to heat some food. Make sure it isn’t too noticeable. I don’t know if we’re being followed.”
“Do you want guards set up?” one of the men traveling with him asked.
“Of course I want guards,” Lachlan said back to him. “Don’t ask questions like an idgit.”
The man stared at Lachlan as he walked away holding the lady by her arm. He already regretted taking this job with his men. The man had no idea what he was doing. When they had taken the lady from Tioram, he didn’t know it was the daughter of the Laird. That was bad news if a large contingent of the castle guard were in pursuit as he assumed they would be. He had kept his eyes on the path behind him and so far had not noticed a large amount of dust being kicked up by the hundred or so horses and soldiers the laird would most likely send after them.
