The Heather Moon (8 page)

"Think of your daughter, man. She could be hanged for a tawny and a thief. And you, gypsy"—Musgrave looked at Tamsin—"will you dance at the end of a rope?" He picked up the noose that lay on the table, and drew its loop through his thick fingers. "Will you watch your father dance there?"

He handed the rope to Arthur and murmured to him. Arthur stood and came forward. In a quick and surprising movement, he stepped toward Tamsin and dropped the loop over her head. He slid the knot tight, jerking her head back.

Tamsin cried out as she felt the wrenching pressure at her throat. She raised her bound hands to the rope and clawed awkwardly at it with the fingers of her right hand. Arthur tightened the knot again, until she felt dizzy, heart pounding, knees growing weak.

Through a haze of shock and fear, she heard Archie bellow at Arthur, and saw William Scott stride toward her.

"Stay where you are!" Jasper Musgrave said. "Arthur, if either of them comes near, pull the knot hard. Now, Archie," he said smoothly, "tell me again that you refuse to help us."

"She has naught to do with this!" Archie shouted.

"Leave her be," William said. His voice was quiet, a growl of thunder in the room. Tamsin saw him step closer, saw Musgrave throw up a hand to stop him.

"Archie only needs convincing. She will not be harmed." Musgrave smiled. "We can use the skills of a gypsy—this one, or another of her acquaintance, if she will not cooperate. Archie will know who to hire for us."

William ignored him and looked at Arthur. "Let go of her."

Arthur paused, and Tamsin pulled helplessly at the rope. Musgrave heaved himself to his feet and walked toward her. With one finger, he traced her throat. Waves of dizziness and fury washed over her.

"A fragile neck," Musgrave murmured. "'Twill snap quick."

Swift and sure, William Scott swept past Musgrave like a bird of prey to grab Arthur's arm. He slipped his other arm around Arthur's neck and pulled back. Tamsin felt another tug as Arthur kept his grip on the rope.

"Let go, Arthur," William growled, "else your own neck will snap!"

Chapter 4

"Have you any gold, Father?" she says,

"Or have you any fee?

Or did you come to see your own daughter hanging

Like a dog, upon a tree?"

—"The Broom o' the Cathery Knowes"

Time and breath seemed to stop for a moment while William waited, heart pounding, the crook of his arm around Arthur's neck. "Jasper," he said. "Tell your son that I mean it."

"Eh, let go of her, lad," Musgrave rumbled.

Arthur released the rope. William flung him aside, scarcely noticing as Arthur stumbled to the floor and regained his feet.

The girl struggled for breath and clutched at the rope with one bare hand. William widened the noose and slipped it over her head. He whipped the rope away, and it smacked into the wall and slid into a heap. The girl coughed, and William touched her shoulder, his fingers trembling.

She looked up at him. Her green eyes had a startling clarity, as if her unguarded soul glimmered there, as elusive and shining as the shadow of a fish slipping past underwater.

A moment passed, no more, while he wondered at what he saw: innocence pure enough to tug at his heart, a precious spark of trust. Then her eyes clouded and she looked away.

"Th-thank you," she murmured, her voice hoarse.

"Tamsin," he whispered. "Are you hurt?" He cared only that she was safe. He scarcely noticed the three men who stared at him, one in gratitude, two in anger. They were dim candles beside her eloquent flame. He felt her heat beneath his hands, spreading into him.

"She's unhurt." Jasper Musgrave waved a hand casually as if to dismiss the incident.

"Tamsin?" William asked again.

She nodded, her bare fingers easing over her throat. "I am fine." Her voice was faint, strained. William merely nodded, though he felt a raging impulse to throw a Musgrave or two through a window. Silent, deliberately calm, he lifted his hand from her shoulder.

"Lassie, are ye sure ye're unharmed?" Archie asked beside him. The girl nodded, and her father turned to William. "I thank ye, sir, I do," he said gruffly. His eyes were as light and vibrant a green as his daughter's, William noticed. Relief and gratitude, and something more, seemed to shine there.

"I did what was necessary to stop a cruel thing," William said, looking at Musgrave in disgust. He walked away, turning his back on the others to stare out the window.

"Eh, she's fine," Musgrave muttered. "'Twas but to make a point with Archie."

"The devil's own point, Jasper," William snapped over his shoulder. "Ill thought and ill done."

"'Tis a mighty fuss over a gypsy," Jasper replied in a low voice.

"Over a woman," William corrected.

"Aye! And a bonny woman she is, and shouldna be treated thus! Rookhope knows it, hey!" Archie said.

William heard Jasper snarl at Arthur, blaming his son for a cruel act that had been his own suggestion. Arthur slammed the door as he left.

William stared unseeing through the thick window glass. He fisted his hands and took in a breath as he mastered his temper. The sight of the noose around the girl's neck had shaken him deeply. Such a threat meant little to men like the Musgraves. Hanging was a common punishment dealt out by reivers, lawmen, and kings alike. But William did not regard the act of hanging so casually.

Even the sight of a noose could bring a cold sweat upon him, could make his heart pound and edge his temper toward boiling.

He would carry the gruesome memory of his father's death forever.

Seventeen years had passed since that day. He had learned to cool his anguish, to bury it deep, suffering the occasional dreams and memories in silence. But nooses, ropes, and cruel acts such as Musgrave favored could draw the pain and the anger to the surface in an instant, challenging his usual calm.

