The Clan MacDougall Series (100 page)

“What shall I do?” Nora asked to no one in particular. “My only thought has been to get to John and Elise, and take them somewhere safe. I cannot, in good conscience, take them south if ’tis bad as you say! How will I keep them from harm?”

Her mind began to fill with images of ne’er-do-wells, dirty highwaymen, and heartless, lust-crazed men. She began to feel foolish and uncertain.

“Wheesht, lass!” Wee William whispered in her ear. “All be no’ lost now. Ye’ve other options ye might no’ have considered.”

Nora wiped away another tear, took a deep breath and looked at him over her shoulder. “What other options?” she asked hopefully.

“There is more to this world than England, lass. Much more,” Wee William whispered softly.

“Do ye mean I should go to France?” she asked incredulously. “But I cannot speak French, William.”

Wee William chuckled at her innocence. “Nay, lass, I dunna mean France.” He smiled thoughtfully and gave her waist a slight squeeze with his arms. “Have ye ever thought of going
north
?”

“North? We’re already as far north as we can possibly be, William,” she said dolefully. “We are just two day’s ride from the border.” She sighed and shook her head. “I wish to be as far away from
here
as I can possibly get.”

By now Horace’s and his brothers’ bodies were growing cold from their blessed deaths. Still, she had no desire to stay here. Her prospects of making a living here were nonexistent, unless she chose to work at Castle Firth. She would give no consideration to working or living there.

Her chances of finding a husband under the age of fifty were just as bleak. Though he was seven years her senior, Horace had been the most palatable of her choices for a husband. There were only three other available men in her village and each of them were old enough to be her grandfather. Horace’s age, along with his promise that he would allow her to keep John and Elise, had been the only reasons she had agreed to marry him.

“Nay, I dunna mean France,” he said softly. “Have ye thought of Scotland?

Scotland.
The idea had never crossed her mind. Of all the places she had thought of going, if she were ever free from Horace, Scotland was never one of them. Her parents, or more specifically her father, had always spoken ill of the Scots. There wasn’t a man or woman in her village that had ever bespoke a kind word toward the people who occupied the land to the north.

From the time she was old enough to talk, she’d been warned about the barbaric Scots. Scotland was filled with strange, angry men who raped, plundered, and murdered their way across the lands.

Again, she had to ask herself why she felt safer with these men, these Highlanders she’d been warned about since she was a babe, than she did with any other since her father had died? It made no sense. By all rights she should be absolutely terrified in their presence. Yet, she felt safer now, with Wee William’s arms wrapped around her, than she could remember feeling since her father’s passing.

“Ye’ll no’ find a more beautiful land than ours, lass,” David offered.

“Aye, no greener, lusher land and no better people,” Daniel said as further enticement.

Of course they would think such a thing. What good man doesn’t have a fondness and great love for his own country?

“What if I do not like it there?” she asked. “Would I have your promise that you’d bring us back to England?”

Wee William wasn’t about to make such a promise, not if he could help it. “That’ll never happen.”

“What won’t happen?” Nora asked, worried she might not like his answer.

“The chances of ye
no’
likin’ Scotland are as far-fetched as Daniel here sproutin’ wings and flyin’ amongst the birds!” Wee William said, adding a nod for emphasis.
Besides,
he thought to himself,
I do no’ plan on lettin’ ye go.

They made plans for the retrieval of young John and Elise. Much to Wee William’s consternation, he had to admit their options were few. Option one would be to allow Nora and David to slip into the castle, find John and Elise, and extricate them as quickly as possible.

Option two, which was far more to his own liking than the first, involved three hundred Scots hell-bent on revenge against the English, a catapult and flaming oil. Since they had none of the latter at their immediate disposal, and only because they could not wait to get off English lands and back to their motherland, they went with option one.

The decision made, they left their horses tied to a stout tree not too far from the wall of the castle. Nora was insistent that she knew exactly which of the solars the children would be sleeping in and just how to get into the castle. Wee William prayed the plan would be easily implemented for the thought of spending the rest of his life in an English dungeon was not one that he enjoyed.

