Highland Savage (10 page)

Just as Lucas moved to try and make the boy understand that he was to start running and keep on going no matter what he heard, a dark shadow rose up behind Thomas. Lucas lunged at it, bringing the man down before he could grab Thomas or hurt the boy in anyway. While Thomas ran a little deeper into the shadows, Lucas quickly got a firm hold on the man and with equal speed, snapped his neck. The sound of the bone cracking seemed inordinately loud in the quiet forest. It was as Lucas rose to his feet intending to catch hold of Thomas and try to get him to safety that he realized he had been surrounded by Ranald and his men. Even as he cursed his bad luck and drew his sword, he had to admire the way the man had captured him.

“This grows to be a tedious habit, Ranald,” he said as the man stepped out of the shadows, his smug attitude making Lucas ache to kill him.

Ranald stared down at his dead man for a moment and then looked at Lucas. “For a cripple ye are surprisingly dangerous.”

“Thank ye.”

Lucas could see Thomas standing in the shadows just behind the men who had captured him. The boy’s very pale face was easy to see and Lucas feared one of Ranald’s men would soon see the boy. With the faintest movement of his head he tried to get the boy to run, but Thomas stood as still as any statue, as if he was too terrified to even breathe. When Thomas looked as if he was going to move toward Lucas, Lucas shook his head, and hastily fixed his gaze on Ranald. His hand down at his side, he tried very hard to signal to the obviously frightened boy to run away.

“Get the boy, Harold,” snapped Ranald.

“But we got the mon ye wanted,” began Harold.

“Get the boy.”

“Ye dinnae need him now,” said Lucas. “Ye can gain naught from capturing him.”

“I can gain a traitor to his laird.”

“Dunlochan doesnae have a laird at the moment.”

Seeing that Harold was actually going to do as Ranald ordered, Lucas opened his mouth to yell at the boy to run, only to feel something slam into his head. As Lucas fell to his knees he saw Thomas caught in the midst of starting to run, the boy’s wide eyes fixed upon him as all the while Harold inched closer and closer. Even as he felt blackness closing in around his mind, Lucas caught Thomas’s gaze and held it.

“Run, Thomas. Now!” Lucas ordered and then gave in to unconsciousness.

Katerina ached to get out of bed and pace her room. The only thing stopping her was the sure knowledge that she would probably fall flat on her face after only a few paces. The way Annie sat in the chair next to her bed wringing her hands did nothing to ease the tension growing ever worse inside Katerina.

“Something is wrong,” Katerina muttered. “I am fair certain of it. They should have been back by now.”

“Ye are fretting o’er naught,” said William as he poured each woman a drink and handed it to them. “They went hunting, ’tis all. They may be trying to catch as much as they can so we dinnae have to go out hunting again for a few days.”.

“William, my stomach is aching. Verra badly, too.”

Although William frowned in concern, he sat on the end of the bed and said, “Weel, that could because ye ate something that didnae like ye, or ye are still a wee bit sick, or it is your woman’s time. It doesnae have to mean that there is trouble.”

“What does your aching stomach have to do with Thomas and Sir Lucas being so late to return here?” asked Annie.

“When there is trouble, my stomach aches,” Katerina replied honestly, idly rubbing at her stomach.

“It isnae always right,” said William.

Annie ignored him. “And your stomach aches now?” she asked Katerina.

Katerina nodded. “It aches a lot.”

“Katerina, if we werenae in such danger I would send someone out right now,” said William, “but I cannae do that. I cannae go to the men and tell them that because your stomach aches we must all rush out and just pray that Ranald and his men dinnae grab us whilst we search for two people who may or may not be in trouble. Nay, especially when we have already run that risk once tonight.”

When she looked at Annie, Katerina grimaced and Annie did the same. She could tell the woman shared her need to go out and find Thomas and Lucas and drag them back to the safety of the caves. Unfortunately there was no argument that could be made against William’s solid good sense. Even if the men did not think she was an utter madwoman, it would be foolish to send them all out just because she
felt
something was wrong.

