Dawn on a Distant Shore (80 page)

Her voice rough now
with the effort, Isabel took up the story again. "I couldna think o' Jean
wi' my faither, and no more could I think o' mysel' wi' Moncrieff. There he stood
in the rain, sae proud o' himsel'. Mair than fifty, narrow o' shoulder and
slack o' gut, a mean-spirited, cankert auld man wi' naethin' tae recommend him
as a husband but the scapular he wore aroond his neck. I didna believe that my
faither wad wed me tae sic a man, Catholic or no, and I laughed in his face. I
said, "I'll take every Campbell in Scotland tae my bed afore I'll marry
ye, Angus Moncrieff." And I saw too late what I had done."

Moncrieff's face rose
before Elizabeth, contorted in rage about the Campbells. A sick knot rose in
her throat. Nathaniel put his hand on hers, and she clasped it with all her strength.

"Ye can guess the
rest. He threw me tae the ground. Simon screamed and screamed, but he wadna
stop. I foucht him--" She paused. "I foucht him until he hit me in
the heid sae hard that I saw stars. And then he finished what he had
started."

She reached over and
touched Elizabeth gently. "Dinna greet for me, Mrs. Bonner. It's lang
syne, and tears enouch ha' been shed on account o' Angus Moncrieff. And look,
the bairn is teary eyed, too. May I hold him?"

Nathaniel took Daniel
and settled him on Isabel's lap. The baby looked up at her soulfully, and she
ran her fingers through his curls. "What a braw laddie ye are, Daniel
Bonner. Come, lay yer heid."

The baby seemed to
understand her needs as well as his own, for he put his face against her thin
chest, content to let her pet him. "Baith o' mine were laddies," she
said, almost to herself. "But neither lived mair than a day. Walter wanted
a son tae inherit my faither's title, but I wanted tae raise up a lad tae bring
me Moncrieff's heart, still beatin'. The hardest thing aboot dyin' is that he
goes unpunished. And perhaps that's why I'm tellin' you this tale." She
met Nathaniel's gaze, and then looked away again before he could say anything.

"When I came tae
masel' agin, I was alone on the road. My heid hurt and my knees were wabblin',
but I feared Moncrieff had killt Simon, and sae I set aff hame as fast as I
could, unsteady as I was. And I found him, too, just where I thoucht he micht
be if he had got awa' frae Moncrieff. He was hidin' in the fairy wood. Feverish
already, and shakin' wi' it.

"I luved Simon
like a brither, though he was nane o' my bluid. And we sat taegither in the
rain, shiverin' and greetin', and holdin' on tae one anither. And then I said
tae him, "Come, Simon, come. We must rouse the laird and tell him that
Moncrieff has lost his mind. He'll send the men oot tae find him, and they'll
kill him where he stands." But the lad wadna leave aff wailin', and sae I
rocked him and sang tae him quiet, there in the darkened fairy wood wi' the
summer rain comin' doon. By and by he settled, and then he put his arms aroond
my neck--I can feel him still, shiverin' --and he said, "Moncrieff is aye
mad, but he's no' a liar."

"And that's how I
came tae learn the truth aboot my faither. "Ye owe Carryck fealty,"
he said tae me sae many times. And the while he was preachin' at me aboot my
duty tae Carryck, he was wi' Jean. He sent David Chisholm awa'--a finer man
ye'll nivver ken, for aa he's a Protestant--and promised his only dauchter and
heir tae
Angus Moncrieff
.

"And sae I left.
I left Simon there feverish in the rain, and I ran back doon tae the village
tae find Walter. And I asked him was it true, was he truly a Campbell o' Breadalbane?
And when he said it was, I asked him tae take me awa'. Even a day earlier I wad
ha' cut my own throat rather than take up wi' a Campbell, but not then. Not then.
I turned my back on Carryck, and Simon.

"It didna take
lang for me tae learn the truth aboot Walter. I was naethin' mair tae him than
a way tae win Carryck for his faither, and gain his favor. And then word came
o' Simon, deid o' the fever he took that nicht in the fairy wood, and I saw
then that I had nae choice. I marrit Walter Campbell, and went tae live at
Loudoun Castle when his faither made him curator. Flora was my only joy in
those years, orphaned as she was and needin' me.