When he had seen the rope around that fragile, beautiful throat, a well of fury and fear had gathered within him. Control alone had kept him from exploding into a savage act. Now his temper still rocked, his legs still trembled. He flexed his hands and stared through the window in silence.

"She's a fine lass," Archie said, capturing William's attention. "Some man will be fortunate to have her to wife. And nae Musgrave is worthy to speak her name! Ye're the de'il's own, Jasper, and yer son. I willna forget this."

"You and your damned tawny stole my horses, you scoundrel!" Musgrave shouted. "'Tis a hanging crime!"

William turned. Though he did not look directly at the girl, he felt her gaze, full and luminous, on him. Since the moment she had walked into the room, she had claimed a steady thread of his awareness. Now he felt the thread strengthen to a cord, as if his act of protection had truly bonded them.

"Jasper," he said. "If you want my cooperation, deal with these people honorably."

Musgrave drew a breath. "Armstrong, your girl's life will be spared... or not. That depends on what you decide now."

"'Tisna necessary to threaten me through my daughter! 'Tis a coward's way. Eh, maybe 'tis yer way, ye blackhearted dog."

"I willna hesitate to hang her! There are laws against tawnies wandering free in England. I have the full right of this, and you know it. Make your decision. Agree to help me, or watch her hang, and then be hanged yourself."

William saw Archie sigh, saw his shoulders slump in visible defeat. The girl watched her father with wide eyes.

"What will ye have of me?" Archie asked, sounding resigned.

"Gather men who will follow me, and gypsies as well," Musgrave said. "I will supply coin for you to pay them all, but I want a list of willing names and signatures, or their marks, and how much you paid to each. I want the list in a fortnight, and then you will learn more."

"I must know more now," Archie said. "Borderers and gypsies are a suspicious lot. They will ask questions."

"Just use coin, man," Musgrave said. "Or threats. As you choose. See it done within a fortnight."

"This secrecy and intrigue speak ill of your scheme, and of your king," Tamsin said hoarsely.

"If Henry Tudor means to start new wars along the Borders," Archie said, "I willna help ye. I will turn the Bordermen against ye, Jasper Musgrave. And that will cost ye nae coin at all!"

Musgrave gestured toward William. "Rookhope sees the sense of this scheme! And he is a man of reputation in the Borderlands, and at court. If you have any sense at all, you will see the advantage in joining us."

"He clearly knows more about it than I do," Archie said. "Ye keep yer secrets close, Jasper."

"Just trust that this is a wise and necessary action, which can prevent years of war between England and Scotland," Musgrave said. "I will see you in a fortnight, Archie."

"If the Borderers refuse..." Archie shrugged.

"Then I have plenty of rope," Musgrave said. "See you, more than Armstrongs will hang if any Scotsman sets foot on my land or acts against me. I will come to Merton in two weeks, with your daughter. I will release her then."

"You canna hold her here!" Archie said.

Tamsin gasped. "I must go with my father!"

"The gypsy will act as your pledge, Armstrong, until the signed promises of willing Bordermen and gypsies are delivered to me. Trustworthy gypsies—if any exist."

"Holding a pledge for good behavior," William said coldly, "is part of Scots law, not English."

"True," Archie said. "The English dinna take honorable pledges. They take hostages, and mistreat them. Ye canna keep her here and get my word on anything."

"I can. I am a deputy in this march. She is my prisoner for crimes committed last night and on other occasions. As are you, Archie. But I will release you for a fortnight only. Do what I want, or your daughter will suffer for it."

"I need the lassie's help to speak to the 'Gyptians," Archie said. "They willna listen to me if I come to them without her." Tamsin knew he lied for her sake.

"Aye, he needs me to talk to the Romany," she said. "He canna find them without me, unless they travel over his lands."

"She speaks their foreign tongue, which they teach only to their own kind," Archie said. "If ye want the help o' the gypsies, then ye must let her go wi' me. I will return in a fortnight. Ye have my word on it."

Musgrave waved a hand loosely. "I cannot let you both go free on the strength of mere promises. She'll stay."

"What d'ye want? A ransom fee? I'll pay it, whatever 'tis. I have gold aplenty."

"Plenty of gold to a Scot is a pittance to me!"

"Ye bastard, I misdoubt ye'll keep her safe!"

"I'll keep her as safe as I please, you old field bull!"

"Cur! Ye willna—"

"Enough!" William said. "I will take her into my custody."

The others turned to stare at him. He had spoken on impulse, weary of the battling of two stubborn enemies who tugged the girl's fate between them.

He knew his offer made good sense. "I will keep her as a pledge at Rookhope for a fortnight," he said. "'Tis common practice for a Scotsman to take custody of a Scottish prisoner, even when the accuser is English."

"Aye! Let Rookhope have her," Archie said. The glare that Tamsin shot her father would have melted a lesser man, William thought. Archie looked unperturbed.

Jasper Musgrave frowned. "'Twould be acceptable. The gypsy would still be under my supervision, in a way."

"You have no authority on Scottish soil," William pointed out. "But I can hold her, and put a stop to this squabbling—for a while, at least," he added.

"I dinna want to go with Rookhope, nor stay here," Tamsin said to Archie. "Da, I must be free."

"Tamsin, 'tis Rookhope," Archie said. "Ye'll be safe."

"He—he means to keep me prisoner!"

"We are not offering you a choice, gypsy," Jasper said. "One dungeon is as good as another. You are my surety, so you must be confined somewhere. Do not forget about the charge of horse thievery."