April Holthaus - The MacKinnon Clan 02 (14 page)

“I apologize that we must stay out here in these grim woods. A lady should not have to sleep out here in the cold. God knows what creatures may come upon us,” James said nervously looking around.

“It is alright. I have spent many nights camping out. I have managed well. How further is the port that you speak of?”

“We shall reach it by midday tomorrow.”

James leaned over and brushed Jacqueline’s hair over her shoulder exposing her neck.

“You are so beautiful, Jacqueline. I have missed you. I will admit I was worried that I would never see you again. I was so distressed by you marrying Lord Wessex. Even though my feelings were strong, I knew your brother was right. You deserve more than just a poor farm boy. Once I heard that you, ran away was when I came after you but you were always one or two days travel ahead of me and I had lost your trail many times. When I found out that you were traveling with a Highlander, I just don’t know what I would have done if he would have harmed you. I thought he had kidnapped you or forced you to…”

Jacqueline whipped her head around to face him, feeling appalled. 

“He would have never.”

“You speak of him as if you befriended the brute or fell in love with him,” James said laughing.

“He risked his life for me. Is he not worthy an offering of friendship?”

“I will admit that perhaps not all of the Scots are savages.”

“Thank you.”

Jacqueline bit into her apple.
Fell in love, what a ridiculous idea,
she thought. From the corner of her eye, she could see James staring at her intently.

“Why did you do it? Risk your life to save them? They were prisoners. You could have gotten killed.”

“I did it because I knew what it was like to live without freedom. If I would have stayed and married Lord Wessex, I would have been a prisoner myself. Now it seems that my actions were out of anger and I can never return home. I have committed treason.”

“You will not have to worry about all of that once we reach France,” James said as he leaned towards her and kissed the side of her cheek.

Backing away slightly to see her reaction, he leaned in again and began kissing the side of her neck. Jacqueline could not shake the uncomfortable feeling she had when James touched her. As she turned to say something, James pushed himself forward and placed his lips onto Jacqueline’s. The kiss was warm and wet, but left her feeling empty. She had kissed James before, many times in fact, but this kiss was dry and cold. It was not like the erotic and wildly passionate kiss that still haunts her. James wrapped the blanket around them both and cuddled up next to her. Jacqueline remained quiet and stared into the fire, her mind spinning.

Chapter 13

Ewan stood alone as the priest said a prayer blessing the holy ground where Bram’s gravestone stood. Across from where he stood, two young lads clung to their mother’s side, wiping away endless tears. Lady Kenna tightly held onto Rory’s hand. Ewan could tell that she struggled not to cry. 

As the music played, the clan members bowed their heads to pray for the dead and give affirmation of their own faith. Ewan could feel the heaviness of gloom in the air as dark clouds hung low in the sky. Angered at himself, he repeated to himself that it should have been him in that grave.

When the music stopped, Ewan hastily walked back to the castle. He could feel the hatred breeding inside of him for those damn Sassenachs.
Longshanks will pay for this
.
I will ne’er stop fighting. I will no’ back down.
I will slice down e’eryone of ‘em.

Rory chased after Ewan down the hill and into the great hall. Ewan sat on the table with a pint of whiskey in his hand when Rory burst through the door.

“Ewan, ye have been moody and moping around here for days now. Are ye still carrying wit ye such guilt over Bram’s death? Ye have barley eaten and all I ever see ye do is train wit the men. E’en the men are complaining that ye are working them too hard. Ye need to cheer up, cousin, ye are making me depressed,” Rory said pushing a plate of food in front of Ewan.

“These men are getting lazy, My Laird. A couple days of hard training will do ‘em good. I dinna think Colin is pushing them hard enough. We must keep our army strong. I ken that this war with Edward is no’ o’er and we will be prepared,” Ewan replied and chugged down his whiskey.

Rory rubbed his chin between his fingers. “At least eat, before Annella starts in on ye.”

“Aye, she has been a handful as of late,” Ewan smirked.

“Dinna let her hear ye say that,” Rory warned. “If ye dinna start talking, I will be forced to beat it out of ye.”