“Does your stomach truly hurt when there is trouble?” asked Annie.

Realizing that the woman wanted to talk, wanted to try not to worry herself sick over her young brother, Katerina nodded. “It has done so since I was a child. It isnae always a good way to judge if one is safe or nay. There is even the chance it aches now
because I ken that Ranald wants me dead. That is a danger, aye? It just isnae an immediate one. The men would most certainly think I had lost my mind if I demanded they rush out into the dark where Ranald and his men are undoubtedly searching just because my stomach hurts and I
think
it might be because Sir Murray and young Thomas are in trouble.”

Annie smiled, although it was a weak expression and quickly faded. “True. And e’en if they only thought us foolish women, we would ne’er hear the end of it.”

“Weel, my cousins ne’er let me hear the end of it anyway.” She reached out and patted Annie’s clenched hands. “It sometimes takes a long time to hunt. I suspicion Lucas is trying to catch enough so that no one has to go out for a night or two just as William said. He is verra aware of how dangerous it is to be outside at the moment and he will keep a verra close eye on Thomas. I also told him about how my stomach ached and what it meant”

“Ye told Sir Lucas about that?” asked William.

Katerina nodded and forced herself not to glance at the door to her room yet again. “He accepted it without hesitation. It seems his family has a few people in it that have the same gift.” She looked back at Annie. “So, he has been duly warned.”

“I will wait another hour, Cousin, and then I and one other mon will set out to see what can be seen,” said William. “I just dinnae believe there is any trouble. If your stomach is warning ye of something ’tis just as ye said it might be—a warning that ye arenae safe whilst Ranald hunts ye.”

He frowned as a sudden commotion in the hall drew all their attention. It sounded as if everyone was running straight for Katerina’s bedchamber. A moment later a breathless, filthy Thomas appeared in the doorway, four dead rabbits hanging from his rope belt.

“Ranald has Sir Lucas and he wants Katerina to come to him or he will kill him!”

Katerina looked at Thomas and then looked at William, wondering absently what was causing the strange rushing noise in her head. “Weel, it seems my stomach was right after all,” she said and fell back against the pillows.

William heard a soft sound beside him and looked to find that Annie had obviously fainted as well. She finished her slide out of the chair with an admirable grace. William looked again at his unconscious cousin, a woman who never fainted, and then at Annie, before returning his gaze to the door. Thomas stared at the women with wide eyes and the men crowded behind him looked just as stunned.

Looking at Thomas, who was leaning far to the side to get a better look at his unconscious sister, William said, Thomas, ye have done weel. We will leave these lasses to wake on their own and go to make some plans to rescue Sir Lucas. Then, when we return ye and I will have a talk about the best way to deliver distressing news to women.”

The excruciating pain in his arms struck Lucas first He bit back a groan and slowly opened his eyes. It took a moment for him to see clearly, the pounding in his head blurring his vision. Lucas took several slow, deep breaths to help himself rise above the pain in his body. It did not really surprise him to see a grinning Ranald standing in front of him the moment his vision cleared, although he had hoped the hazy memory of being captured had just been a nightmare. The only good thing he could think of was that there was no sign of Thomas.

A quick look around revealed that they were in an old crofter’s home that was nearly a complete ruin, little more than the bare shell of the building still standing. It would not be a good place to defend oneself from an attack but Lucas doubted that Ranald expected one. He hoped that did not mean that Ranald was sure there were none of Katerina’s men available to come after him.

“Ye should have stayed dead, Murray,” said Ranald.

“We Murrays arenae easy to kill,” Lucas drawled. Glancing up Lucas studied the way his wrists were tied together as he hung several inches off the floor from a thick rope attached to a beam in the ceiling. “Ye have an unusual way of entertaining your guests, Ranald.” He heard the other men in the cottage snicker but a hard glare from Ranald quickly silenced them. “Did ye think I was poaching?”

