Passion and Plaid - Her Highland Hero (Scottish Historical Romance) (19 page)

“Aye?”

“I want to meet the famous Macgregor, too.”

John clasped his hand and shook.

Moving to where they stood, the judge called out
“and our winner is the man in the blue woad! Very good, although that last shot
was a bit uncontrolled.” He laughed so hard he began to wheeze, and John had to
pat him on the back a few times to help him straighten up. “Very good. Mayor,
here is your winner, and the second person to be joining you!”

Willard stood, obviously beginning to tire of the
festivities, but putting on a fine air anyway.

“Fine, fine. Good to have you join us. I’m
assuming you’ll clean up and put on some clothes before too long?”

“Aye, I can probably manage.”

John looked first to Gavin, who nodded in his
direction, and then to Lynne, Elena and Olga, all three of them squirming with
their hands tied behind their backs. Rage bubbled up inside him, but before he
knew what was happening, he was shuttled off by a pair of town guards to a tent
where Rodrigo was also waiting.

“They’ve got them. That slick bastard sheriff,
he’s-”

“Mhm,” Rodrigo grunted. “I know, I’ve been
watching from here. For all his faults, Alan is rather clever. I didn’t think
he’d be scouring the crowd for us.”

“Nor I,” John said. “But here we are. What do you
think will happen?”

“No way to tell. I’m sure we’ll find out soon
enough, though.” For a moment, Rodrigo remained silent, and then spoke again.
“I can’t shake the feeling that this was all a set-up.”

“The entire festival?”

“No, no, that would be extravagant even to catch
the Ghost of Edinburgh and his gang. But something certainly isn’t right. The
sheriff suddenly reappearing, the Company mercenaries, and all that, I just
canna say.”

Rodrigo nodded, never once taking his eyes off the
contest field. “One thing is certain.”

“Aye?”

“We’ll know soon enough whatever it is. Look,
they’re bringing out the cabers.”

––––––––

F
our men dragged a row of massive logs, all cut to
an equal length and thickness, out to the center of the field where so much had
happened in so little time. As each of them grunted and dropped the corner of
the massive canvas upon which they carried their load, the crowd became more
and more restless. From where she sat, Kenna had a clear view of everything
that happened, and she could finally see Gavin.

When the big scuffle happened a few minutes ago,
she watched in horror as her three friends were taken away. She looked over to
Rollo with worried eyes. The little man only looked at the field, rubbing his
hands together, with a terribly nervous look on his face.

“Is something wrong?” Kenna said to him.

“No, I’m just...I don’t know what’s going on down
there. I thought Alan was supposed to be at the estate doing some sort of work
for the mayor.”

Willard turned and looked at the both of them, a
broad and awful smile spreading across his face. “What I said, if you’ll
remember, was the sheriff was engaged in work for me. I didn’t specify what.
But I assure you, Kenna, your friends will remain unharmed, at least for now. I
only have to make sure they don’t do anything that could endanger the Company
contract or our wedding. Or, I suppose, our journey. Aren’t you excited about
that? What a wonderful chance, to see the exotic Caribbean. I’m so glad you’re
coming along.”

Kenna nodded, thinking less about the excitement
of sailing for six weeks in Willard’s company, and more about how his voice had
gotten distant and high pitched. She wondered if his sanity was slipping. Even
still, she couldn’t stop watching the tragic comedy unfold on the field below
them. The sheriff and his two men were handing her three friends with immense
roughness, pulling them around, yanking them to and fro.

“Canna you do something? They – Alan and those men
– they look like they’re hurting those women. Who are they anyhow?”

“Don’t play that game with me, Kenna.” Willard
narrowed his eyes. “They’re caught. The men and women alike, we have them.” He
said, smiling. “I think it is just about time to depart.”

“Depart? I thought there was some sort of dinner
for the winners?”

Willard turned to Kenna. “I’m keeping my end of
the bargain, as you’ve kept yours.”

“I’m sorry, but what?”

“I told you that I wouldn’t let your friends hang,
didn’t I? Kenna, you don’t seem to understand what a catch Gavin Macgregor
actually
is
. He’s one of the most famous thieves in Scotland. All the
nobles he robbed in Edinburgh, all the pain he caused the upper class hasn’t gone
unnoticed. If they find out he’s been caught, I don’t think he’ll live through
the night. And as you know, secrets don’t stay under wraps for long. This is
the best I can do for you...for them. They’ll be going with us to Jamaica,
though, as slaves-to-be.”