“Dinna start wit me, Rory. I am in a foul mood.”

“Aye. I can see that. So can e’eryone else. Ye keep up this mood and I’ll have ye cleaning the stocks.”

Ewan stood up.

“Dinna ye even think of leaving. Ye will talk, and now,” Rory said as he slammed his fist on the table.

“Fine. Aye, I do still carry the burden of guilt.”

“Ewan, I have ken ye all my life. I ken that is no’ the only thing bothering ye.”

Ewan grunted. “I met me a lass.”

“It’s about time. That would explain why ye have been acting the way ye have. What is the problem? She married? Betrothed?”

“She’s English.”

Rory looked at Ewan wide-eyed and snickered. “Well ye did say there was nay a lass in all of Scotland that could tie ye down, but I dinna think ye would go out and fall in love wit an English lass.”

“Aye, well it dinna matter because she loves another no’ to mention she has the English looking fer her fer committing treason. She is somewhere safe they can nay find her and it’s where she belongs.”

“Ye just gonna let her go? That does nay sound like the cousin I ken,” Rory questioned. 

“It is no’ my place,” Ewan said clenching his teeth.

“Boy, ye have changed, haven’t ye? To give up so easily.”

“Easy? Ye think this is easy?”

“Do ye remember last year when I met Annella. I did all that I could to be wit her. I e’en gave up fighting alongside Wallace at Stirling because fighting my feelings for Annella was a bigger challenge. If ye love her, ye need to tell her. Or ye will always regret it.”

“Then I shall have to live wit regret,” Ewan responded.

Rory shrugged his shoulders and stood up. Before leaving the room he turned back to Ewan and said, “Then, ye must no’ truly love her.”

Angered by doubting his feelings, Ewan looked up to snap back at Rory’s remark, but Rory had already left the room. Rory was right about one thing and it festered inside of him. He was not one to walk away and he did indeed love the lass.

He thought that even if the stubborn lass fought with him for the rest of his days, he would be persistent to protect her, if she would allow him and there was only one way to find out. Jolting from his seat, Ewan ran out to the stables and quickly strapped a saddle to one of the horses. It had been over a month since he left Jacqueline at the abbey and with no word of her well-being, Ewan was determined to find out for himself. He already lost Bram. He would not lose her as well.

Jacqueline could smell the salt of the sea in the air as they rode closer to the shore. Riding up to the port, she marveled at the large vessel she would be boarding. She could see the men on the ship beginning to raise the sails along the mast. As she drew closer, the hull of the ship expanded several feet across. She had never seen a ship of such size and proportion. Immediately, her parents came to mind. She wondered if this ship was similar to the one they have traveled on the day they were killed.

Dismounting their horses, James walked over to a man who looked familiar to Jacqueline, but she could not quite put her finger on it who he was. James spoke to him in private while Jacqueline waited to board.  

As she reached the platform, Jacqueline froze. To her, this platform represented a precipice. If she took one step further, her life would be forever changed. Jacqueline couldn’t get her legs to move. The life she so often dreamt about, she no longer was sure if it was what she wanted.

The captain of the vessel stood at the top of the platform and announced that the ship would be leaving shortly. James grabbed her hand to help her step onto the platform. Jacqueline stepped up no longer in body or mind. She walked aimlessly, without purpose.

As she reached the top, Jacqueline walked towards the port side of the ship with James watching the people on shore board the ship while others hugged their loved ones goodbye. She stared at one couple as they held each other in one another’s embrace. The woman was crying. Jacqueline guessed that she was troubled that the man was leaving. She shared in the woman’s emptiness. It was such a shame to see a man and a woman so obviously in love part from their mate. Jacqueline wondered what their fate would be; whether they would ever meet again or risk losing one another forever.

Shaking her head, Jacqueline just couldn’t do it, she couldn’t let go of the feelings she had for Ewan. He was the most frustrating, arrogant, impulsive man she had ever met, but she had fallen madly in love with him.

“I am sorry, James. But I cannot go with you.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“It would be unfaithful of me to go with you and allow you to take me as a wife.”

