FLAME ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS (19 page)

An idea took fruitation in her brain, one she could not dispel.  Why not go to the
Campbell camp and talk with Duncan Campbell himself about the matter? She'd face the fiercesome laird and ask voice her misgivings.  Perhaps he'd be impressed with her fortitude and daring and reward her by choosing to marry  the man she preferred. Aye, she liked the idea. She’d show Duncan Campbell she was a lassie with spunk. She would marry a Campbell, on that she'd keep her word, only his name would be Ian.

Chapter Twenty

The castle was shrouded in darkness.  Everyone was abed except the two red-haired lassies who faced each other squarely across the narrow bed.   "I've thought it out and there canna be any other way."

"Brie, ye must be daft!    Touched in the head if ye think ye can get away wi' this. Father will hae yer head and mine as well!  And it will all be for naught."  Glenna clutched at the folds of her dress, frightened for her sister and for herself.  Surely Brianna could not be serious about what she proposed, to boldly travel to Campbell territory and take matters into her own hands.  "Father will......"

"Be an old goat!  I di
nna ken what is wrong wi' him of late.  Look how stubborn he has been on the matter of Alastair.  When I was so certain I could make him listen to reason."  Her father’s unrelenting attitude piqued Brianna.

"He has yet to agree to let Alastair fight for me but...."

"But he willna get the chance to tell me nae."  Coming to Glenna's side in three quick strides, Brianna grasped her by the shoulders.  "Please, Glenna!  I must get this matter settled.  I canna dawdle,  I hae to hurry. Once assured of the marriage settlement, once Father hands me over to the Campbell, thereafter the contract is unbreakable and I'll hae to take Robbie as my groom."

"But to travel by boat!  Ye might be taken by the
cailleach uisge
and I'd ne'r see ye again."

"O
ch, I'm no' afraid of the water hag and besides, I won't be alone.  I'm taking one of the fishermen's sons wi' me. Darach. He's the only one I can trust not to tell Father what I'm planning."  Proving her determination, Brianna moved about the room, gathering up a few necessary items to take with her on the journey, wrapping them in a bundle.  A comb, her
cuarans
to wear along the rocky path, a broach, a
curraichd
to tie around her head if it was windy.

“Oh, Brie! Don’t go! Ye’ll disappear just like aunt Mary and I willna see ye again.” Yanking the brooch and comb away, Glenna put them back.

“I willna disappear.” She tried to sound a lot braver than she felt. The story of her aunt still haunted her. “Aunt Mary may hae run away! I often wonder.”

“I think she did. Father told me that she wanted to marry a
Campbell.”

“A
Campbell?”

“Can ye imagine that?” Glenna clutched her sister’s hands. “Perhaps she got lost going to the
Campbell lands, just as ye are doing right now. I dinna want ye to suffer her fate. I want ye to come back!”

“I will!” Brianna retrieved her possessions, carefully tying them in the curraichd. “I hae still to convince father to let ye marry Alastair, hinny.”

"But what will Father say when he finds out ye hae gone.  He'll come after ye, move heaven and hell to catch up wi' ye.  Ye'll be caught before ye get very far and a whipping will be yer only reward for being so braw!"

Brianna grinned.  "Father will no' e'en realize I'm gone.  That's where our being look-alike sisters will be to my advantage."

              Brianna whispered what she planned, enlisting Glenna’s aid, reminding her sister of how, when they were small children, they used to take great delight in tormenting their father by confusing him as to who was who with their masquerades. It had been an enchanting game. Now it could be employed to keep her escapade a secret from her father. Glenna could pretend to be Brianna. She had to.

“What?” Glenna was incredulous.
             

"It's very simple, hinny.  Ye merely play a duel part.  As yerself and me as well!  That way Father will not even realize that I am gone.  By the time he does find out I'll hae visited the
Campbell hall and convinced Duncan Campbell of the wisdom of my proposal."

"Nae!  We did that
years ago. I could ne'er pretend to be you.  Not now!  He'd realize in an instant, the moment my knees started shaking.  Ye canna go, Brie!"

"I am going.  With or wi'out yer help I've made up my mind.  Ye canna prevent it.  Do ye ken?  But I was hopin' ye'd remember that when I realized how important Alastair was to ye, I came to yer aid."  It was a despicable thing
, reminding her sister of how she had volunteered to marry the Campbell heir in her place, but Brianna was desperate.  If Glenna did not agree, she would certainly be overtaken and brought back to the hall before attaining her goal.

"Aye, I couldna ever forget." Glenna did want to repay Brianna in some small measure for her self-sacrificial act. 

"Ye might as well help me."  By hook and by crook she somehow managed to convince Glenna the perfection of her reasoning.  "Ye can hae fun, hinny.  Just be as bold as I am when ye're pretending to be me. I know ye can. Please. Will ye do it?"

