Highland Thirst (28 page)

Tearlach
grunted what could have been an unhappy agreement and Lucy sighed and then
said, “In truth it is probably better that we did stop to rest. If we had made
it to Blytheswood, spread the truth of what happened, and raised the gate when
he and his men approached, I have no doubt Wymon would have laid siege and
attacked. I am sure he would kill every last mon, woman, and child at
Blytheswood rather than risk the secret of his murderous behavior reaching the
king.”

“He
may still be doin’ that,” Tearlach growled. “Yer men may ha’e raised the gate
when they saw Carbonnel and his men approaching.”

Lucy
shook her head. “I suspect not. The men would have no reason to raise the gate.
He is supposed to be our neighbor and friend. Nay. No doubt he has arrived to
find we did not go there and has settled in to be on hand and keep me silent
should we yet show up.”

“Aye,”
Tearlach said thoughtfully and then released a weary sigh of his own as he
added, “and obviously sent his men to scour the land in search o’ us.”

Lucy
nodded solemnly. “He wishes you back to torture the information he needs from
you, but now he probably just wants me dead and silenced.”

Tearlach’s
arms tightened slightly around her at those words, but all he said was, “Whether
he is inside waitin’ like a spider in its web, or outside layin’ siege,
Blytheswood’ll no’ be a safe haven fer ye.”

“Nay,”
she agreed quietly. “But I needs must know if my people are safe. If by some
chance they did raise the gate and are now under siege, I would need head
straight to court to speak with the king and ensure their welfare.”

Lucy
could feel the displeasure roll off of Tearlach at her words and knew he was
upset. He—understandably—wished to head out straightaway to find and save his
cousin, but he was also chivalrous enough that he felt he shouldn’t leave her
to travel alone to court and should accompany her. Before she could assure him
that she would not expect him to travel with her, Trinket whinnied and reared
as a figure suddenly leapt from the bushes and into their path.

Five

Lucy
thought sure they were going to land on the path with Trinket rolling on top of
them. The mare had gone upright, hooves pawing the air as she tried to avoid
trampling the boy who had appeared in their path. Unprepared for the sudden
rearing, Lucy simply fell helplessly back against Tearlach’s chest.
Fortunately, he had faster reflexes and apparently a good deal of strength.
Somehow he managed to keep them both on their mount while at the same time
turning the mare away from the boy.

When
her front hooves came back down, Trinket landed hard, sending a jolt vibrating
painfully through Lucy’s bones. She was sure it was no pleasure for Tearlach
either, but needed a moment to gather herself before she thought to glance back
to see how he was doing.

It
seemed the landing hadn’t rattled him as much as her. By the time she peered
around, he was dismounting and moving to the boy on the path. The lad had
fallen back when he found himself confronted with a pawing Trinket. He now lay
on the path, shaken but unharmed from what she saw before Tearlach reached him,
and his body blocked her view of the lad.

Lucy
quickly dismounted and hurried to join the pair as Tearlach caught the lad
under the arms and lifted him to his feet.

“Are
you all right?” she asked on reaching them.

“He’s
fine,” Tearlach rumbled, giving her a reprimanding look that it took her a
moment to understand. It wasn’t until his gaze dropped meaningfully over her
garb and back up that she realized she was dressed as a lad, but speaking in
her normal woman’s voice.

Grimacing,
Lucy pitched her voice an octave or two lower and tried again, “Are you all
right, boy?”

He
stared from her to Tearlach and nodded mutely.

“Willy!
What have you done now?”

Lucy
glanced toward the bushes as a woman pushed her way through the densely growing
branches and hurried to join them. She had a lit torch in hand and held it high
to light up the situation. The woman’s gaze moved from her son to them with a
combination of concern and alarm as she settled a hand on Willy’s shoulder,
then she turned to the bushes and yelled, “William!”

Lucy
glanced curiously toward the bushes, but the woman’s next words brought her
back around.