“Since Agnes holds Dunlochan and didnae give ye the right to hunt on her lands, then, aye, ye were poaching. That is a hanging offense, ye ken.”

“So is murder and I believe the lairdship of Dunlochan hasnae been decided yet. As for hanging,” Lucas glanced at the ropes around his wrists and then looked back at Ranald, “I believe ye may need a lesson or two in the art of it.” Lucas resisted the strong urge to flinch away from the point of Ranald’s sword when the man cut the laces on Lucas’s shirt “Tsk, mon, have some respect. My mother made this shirt for me.”

“She will be making ye a shroud soon. Just how did ye get away last time?”

“I can swim.”

“Your leg was broken, near shattered. How could ye swim?”

“As I told someone recently, a mon can bear most any pain if he kens it will stop him from drowning.”

“Weel, ye willnae escape this time.”

“Escape what? Murder?”

“Aye,” Ranald replied with a cold, blunt honesty. “But, first, we will use ye to bring that wee bitch Katerina to our door.”

“And just how do ye plan to do that? Ye dinnae e’en ken where to leave a message for her.”

“Dinnae need to. Thomas will bring her running to your rescue. ’Tis why he escaped so easily. We wanted him to flee.”

Lucas doubted it but said nothing.

“Sent a mon after him at the start.” Ranald glared at someone behind Lucas. “Thought we might findwhere the bastards are hiding by following the boy and then we could clean out the whole nest of those reivers, but the fool lost the little cur.”

“He was fast, Ranald,” protested a man with a deep husky voice. “I followed him into the trees but he was gone. Didnae e’en leave a trail to follow.”

Relief swept over Lucas although he kept his face free of all expression. Thomas
had taken to the trees, clever lad that he was. Lucas had once seen how nimble the boy was when he got up into the trees and he suspected that Thomas had traveled a fair distance through the forest that way before touching the ground again.

“And why do ye think Thomas will bring Katerina here?” Lucas asked Ranald.

“After ye fell into your wee sleep. I yelled out what I wanted him to do. I kenned he was near at hand. He heard me.” Ranald smiled in triumph. “He will tell her that the price for your life is her surrender.”

“Ye lied.”

“Of course I lied. Ye and that bitch could put a noose around my neck. Agnes’s too, although she is sly enough to make a mon believe she is completely innocent and might save herself.” Ranald grinned even as he ran the tip of his sharp sword over Lucas’s stomach, leaving a shallow, bloody trail. “Ye thought she was sweet, silly and innocent, didnae ye. Ye ne’er realized that the moment ye didnae fall victim to her bonnie smiles and coy ways ye were a dead mon. That ye would refuse her and openly show favor for her half-sister only enraged Agnes more. No one can hate as deep and hard as Agnes can.”

“Weel, there is something to be so verra proud of.”

“I find it so.”

He would, Lucas thought, fighting the urge to cry out as Ranald used his sword to score a circle in the skin around his heart. Now that he was fully awake and aware, Lucas noticed that Ranald had been quick to put some distance between them. The man had an odd, mocking smile on his rough face that told Lucas he was one of those who truly enjoyed inflicting pain on others. That Agnes would choose such a man as her lover said a lot about the kind of woman she was and none of it was good.

Lucas wished he could see Ranald’s men. He wanted to see the looks upon their faces as they watched their leader cut up a bound, unarmed man. Some of the men had to be of Ranald’s ilk, cruel brutes that measured their strength and power by how much misery they could cause. There was a small chance, however, that one or two could barely stomach Ranald. One or two men willing to protest such behavior or even demand that he stop could be enough to pull Ranald’s attention away from him. The cuts Ranald had made so far were shallow and did not bleed too badly, but too many of them left un-tended for too long could prove dangerous. A pause while Ranald dealt with a rebellion in his ranks could drastically reduce the number of wounds Ranald inflicted, leaving Lucas with enough strength not to be a burden to his rescuers.