Kenna shook. She trembled, though whether it was
with rage or with terror, she couldn’t tell. “Steven, I...please,” Kenna said.
“Do whatever you want with me. I won’t fight you. I’ll go along with you to
whatever place you take me. I’ll marry you, I don’t care. Please, just leave my
friends alone. They haven’t done anything to you. Gavin, he...”

“He
what
, dear? Goes about righting wrongs
done by the English and making the world safe for Scots near and far? Breaks
the King’s law, God’s law, and anything else he sees fit to break in order to
do what he thinks to be right? That’s not a crusader, Kenna. That’s not a good
person, that’s criminal, that’s outlaw behavior. Life isn’t a Robin Hood
legend. Men who take the law into their own hands are no better than the men
they seek to punish. Often, you’ll find, they
create
the men they claim
to be evil.”

“How can you say that? How can you defend the men
who Gavin has stopped from hurting countless numbers of people? You say he’s as
much a criminal as them?”

“You throw around a lot of words, Kenna,” Willard
said, stepping close to her. “You say things like ‘criminal’ and ‘evil’ but
what does all of that mean? Are we not all evil? Sinful? They break the law but
how is his criminal activity any different? Because the things Macdonald did,
they affect common people, is that it? Nobles aren’t human, we’re all twisted
monsters, waiting to pounce?”

“That’s not what I said at all, you’re not-”

“I’m not what? Crooked? Corrupt? Oh I certainly am
not. Everything I do is within the law. Everything I do is for the good of
these people you presently see gorging themselves, gluttonous and slothful, on
my food and drunk on my drink. Whatever I do, I do to help them. Make them
better.” Willard leaned forward, hands on the armrests of Kenna’s chair, his
face so close to hers that she would have smelled his breath, if it had any
scent. “My whole life I’ve given to these sinful, pitiful wretches. I gave them
my daughter.”

“You did nothing of the sort,” Kenna said. “Your
daughter was killed by bandits who were themselves slaughtered by other
highwaymen. You just blamed it all on us. On the Scots. You needed someone to hold
accountable.”

Willard stiffened and waved his hand, dismissing
her words. “You think you know the world, Kenna Moore. You think you know
everything. You’ve never seen pain. Not really. You’ve never felt what I felt.”

Rollo pushed himself off his bench. “Councillor,
they’re waiting for you. Everyone’s watching,” he whispered. “Please, start the
contest. This is...”

“I’ll do what I want, when I want, you hunched
over cripple,” Willard snapped. “Return to your bench.”

Rollo’s entire body stiffened, prickling at the
insult.  But, just as he was ordered, he sat and remained quiet, although his
eyes were rebellious. Kenna had never heard Willard speak to him – nay, to
anyone – in such a terrible tone before. Something, she knew, had gotten to
him. What it was, she had no idea.

“Good. Remain that way, both of you. Quiet, calm,
and happy looking. This will be over soon and you can see your precious
criminal one last time. Oh, Rollo? One other thing.”

“Sir?” Rollo spoke to, but did not look at, the
mayor.

“The ship is ready, is it not?”

“It is, yes sir. An East India Company ship bound
for the Caribbean. Ready to leave from the Leith Docks in Edinburgh as soon as
you arrive.”

“Good. Very good. I believe that instead of
returning home after the contest, we’ll instead make haste to the south. We
could be there by midnight, and depart with the sun, yes?”

Rollo gulped and looked at Kenna for a moment
before responding. “We could, yes. Although I think that it would be best to-”

“No one wants to know what you think, Rollo. Make
sure the carriages are ready.”

Pursing his lips, Rollo replied that they were
already prepared to leave and that he’d summon them to the grounds.

“Good. Thank you, dear Rollo. You’re such a
wonderful assistant.” He bared his teeth in another terrible smile. “I couldn’t
get on without you. Oh, look! The men are assembling to throw these silly logs.
Let’s see, shall we Kenna, how your lover fares? Somehow I think he’ll come out
ahead. For now.” As he turned back to the field, Willard chuckled, shook his
head, and smiled.

