The Battle for Duncragglin (30 page)

Riding fully armored, Sir James charged from the blockhouse. He held a huge sword high with one hand, skilfully controlling his spirited horse with the other.

“That rules out entering the castle,” the professor said sadly.

Alex knew it also eliminated any chance of overwhelming the soldiers at the gate. Their only hope was to find a place to hide, perhaps in the stables or somewhere in the back
of a market stall. Either way, he was sure it would not be long before Hesselrigge found them.

Sir James drew in his horse while still high on the ramp. The horse reared and he deftly brought it back down. Both the soldiers and the stable master's men stopped to watch as Sir James lifted his helmet off his head and threw it to the ground. There was a stunned silence. Alex moved out from under the platform to see more clearly. Confused, he saw it was not Sir James holding his sword high, it was …
could it be?

“I am William Wallace!” thundered the big man on the horse. He leveled his sword at the soldiers. “My men have taken the castle. Lay down your arms now and ye will not be slain, on that ye have my word.”

Alex's head spun. It was the same big commanding William Wallace he had met in the rebel camp. Suddenly, he understood. Wallace had tricked his way in, disguised as Sir James – and he'd taken the castle! No wonder he'd seen so many of Wallace's men with the man he thought was Sir James! Joy welled up in Alex – he felt like he was floating.

The effect of William Wallace's words on the soldiers was remarkable. To a man, they dropped their weapons. The townspeople surrounded them, daggers raised.

“Stop!” Wallace shouted. “I said these men would be spared, and I mean to keep my word. Open the gates.”

The gates were opened. Alex's heart soared to see scores of Wallace's men waiting outside.

“Yes-yes-yes-yes!” Alex whooped, fist in the air. “They did it! The castle is ours!”

All around, people were pouring into the courtyard, emerging from market stalls and from wherever they had
taken refuge. Women waved their shawls, children skipped and danced, and the elderly thrust their staffs to the skies in triumph. Cheers and shouts of “Wallace! Wallace!” and “King John! Long live King John Baliol!” filled the air.

Alex spotted Sir Ellerslie on horseback, a woman riding sidesaddle before him.

“Over here!” Alex waved.

Sir Ellerslie urged his horse forward. The crowd parted, quickly filling in behind him. At first, Alex thought she was the lady he saw with Sir Ellerslie at the rebel camp, but as they approached, he saw she was not.

Loud and exuberant people jostled them, and Sir Ellerslie pulled up in their midst.

“Hello, everyone,” he called out. “I believe I have someone here whom ye may know.”

He sprang from his horse and reached up to assist the woman. She climbed down awkwardly.

Annie gasped through white knuckles. “Mother?”

Mrs. McRae took hold of Sir Ellerslie's arm. “But, m'Lord,” she said, looking dazed. “That child seems so very familiar – how can that be?”

“Is that perhaps your daughter?” Sir Ellerslie asked gently.

“Is she?” Mrs. McRae stepped forward and squinted. “Oh, I really wish I had my glasses; I can't see a thing without them.” She paused. “Do I have children?”

Sir Ellerslie shrugged apologetically.

Tears sprang to Annie's eyes. She rushed to embrace her mother.

“Wait!” Mrs. McRae cried, regarding the girl that held her tightly. “I do have children – at least I will have them.

But that will be a long time from now. I won't be having children for hundreds of years!”

“Mother, it's us,” Annie said, looking up at her tearfully. “We've gone back in time too, and now we're all together again.”

“It is
so
nice to meet you. My, you do remind me of the daughter I will have. And look over there – that lad looks like the son I'll have one day.”

“It's me, Mother. It's Willie.” He held out his hand hesitantly.

“Willie. What a marvelous name.” Mrs. McRae tousled his hair pleasantly. “I do believe that one day I will name my son after William Wallace.”

“Some farmers had taken her in,” Sir Ellerslie explained. “Apparently, she had been wandering about lost, cold, and hungry for some time and had become deathly ill. She was babbling about the horrors of hell and other such things.”