“Och!” Wee William whispered harshly. “I’d like to keep both me eyes, David!”

“Sorry, Wee William,” David whispered back. “Can ye stand a bit taller?” he asked as quietly as he could. “I can almost reach.” David’s foot had slipped again, the toe of his boot poking into Wee William’s eye as he tried to find purchase on the top of Wee William’s head.

“Ssshh!” Nora whispered hoarsely at the two of them. “Do ye wish to be caught and thrown in the gallows?”

“Would ye like David to stand on
yer
head, lass?” Wee William shot back. ’Twasn’t easy having someone use you for a ladder.

Wee William took a deep breath and tried to stand a bit straighter. He had his hands wrapped tightly around David’s calves to keep him from falling and breaking his neck. Wee William stood on his tiptoes to gain the extra inch or two David needed to reach the window ledge.

A moment later, David grabbed the ledge of the window with his fingertips, grunted and pulled himself up. Quickly, he hoisted himself up and onto the wide window ledge. He crossed himself and thanked the good Lord for Wee William’s height and strength.

“Ee-God woman!” Wee William groused again as Nora began to scurry up his back so anxious she was to get into the castle and to her brother and sister.

With her snow-encrusted, fur covered feet, ’twas quite difficult to gain any traction. She had started to slip and grabbed Wee William’s hair to keep from falling back into the snow.

She shushed him again and began her ascent.

David tested the window and was relieved to find it unbarred. He stretched out on the window ledge, one hand holding the windowsill while the other reached down to grab Nora’s arm. After a few futile attempts, Nora growled and thrust herself up to David’s open hand. She began to recite the Lord’s Prayer as she dangled rather precariously in the air.

“Thy will be done,” was as far as she got before David swung her sideways and hoisted her up onto the ledge with him. She landed with a gasp and continued to pray.

“Lass, can ye let go of me beard?” David asked. His voice sounded pained, as if he were trying to keep himself from crying.

Nora hadn’t realized she was holding his beard with a death like grip until she opened her eyes. If it were daylight, he’d certainly see her face burn with embarrassment. She realized she would not have made a good soldier or spy, for she was terrified of heights.

“I’m sorry, David,” she said in a very hushed and humiliated tone.

“No worries, lass.” David let loose a sigh of relief when she finally let go of his beard. He rubbed his jaw for a moment before pushing her upright.

Under different circumstances he might have enjoyed having the lass straddling him as she now did. But fifteen feet off the ground on a window ledge attached to an English castle was not the best place for such things.

David sat up, pushed the window open and Nora slid into the room. David followed quickly behind and gently pulled the window closed. They took a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Soon, Nora began making her way between the pallets in search of her brother.

From one spot to another she slipped in between the snoring, teeth-grinding, dreaming young men until she found her brother. He was asleep on his back with one arm thrown over his forehead. She knew it was John because he’d been sleeping like that since he was a babe.

Ever so quietly, she bent to her knees beside her brother’s sleeping form. She was fully prepared for what would happen next for she’d been waking him each morn for years. Nora knew to stay away from the arm that rested comfortably on his forehead. David however, wasn’t privy to that information.

When Nora clamped her hand over John’s mouth, she made sure to keep her head away from his hand. John was notorious for waking up swinging and he did just that. Bolting upright, he flung out his arm and the back of his hand landed across David’s nose.

It was all David could do not to swing back or yell at the lad. Grabbing his nose, cursing under his breath, he grabbed John’s hand to keep him from swinging again.

“John!” Nora whispered. “’Tis me Nora. I’ve come to take you away.” She waited a moment for recognition to settle in before removing her hand from his mouth.

In the time it took for a heart to beat once, John’s tense shoulders sagged and his eyes filled with relief. “I thought you were Mad George coming to try to bugger me again!”

Nora hadn’t a clue what he meant and supposed she had disturbed John’s dream. She noticed David flinch as he drew his dirk from his waist and glance around the room.

“Put your shoes on, John!” she whispered.