“You
wait until yer father gets here, Will Jr.,” she hissed. “How many times have I
told you not to be runnin’ off on yer own when we’re away from the castle.”

Lucy’s
eyes widened with alarm as she suddenly recognized the woman’s voice. The way
she held the torchlight kept her own features in shadow, but her voice was as
familiar to Lucy as her brother’s. The woman’s name was Betty and she had
served as her maid for the last six months since her previous lady’s maid,
Ilsa, had died of a chest complaint. Betty was a pretty little redhead with a
charming personality and a natural skill and ability at healing. She’d quickly
gained Lucy’s liking and trust.

While
Betty had only been her lady’s maid these last six months, she’d actually
worked in Blytheswood castle all her life, as had her husband, William. He ran
Blytheswood’s stables, having worked his way up from stable boy to stable
master.

A
nudge from Tearlach made Lucy glance his way to find him peering meaningfully
at her mouth. It was only then she realized she was biting her lip. Probably
not something a soldier would do, she acknowledged. Stopping the telling sign
of anxiety, she forced herself to stand a little straighter and tried not to
look as worried as she suddenly felt.

Trying
to ease some of the panic she was feeling, Lucy reminded herself that her face
was still filthy with the dirt she’d smeared on it to make their escape from
the dungeon, and she was dressed like a man. It was also a dark night out with
just a sliver of moonlight now falling on them. They would not recognize her,
Lucy assured herself. Still, she took a nervous step to the side, placing
herself half behind Tearlach and hopefully in his shadow. A little more shadow
on her face couldn’t hurt.

“Betty?”
The gruff voice was followed by a man exploding through the bushes and onto the
path. A couple of inches shorter than Tearlach and stocky, William had red hair
like his wife and bright green eyes that shot over the tableau, warily taking
in the situation as he placed himself a little in front of his wife and son. “What’s
happened?”

Tearlach
stirred and Lucy knew he was about to speak, but couldn’t allow it. His
Scottish accent might give them away. Catching the back of his shirt to silence
him, she tried to lower her voice even further and said, “No harm done. The lad
just ran out in front of us. My comrade managed to control our mount, though,
and no one was hurt. All’s well.”

Her
words didn’t make the man relax much. He still looked wary and as if expecting
to need to defend his family. It made her wonder. Why? And why were the family
out here so close to the edge of Blytheswood land rather than at the castle?

Noting
the way his attention was now on her mare, Lucy drew his gaze back to them by
asking, “You are from Blytheswood?”

“Aye,”
he answered slowly, his gaze sliding back to Trinket.

“Where
are you headed?”

William
didn’t answer, he was examining Trinket with an interest that made Lucy
nervous. It was Betty who said, “My mother has died. We’re going to York to see
her buried.”

Briefly
forgetting about William, Lucy’s eyes widened on the redhead. She had known
Betty’s mother. She’d been a kind and loving woman right up until the day she’d
died...three years ago...at Blytheswood where she’d spent her whole life. Betty
was lying.

Her
gaze moved over the woman with new interest. She was a pretty little thing with
big eyes and a wide smile. Lucy knew William adored her, everyone at
Blytheswood knew that. The pair were very happily married.
And
, she
recalled, Wymon had a reputation for abusing the pretty young maids and other
workers at Carbonnel. She supposed he would behave no differently at
Blytheswood if he were there.

“Did
Carbonnel hurt you?” she asked Betty.

“Nay,”
the maid said, but suddenly looked even more frightened and anxious than she
had, her gaze searching out her husband with alarm.

Lucy
glanced to William to see that he was now peering at her much as he had the
mare. She supposed he was wondering if they had fled the castle and Wymon, only
to run into two of his soldiers who would behave as badly or worse than their
lord. Wanting to reassure the pair, she shifted uncomfortably under his eyes
and muttered, “If I had a mother or sister working at Blytheswood, I would
recommend they visit family until Carbonnel left. He is not a good man.”

