Lord of the Black Isle (25 page)

“This morning, when I put it on just before we left. I was half asleep, and I must not have tied it tight enough. I don't suppose we could backtrack and look for it.”

“Nay, lass, ye ha' covered too much terrain for anyone to search for something so small. We shall get ye another necklace to take its place.”

“No, you could never take its place,” she said, remembering the day it was given it to her. “And I do have another necklace… a lovely diamond cross given to me by one of the friars at Soutra. I wear it frequently, but this necklace was given to me a long time ago.”

Her thoughts returned to the present when they splashed across a meandering burn and the trail narrowed considerably on the other side. Thankfully, this was where Angus declared they would stop and made camp. The rain had halted and what was left of the sun cast long, eerie shadows through the surrounding trees. But she was thankful to be on solid ground again and to have something to eat. Dinner was a roasted rabbit, which she found palatable, but it did not stretch very far and she found herself hungrier after eating the tiny morsel than she was beforehand.

Wordlessly, she bedded down in the place indicated, which was blessedly near the fire. She stared at the fire and recalled the day David had rescued her from the MacLeans and they spent the night in the cave. Much as she was doing now, she had lain with her arm curled beneath her head and watched the fire burn, while inside, she yearned for David to come and lie beside her. And later, when he did just that, she wanted him to kiss her, and he did so. She closed her eyes and thought how desperately she wanted David to find her and prayed that he would do so. And then she fell asleep, not in the arms of David as she had done that night, but surrounded by Angus and his men who guarded her.

They started at first light the next morning, and when the sun was high in the sky, they came to the point where they left their horses so they could go by boat to Mull. She was reminded of the Highlanders' saying, “
Guid
gear
comes
in
sma' bouk
,” which meant the same as “good things come in small packages,” and before long, she thought she had never felt anything as good as putting her foot on Mull soil.

They obtained the horses the MacLeans kept on the other side. Once again, she mounted her horse and they continued their ride until she began to recognize familiar terrain and knew that Caisteal Màrrach was not much more than a day's ride away. It was comforting to know it was that close. That was a good feeling, for it did give her peace of mind to think that she was at least on the same island as her twin.

***

When they discovered Elisabeth was missing, Bosworth's men followed the trail of her abductor as far as an old hunting lodge. From there, they followed the trail of three horses to the point where they entered the burn, but before they could track them further, it began to rain, so they turned back and rode home to Bosworth Castle, where they informed Lord Bosworth that Elisabeth had been abducted.

“God's eyeballs! How could she be taken right from under your noses?” He did not wait for an answer, and after hastily writing two letters, he dispatched riders to deliver one to Alysandir Mackinnon on the Isle of Mull and the other to Lord Kinloss on the Black Isle. And then he told his son-in-law, Ronan Mackinnon.

“Where were your men when she was taken?” Ronan asked.

“They followed her abductor's trail to an old, abandoned hunting lodge. It seems there were two people waiting at the lodge, for they followed the trail of three horses away from there, then lost the trail where it entered the burn.”

“Where was the hunting lodge?”

“Aboot a day's ride from Creag an Duilisg, where Loch Achaidh na h-Inich begins.”

“Hmmm…” Ronan said, thinking to himself, and then he asked, “I hope it was the trail of her abductor they followed, for I would think many a traveler would make good use of an abandoned hunting lodge, which is probably why they chose such a rendezvous.”

“Aye, 'twas a guid choice they made. So I ken there is no way o' knowing fer certain just who took her and where they took her. Mayhap Kinloss or Alysandir will receive a ransom note in the near future.”

Ronan's first guess was that the MacLean had something to do with it, since he had a habit of taking Elisabeth whenever he could, but it was a bit far-fetched, for how would he know where she was? Ronan also knew that Angus MacLean always loved putting on a show, surrounded by his men, for what was the glory in an abduction if one did not receive credit for it? And that made him think that perhaps it wasn't MacLean, unless MacLean planned for him to think that.