"Perhaps now
ye'll understand," she said softly. "It's my fault that Simon died. If
I die unshriven, I'll burn for aa eternity. And now I'll take the laudanum, if
ye'd be sae kind."

She slept so deeply
that they might have talked, but Elizabeth had drawn deep inside herself and
Nathaniel knew that there would be no comfort for her now; no words would wash
away those pictures Isabel had drawn for them. It would take blood to do that.

There were reasons
enough to kill Angus Moncrieff: weeks spent in the Montréal gaol, Hawkeye and
Robbie lost, sailors drowned, children stolen, the new tremble in Curiosity's
hands, Elizabeth convulsed in agony, her eyes blank with fear. Reason enough,
but he might have walked away and left the man standing, until today. Now when
Angus Moncrieff died it would be for all those things, but most of all it would
be for Isabel Scott Campbell, once of Carryckcastle. My
cousin
.
Nathaniel thought it to himself for the first time, and knew that it was so.
And it would be for Simon Hope.

No matter how he went
back over the stories they had heard about Simon from Jennet and Isabel, it
just didn't add up. That a boy as strong as Simon was said to be taking a fever
in a summer rain and dying of it four weeks later made no sense. On the other
hand, Simon had been the only witness when Moncrieff raped the laird's daughter,
and that put him in a situation more dangerous than a summer cold.

Elizabeth put Daniel
to the breast, leaning against Nathaniel for support. He put his arm around her
and when his wife and son had fallen asleep he stayed awake to keep watch, his free
hand on the butt of his pistol, his thumb moving slowly back and forth over the
polished wooden stock.

They were traveling
alongside the Moffat Water, no more than an hour away from Carryckcastle, when
a sharp high whistle followed by rough shouting caused the horses to break their
stride. The driver bellowed oaths as the coach jerked to a halt.

Nathaniel held
Elizabeth steady with one arm while he leaned forward to stop Isabel from rolling
off the makeshift bed. The laudanum had done its work and she hardly stirred,
but Elizabeth came awake immediately as did the boy, stretching and fussing in
her arms.

"What is
it?" She clutched Daniel to her and he cried louder. "Nathaniel? Are
we being attacked?"

"Highwaymen, it
looks like," he said, trying to get a look at the horsemen who had come up
on the coach without making a target of himself.

"Highwaymen in
broad daylight?" Elizabeth was angry enough to march out there and
confront them--he had seen her do things like that before--so Nathaniel got
hold of her.

"Easy," he
said. "Let me take care of this." He drew his pistol.

"Walter
Campbell!" called a man's voice, harsh and imperious. "Show
yourself!"

Elizabeth's head
snapped sharply in that direction. "Highwaymen, indeed," she said, incensed
and relieved all at once. "Do you not recognize Will Spencer's voice? What
can this mean?"

Nathaniel threw open
the door with a grin. "It means the Campbells were dead wrong to think they
had us fooled."

Elizabeth was still
struggling with her open bodice when Nathaniel stepped out of the coach, but
she heard the reunion well enough. A moment of silence and then voices raised,
all of them talking at once, and through it all Robbie's roar, so loud that the
horses reared and the coach jerked again. "Christ save me,
Nathaniel!"

Isabel stirred slowly.
Her face contorted, confusion and pain both. Elizabeth's surprise and elation
at this unexpected reunion was replaced by concern for her.

"What is
it?"

Elizabeth put a hand
to her brow--her fever was high again, and her hair damp with perspiration. There
was a jug of water, and she quickly poured some, her hands trembling so
terribly that she almost dropped both jug and cup. Daniel fussed on the bench,
furious at being abandoned.

"Drink
this," she said. "And sleep. There is nothing to fear, it is just my
father-in-law, come to intercept us."

Isabel struggled up,
turning toward the men's voices. Then she closed her eyes and laid her head
back again. "Waiting on the road to Edinburgh. Breadalbane underestimated them."
And then: "How much farther?"

"Perhaps an
hour," said Elizabeth. "We will not delay."