“I didn't deserve to go there – really I didn't.” Mrs. McRae pulled at her hair with both fists. “I was just walking my dog. It was his fault. That's right, it was the dog's fault. Maybe he was a little demon sent by the devil to trick me. He led me into that cave….” She sobbed. “I got trapped in there by the rising tide. I was just trying to get out, really I was….”

“It's okay, Mum,” Annie said, gently pulling down her mother's hands and holding her close. “Don't worry – you're out now. We're all together again.”

“We are?” Mrs. McRae's glazed eyes slipped into focus for a moment. “Is that really you, my dear, or am I going mad …?”

Annie's lip quivered. “It's me, Mother, and Willie.”

“Oh, good.” Mrs. McRae sighed with relief. “I was so worried. But, my how you've grown. You're both so big, I can hardly believe it. Well, let's go do some chores, shall we? It must be time for milking cows.”

Annie turned to where Katie lay under the platform. “Mum, that's Katie.” She tugged her mother's hand. “We have to get her into a bed – she's not well.”

Sir Ellerslie called two of Wallace's men. He directed them to take the McRaes to chambers within the castle's inner keep. “William Wallace will want to question them before long. Make sure they are kept comfortable until he arrives.”

Alex looked hopefully past Sir Ellerslie to where the men had entered the courtyard. Could his parents be among them? A hollow sensation gripped him.

“Have you seen any others that look like they might not belong?” he asked, not knowing why he did – he already knew the answer. “You know, wearing strange clothes, speaking like me?”

Sir Ellerslie shifted uncomfortably. “No, sorry.”

“Are you sure, no one?” Alex fought back tears.

Swinging back up onto his horse, Sir Ellerslie extended a hand and hoisted Alex up behind him. He gently tugged the reins and turned the horse about. “I am most impressed,” he said. “Ye set out unarmed and single-handed this morning and, over the course of a day, ye raise a fighting force, put many of Hesselrigge's men behind bars, and nearly take the entire castle.”

“We were done for,” Alex replied. “You came in the nick of time.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. There was not much left of Hesselrigge's forces when we rode in here. Between that terror of a man fighting the soldiers in the blockhouse and the mob rioting at the gates, ye just might have won regardless.”

“Is Don-Dun alright?” Alex held his breath.

“That man ye left in the blockhouse?” Sir Ellerslie laughed. “Aye, alright he is. It's a good thing he was not more successful, or there would have been no one left in the castle to fool into lowering the drawbridge for us.”

Alex clung to the saddle as Sir Ellerslie maneuvered his horse around a boisterous knot of revelers. “How did you avoid Sir James's trap?” he asked.

Sir Ellerslie chuckled. “That was easy because it was our trap all along. First, we planted word with men we knew to be Hesselrigge's spies that we would attack King Edward's men. That was a ruse to draw Hesselrigge's men out of the castle. It worked brilliantly. We could scarcely believe it when Sir James rode out with
two
companies.

“We engaged them on our terms. It was a tough battle, make no mistake, but they had nary a chance. In the midst of the fight, Wallace rode right into the fray and slew Sir James with that big sword of his – took his head right off with one swing.”

“One swing?” Alex echoed incredulously.

“Well, maybe it took a second to completely finish the job. Holding up the head of the enemy commander does wonders for morale. Then he took Sir James's armor and the horses of his commanders, left us to battle King Edward's most ill-prepared men, and rode out to the castle to fool his way
in under the guise of being Sir James. Brilliant, isn't it? Sir James's men defeated, King Edward's men defeated, and Hesselrigge's castle taken, all in a matter of a few hours. Wallace is truly a master strategist.”

As they were crossing the drawbridge, Alex asked, “Where are we going?”

“To see William Wallace.”

They dismounted in the very room that the stable master and Don-Dun had killed the two soldiers. Alex followed Sir Ellerslie up long stairways. They came out on the blockhouse rooftop battlements.