Glenna nodded reluctantly then s
uddenly she threw her arms around her sister. Her tears splashed Brianna’s face. “I’ll do it. But take care, Brie. If anything were to happen to ye I'd never forgive myself."

"Nothing will happen!  Ye'll see.  Everything will be all right.  And when I come back I'll talk wi' Father again about Alastair.  I want us both to be happy, hinny
, but the only way to get what ye want is to control yer own fate, I be thinking."  Bold talk.  Forcing a self-confident smile, Brianna blew out the candle.  "Now let's get some sleep. Before the sun comes up I'll need to be gone." Brianna was excited, but also a bit afraid at the magnitude of her act.  Fumbling around in the dark with her precious bundle, she said a silent prayer that she would have no regrets for her decision.

PART TWO:   The Reluctant Bride

The Lochs of North Argyll –

Summer - Autumn

“Had we never lov’d sae kindly,

Had we never lov’d sae blindly,

Never met, or nevr parted,

We had ne’er been broken-hearted!”

--Burns –
Ae Fond Kiss

Chapter  Twenty-One

Duncan Campbell lounged drunkenly in his carved wooden chair by the roaring hearth fire, taking long gulps of his ale, idly watching his handsome dark-haired nephew.  Something was wrong with the lad but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.  Since coming back from the Isle of Ulva, Ian was more subdued, less cocky.  He seemed deep into contemplation for long periods of time, laughed seldom.

"Did I not know better, I'd think the
MacQuarie's sent back a changeling in yer place, Ian.  Of a surety I would," he said at last. Ian's reflective mood was bothersome for he relied on the young man to amuse him. 

"Perhaps they did, Uncle for I am not the same man who left this hall.  Aye, I've changed."  Strange how one wee lassie could work such havoc in his lif
e, he thought and yet she had. The very thought of her marrying Robbie caused  a gnawing ache in his heart that he could not remedy no matter how hard he tried.

Squinting his eyes,
Duncan tried to decipher Ian's meaning. "And I dunna like it!  Hovering about the hall like an old woman. Agh!"  His mouth was tight as he said, "By Saint Michael, tell me what's wrong, mon. I dunna hae the fey.  I canna read yer mind."

"All right.  Since you asked me Uncle, I'll tell you." How could he hand the woman  he loved over to another man?  It was a question which tortured him night and day as the
Campbells made their preparations for the upcoming wedding. "I covet Robbie his bride!" There, at last he'd said what was on his mind.

"
What!"
  Duncan  bolted from his chair, trembling with ire.  It was the last thing he'd ever expected to hear.   "
What did ye say?"

"You brought the subject up so I'll be truthful.  If I thought there was any way I could convince you to let me take Brianna MacQuarie for
my own I'd pose the question. Ian waited expectantly, but was warned of the answer before it was spoken when Duncan's black brows drew together in a scowl.

"Then let me warn ye to hold yer tongue!  I'd as soon chop off my own right arm as to marry ye to that devil's spawn,"
Duncan thundered. In a show of contempt, Duncan threw his ale, cup and all, into the fire, watching as the flames sputtered.

"Devil's spawn?"  It was an odd way to talk about a lass who was about to marry one of his kin.

Duncan realized his slip of the tongue and hastened to correct his mistake, cooling his temper.  "Ye hae always been my favorite, though I hae never spoken so.  I hae great ambitions for ye, laddie.  There is no hill ye canna climb if ye use yer head." 

"And if I told you I did not care about being a
mighty man, only a happy one?"  Strange how life seemed so empty without the red-haired lass. Ambition could not keep a man warm at night or give him comfort. 

"I'd call ye the village fool!"  Rage rumbled within
Duncan.  He could not tolerate any defiance to his plan.  "Robbie will marry the lass and no' you. Get that through yer thick-boned head.  I willna change my mind nor give to ye what has been promised to the younger lad."

"But why?"Ian ignored his uncles raving and poured himself a dram of ale, sloshing it about in the tankard. "Robbie has never even met her.  She does not hold his heart.  In fact he h
as no care for marrying at all. I've talked with the laddie."  Ian protested stubbornly, now that the subject had been broached.  "But
I
have met her and I
do
want her.  You speak of my aspirations and I will tell you she is just the kind of woman a man needs at his side.  A brave lass who would do a man proud."

Duncan
ground his teeth, damning the stubbornness of his nephew.  "Let a sleeping dog lie. I willna gi' ye up to take on the MacQuarie name I tell ye!  They hae e'er been our enemies."

"But perhaps
they could be mighty allies now that our quarrel is ended."  Taking a piece of charred wood out of the fire, Ian used it to sketch a hurried map of MacQuarie land.  "The dun sits here atop the hill and could be used to give us warning .”

