Highland Warrior Woman (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

Tears leaked from beneath her eyelashes, but she angrily swept them away with the back of her hand. She was only fooling herself. She would spend the rest of her life as an old maid, and that was the way she liked it. Not having to take orders from anyone, except her laird of course. She could do what she wanted, when she wanted it. Not having to answer to anyone but herself suited her just fine.

Aye, and just look where that got you, Maeghan Fraser. You were nearly raped.

But she had escaped without the help of any man. While she felt that was a point of pride, she also knew that she had gotten lucky that time.
And if the Campbells hadn’t found you, the MacLeods would have.

No man had ever given her a second look. They all thought she was a child because of her small stature, and most of the men in the MacTavish clan had treated her as such. The only time she had ever gotten any attention was when her father had been teaching her how to protect herself. Why would now be any different?

* * * *

Maeghan and Calum had woken well before first light, but if she was to leave, she saw no use in waiting for dawn. She didn’t want to stay here at the Campbell keep. She wanted to be back in the safety and security of her own log cabin. And she couldn’t leave the keep without clothes. She took the candle Calum had left to the wooden chest near the foot of the bed and rummaged in it for something to wear.

She found breeches, which looked to be too small for Laird Campbell. She didn’t know why he kept old garments when he had outgrown them, but it was to her benefit. The legs of the trousers were way too long, but if she rolled them up she wouldn’t trip on the material. After rummaging in the bottom of the trunk, she found twine, which she tied around her hips to keep the breeches secure. Once she was satisfied she wouldn’t trip or lose the pants from her hips, she plaited her hair and tucked the braid in beneath the neck of her borrowed shirt. There was a spare plaid in the chest as well, and she slung it across her shoulder and around her waist.

The small hide boots in the trunk were of the type normally worn by lads and men, but Maeghan was accustomed to those. With a smile she remembered the tantrum she had thrown when her father had first presented such a pair of boots to her. It had taken her father quite a while to convince her that she needed sturdy footwear for hunting. Though she had spent a lot of her time brooding and wishing she was more feminine, able to draw the eyes of the lads and men of the MacTavish clan, it was not meant to be. Now her long practice at ignoring her own femininity would serve her well.

It was harder to open the heavy chamber door than she had expected, but she managed the feat without making any noise or causing herself any injury. Silently, she crept down the stairs and peered into the great hall before heading to the massive main doors to the keep. Her muscles strained, but she was able to pull one door open just enough for her to slip through and quietly pulled it closed behind her.

Entering the stables, she kept her head lowered in case the stable master heard her. She saw no one, though, and she turned her attention to the destriers and smaller horses.

“What are ye aboot?”

Maeghan jumped with fright at the voice behind her. Glancing up from beneath her lowered lashes, she saw a young lad glaring at her with suspicion.

“Laird Campbell has sent me on a task.” She spoke in a gruff, low voice. “I need to leave at once.”

“I suppose ye be wanting me to saddle up for ye?”

“Aye. Please.”

“If ye weren’t so small and puny, I’d make ye do it yerself.” The lad grumbled but readied one of the smaller mares for her. She had been worried he would saddle one of the warriors’ warhorses. Even though she could ride, her old horse couldn’t hold a candle to the Campbells’ smallest mount.

The lad turned to her when he was finished and cupped his hands to help give her a leg up. “Thank ye,” she said as she settled into the saddle.

“Safe journey.”

“Aye.” Maeghan didn’t look back as she rode the horse out of the stable. It was easy to fool a lad but would be much harder to trick the guards at the drawbridge. She kept her head down, trying to hide her face, and again told her lie in a gruff voice. Moments later, she was riding across the moat on the wood drawbridge. Though she wanted to look back, she didn’t dare.

Maeghan rode for over an hour, careful not to push her horse too hard since it was still dark and she didn’t want to injure the beast. As the sky began to lighten and the eastern horizon blushed pink, she heard a horse blow and nicker somewhere ahead of her. Signaling with light pressure to the reins, she guided her mount into the trees.

The rider passed without seeing her. There was a trail here in the woods, one that never took her too far from the road. This seemed the best way to avoid other travelers, so she kept to the path. She had been riding for quite a while when her normally quiet horse balked. Suddenly nervous, the mare began to prance. Shortening her grip on the reins, Maeghan tried to control and soothe the animal at the same time.

Something rustled in the brush to her left. Though she tried to keep her eye on that spot, her finicky horse required all her attention. Grunting and squealing rent the air as a wild boar erupted from the bushes. Her horse reared and bolted.

Maeghan clung to the saddle horn and the reins. She tried to bring the mare back under control, but she wasn’t strong enough. The mare darted through the trees, and she bent low over the horse’s neck. If a low-hanging branch didn’t pluck her from the saddle, it would be a miracle. There was nothing she could do but hang on for the ride.

When the mare drew to a hard stop, Maeghan thought she would gain control of the animal once more. She sat up and saw the reason why the horse had checked its panicked flight. A grassy ravine opened ahead, far too steep to climb and too far to jump.

The mare bucked. Maeghan went sailing over the horse’s head and flew through the air. She dropped past the ravine edge and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. Instead of tensing her body, she relaxed all her muscles, hoping to lessen the damage when she hit the ground.

When she did it was bone-jarringly painful, but the initial impact was the least of her worries. She rolled down the incline with amazing speed until something hard stopped her. Pain exploded in her head, and she cried out just before everything went black.

“Where the fuck is she?” Hamish roared as he rushed down the stairs.

“She’s no’…” Ewan began, and Hamish knew his brother was about to ask if Maeghan was in Calum’s bedchamber.

“Nay,” Hamish snapped and hurried across the great hall to where Calum and Ewan were breaking their fast. “The chamber is empty and so are all the others. I’ve searched every room above stairs and have no’ sighted her.”