“When will they learn, Rollo?”

“When will who learn what, sir?”

“These overly brave children who think they’re
going to save the world. When will they learn that they can’t? That no one
can?”

Rollo looked at Kenna, patted her on the shoulder
and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

––––––––

“A
nd with a truly impressive toss,” Willard said,
an obvious sneer in his voice, “the winner of the final contest for the day is
the fellow with the rather ornate armor, and the hood covering his face!”

By the time the competitors had all gone through
their turns, the unease that began when the scuffle broke out during John’s go
at archery had reached a peak. Almost no one seemed to cheer, or even to
notice, that the contest was over, so thick and heavy was the concern for the
women who disappeared. Almost everyone in Mornay’s Cleft had been by the inn at
least once in the past couple of days, so they weren’t strangers to anyone.

Gavin watched as the people filed out of the
seats, mostly just confused and looking rather dazed. He himself could barely
make sense of what was happening. All he knew was that everyone on the field made
no effort at all to throw their cabers.

“Bring them along,” Willard said to his guards,
“we’ll be going back to the manor to celebrate by carriage.”

Rough, callused hands shoved him through an open
tent flap and he stumbled forward, almost losing his feet. John caught him
though, and Rodrigo was standing close enough to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Did you see them? Elena, Lynne and Olga?” Rodrigo
asked.

“I did,” Gavin said. “They’re...well, last I saw,
the sheriff was taking them off somewhere, him and that pair of mercenary
followers he’s got. I get the feeling we’re going to meet up with them again
very soon.”

“Aye, and
I
get the feeling we won’t be
having pork pies and washing it down with whisky at the mayor’s table.” John
wrung his hands together, cracking his knuckles.

“And I’m surprised that we’re not yet shackled,
though that may be soon to change.”

Gavin paced back and forth quickly from where his
two friends stood to the opening of the tent to take a look around. “Nothing’s
happening,” he called back. “The festival grounds are just emptying out. I
canna tell, but from the feeling in the air, this isna a normal way to end a
harvest party.”

“Ach, aye, I canna imagine it is,” John said,
coming up beside Gavin. “But how strange could a series of events be? There’s
nothing that makes sense about any of this. We were costumed so no one would
know us. We were spread out and all watching each other to prevent this exact
business from happening, and yet here we are, thrown in a tent and waiting for
God-knows-what. And then the girls, and then-”

“He’s got Kenna. The mayor, I mean,” Gavin said,
his throat tight. “Did you notice how once the sheriff had Lynne and the rest
that his mood changed?”

“Mhm,” Rodrigo said. “Mayhaps he was waiting for
that, or for some sign from the sheriff. Perhaps that’s the only reason that
awful wretch was present? Because he knew us and could pick us out.”

“But these costumes, they should have thrown him
off. Especially with the crowd and all the chaos.” John kicked at a small clump
of weeds under his foot.

“I hate to break this to you John, but you’re half
naked. No amount of woad in the world is going to keep someone from knowing
you,” Gavin said.

John opened his mouth to protest, then looked down
at his bare chest with the smudged blue paint and said, “Well aye, fair enough,
suppose I am a bit of a sight.” He couldn’t help but chuckle as he flexed a
little. “Look, I’ve no doubt that we – you and I, and Rodrigo too – have gotten
ourselves out of much worse situations. The women complicate things, though.”

Gavin sat on the dusty ground. “Aye, true, and I’ve
never escaped from a small army of town guards, a crazed sheriff who wants my head
on a stick, and a rather determined pair of Company mercenaries.”

 “I can kill six at once,” Rodrigo said. Both
heads turned to face him.

“What?”

“Six.” He held up his fingers. “I can take that
many at once.” He flexed his fist and whipped his rapier from the scabbard on
his hip. “They haven’t taken Heloise from me yet.”

“Heloise?” John shot a sidelong glance to Gavin.
“You...named your sword Heloise?”

“I always liked the name.” Rodrigo nodded. “Seems
fitting.”

For a moment the three men stood in a circle, looking
at each other.

“Well, yes, I’m sure you and Heloise,” John
stifled a laugh, “can handle six men at once. But what about men with pistols,
and what if there’s a lot more than six?”