And he would be rescued. Lucas was consoled by the knowledge that Katerina was far too weak to be a part of any rescue attempt thus keeping her out of harm’s way. He could only hope that William was as cunning as he seemed and would know how to keep his men safe even as he got Lucas out of the mess he was in.

“Are ye sure they are at the old crofter’s cottage, Thomas?” William asked.

“Aye, I followed them so that I could be sure Ranald wasnae lying when he said it” Thomas helped himself to one of the oatcakes Annie had made earlier and set in a bowl on the table. “I didnae think he was since he wanted our Katerina to come there, but ye cannae trust a mon like Ranald.”

“Nay ye cannae and ye did weel to think of that, lad.”

“So, how do we save Sir Lucas?” asked Patrick. “There are only six of us and we
cannae get the horses quickly anymore.”

“Do ye ken how many men were with Ranald, lad?” William asked Thomas.

“’Twas hard to see in the dark and all, but I am fair sure he had eight with him,” Thomas replied. “Was nine but Sir Lucas killed one. Snapped his neck like a twig, he did.”

William’s eyes widened slightly but he said nothing. He frowned at the top of the rough table as he tried to think of what they could do. He could not leave Lucas with Ranald. The man would kill Lucas and Ranald liked to inflict pain. The death Lucas would suffer would not be one he would wish on any man. He had to be sure he would not be putting his men in danger, half of whom were his brothers.

The cottage they are in is little more than the frame of a building,” William said at last, looking around at his men. “Ranald and his men cannae hide in it so they willnae have a great advantage o’er us.”

“Nay,” agreed Patrick, “but they have Sir Lucas and he will be in grave danger if we attack too openly.”

“I think we can sneak up on them. Aye, ’tis open ground right around the cottage, but we shall have plenty of hiding places until then.”

“And then we rush at them?”

“I cannae see any other way. We can slip along like ghosts until we are seen but, aye, then we will have to run at them and hope we can get to them before they can kill Sir Lucas. ’Tis just the sort of thing Ranald would do if he thought he had lost the fight.”

“Aye, it is,” agreed Katerina as she and Annie entered the hall.

Katerina had woken up to find herself alone with only a slowly rousing Annie. She still could not believe she had fainted. As she walked over to the table and sat down with Annie’s help, she decided it was because she was still a little weak and had not been able to tolerate such worry and fear as well as she used to. Once awake, however, she had refused to be left in her bedchamber while everyone else planned how to get Lucas away from Ranald.

“Ye have to remember that Ranald wants Lucas dead. It pleases him at the moment to try and use Lucas to get to me, but in the end he stills wants him dead.” She sighed. “I also think that Ranald just likes to kill.”

William nodded. “I have long believed that of the mon.” He reached out and patted Katerina’s hand. “Dinnae fret, Cousin. We will get the mon back. I but try to ensure that none of us are hurt in the doing of it.” He looked at the men. “We will don the darkest clothing we have and smear some dirt o’er our faces. ’Tis a trick Sir Lucas showed me and it makes it much harder for anyone to see ye. Everyone arm themselves with their swords and as many knives as they can carry. Donald, ye bring your bow and arrows. We may have need of your skill to even the numbers or to keep Ranald and his men from reaching Sir Lucas.”

Katerina watched the men hurry off to get what they needed and then looked at William, who had risen to go to the chest where he kept his weapons and clothes. “It sounds a good plan, Cousin.”

“It isnae the best but there isnae much time to come up with a truly brilliant plan,” he said and he buckled on his sword. “Still, Ranald and his men are in a fairly open place and we shall have the cover of the trees until we are quite close.” He looked at her and shook his head. “And ye shouldnae be out of your bed.”

“I am nay as weak as I was, William, and if I dinnae move around a little bit now and then, how can I e’er regain the strength I have lost.”

“Ye cannae, true enough, but dinnae do too much too quickly or ye will find yourself e’en worse off than ye were.” He stopped next to her and brushed a kiss over her cheek. “Dinnae fret, Cousin, we will get him back.”

