My Daring Highlander (22 page)

“What the hell?” Dermott asked. “How
many of them are there?”

Realization dawned. “’Slud. That might
be Haldane and his band of outlaws,” Keegan said just above a
whisper. A couple of days ago, Keegan and Rebbie had given Cyrus
and his brothers a detailed accounting of Haldane, his men, and
their crimes.

Dermott glanced back briefly, his
green eyes gleaming in the strange light of the forest. “How many
of them?”

“Around a dozen at last count,” Keegan
said. “Unless he’s hired more since that last skirmish.”

“We’re going to find out,” Cyrus said.
“Prepare for battle, lads.”

“Their archer is deadly. Watch out for
him,” Keegan warned.

None of them carried targes since
they’d been headed out for deer stalking, not into battle, and had
no way to deflect arrows that might fly at them.

Keegan hadn’t imagined Haldane would
follow them here, but he shouldn’t be surprised, really. Haldane
was a canny lad and determined to get what he wanted.

Shouts and running erupted up ahead,
some of the men on horseback and others on foot. Most fled north,
along the loch’s edge, while others scurried up the side of the
mountain to the east. The MacKenzies and MacKays pursued those
running along the loch’s edge. Easier pickings.

“Capture them,” Cyrus ordered. “I want
to question the bastards.”

Keegan was glad to see they were
gaining on the stragglers of the group.

One of the scrawny men, red-headed
with a stringy beard—but unfortunately not Haldane—glanced back and
screamed like a lass. He ran down the bank and into the loch.
Fraser took after him, splashing through the shallows, latched a
hand onto the plaid at his back and dragged him toward the bank. A
struggle ensued, but Fraser, being taller and stronger, quickly
disarmed him and shoved him up the bank onto dry ground.

Once Keegan saw Fraser and one of the
MacKay guards had the outlaw well under control, he ran ahead to
join the MacKenzies. He hoped they could catch several of the
knaves.

Dermott threw a rock at another outlaw
and hit his mark. With a dull thud, he crumpled to the ground and
didn’t move.

Only one more was still within sight.
He was taller and broader of shoulder with black hair. When he
glanced back, Keegan didn’t recognize him. Picking up the pace,
Keegan joined Cyrus in the pursuit.

An arrow jabbed into the ground near
Keegan, spraying dirt and leaves. He jumped aside. “Arrows!” he
warned Cyrus. Taking cover behind a tree trunk, he glanced up the
steep, tree-covered hillside where the arrow had come from, seeing
Gil and Haldane.

“Bastards. They’re up there!” Keegan
pointed, then sheathed his sword and nocked an arrow. Aiming and
drawing back, he let the arrow fly. It sailed through the trees a
good distance but then stabbed into a tree trunk. “’Slud,” he
muttered.

Taking cover near Keegan, Cyrus yelled
back to his guards. “Shoot them!”

Keegan nocked another arrow, but Gil
and Haldane disappeared before he could release it. Keegan ground
his teeth. He wanted to chase them down like the vermin they were,
but he was ill prepared at the moment. No armor, no
targe.

The other outlaw they’d been pursuing
along the loch had also vanished.

“Bastards,” Cyrus grumbled. “We’ll
take these two prisoners to the castle, arm ourselves better, then
come back and hunt down the rest of them.”

“Aye.” Keegan was glad Cyrus was also
eager for a fight. “I want to hear what these two have to
say.”

***

Keegan didn’t recognize the two
scraggly-bearded men being shepherded back to Teasairg Castle,
their hands bound behind their backs, but they definitely looked
like desperate criminals. No doubt Haldane had hired
them.

The portcullis was raised and all of
them strode into the bailey.

“Go get Chief MacKay,” Cyrus said to
one of the male servants. “Tell him we captured two of his
brother’s men.”

“Aye, m’laird.” The servant hurried
inside.

Keegan was surprised to see Dirk
appear at the entrance a moment later. He must have been in the
great hall for he couldn’t have had time to negotiate the stairs
from the upper floor.