“Jacqueline. You are just confused. You have been through a horrific ordeal. I cannot blame you for being scared of leaving England behind. Everything will be alright. I promise. Why don’t you find our quarters? I will be with you shortly,” James replied as he raised one of her hands and kissed the back of it before walking away.

Thinking that he could possibly be right, she watched James as he headed towards the stern of the ship. Curiously, she followed. In the back of the ship sitting around a barrel, she watched as the familiar man that James had spoken to earlier handed over a bag to James. James opened the bag and poured several coins out onto the top of the barrel and began counting the money.

Remembering what had happened back at the abbey; Jacqueline took a few steps closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“With this money, you are to take the girl to France and never return. Once I tell her brother that she is dead, they will stop looking for her. With both the Renolds gone and now the girl, Guillaume will inherit all of the Renold fortune and it will be passed down to Richard as planned. Wayland is not even aware of his own wealth. His uncle has made similar preparations for him when the time comes,” the man said in a cold tone.

“You mean all this time, MacKinnon was never responsible?” James asked.

“No. Douglas MacKinnon learned of Guillaume’s plan. He was a friend to the Renolds. Jacqueline’s mother, Heather was a childhood friend of the MacKinnons when she lived in Ireland. Their families were allies. I was hired by Guillaume long ago to place blame on MacKinnon. Once the Renolds were tragically killed at sea, Douglas went after Guillaume. But Guillaume was not the one directly responsible for their deaths. He had witnesses at court in London at the time so he went into hiding after he was accused of the murder. Little did they know that Guillaume hired me to kill them.”

“You have my word, Nicolaus I will take this to my grave.”

“You have done well these last several months, my apprentice. You get the girl and Guillaume will have his legacy. I never believed you would get the girl to fall in love with you. I was wrong. The ship leaves within the hour. All you need to do now is make sure she is on it by the time the ship sets sail.”

“I will,” James replied and scooped up the coins from the tabletop and placed them inside his front pocket as the man walked away.

Jacqueline’s hands shook like a windstorm as tears streamed down her face. Not from hurt or sadness, but from the fire burning within her veins. Soon it all came to her. Nicolaus was her Uncle’s servant. Angered by the lies and deceit, Jacqueline marched up to James. Lifting her trembling hand, she swung it through the air and slapped James across the face. James pressed his hand onto his reddened cheek.

“Traitor,” she yelled out.

James looked around at the people around them quietly staring. He grabbed onto her upper arm and forced her to the edge of the ship to speak more privately.

“How dare you touch me? Get your hands off of me,” she hollered as she yanked her arm out of his hold. “All this time, you lied to me. You offered aid to the man who murdered my parents. Get away from me.”

Jacqueline lifted her skirt and ran towards the port side of the ship. Running down the boarding plank, she bumped and pushed past people who were boarding, ignoring their rude remarks. She wanted to put as far of a distance between her and James. Glancing behind her, she could see James taking chase and calling out her name.

Finding a horse loosely tied to a wooden post, she swung the rope free and put her foot into the stirrup. One jerk of the reins and the horse took off almost before she was fully adjusted onto the saddle. All she could think of was her desperation to get away and reveal the truth of her treacherous uncle.

Chapter 14

Riding through the open pastures, Jacqueline came across a boy roughly a few years younger than her, working in the fields. Knowing that she would need an escort, her plan was to demand that he take her the rest of the way to Carrick.

“You there,” she called out.

“Me, my lady?” he replied and he dropped the pitch fork onto the pile of hay.

“What is your name?”

“Me name is Fergusson MacPherson, my lady.”

“I am on an important mission and I require an escort. I can pay ye a few shillings of silver. I must travel to Carrick.”

“Carrick? That is two days travel. Me da would no’ let me go. There is work to be done,” he innocently replied.

“I demand that you take me. I am under the protection of Robert the Bruce and I must make haste. If you do not take me, I will see to it that the Bruce knows of your clan’s unwillingness to help. I can give you half of the money now and the rest when we have reached our destination,” she scowled.