“I have faith in ye, William. Godspeed.”

It was not until William actually saw the cottage that he felt any real confidence in his plan. Ranald and his men were easily visible. Donald would have no trouble lessening the number of men with Ranald e’en from a safe distance. A few well-placed arrows would also stir up a panic amongst the men. The sight of Sir Lucas hanging from the rafters as a grinning Ranald tormented him with his sword was enough to make William’s men eager to fight and that, too, was a good thing.

“Ranald is a vicious bastard, isnae he,” murmured Patrick.

“Aye, he is and always has been. True, I have only kenned the mon since he joined forces with Agnes, but a mon like him is born and bred mean.” William looked around at his men. “Keep a close watch on Sir Lucas and kill any fool that tries to get near him.” When they all nodded, he signaled them to start moving toward the cottage.

A soft grunt echoed through the cottage followed by a cry of alarm. Lucas pulled himself free of his attempt to separate himself from the pain Ranald was inflicting and looked around. A man had fallen into his line of vision, an arrow sticking out of his back. Lucas immediately turned his full attention on Ranald, knowing that the man could well try to kill him before the ones who had come to rescue him could succeed.

“That bitch!” Ranald screamed even as he headed for the opening that had once been the door. “Kill him!” he ordered his men, pointing at Lucas just before he ran for his horse.

For one tense moment the men remaining in the cottage looked at Lucas. Some had the glint of resolve in their eyes but it was fleeting. When another one of the men fell with a dagger in his throat all interest in Lucas fled. Ranald’s men became interested in only one thing, getting out of there alive.

It was all over before Lucas could clear his mind of the pain enough to watch the battle. One other man managed to get to his horse and follow the fleeing Ranald. Two others did not even bother to fight but flung down their swords and surrendered. The rest died trying to get to their mounts.

When William and his men entered the cottage Lucas was almost able to smile. It had occurred to him at some point during Ranald’s continuous torment of him, all the little cuts and slices, that he was going to die a very slow and painful death if nothing happened to stop Ranald. Although he hurt all over, felt as if his body had been shredded into pieces and his arms pulled free of their sockets, he was still alive, and Lucas felt that was reason enough to feel jubilant.

“Wheesht, he made a mess of ye, aye?” said William as he and Patrick worked to cut Lucas free.

“Aye,” agreed Lucas as he was gently lowered to the ground. “I believe I may soon feel like screaming.”

“I am fair surprised ye havenae done so already. Ye must have a thousand cuts on ye.”

“Actually I was thinking of how my arms are going to feel in a moment.”

William grimaced. “Ah, aye.”

As the feeling came back into his arms, it took every ounce of willpower Lucas had not to weep like a bairn. Even the shallow, stinging cuts covering his body disappeared from his thoughts as waves of pain washed over him. He was breathing hard and drenched in sweat by the time the pain in his arms began to ease. Sitting on the floor taking slow, deep breaths to try and steady himself, he looked around and realized William and his men had cleared away all signs of the fight and the torture Lucas had endured. He managed a faint and fleeting smile when William crouched in front of him.

“Feeling better?” William asked.

“I dinnae feel like cutting my own throat in an attempt to stop the pain anymore,” Lucas replied.

“That bad, eh?”

“Worse.”

“Do ye think ye can make it back to the caves? We have to walk, I fear. We werenae able to grab any of the horses Ranald’s men rode here. Ranald scattered them as he fled. He didnae care that that left his men unable to flee themselves,” William said in something akin to wonder. “Only that mon Colin managed to get away.”

“And the ones who surrendered?”

“New men. Recently hired by Agnes. They were more than willing to swear that they would leave and ne’er come back. Seems Ranald fair sickened them with the way he acted tonight. Both by torturing ye and deserting his men to save his own hide. From what one of them said word will spread and Ranald may begin to find it difficult to get new men.”