“Aye?” Dirk limped forward on the
sturdy cane, his sharp blue gaze cutting to the outlaws. “Are these
Haldane’s men?”

“Indeed, cousin,” Keegan said. “I
remember that one from the skirmish we had north of Ullapool.” He
nodded to the brown-haired one who had been knocked down by the
rock. Blood soaked part of his hair and dripped onto his filthy
clothing.

“Have they revealed anything as of
yet?”

“Nay, I thought I’d let you question
them,” Cyrus said.

“Did Haldane MacKay hire you?” Dirk
asked the two.

Neither man opened his
mouth.

“Did you cut out their tongues?” Dirk
asked, pretending to be aghast.

“Nay.” Cyrus gave a dark smile. “But I
will if you want me to.”

The men’s eyes widened and their faces
paled beneath the layers of dirt. “Um… aye… m’laird,” the redheaded
man stammered.

“What are your names?” Dirk
asked.

“Eli Carmichael,” the red-haired man
said.

The one with brown hair and a bushy
beard glared at his companion, then blew out a breath. “Neil
MacEldon.”

“Well, Neil and Eli—if those are your
real names,” Dirk said. “What job were you hired for?”

Both men appeared twitchy, their gazes
darting this way and that. Keegan studied them, determining they
were near terrified. How loyal were they to Haldane?

“Has Haldane paid you yet?” Keegan
asked.

Eli glared. “’Tis no concern of
yours.”

“If he hasn’t paid you yet, he likely
never will.”

“He paid us some,” Eli said. “And we
ken there’s more where that came from.”

Keegan and Dirk exchanged a glance.
The purse of coins that was stolen from Dirk’s tent.

Keegan shrugged. “Just
because he has it doesn’t mean he’s going to give
you
any of it. And yet,
he expects you to risk your necks for him. ’Tis not fair, is
it?”

“If we do the job, he’ll pay us good,”
Neil said. “He’s a man of his word.”

Dirk snorted. “And what job is
that?”

“Don’t know yet. He said he’d tell
us.”

“He won’t be telling you,” Cyrus said.
“Because you two are going to spend the rest of your lives in my
dungeon.”

The outlaws paled and exchanged a
terrified glance. Were they having second thoughts?

“Any man who attempts to murder my
sister and my brother-in-law is going to get what he deserves,”
Cyrus said, his voice hard.

“We didn’t do it,” Neil said quickly.
“’Twas Gil what shot him with the arrow.” He nodded at
Dirk.

Cyrus shrugged, looking unconcerned.
“You both were on his side, trying to ambush my family, friends and
allies. You put my sister’s life in danger,” Cyrus said, his voice
quiet but deadly.

“We didn’t ken y-your sister w-was
with them,” Eli stuttered.

“Now you do. So, tell these men
anything they want to know.” Cyrus motioned to Dirk and
Keegan.

“What are Haldane’s plans?” Dirk
asked.

Eli squirmed for a moment, staring at
the ground, then at the sky. “We heard him murmuring something to
McMurdo about…” He dropped silent.

“Aye? About what?” Dirk
demanded.

“A lady. Seona—I’m thinking that was
her name. She has brown hair and blue eyes, very beautiful. We’re
to grab her but not hurt her. Then, he’ll pay us and head back to
Durness with her. ’Twas what he said.”

Fury simmered inside Keegan, tensing
all his muscles. He wanted to hunt down Haldane and put him out of
his misery. “I’ll tell you one thing. None of you are getting your
filthy hands on Lady Seona. The man who tries it will get his
throat cut.”

“Aye,” Dirk agreed.

“I’m not touching her,” Eli promised,
backing up. The stone wall behind him halted his
progress.

“Nay. Me neither!” Neil’s wide gaze
darted back and forth among the three men.

Keegan narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing
Neil. “What did Haldane say about Dirk?”

“Well… uh… what was it?” he asked his
friend. “That he might die of fever. If not, McMurdo is tasked with
killing him.”

Dirk gave a brief humorless laugh.
“’Tis old news. Tell us something we don’t know.”

“Aye. How many men does Haldane have
now?” Keegan asked.