“Shit.” Ewan jumped to his feet. “Alert the men. I want the whole keep searched from top to bottom as well as all the outbuildings and grounds.”

Hamish took the lead and flung the heavy wooden doors open with a flick of his wrists. In moments he was down the steps and heading toward the training area at the side of the castle.

“Cease.” His roar bounced off the stone walls of the keep. The clash of metal on metal slowed and finally stopped, as did the yells of the Campbell warriors.

When Hamish had commanded the attention of all, he called out, “Maeghan Fraser has disappeared. I want everyone to help search for her. The MacLeods have already taken her once and beaten her. We will not allow that to happen again.”

“Duncan.” Hamish looked toward their commander. “I want ye to take yer brothers and search to the north. Ian, take a party south, and, Cailean, ye search the west. We will go east. We want the lass found before someone else finds her.”

“Hamish,” Greer, the stable master, called, “a lad left just before dawn. Alistair saddled a mount for him.”

“Where is Alistair?”

“Right here, sir.” Alistair stepped out from behind his father.

“How big was this lad?”

“Cannae have been much more than ten summers. I’m going on twelve, and I’m much taller and brawny than that skinny lad.”

Hamish ignored the smirk on Alistair’s face, too worried about Maeghan to discipline him.

“Describe the lad to me.”

“He was wearing breeches, sir, but they looked too big for his scrawny body, and he looked like he had borrowed his papa’s shirt. His hair was flaxen but short, not down to his shoulders, and his face was covered in bruises.”

“Which way did the lad head?”

“South, I think. Angus was the one to open the gate for the lad.”

“Just a word of warning, Alistair,” Hamish said quietly. “Next time someone ye have never seen before tries to leave, take the matter to myself or my brothers. That ‘lad’ might just be our future wife.”

* * * *

Hamish led the way over the drawbridge and turned south, his brothers following. The other parties had set out as well. There were nearly five hundred men at their command. Hamish knew they would find Maeghan eventually. What worried him most was where and how they would find her. The forests were full of vagabonds and poachers, not to mention Laird MacLeod and his man. In anticipation of a fight, Hamish was outfitted with his claymore sword, a dirk, and two daggers. His brothers were similarly equipped, and Gerty had given them food and water as well. A highlander learned at a young age to be prepared for any eventuality.

Nudging his mount to a gallop, Hamish scanned the ground for signs of Maeghan and her horse. More than an hour passed before he saw anything promising. He signaled his brothers to stop.

Tracks led from the road into the forest. By the imprints left in the ground, the rider didn’t weigh much.

He led the way into the woods. After a time, he spied kicked-up earth, as if the horse pranced skittishly. Then it looked to have bolted. As he followed the tracks, he became more and more concerned. The path the horse had taken was perilous. It had dodged between trees with low-hanging branches and jumped fallen logs, but there was no sign of the horse slowing down.

“Fuck!” Calum cried. “She’s headed toward the ravine.”

Hamish kicked his destrier into a canter. He wanted to go faster, but he wasn’t about to put him or his mount at risk. If they were hurt, how could he help Maeghan? The sound of horses’ hooves pounding the earth behind him told him his brothers stayed close.

The trees opened suddenly at the ravine, and Hamish saw Maeghan’s horse up ahead, cropping at the green sprigs of grass, reins dangling to the side. Maeghan herself was nowhere to be seen.

He jumped down and studied the earth, but there were no footprints besides the horse’s. “Maeghan, where are ye?” he yelled. He waited, listening, but there was no reply.

Hamish looked over the cliff and scanned for her. He saw nothing but kept searching. His chest clenched painfully with fear. And then a flash of white caught his eye. Maeghan had been wearing one of Calum’s white lawn shirts to sleep in. Maybe she was wearing it still along with her plaid.

The next moment Hamish was working his way down over rocks and brush. He found Maeghan half curled against a rock that protruded from the ground. She was moaning as if in pain, but her eyes were closed.

“Maeghan, donnae move. Ye might have broken bones.” Hamish knelt down and ran his hands over her body, sighing with relief when he felt nothing obviously broken. With gentle fingers he searched her head and found a lump just behind her right ear.

“How is she?” Ewan asked and squatted down next to them. Hamish glanced over his shoulder but saw no sign of Calum. Their eldest brother was probably staying with the horses up above.

“She has a knot behind her ear, but other than that I can find no damage.”

“We need to get her home.”

“Aye, as soon as possible. She needs to rest. Her head is going to pain her something fierce.”

“Maeghan, open yer eyes, sweetling.”

“What?” Her eyelashes fluttered.

“That’s it, little one, come back to us,” Hamish crooned softly.

“Hamish?”

“Aye, I’m here, dearling.”

“What happened?”

Hamish sighed with relief when she looked at him. Her beautiful blue eyes seemed dazed, but they were open.

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Ewan stated. “But for now tell us where ye hurt, sweetling.”

“My head.”

“Any wonder, Maeghan. Ye hit it on this rock.” Hamish grasped her hand when she would have touched the knot. “Donnae touch. Ye’ll just make it hurt more.”

“I’m going to lift ye now, Maeghan,” Ewan said. “If I hurt ye, tell me.”

Ewan gently lifted her into his arms, watching her carefully in case he caused her pain. He sighed with relief when she didn’t flinch. Hamish let him lead the way back up the steep ravine, ready to give a bracing hand if necessary. It took them longer to ascend than it had to come down, but that was to be expected. Ewan was being very careful not to jostle Maeghan too much.

“Maeghan Fraser, what the hell did ye think ye were doing?” Calum fairly bellowed when they were all once more back on stable ground.

“Calum?” Maeghan whispered. “I’m sorry. I won’t get in yer way again.”