Love's Ransom (2 page)

‘I will take it and return it to you later.’ Sam nodded agreement and handed over the knife. Isabella noticed how weary he looked and remembered he had not slept for two days and nights.

‘Would it be possible for my friend to rest,’ she asked Alexander in a low voice. ‘He has not slept for a long time and I am the cause.’ He looked at her in surprise and felt a flash of admiration for her consideration for the elderly manservant, however loyal he might be.

‘I will see he has food and a pallet where he can sleep,’ he agreed, ‘but I doubt if he will let you out of his sight.’

‘I hope he will feel reassured once he has seen my brother. He has known Jamie and me all our lives. We have many reasons to be grateful to him. Sam and my father were friends from boyhood. He is more friend than servant.’

‘Then he is fortunate. He may have acted foolishly to deliver himself, and you, into our hands, but he does not lack courage. You must love your brother dearly, Miss Isabella Ellwood.’

‘I do. We all do. My mother and my three young sisters need him so badly to protect them and our home and lands. I must persuade your uncle to set him free to return to them,’ she added with a note of desperation.

‘I know the Ellwood lands are near the English border but I thought the English had ceased their reiving, or nearly so, since King James’ decree for peace between his kingdoms?’

‘That is true. The raids from south of the border have been fewer since sixteen hundred and three when King James became the English king as well as our own King of Scotland. It is not the English raiders my family has reason to fear, ruthless though some are reputed to be. There is a family within our own barony who covets our land and – and more.’ She bit her lower lip and delicate colour rose beneath her creamy skin. Alexander’s eyes lit with admiration. He could guess why she feared her marauding neighbours without the protection of a man. What red blooded male would not covet such a lovely young woman, and one who had courage and spirit too. He felt his pulses quicken and his loins clench. He remembered his young prisoner had been stabbed and his horse stolen, leaving the youth to a fate of almost certain death, either by bleeding or hanging. Had he deliberately led the youth onto Douglas lands, knowing William Douglas’s present reputation for justice and the hanging of any reiver who dared attempt to steal their cattle and sheep? Was it a ploy to leave this young woman and her family without protection?

When they neared the cluster of cottages and the tall stone tower with its surrounding yard Alexander beckoned a servant and instructed him to tend the horses.

‘They will be returned to you if you are allowed to leave.’ Sam nodded but Isabella broke away and ran to her horse to grab the small parcel she had tied to Beauty’s harness.

‘What is that?’ Alexander asked sharply. ‘Do you carry a weapon?’ He reached out to take it from her but she thrust it behind her back.

‘Of course it does not hide a weapon.’

‘Poison then? What other plan can you have to rescue your brother?’ Isabella turned an impatient face to him.

‘Did I not tell you we come in peace,’ she said sharply, and Walter Nixon chuckled. It looked as though Zander had met his match with this young woman. ‘It has been a long ride. I wish to make myself as clean and tidy as possible before I see your chief. This contains only a clean collar and cuffs, a cap and apron.’

‘I see.’ Alexander eyed her cap and the net which held her abundant hair. The sunlight caught it, making it shine like a polished chestnut with more than a streak of red and gold in the dark tresses. He resisted an urge to remove her cap and the net and feel its silken tresses.

He led them to the second story of the tower, which seemed similar to her own home of Braidlands, but taller and wider. She felt a pang of homesickness for a moment. She knew the narrow spiral staircases had been built deliberately to make the upper floors easier to defend. Three women were cooking over a large fire in a stone alcove. Alexander beckoned an elderly woman.

‘You may stay here and eat,’ he told Sam, ‘then you can rest a while.’

‘No! No I cannot leave Miss Isabella!’ Sam declared vehemently. Alexander looked at Isabella, a faint smile on his face. One eyebrow quirked in question.

‘If we can both see my brother first?’ she said. She set down the small parcel on the end of a wooden bench and opened it. She removed her cuffs and collar and deftly replaced them but as she removed her mud splashed pinafore Alexander snatched up her clean one and held it from her.

‘You do not need this. Ah, and here is a comb for your hair I see.’ Before Isabella realised his intention he reached out and removed both her grubby cap and the net so that her long hair felt in shining ripples down her back. She gasped.