"For the third time nae!  The
MacQuarie lassie is to be
Robbie's
bride and no other. I will talk no more about it."  Damn the strong-willed lad, Duncan thought.  Well he would have none of his prodding.  Seeing a spider crawling across the stone floor he vented his anger on the hapless insect, grinding it beneath the heel of his
cuaran
.  That was how he would crush the MacQuarie!

A troubled silence ensued.  Ian stared at his uncle, watching the myriad of emotions that played upon the black-bearded face.  Something was amiss here
, but he could not say just what.  In most matters a reasonable man, Duncan looked more like a snarling dog.  One on the verge of going quite mad.  But how did Brianna MacQuarie fit in all of this?  Why, if his uncle hated the MacQuaries so would he agree to marry Robbie into the clan, to let the lad take on the name?  It was a troubling puzzlement but one which deserved contemplation.

"Something is wrong.  Very, very wrong.  I sense it."   Ian was anxious to avoid the storm he sensed was brewing.  He'd jested with
Aulay that he feared Duncan was becoming an addled man, now he feared there was more to it than that. "Won't you confide in me, Uncle?"

"It's none o' yer concern.  I am the one who
leads this clan!"  Across the room blue eyes battled with eyes of like hue.  Both men were strong willed, neither willing to budge. Something in Ian's expression angered Duncan.  A fear that somehow his nephew might somehow sense the truth overcame his reason.  He'd not let anyone rob him of his victory for the sake of a lassie's smile. 

"I'm not questioning your authority, only wondering....." Ian queried sharply.

"Get out o' here!" roared the black bearded Campbell laird.  Realizing it useless to pursue the matter at the moment, Ian did just that, passing through the doorway in a swearing huff. 

"I ne'er thought I'd think it much less say it, but it's shamed I am o' ye, Duncan," hissed a voice from the shadows.  "I've hoped ye'd come to yer senses, to see that what yer doing is wrong."  Cameron shook his head sadly as he entered the room.

"Ye heard?"

"Aye." He shook his head sadly.  "How could I help but hear yer shouts?"

"Hmph....  He may be may successor but I've no' given it up to him yet!  Marry the MacQuarie lassie indeed.  Well, I soon put an end to that."

"And are ye proud o' yerself?  Now that Ian expresses interest in the girlie, it's more for shame.  Ye'l
l be hurting so many people."  Cameron sunk down wearily into the very same chair vacated by Duncan, putting his face in his hands.

"I'm only giving tit for tat. There's only one I hae my sights on bringing pain and ye know it."  Folding his thick arms across his massive chest
, Duncan stood as still as a stone statue.

"Why not marry Ian to the
MacQuarie's lassie?  Why not really give peace a chance.  Think, Duncan.  Think.  There's a sense of calm o'er the countryside now that the warring has stopped.  Yer people are happy, there's no more crying for their dead.  Why no' gi' the lass to Ian.  It isna too late."

"Because a MacQuarie isna fit to tie a
Campbell's laces!  I wouldna agree to any such marriage. 
Nae
, Ian is a handsome and fearsome warrior who can be used to further my power.  It will be a MacDonald, Cameron, MacLean or mayhap e'en a Gordon lassie for him."

"Then break off the marriage contract before it's too late. Please,
Duncan, I've ne'r pleaded before, but dunna do it!'

"Ha! Our clans are battling for supremacy.  I must stamp out their line.  Loss of honor to the MacQuaerie is of major importance.  Ye know what I mean.  After both the bride and groom hae given their consent and are bound, only the council of clans can annul the marriage and I'll ne'r consent to that.  Aye, Brianna MacQuarie will be Robbie's bride."  Throwing back his head
Duncan vented his evil laughter.

"Then there's naught I can say to dissuade ye.  Och, I fear ye'll burn in hell for what ye plan."
             

"Or make the devil laugh."
             

"Even the devil must hae some scruples."

"Hold yer tongue!  I am laird here.  I willna listen to such words even from an old friend."

Cameron sighed, shaking his head.  "Think
Duncan.  Think. Ye canna  marry the laddie to his own sister.  Such an action will be the ruination of us all when he finds out the truth.   Did ye no' think that it will go against ye when it's learned what ye hae done.  Ye'll be a damned man in all eyes for perpetrating such a sin."

"I dunna care! This was just what I planned for eighteen years.   The
MacQuarie's two bairns marrying each other.  There is not a man that can dissuade me from taking my revenge.  Even God himself.  When there is fruit of the misbegotten seed, when the bride is with child, then and only then will I reveal the truth and see the horror written on the MacQuarie's face.  The ultimate revenge."