A week passed and no ransom note had arrived, but on the eighth day, Lord Kinloss did arrive with several of his men. He met with Bosworth and Ronan, and Ronan was surprised to find that he liked Kinloss, and he was relieved to know Kinloss did not seem to hold a grudge against him for having once loved Elisabeth or for his wife being the cause of Elisabeth being at Bosworth Castle. It was obvious to Ronan that Kinloss was deeply in love with Elisabeth and determined to find where she had been taken.

Later that evening, after Bosworth had retired, Ronan and David sat in the great hall after the evening meal was served. They were drinking wine and discussing Elisabeth's capture and the possibilities of how it was carried out and by whom. That was when Kinloss told Ronan about the time the MacLeans had captured Elisabeth when she was on her way to Soutra Aisle, and how she had slipped away and he had rescued her and delivered her to the hospital there. “Do ye think he has kept an eye on her since then?”

Ronan nodded. “I wouldna put it past him. He has been determined to force a marriage between her and his son, Fergus, but I think the old fool uses that for an excuse because he enjoys having her around. It has become like a game with him, and he probably has his spies aboot who report her whereabouts. I am sure, if he has her, that he is gloating aboot it right now.”

Kinloss replied, “He can gloat all he wants, as long as the bastard doesn't force her to marry Fergus. I can promise you that if he has her, I will take her back.”

“How will ye go aboot it?”

“I plan to ride to Mull and speak with yer brother, Alysandir.”

“I will go with ye,” Ronan said, then added, “I would give anything if we had even a wee bit of proof what direction the bastards took after they captured her. It could have been anyone—a puir Highlander looking to make money from her capture… possibly from prior knowledge. And we both know that MacLean has taken her more than once in the past and could easily do so again. And there are always brigands about who would recognize her as a woman of quality and hope to profit from it, although they should have contacted us by now.”

Kinloss nodded, then added, “And there is always the possibility that we would not want to consider: she was taken because she is a beautiful and desirable woman of good breeding—the kind he would never have, and so he abducted her and took her to the hunting lodge for one purpose only.”

Both of them knew but chose not to mention what could have happened to her had it been the latter.

The two of them continued talking, taking time to consider even the wildest of ideas in order to satisfy themselves that they had left nothing out. After a while, the kitchen help began to clean away the dishes. As one of the women passed by carrying an armload of tankards that reached all the way to her chin, Ronan held up his goblet and said, “Bring us another ewer of wine.”

“I will fetch it right away, sir,” she said and she hurried off.

She was back in a few minutes, minus the tankards and carrying the ewer of wine, which she placed on the table. She had no more than released the tankard and started to turn away when Kinloss's hand lashed out and grabbed her by the wrist. He jerked her toward him and asked, “Where did you get that necklace? And by God, dinna ye lie to me!”

She looked terrified and glanced from Kinloss to Ronan, as if she thought he might help her, but all Ronan said was, “God have mercy! It's Elisabeth's coin!”

“Aye,” Kinloss said, not taking his hard stare from the girl's face. “I am going to ask you one last time where ye got it, and ye better tell me the truth.”

“M-my friend gave it to me, your Lordship. I swear he did.”

“
When
did he give it to you?” Ronan asked.

She looked from one to the other, and then said, “Aboot a week ago… maybe more.”

“And where did he get it?” Kinloss asked.

“He said he found it, your Lordship. Honest he did.”

Ronan immediately said, “Who is your friend? Tell me his name?”

“Dugal MacAlpin is his name, sir.”

“Where does he live?” Ronan asked.

She looked a bit confused when she responded, “Why he lives here, sir. He is one of His Lordship's soldiers.”

“Do you know where he found it?”

“Aye, he said he found it in a hunting lodge.”

“It belongs to Elisabeth Douglas, the doctor who was here to help my wife. I'm sure Dugal told ye Elisabeth was captured.”

“Aye, sir, he did tell me that. He said they followed the tracks to a hunting lodge and that was where he found the necklace.” She reached up and untied the necklace and offered it to Ronan, who pointed to Kinloss.

