Finding My Highlander (20 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A commotion outside the colonel’s tent woke Andra. Every part of her stiff, sore body rebelled. It took a minute to gather her thoughts. It was still dark outside, and she could hear a man’s urgent voice in discussion with the colonel.

“Damnation,” the colonel hissed. “The complete annihilation of this accursed race of mongrel brutes and half-wits can’t come soon enough.” He called to his men to join him in his tent.

A few minutes later, she heard Cormag as well as the burrs of other Scotsmen’s voices mingling with the English. They argued and shouted, but none of it made sense.

“No!” the colonel commanded in a tone demanding immediate compliance. “You and your men will stay at this camp with some of my men until I send word about your next move. Do not mess with the women, Cormag, or I’ll relieve you of your bullocks and a few other loathsome parts of your anatomy. Am I understood?”

Andra could not hear Cormag’s reply, but the idea that he would be in charge of them in the colonel’s absence terrified her. She wondered which of the English would remain, though she didn’t trust them any further than Cormag and his miscreants. Somehow, she must get the girls away from here soon, especially with this change in circumstances. Now that the camp might be under Cormag’s authority, would the young Englishman help them? She needed to find out quickly and make their escape.

“Sir,” she called to the guard outside their tent. “We need to attend to our personal needs.” The girls woke at her nudging and Isabel wanted to know what had happened.

“I don’t know, Isabel, but it can’t be good. We must make an effort to get away as soon as possible. A rider advised the colonel of a problem that requires he leave with some of the soldiers. Cormag and his men will be staying in the camp. Do you think you would recognize landmarks to find our way home if we could escape?”

Isabel straightened her spine, a determined look in her eyes. “Aye, I’ve been to a number of the clan holdings adjoining our land and to the Cameron’s lands. Some are allies, some are not, but I think I could find our way.”

Andra wondered whether she should risk their lives with an attempted escape. Convinced they would risk something far worse if they stayed, she set her thoughts to how they might sneak away.

“When the guard takes us to attend our business pay attention to how many men leave and how many remain. We’ll take our chance as soon as possible. You know your brothers must have discovered our absence by now. They’ll have search parties scouring the land. Perhaps that’s why they’ve called the colonel away.”

She prayed for an imminent rescue, but would no longer wait for it to happen. The very thought that Kendrick and his men might be riding to their aid gave both comfort and concern. Images of him swooping in on his great, gray charger, as he had the night she had found Senga and Kyle, filled her with dread. Yes, they were warriors and accustomed to confrontation, but even warriors suffered injuries or death in battle. Now that she suspected their present captors had perpetrated the atrocity she’d discovered before, fear clawed at her gut. Why had they attacked those people and put them to the sword? Everything in this brutal era confused her.

“I won’t crumble, Dad,” she whispered to herself, rubbing the ring on her left hand, urging confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll play my part and make you proud.”

Isabel placed her bound hands over Andra’s, as did Senga. The young girls looked so vulnerable, so small, and so innocent. “We’re not afraid, if you’re with us.” Isabel said.

Two earnest, young faces looked to Andra for guidance. Their willingness to follow her lead steeled her resolve. She would see them to safety somehow. They would survive.

An English guard took them to a large oak just past the clearing. “Why has the colonel left?” She knew he wouldn’t disclose anything but asked anyway.

The man shoved and almost knocked her off her feet, which hurt terribly since she did not have her shoes. Then he grabbed her and pulled her against his chest, breathing into her ear. “The colonel’s business is no concern of yours. Keep your mouth shut and tend to your business before I forget my orders and tend to my own needs, if you know what I mean.” A large strong hand groped her backside.

She shuddered and pulled away. It was a bleak night. One could barely discern shadows the dark was so complete. A heavy mist swirled across the ground, softening the sounds of their movement. Even the rippling stream seemed blanketed. Faint sounds of thunder rumbled far in the distance, promising the possibility of a storm, despite the clusters of stars still visible between mounding clouds. The colonel and a contingent of his men had departed, leaving several soldiers and Cormag’s men at the camp. The soldiers seemed to be on heightened alert, strapping on mail, swords, and pistols at their hips. Andra thought she saw Lucas beside the horses, but couldn’t be certain. Cormag’s men huddled near a fire on the other side of camp, no doubt plotting their own vile strategies.