“Aye.
One of your comrades who rode in with his lordship said as much to several of
the pretty young maids,” William murmured, apparently deciding that—despite the
fact that they wore Carbonnel colors—they weren’t like the man who was supposed
to be their lord. “That along with the rumors of what goes on at Carbonnel was
enough to make most of the women at Blytheswood suddenly find an urgent need to
visit family, or suddenly too ill to work in the castle...And so it shall
remain until Lady Lucy is back and he leaves, I would imagine.”

Lucy
nodded. Wymon was at Blytheswood as they’d suspected and had been allowed in.
No doubt he was lording over her home as if it were already his. She could not
go there.

“We
were told the Scot killed your brother and carried you off with him,” William
commented.

“Nay.
‘Twas Carbonnel who killed John,” Lucy assured him, distracted by her thoughts.
It wasn’t until Tearlach turned sharply on her that she realized what the man
had said and how she’d answered. Eyes widening with alarm, she glanced at
William to see him smiling with satisfaction.

“Surely
you didn’t think you could fool me, my lady?” William asked with amusement. “I
recognized Trinket right off.”

He
moved to the mare and ran an affectionate hand down her side. “I’ve saddled and
unsaddled you every day since the old lord bought you for Lady Lucy six years
ago, haven’t I, beauty?” he said to the horse and then turned to glance over
his shoulder at Lucy as he added, “and I chased around after you and John often
enough when we were all children. Dressed as you are and with your hair down
your back you look very like he did when he was a lad.”

“My
lady?” Betty echoed with surprise and shifted the torch to light up Lucy’s
face. Her eyes widened incredulously. “It
is
you.”

Lucy
let her breath out on a sigh. “You can not tell Carbonnel or his men that you
saw us.”

“Tell?”
William snorted with derision. “I’m not planning on telling him anything. We
are going to my brother’s inn on the border with Oswald.”

Lucy
nodded slowly. While Carbonnel bordered their land on the south, Oswald was
their neighbor to the north.

“We
shall stay with him and help out to earn our keep until we hear Wymon is gone,”
William assured her, then paused and asked solemnly, “I don’t suppose that will
happen for a while?”

Lucy
shook her head helplessly. “I do not know how long it will take, William. We
have to find Tearlach’s cousin.” Seeing the confusion on his face at mention of
a cousin, Lucy quickly explained the events that had taken place at the inn and
told him about her and Tearlach being locked up at Carbonnel. He began to grin
when she told him about their escape.

“Aye,
you and John were always mucking about in the dungeons as children. Your mother
used to fret, but your father said to let you be, that you were having fun and
may learn something useful with the games the two of you played.” His smile
faded, leaving his expression solemn as he added, “He was right. It served you
well.”

“Aye,”
Lucy murmured sadly as she thought on her brother.

“I
was the one to take Carbonnel’s horse when he arrived,” William announced
suddenly. “When he heard that you weren’t at Blytheswood, he sent one of his
men to Rosscurrach to warn them of the escape. It may be where this cousin is.”

“He
said as much in front o’ ye?” Tearlach asked with disbelief.

William
shrugged. “He didn’t mention who had escaped and since none of us knew he had
the two of you, we didn’t understand. Besides, lords tend to ignore servants
for the most part and talk freely in front of us.”

“Rosscurrach?”
Lucy asked and then glanced to Tearlach. “That
must
be where they have
your cousin. Why else send warning to them? If we hurry we can be there by
tomorrow night.”

Tearlach
frowned. “We?”

Now
Lucy was frowning as she met his gaze. “Aye.
We
. You can not free him on
your own. You do not know how to unlock chains as I do. You need me.”

He
scowled. “What I
need
is to ken yer safe somewhere so I can concentrate
on what needs doin’ and not be frettin’ o’er ye. And
you
need to get to
court to tell the king the truth o’ what happened so Carbonnel can no’ abuse
yer women or try to wed yer cousin Margaret and gain Blytheswood.”