“Give it to His Lordship,” he said. “He was waiting on Elisabeth's return to the Black Isle, where they are to be married. So ye can understand why he would want the necklace back.”

“Aye, sir, I do understand, and 'tis sorry I am aboot my having it on and causing ye grief.”

Kinloss gave her a smile that relaxed the lass, and then he said, “To the contrary, it is a good thing ye wore it, fer it may help us to find out where she has been taken.”

They sent for Dugal MacAlpin who verified that he did find the necklace. “I didna think aboot it belonging to the doctor. I just put it in my pocket because aboot that time, someone shouted that they found the tracks of their horses, so we left quickly so we could follow them, for it looked like it would rain soon.”

They offered him a glass of wine and found Dugal to be a congenial sort who gave them a detailed account of their journey from the time they left Bosworth Castle until they tracked horses of Elisabeth and her captor to the burn, and they abandoned the search. “We searched both sides o' the burn for some distance, looking fer the tracks of their three horses, trying to find where they came oot o' the water, but it began to rain and since that would erase any visible tracks, it made no sense to keep searching.”

They thanked Dugal and sent him on his way with a tankard of ale.

“So what now?” Ronan asked.

Kinloss did not have to think about that, for he quickly replied, “I want to take the same route the soldiers took with Elisabeth. I'd like to see the hunting lodge to look for any traces of her having been there… other than the necklace.”

Ronan nodded, and then asked, “Do ye think she left it a-purpose?”

David did not have to think upon that, for he remembered quite well the day Elisabeth showed him the necklace, recalling also how few things she possessed from her former life and time. To her it was priceless. “Nay, I think it meant too much to her to risk losing, but we won't know for certain until we find her.”

Ronan relaxed and his expression softened, as if there was little doubt that the phrasing Kinloss chose when he said, “
We
won't know
,” included him. “Considering the fact that the hunting lodge is not all that far from Creag an Duilisg, where Loch Achaidh na h-Inich begins, and that it is on the way to Mull, I think a trip to Mull would be beneficial. And another thing, it is a common occurrence to board horses on both sides o' the Sound, so they probably would have left their horses and taken a boat across the Sound, and picked up their horses they had left on the other side. If that be the way o' it, then it wouldna be difficult to find the place where the horses were picked up and who it was that took them. I will go wi' ye and if we find oot it was Angus MacLean, then we can go to Màrrach and put together a plan with the help of Alysandir.”

Kinloss nodded. “'Tis a good plan,” he said, “and the most logical. Let us plan to leave at first light.”

***

The original part of the hunting lodge was constructed of wattle and daub, which meant the wooden frames filled with clay did not age well and had fallen into neglect, but a more recent addition of stone was not as dilapidated as they had expected, but it had obviously been abandoned some time ago.

Kinloss stirred the ashes in the fireplace. “I don't think they stayed here very long. These predate the time that Elisabeth was here. The weather is growing colder, and a fire would have indicated they stayed here long enough to go to the trouble to gather wood and build a fire.”

“Aye,” Ronan said, “'Twould seem this was a temporary stop.”

“There isna evidence, other than Elisabeth's necklace, that anyone has been here for quite some time,” Kinloss said, “fer cobwebs abound and the wind has swept doon the chimney and scattered ashes aboot, yet there were no footprints. 'Tis a puzzlement. If ye ha' just taken a captive, ye wouldna travel this far and stop at a hunting lodge when ye needed to put as much time as ye could between ye and those who would come searching.”

Still thinking, he added, “Unless this was a pre-arranged place to meet, where Elisabeth would either be handed over to the person who hired him, or to meet up with his cohorts or clansmen, which means we still dinna ken if we are looking for one man or several. Mayhap we missed an important clue, for remember Dugal MacAlpin told us Bosworth's soldiers said they followed the
tracks
at the hunting lodge, so that might indicate more than one horse.”