“Ten, counting us.”

“We’ll not count you,” Cyrus said.
“Because you’re no longer a part of the gang.”

“Aye, well. We’re glad to be out,”
Neil said. Clearly he was lying and only trying to appease them.
“He said he would hire more men when he moved east.”

“Why east?” Keegan asked.

“’
Tis where the lady will
be taken… back to her home. Near Inverness.”

Hell.
Haldane knew their plans. ’Twas probably obvious to him Seona
would have to be returned to her father since she didn’t marry the
MacKay chief. And Haldane obviously knew where their branch of the
Murrays was from.

They could expect more ambushes and
attacks as they escorted Seona home. ’Slud! He couldn’t expose her
to that danger.

“Where will Haldane lie in wait?”
Keegan asked.

“We know not. We’re not from this
area.”

Once they were finished questioning
the two men, Cyrus had them taken to the dungeon.

Keegan ground his teeth. “I want to go
out and hunt down Haldane. Now,” he told Dirk and the other men. “I
don’t want to start east with Seona while Haldane and his men are
still a threat to her.”

Dirk nodded. “’Twould be best to take
care of him beforehand.”

“I agree with you,” Cyrus said. “I ken
these hills and mountains like the back of my hand.” He nodded
toward the north. “I ken where all the hidey-holes are. I’ll line
up more men and we’ll head out in a quarter hour.”

***

A knock sounded at Seona’s door late
that evening. ’Twas almost dark, but she hadn’t left her room after
her aunt had threatened to tell her father about her and Keegan….
and how Graham MacSween had died.

Seona had to stay away from
Keegan.

She prayed ’twas not him knocking at
her door now, for she knew not how to tell him to stay away from
her. ’Twould break her heart.

Seona approached the door. “Who is
it?”

“Isobel.”

Seona should’ve guessed her friend
would wonder why she’d missed supper. Millie had brought her a
tray. Even so, Seona had eaten little. She was sick knowing she had
to give up Keegan, the only bright spot in her life.

Bracing herself for a multitude of
questions, she opened the door.

Her gaze concerned, Isobel entered and
closed the door. “Are you ill?”

“Nay. I simply… didn’t feel like being
with a lot of people.”

Searching her eyes, Isobel nodded.
“Keegan and most of the men went out looking for Haldane and his
gang.”

“What? Haldane is
here?”
Saints!
Even now, Keegan could be in danger.

“Aye, when the men were deer stalking,
they ran upon the outlaws in the wood. They captured two of them
and got information. Haldane is still bent on kidnapping you. So,
the men decided to take care of the threat.”

Her throat tightening, Seona shook her
head. “Keegan is risking his life for me. And he shouldn’t. He’s
such a good and honorable man.” She felt unworthy.

Isobel led her toward the fireplace
and they sat on the padded bench before it. “Aye. That’s what a man
does when he loves a woman.”

Emotion caught in Seona’s throat and
emerged as a sob. Overcome with the sudden and sharp emotions, she
covered her face with her hands. “He shouldn’t do it,” she forced
the words out past her constricted throat. “He should not risk his
life for me.”

“I doubt anyone could stop him.”
Isobel rubbed her shoulder in a comforting manner. “What is wrong,
Seona? Why were you not at supper?”

Swallowing back the emotion and
blotting a handkerchief against her eyes, she shook her head. “My
aunt saw Keegan giving me flowers. I must stop seeing him. I fear
my father will kill him if he has half a chance. Aunt Patience
thinks Keegan has… compromised me, and she’s going to tell my
father if I don’t stay away from him.”

“What a meddling battleax,” Isobel
muttered.

“Aye. I agree. I care for Keegan too
much to put his life in danger.”

“Well, I know he cares for you, too.”
Isobel patted her hand.

“Last year, I merely danced with a man
named Graham MacSween. My father deemed him ‘not good enough’ and
had his men beat him horribly. My aunt just told me today that
someone murdered MacSween shortly after. My father probably sent
his men to do the horrid deed. They made it look like a thief
killed him in Inverness.”