Highland Lover: Book 3 Scottish Knights Trilogy (17 page)

Having found a semisheltered declivity with a stream running through it, Jake turned to shout to the women and was glad to see that they had not waited but were coming toward him—at some speed, too.

“Och, ’tis a good place,” Alyson said when she and Lizzie joined them. “Those flat rocks will mak’ good sitting whilst we eat.”

“Aye, but I’ll send Mace up tae watch for the
Sea Wolf
,” Jake said. “I told Coll that we’d be a day or two, mayhap even three, but here we be.”

“If tha lacks a place to sleep,” Lizzie said, “me aunt and uncle would be fain to tak’ thee in overnight.”

Aware that Alyson was intently eyeing him, Jake said, “That be kind o’ ye, Mistress Thornwick, but I did order me helmsman tae seek us here. How far be it from this place tae your uncle’s farm?”

“Nobbut over yon hill,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “ ’Twill tak’ us an hour or such. Sithee, we be halfway to Filey. Tha canst see t’ houses near where yon reef juts out, though it do be near covered, wi’ the tide a-rising as it be.”

Jake nodded. “When we finish eating, I’ll send Mace and young Will here tae see ye safely tae their farm.”

“Och, but me mam said Ah should stay close by Mistress Allie.”

“I ha’ me doots that your da would want me tae send ye off alone, lass. Nor would he expect our Allie tae walk tae yon farm and back when she might stay here wi’ me,” Jake said. “Dinna forget that I’m her brother.”

Eyeing him doubtfully, Lizzie evidently decided that further debate would be futile. When Mace handed her a roll and a wedge of cheese, she took them, sat down on a rock, hiked her skirts off the damp ground, and began to eat.

When Mace left to seek higher ground where he could watch the bay, and took his food with him, Will looked uncertainly at Jake.

“What is it, lad?” he asked.

“Could I ha’ a privy word wi’ ye afore we eat, sir?”

Since, aside from his brief interest in the rock that Jake
had found, the boy had looked glum from the time they’d left the alehouse, Jake said, “Aye, sure. We’ll take our food tae yon hillock. Then ye can ha’ as many words wi’ me as ye like.”

Will did not wait until they had reached the grassy hillock but said as soon as they were beyond earshot, “I’m a-going the wrong way, Cap’n Jake, as ye must ken fine. I felt it more strongly yet when ye told Mistress Thornwick I’d go tae yon farm wi’ her and Mace. We be a-going north when I should be a-heading south. Jamie needs me, and I feel as if I ha’ abandoned him.”

“I know how you feel, Will,” Jake said. “Sithee, lad, I feel as if I’ve let Jamie down, too, as if I’ve somehow failed in my duty to him.”

“Aye, and he will be King one day. We… we
should
help him!”

Hearing the sob in the boy’s voice, Jake said, “In troth, what we both feel is not failure but helplessness. We both know the pirates sailed last night. They are long gone, lad, with Jamie. And following them would have gained us nowt.”

“Aye, but if we had followed them earlier tae the other harbor—”

“They were armed with cannon, and they outnumbered us. The best we might have hoped for was to get ourselves captured with the others.”

“Aye, well, at least we’d ken where Jamie is.”

“Or we’d be dead, Will, drowned like those they threw overboard.”

Will paled but said doggedly, “Ye might at least ha’ sent the
Sea Wolf
on tae see where they were a-going.”

Jake hid a smile, recognizing characteristics in Will
that put him forcibly in mind of himself at the same age. He had rarely taken no for an answer either, and had often pushed matters until he’d smarted for his efforts.

“We ken fine where they’re going,” Jake said. “The captain of the big ship is taking Jamie to London, where the King of England will demand a high ransom for his release. But the King won’t harm him, Will. Jamie is too valuable to him.”

“Aye, and Lord Orkney, too, I warrant.”

“Orkney, too,” Jake agreed. “We must be thankful for that, lad. You and I must also act wisely. Our duty is to report what happened to those who need to know. You can be proud, too, that you rescued Lady Alyson.”

Will looked into Jake’s eyes, his own welling with tears as he said, “Jamie
said
I was tae go. He said he didna think the lady Alyson could get out o’ that kist by herself, so if I didna do summat tae help, she’d sink wi’ the ship. Sakes, sir, her husband left the ship and barely looked back for her.”

“I thought you said that Mungo told Niall someone was fetching her.”

“I did, but when Mungo said it, Niall Clyne just nodded and went along o’ him without another thought. That be when I kent Jamie were right. We couldna both go for her, so I slipped away.”

Thanking God for the young prince and feeling a rage toward Niall Clyne greater than any he could recall feeling toward anyone since his childhood, Jake said, “You know, Will, Jamie is going to make a fine King of Scots one day.”

“An he lives long enough, aye,” Will muttered darkly.

“He will,” Jake said. “English Harry has much more to gain by indulging him than by mistreating him.”

“Aye, and ’tis true that when Orkney told that Cap’n Hugh that Jamie were a-going tae France tae improve his French, Hugh said King Harry would teach him French hisself. But Jamie speaks French gey fine already. D’ye think King Harry will be wroth when he learns that he does?”

“I do not,” Jake said firmly. “What I think is that you still believe you can somehow help Jamie.”

“He’ll be a-missing me summat fierce!”

“Aye, he will, but not as fiercely as he would if those pirates had tossed you overboard. Of that you may be sure. How would you find him, Will?”

The boy was silent for a time, and Jake did not rush him. It was nearly always good to take time to think. He should do more of that himself.