John did as he was told without question. He donned his shoes and grabbed his cloak that he had draped across the blanket of his pallet. Silently, he followed between his sister and the strange man who was with her.

They paused at the door that led to the young ladies’ solar next door. Nora carefully opened it a crack and peeked inside. Thankfully it appeared all its inhabitants were asleep.

Nora turned and motioned to John and David to wait while she slipped into the girl’s solar. She knew if any of the women in the solar were roused, they’d not become alarmed at seeing another female figure in the dark. But a young boy and a large Highlander would bring forth enough screaming to wake the dead.

It took less time to find Elise than it had to find John. Elise was in a far corner of the room. Anger swelled when Nora saw her baby sister curled into a tight ball, wearing her cloak, the hood pulled up over her head to help ward off the cold. Could the older women not show some amount of compassion toward such a small girl and at the least offer to let her sleep near the fire?

Nora resisted the urge to scream at these women and, instead, gently nudged Elise awake. Elise’s little eyes widened with surprise and delight. When she saw the child draw in a deep breath in preparation of a happy squeal, Nora shushed her by placing a hand across the little girl’s mouth.

“Ssshh, Elise!” Nora warned her softly. “We’re taking you away this night. John awaits next door. I’m here to take you home, child. Ye mustn’t utter a sound or a word until we are far from here, Elise. Do you understand?”

Elise nodded her head vigorously. When Nora removed her hand, Elise held her arms up and beamed a very bright smile. Nora smiled in return before scooping the little girl up into her arms. Nora looked around for the little girl’s shoes before realizing she was wearing them, more likely than not to keep her little feet warm. Shaking her head, Nora made a solemn vow that she’d never allow her brother or sister to live in such poor conditions again. Silently they made their way across the room and back to the men’s solar where David and John waited.

Together the four of them wound their way back to the window where Wee William and Daniel waited below. Nora whispered into John’s ear that two fine gentlemen waited below and to do exactly as they said. John nodded once before he climbed out the window. He cast a glance to the dark figures below before looking back to his sister for some reassurance.

David clasped his arm around John’s before lowering him as far as he was able. John squeezed his eyes shut before letting loose and falling. Thankfully, Wee William broke his fall with a grunt. He righted the boy, turned him around and pushed him off toward Daniel.

“Ye go next, lass,” David said as he took Elise from Nora’s arms. Nora quickly explained to Elise that no matter how frightened she might be, she needed to remain quiet and let the nice man below catch her.

Reluctantly, Elise agreed and allowed David to set her on the ledge before dropping her to Wee William’s waiting arms.

’Twas Nora’s turn next. Without a word, she grabbed David’s arm, swung over the ledge and fell. She hadn’t warned Wee William that she was coming, and knocked him backward and onto the ground. His breath was momentarily taken away when he fell onto his back with her knee pressed firmly into his groin.

Without bothering to check if he was still alive, Nora apologized quickly. “My apologies, William,” she said as she scurried to her feet and grabbed her sister’s hand. Wee William remained prone as David fell away from the window. He landed on his feet before falling forward and landing on Wee William in a heap of grunts and curses.

As his eyes watered from the pain shooting through his loins, Wee William began to doubt his ability to live through this night, or at the least make it out with his manly parts safely intact.

They left Wee William where he lay as they hurried across the lawn toward the wall. It wasn’t until Wee William heard the angry barking of dogs that he found both the strength and the wind to move. He rolled to his feet as three mean, growling, snarling dogs rounded the corner at a full run.

The dogs were fast on his heals by the time he made his way through the hidden door and slammed it shut. A moment later, the warning bells sounded and much shouting could be heard coming from within the castle walls.

Nora was handing Elise up to Daniel as John was scrambling up to sit behind David. Wee William threw himself up onto his own horse and raced toward Nora. He leaned over, grabbed her around her waist and lifted her onto his lap before she could even make sense of what was happening.

Bare branches scratched and clawed at them as they raced through the dense forest. Nora clung to Wee William’s waist, all the while praying she’d not be jostled off the horse, and that no one in the castle would realize exactly what had happened until they were safely across the border.