Their guard returned them to the tent and re-tied their hands. Andra remembered she still had her
sgian dubh
inside her vest pocket. She decided not to have the girls try to retrieve it until they managed an escape. No viable plan had yet come to mind and she didn’t want a guard to discover she possessed a hidden weapon.

Tense hours passed while nothing occurred. She stayed alert even though the girls had drifted asleep and now slumped against her. Soft gray bled into a shimmering silver sky when a rider pounded into camp.

She heard the English call out, “Who goes there?”

“Dugal MacDonald. I have urgent business with Laird Cameron and the colonel.”

“What the hell! Why did you bring her here?” she heard Cormag snarl.

“I had to come, Cormag. Tell this brute to unhand me and remove the binding. I have urgent news.” Andra recognized Vera’s voice and perked up.

“Take her to my tent.” Cormag bellowed.

Perhaps ten minutes passed until one of Cormag’s men told the guards that he’d come to take the women to his laird. An intense argument ensued until Cormag commanded. “Release Andra! You can keep the girls until I’m finished with the wench.”

The guards hesitated for a moment. “We are English soldiers, and do not answer to you, Cormag. Remember what the colonel said. You are not to touch the women in his absence.”

“I heard him, but things have changed. I needn’t remind you that I am Laird Cameron, and your colonel would not have managed success in half of his recent skirmishes and other endeavors without me and mine. Send the woman to my tent immediately.”

When one of the guards ushered Andra into Cormag’s tent she spotted Vera leaning against a table drinking wine. “Why do you need her? I’ve just given you all the information you need.” She stretched out a naked foot and rubbed it seductively up Cormag’s leg while glaring at Andra. “We have business of our own to attend to,” she purred.

Andra stared at the woman with undisguised loathing. “Why are you involved with this scum?”

Cormag backhanded her, re-splitting her lip. “Shut your mouth unless I ask you a question. The old laird has died.” He sneered then laughed. “That means your rescuers will probably be delayed. And I hear that Kendrick and his men have not returned to the keep. Perhaps a fight resulted from the diversion we used to steal you. Mayhap your precious Laird MacLean died in the skirmish. What I want to ken is how many men went with MacLean to the borders?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Andra stiffened her back and glared at him. Her heart ached for the grief that Lorne, Kendrick, Beatrice, and the rest of the clan would suffer. She decided not to tell Isabel until they reached safety.

The bastard circled, smelled her hair, then flicked his tongue along the side of her neck. She wanted to vomit. “I hear tell Kendrick found you after their last battle with the colonel and me men. They were hidden in the hills somewhere around here, and you are going to tell me where their hiding place is.”

Andra didn’t answer.

Vera rolled her eyes. “What is it about this woman that makes men slobber all over themselves? Cormag, let’s go to your keep where we can mount a proper defense.”

Cormag spun on Vera like a viper. “Dae you dare dictate to me?” he hissed.

“Nae, Cormag, but this wench is useless, and we should take shelter and plan a proper defense.”

“Dae you think you are a military commander now?” He grabbed Vera by her throat. “Nae, you are a nuisance, and now that you have left the MacLean’s keep, you’re of no value to me.”

Fear crossed her reddening face for a second. Then she placed a hand on his shoulder and one on his crotch. Gasping, she purred, “Cormag, you dinnae mean that. You ken I make you shudder with desire. We are two of a kind, meant to be together.”

He spun her behind the table and bent her across the top; his thick hand pressed her face onto the rough wood. “You are a hot, little minx. Mayhap you’re still of use to me.” He continued to hold her down while the other hand pushed up her skirts; his eyes never moved from Andra’s face.

Vera’s involvement with this beast appalled Andra. The girl had been the catalyst for their abduction. Still, she didn’t want to watch him rape the girl either. “Do you smell something?” she asked, lifting her nose in the air while keeping her eyes on Cormag.

He cackled and snarled baring his yellow teeth. “Oh, aye, that’s the smell of the wench’s hot cunny burning for me, just like yours will when I’m finished with her.”