From this height, the tall perimeter walls looked small and insignificant. Waves crashing against the rocks, far below, made Alex think back to the picnic they had at the ruins with Mr. McRae. Everything seemed so much simpler then.

William Wallace stood casually among a group of men, one foot up on the crenulated wall. Upon Alex's approach, he leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knee.

“So here is our young warrior – one who comes from nowhere and sets out to take on a ruthless tyrant single-handedly.” Wallace clapped his big hand on Alex's shoulder. “Truly remarkable! Ye have surprised us all … but tell me now, and truthfully, who is Alex Macpherson?”

Alex hesitated, feeling many eyes on him. “Can I speak with you privately, sir?”

William Wallace nodded. The men about him took their cue and left. He motioned for Sir Ellerslie to stay.

Alex wondered where to begin. He took a deep breath. Wallace and Sir Ellerslie stood impassively, their faces betraying no surprise or dis belief as he told them about the time chamber, about how he was searching for his missing parents, and how he had come from a time far in the future. Only when Alex came to the point of telling how a learned man, a professor, had also come from his time did Wallace react. He waved for one of his men, a commander waiting at a respectful distance, and directed him to have the professor found and brought to him.

Alex continued his story, telling them how Hesselrigge, too, came from the future.

Wallace squinted. “This is the strangest tale I've ever been expected to believe. Should it be true, it explains much, but leaves more that I suspect will never be explained – or if it were, I suspect we would not fathom it.”

Men arrived to report to Wallace and receive instructions. Alex learned that those held in the dungeons were being released, although Wallace first wanted to know who they were, in the event there was someone of importance who either should not be released or, upon release, should be treated in some special manner. Preparations were underway in the kitchens to give them their first decent meal in a long time.

Alex also learned that, although Hesselrigge's soldiers were still locked in the dungeon where he had left them, there was no sign of Hesselrigge himself. The soldiers had freed Hesselrigge by prying loose his chains from the wall, but could not account for where he might be.

On hearing this, Wallace thumped his fist on the stone
wall. Through gritted teeth, he ordered his men to go back into the dungeons straightaway to search them thoroughly.

On the rooftop the professor appeared, accompanied by the commander who'd been sent to get him. The professor approached hesitantly.

“I-I'm pleased to meet ye, Sire.” He bobbed his head awkwardly.

“I've been told ye are both Hesselrigge's loyal fool and a learned man from a far distant time.” Wallace watched him warily. “Which is it?”

“Both,” the professor said, “although you can leave out the part about being loyal. Hard as it might be to believe, I have, indeed, come from a future time. Thomas Macintyre is my name. My reckless foray into the past has largely come about as a result of my endeavors to find the whereabouts of some missing persons, several of whom I believe you know.”

“This tale is so unbelievable, I'm still inclined to think of ye as naught but Hesselrigge's fool. Certainly, if I repeat any part of this tale to anyone, I will be taken as the fool; but, for the sake of amusement, pray tell what ye planned to do upon finding the missing persons.”

“Return them, Sire.” The professor spoke without hesitation. “Return them to the people they have left behind, the people who love them and miss them terribly.”

“Will ye take Hesselrigge back also, back to people who love him and miss him terribly?”

“I doubt that there are any, even in our time. Also, were we to take him back, he will be a man who has committed no crime for which he could be tried. He would walk free.”

“I say we try him now,” Sir Ellerslie said. “I suspect we know the outcome.”

“Aye, I'm with ye there.” Wallace broke into a rare smile. “But we have to find him first. From last reports, he has somehow managed to elude capture in the dungeons.”

“The caves!” The professor was agitated. “He might have found his way into the caves. We must stop him!”

“There is nowhere he can go that we cannae find him.” Wallace's voice was calm and measured. “We control the castle and the entire countryside for more than a day's ride.”

“No, the time chamber!” The professor's distress was growing. “He might escape through time. God knows what horrors he may inflict upon mankind and all our histories if he succeeds! Lend me some men, and I'll go after him. I may be able to find the way into the caves.”