At last, Will said, “Nae one would heed me much, would they? I mean, I might get tae London, ’cause people wouldna think nowt o’ a lad walking tae such a great city. But Kings ha’ many castles, and getting inside the right one would be as hard as if I’d tried tae walk in tae Castle Doune whilst Murdoch Stewart—him they call Earl o’ Fife, now—were still a-living there… afore the English captured
him
.”

“You would find it even harder to get inside an English castle,” Jake said. “I’d forgotten, though, that you are acquainted with the Duke of Albany’s son.”

“Aye, sure, ’cause Murdoch lived in Doune like me and me da, only in the castle there. The English took him prisoner, too, but I dinna care about Murdoch.”

“No, but the English have looked after him well, lad, and for the same reason that they’ll look after Orkney and Jamie… for the great ransom they will fetch.”

Will sighed. “So what am I tae do if I’m no tae follow Jamie? I ha’ nae family, ye ken. Me mam’s been dead a long time, and me da died nearly two years ago. Nor I dinna want tae go back tae the tanner o’ Doune. The man liked leathering me too much for my taste. That be why when Sir Ivor and Jamie rode through Doune on their way tae St. Andrews, I joined up wi’ their lot.”

“So Ivor told me,” Jake said. “We’ll have to think about what you might do next, but you can stay with me as long as you like. If shipboard life suits you, I’ll make a sailor out of you. If you dislike the sea, I’d wager Bishop Wardlaw will have some ideas. At all events, we’ll sail to St. Andrews straightaway. Not only must we get Lady Alyson back to her family, but we must also tell Wardlaw about Jamie’s capture. I’m not looking forward to that, I can tell you.”

“Coo, I hadna thought about ye being in trouble wi’ the bishop,” Will said.

Jake nearly smiled at the boy’s visible concern. Then, remembering Ivor, he said, “The bishop does not worry me as much as your good friend Sir Ivor does. Sithee, the lady Alyson is his cousin, which is the real reason I encouraged Mistress Thornwick to accompany us today. I had me doots that Ivor would accept one lad and two men as respectable protection for her ladyship.”

“Hoots awa’,” Will said, his eyes widening. “Ye dinna want tae make Sir Ivor angry.
I
can tell ye that!”

Alyson was trying to watch Jake and Will while listening with half an ear to Lizzie’s chatter about her aunt and uncle. The taverner’s daughter was clearly on good
terms with her kinsmen, enjoyed talking about them, and required only an occasional murmur from Alyson as encouragement to continue.

Jake had his back to them, so Alyson saw only Will’s face. However, since Will had initiated the conversation and, by turns, looked worried or as if he listened hard to what Jake said, she could sense the tenor if not the topic of their discussion.

Will had a problem—likely, his concern for Jamie, which she shared. And Jake was not only listening to him but also encouraging the boy to confide in him.

Watching them gave her an unfamiliar sense of comfort, although until then, she had not thought about needing comfort. The situation was what it was. But it was better with Jake as a part of it than it would have been if he were not.

Confidence radiated from the man. But his self-confidence was not the boastful sort that her older brothers had often displayed. He seemed to know himself and be sure of himself without any need to puff off his abilities so that everyone might be aware of them.

A twinge of guilt struck her. Niall had probably died a horrible death, and here she was, thinking about Jake. She realized, too, that Lizzie had stopped talking.

Ruefully, Alyson said, “I beg your pardon. My wits had gone a-begging.”

“ ’Tis how it were for me, too,” Lizzie said sympathetically. “Days would go by as if nowt were amiss, and then a memory would strike like a clout on me lug. Ah’d be awash in tears afore Ah kent Ah were sad.”

Alyson nodded. She could sympathize, although she could not honestly say she understood, because she did
not share Lizzie’s feelings. She had no reason to mourn for Niall’s probable death other than logic. Instinct said that he lived, and curiosity kept shifting her thoughts back to Jake. That Jake listened to people as if naught else were of importance fascinated her. The discussion she’d enjoyed with him earlier had stimulated her mind, because Jake accepted what she said and considered her opinions more seriously than other men she knew ever had.

Niall had been a good friend and a kind one. She had been able to count on him when she needed a partner at a social gathering or court function. But she had never discussed the Sight with Niall or considered doing so.

He was not a man to whom one confided such personal details. The sad fact was that although Niall usually gave the impression of listening to her, he often did not seem afterward to have listened at all.

She realized when that thought lingered that she had expected Niall to dismiss her Sight—whether he believed in it or not—as something that one ought never to talk about, lest others think one were daft. In troth, he too often concerned himself with what others might think of him, or of her.

Most people did fret over such things at times. But, to Niall, other people’s opinions were of much greater importance than they were to Alyson. She would dislike creating a spectacle that others would discuss for their own entertainment, but she would not fret over what they thought of her every word and action.

Things were what they were, and talking with Jake was more interesting.

Still, Niall was her husband as well as her friend, and she wanted to believe he was alive. Perhaps, she mused,
she might find him as interesting as Jake if she could get to know him as well as she had hoped she would on the ship.

That thought hovered as if inviting contradiction. But she told herself firmly that it was the thought of his still being
able
to spend time with her that caused the mental struggle. Surely, if he were alive, she would have a sense of
that
and not just a lack of any sense that he was dead. She felt nothing when she thought of Niall.

“But I ought to,” she murmured to herself.

“What’s that tha say, mistress? Ah couldna hear thee.”

Starting, recalling that she was not alone—although Lizzie must have been silent long enough to let her fall into such a reverie—Alyson said, “I beg your pardon, Lizzie! I’m being horridly rude to you. And in troth, I should not!”

“Och, but Ah did the same. Me mum said it were like havin’ a ghost in the hoose. But thy brother and t’ lad be a-coming back. How fast the time went!”