“No Cormag, the stink in my nostrils is the stench of fear, of death and the clawing hands of the dead that hover around you.” She lifted her finger pointing over his shoulder as though a horde of apparitions floated behind him.

Fear flashed across his face, which he quickly suppressed with an arrogant façade of rage and lust. Nevertheless, Andra hadn’t missed it.

“She’s a witch, Cormag. Throw her out. I’ve heard she keens and casts spells in the pre-dawn hours.” Vera cried, her wide-eyed fear plastered across her brow, both from Cormag’s ministrations, and because she apparently believed Andra might actually be a witch. “Have the men burn her at a stake, and I’ll tend you like you’ve never experienced. You ken I satisfy your lusts.”

“Shut your mouth, wench. I’m going to give you what you deserve.” Banging Vera’s head against the table again, he fumbled with the laces at the front of his trews. “Pay attention, bitch.” He snarled at Andra. “You’re next, and I promise, you’ll be beggin’ me for release before I’m finished with you.” He shoved into Vera and thrust hard against her several times. The veins bulged in his forehead and his face turned crimson.

Vera tried to talk to him again. “Cormag, I ken what you want and how tae give it tae you. Let me up, Cormag, and I’ll help you.” Ignoring the girl’s plea, he kept thrusting, licking his dry chapped lips, glaring at Andra.

Disgusted, fear charging every nerve fiber, Andra turned away for a split second. She willed away the fear and revulsion swamping her, and turned to face her nemesis. Black eyes, darker than the gates of hell, bore into her. Perhaps if he feared her, he would stop. Then again, maybe he would rape her next, followed by a burn at the stake.

She didn’t know whether to scream for help or attempt to attack the man herself. If she called out, would the men who responded experience the same lust that now consumed the devil in front of her? The girls counted on her to return to them. That had to remain her primary concern.

Steeling her voice, she attempted a deep growl and tried again, “You have much to answer for Cormag Cameron, both in this life and the next. I see dark hands grabbing at you. All the women you have defiled, all the innocents you have murdered. Their loss will not go unpunished, and they will not leave until your body and soul are torn to shreds and sent to hell where you belong.”

He grunted and snarled, continuing to slam against an oddly subdued Vera. “I have no soul. That was lost to me long ago. I—fear—nothing!” he grunted with each thrust. Then he lifted Vera’s head off the table, pulled his dagger from his hip, and slit her throat without a flicker of remorse.

Chapter Thirty

Someone screamed and screamed. Andra couldn’t tell if the screams issued from her own lungs, or from the recesses of hell itself.

Two English guards, one of them Lucas, entered Cormag’s tent with pistols drawn. Lucas yelled at Andra, but she couldn’t hear him. Other men shouted and shoved, to get in or out of the tent, she didn’t know which.

Lucas dragged Andra across the clearing toward the tent where the girls were. “My lady, take deep breaths. The girls will be frightened enough over your screams. You must calm yourself.”

As they approached the tent, he told the other two guards what had happened and directed them to get the ensuing melee at Cormag’s tent under control. “I’ll take care of the women,” he assured them.

Once inside, he turned her to face him. “Lady Andra, I did not join Her Majesty’s Dragoons to harm innocent women and children.”

She couldn’t respond to anything Lucas said. All attempts to calm herself failed as the image she had just witnessed lashed her mind.

Finally, Lucas slapped her cheek and shook her shoulders. “Andra, collect yourself! My apologies for the rough treatment, but you must come to your senses and move quickly. Cormag has gone mad, and I don’t know when the colonel will return. You and the young ladies are in grave danger.”

He went to the girls and cut through their ropes. “I moved one of the horses behind the colonel’s tent. I could not move more than one for fear of detection, so you will need to ride together. As soon as I leave, slip under the back, grab the horse, and go over the hill behind us. Circle down through the woods, and then enter the stream below so your trail will be lost. When you leave the stream, stay concealed in the trees as much as possible. The fog is thickening and may provide additional cover as you make your escape.”

Andra came to her senses and moved into action. Action always helped her focus. “Do you have any weapons we can take with us? A bow and arrows perhaps?”

“Yes, I put one on the saddle. Don’t stop to use it unless you have no other choice. Once they discover you’ve gone, there’s no telling how things will go should they catch you.”