"Elizabeth?"
Nathaniel calling for her.

Isabel put a hand on
Elizabeth's wrist.

"Did Flora tell
ye aboot the passage Walter is arrangin' for you?"

"Yes."

"Aye, I thoucht
she wad tell ye. She has a guid heart," said Isabel. "When the time
comes, will ye send word tae her, and tell her ... tell her tae be strong. Will
ye do that?"

Elizabeth nodded.
"I will."

Elizabeth delivered
Daniel--still howling his indignation--into his grandfather's arms. Eyes pooling
with tears, the boy blinked, sniffed, and then smiled broadly.

"Ain't you a
sight for sore eyes." Hawkeye lifted him up at arm's length and the two of
them studied each other intently.

Hawkeye was
sun-browned and leaner, but the serene self-assuredness that was his hallmark
was still there. When he put his hand on her shoulder some of that quiet energy
seemed to flow into Elizabeth, and for a moment her knees went soft with
gratitude and elation and simple comfort to have these men near again.

She patted Robbie's
arm compulsively and he patted her back, blushing and smiling in his pleasure.

"Mrs.
Bonner!" The driver called to her. He held his whip raised over the horses
and a desperate expression on his face, ready to bolt.

"MacArthur,"
she said, in a calm tone she knew he would recognize. "There is no cause for
alarm. Lady Isabel is in no danger. These are friends, although I realize they
gave you a shock. We will continue on our way in just a few moments."

The large jaw worked
convulsively as he tried to take this in. Then he sat again, his whip across
his lap.

"And here we
thoucht we'd have tae storm Carryckcastle tae see ye again," Robbie repeated
for the third time. "What are ye doin' here, and how come ye doon the road
in a coach bearing the arms o' the Countess o' Loudoun?"

"What are
we
doing
here?" Nathaniel laughed.

"Indeed,"
said Elizabeth. "We might ask you the same thing. You most especially,
William Spencer."

"He came to
rescue you from the
Jackdaw
, but he had to be satisfied with two old men
instead," said Hawkeye, tucking Daniel into the crook of his arm just as
Daniel tucked his thumb into his own mouth.

"Is that
so?" Elizabeth slipped an arm through his. "This is a William Spencer
I am unfamiliar with."

Will was not to be
ruffled. "Elizabeth," he said calmly. "You did not really
believe that once Runs-from-Bears told me of the kidnapping, I'd sit in Québec
and wait for word of your fate?"

It was Will's voice
and manner of expression, but otherwise Elizabeth hardly recognized her cousin.
Gone were the elegant coats and silk stockings; he stood before her in a rough
linen shirt and homespun breeches with a dark cape flung back over his
shoulders, his hair shorn close to the scalp. He too was leaner, almost wiry
now, and when he smiled he revealed the loss of an eyetooth, giving him a
decidedly disreputable look.

"I didn't think
you'd come racing after me," she said.

An oxcart piled with
manure and buzzing with flies came around the corner and slowed as the farmer gaped,
openmouthed, at the strangers gathered in the road.

"This ain't the
right place for a discussion," said Hawkeye.

"True
enough," said Nathaniel. "But there's things to clear up before we
get to Carryckcastle."

"And Lady Isabel
is in great distress," Elizabeth added. "We can delay no
longer."

The men exchanged
glances, and then Will Spencer spoke to Nathaniel. "You take my horse, and
I will ride in the coach with the ladies. That way we can exchange news as we
go along. Do you think that will be acceptable to Lady Isabel, Elizabeth?"

"I think she is
insensible of most everything at the moment," Elizabeth said. "But
give me a moment to make her ready."

"So it
was
Christian Fane," Elizabeth said later, when her cousin had related the
events of the last month: how Will had crossed paths with his old friend in
Halifax when he had been desperately seeking a ship and captain willing to
pursue the
Jackdaw
. The way they had come upon Mac Stoker just as they
had caught sight of the fleet on its way to engage the French. The damage done
to the
Jackdaw
, and Stoker's pride. Will's disappointment to find that Elizabeth
and Nathaniel were not on board at all, but on the
Isis
, a much more
formidable foe.