Isabel touched his cheek with her slender hand. “Our thanks to you, Lucas Temple. May the good Lord bless you with better companions in your future.”

He held Isabel’s gaze for a moment, as if memorizing her face, and then swiftly departed.

A brawl involving several of Cormag’s men and English soldiers distracted the guards when the women made their escape. Bent forward they crawled out of the back of their tent. Dark clouds and thickening fog blanketed them in a muffled gauzy cloak. As soon as possible, Andra helped the girls mount and prayed the men would kill each other before they noticed them gone.

Once they crested and dropped behind the hill, she looked around. “Do you recognize any landmarks, Isabel?”

“Nae, the fog obscures too much of the landscape, but I don’t think Lucas would help us escape then give us false directions.”

“No, you’re right.”

They followed along the base of the hill, through the woods and entered the stream some distance from camp. Andra walked the horse through the water for quite a while. Their pace was too slow. It wouldn’t be long before the men discovered their absence and began a search to recapture them. They had to pick up their speed or find a place to hide; she could not allow those beasts to take the girls again. Kicking the horse to a canter, she rode out of the stream. Twisting through thick bramble and dense clusters of trees, never positive of their location, but certain they headed away from the camp, Andra taxed their horse to its limits.

They had only traveled a few hours before they heard a sound like far off thunder. Andra knew that thunderous sound. The pounding of horses’ hooves approached them from behind. She moved deeper into the woods and maneuvered their mount under a grove of trees with low hanging branches thick with autumn foliage.

Urging the girls onto a sturdy lower branch she hastened them up, “Climb as high as you can. Cling low against the branches. I’ll lead the men away from your hiding place. Don’t come down unless I come back for you, or members of your clan or allies you recognize arrive.”

Isabel kissed Andra’s cheek, and then climbed up without a word of protest. Andra handed her the bow and quiver of arrows. “Don’t shoot unless you are sure they have discovered your hiding spot. Then shoot to kill. But do nothing to draw their attention.”

Senga squeezed Andra’s shoulder, let a whimper pass her lips, and took Isabel’s extended hand. They climbed high into the tree as Andra took off at a full gallop bent on keeping their pursuers away from the girls. The thick blanket of debris on the forest floor might provide sufficient coverage to hide her trail. An urgent refrain, whispered like a mantra, beat against her brain. “
The girls must not be found; the girls must not be found
.”

A loud clap of thunder rumbled, then another. The heavens opened a deluge over her head. Andra prayed to every deity she could name, including the spirit of the horse under her, who sped through the forest like a wild demon.

“There they are!” A man called out. He had spotted her darting through the trees.

She glimpsed a road ahead on her right, bent tight against the horse’s withers, and galloped forth. The open road would allow her greater speed than skirting through trees, especially since her pursuers rapidly closed the distance between them. The men screamed their war calls, and she screamed one of her own, calling upon ancestors known and unknown to give wings to her frantic flight.

A man on a huge, brown charger tried to cut off her slathering horse. Skirting his attempt to stop her, Andra kicked hard on the sides of the poor animal giving his all to aid her escape. She had managed to ride a good distance from where she’d hidden the girls. She prayed it was far enough. Eventually, Lucas pulled up to her right side and grabbed the reins out of her hands.

Captured
. She cried in her heart, but released no tears to reveal her emotions to the men.

Lucas reached over and pulled Andra onto his horse. For a young man he possessed surprising strength. “I’ll take the woman,” he shouted. “Stay between Cormag and me. I don’t want him anywhere near us until the colonel returns,” he ordered the soldier beside them.

Cormag pulled up behind, screaming. “Where are the other whores? She kens the MacLean’s hiding place and hid the women there. Give her to me. I’ll get the location out of her one way or another.” He was slathering and foaming at the mouth worse than the exhausted horse under him.

“You’re not in charge here, Cormag. You’ll not touch the woman. I follow the colonel’s orders. Take it up with him when he returns.” Lucas turned his horse and headed back to their camp at a trot.

As soon as they rode away, he leaned against her ear and whispered, “I apologize, my lady, but don’t fear. I won’t turn you over to Cormag for any reason. At least you hid the girls.”