‘Give me back my net and cap!’ Instead Alexander placed them out of her reach and stepped close, lifting her hair in both hands. He turned her to face him. His fingers were warm and firm against the soft skin of her neck and Isabella trembled. Her stomach muscles gave an unfamiliar lurch as she stared into eyes as blue as the summer sky. She saw laughter in them, but no cruelty. ‘Please…’ she breathed. ‘I must be clean and tidy to meet your chief and plead for my brother’s life. Please…’

‘You have no idea how beautiful you look without your cap and netted hair. My uncle admires a beautiful woman as much as any man. - maybe more sometimes.’ Isabella stared at him in horror.

‘I have not come to –to sell myself,’ she said hoarsely.

‘No? Then what other wiles will you use to plead for your brother’s release?’ She could not tell whether he was teasing or serious. The colour drained from Isabella’s face and Sam moved closer, ever protective. She had never anticipated she might be asked to bargain for Jamie’s life with her body, or that that such a thing would be an assumption for most men.

‘Give me back by net and cap,’ she demanded, raising her chin proudly.

‘Not yet,’ Alexander shook his head. ‘I will take you to see your brother.’ He took her arm and led the way to the floor above. Alexander seemed surprised to see his uncle as well as his cousins, Anna, and her brother, Henry. Two of the men who had helped bring in the young prisoner the day before were also there, talking quietly together in a far corner of the large room. When they saw Alexander, followed by Walter Nixon and accompanied by a pretty young woman and an older man they moved closer, curious but alert.

‘I have brought you some visitors young squire,’ Alexander said to Jamie.

‘Belle! Isabella, can it really be you? Am I dreaming again?’ He struggled to sit up but Anna moved quickly to his side.

‘Please lie still. Do not re-open your wound,’ she said in a quiet voice, then turned to look at Isabella. ‘You must be his sister? You are alike. He lost a lot of blood but my father - and now Zander too I suppose - will insist on questioning him.’

‘I have to reach a decision before sunset,’ her father declared irritably. ‘We cannot let a man go free when he is found on our land and gives no good reason, especially when he was accompanied by a band of thieves who would seize any opportunity to steal our cattle.’

Isabella turned to face the older man. He had a mane of thick hair falling in waves to his shoulders. It was streaked with grey now but she guessed it had once been as golden as his nephew’s and the young man standing at his side. They all had the same blue eyes. The young man was almost identical to Alexander Latimer except that his face still had the same soft bloom as a girl’s and he was of a more slender build. He smiled kindly at her and Isabella felt the warm glow she had when her youngest sister put her chubby arms around her neck and hugged her. For a moment she felt tears spring to her eyes, remembering she would never see three year old Mary again. She blinked fiercely. She could not imagine this young man baying for the sport of a hanging. She raised her chin and met the eyes of his father.

‘You are the Warden of this barony, and chief of the Douglas clan, Sir?’

‘I am, and my word is law here. I would like to know why a young woman should make such a dangerous journey?’

‘I am here because you hold my brother prisoner. I know he is innocent of any crime. I am here to take his place. If your men crave the thrill of a hanging then let them hang me in Jamie’s place. A life for a life.’

There were gasps from everyone in the room. Sam fell to his knees in front of her.

‘No, Little Miss! No! I would never have brought ye here if I’d known what ye intended. I will give my own life before I let you sacrifice yours.’

‘Sam, come here and help me to my feet,’ Jamie ordered. ‘I cannot speak man to man lying here.’ Sam did as he asked. ‘Isabella I will not allow you to offer your life for mine. I should have listened to your suspicions of Neb Truddle. God forgive me, I thought they were only a girl’s dislike for a would-be suitor. You’re my sister. I will not, allow you to take my place in the hangman’s noose.’

‘Dear Jamie, don’t you see, our mother needs you at Braidlands to protect her and our sisters. If you die it will be as Neb Truddle and his father planned. They long to take over Braidlands, and our mother too, even against her will. May Neb Truddle will seize Marjorie too, now I am not there. They will do it by fair means or foul, if you are not there to protect our family.’ She caught back a sob, then lifted her head proudly and glared around at the men, then at their chief. ‘I would rather die hanging from a tree than marry Neb Truddle. He is evil. They did not steel your cattle. They tricked my brother into coming, then wounded him and left him for you to hang. If you really are in command,’ she looked Sir William Douglas in the eye, ‘and if you really believe in justice, then tell these men I take my brother’s place at sunset. My life in place of his.’

Three

‘Well!’ Sir William said, when he had recovered from the shock of Isabella’s proposal. ‘As a young man I went on many raids and found myself in many fearsome situations, but I never encountered a man, even less a woman, with such spirit. Nor any with the courage to journey through the marshes and over the mountain. You must be convinced of your brother’s innocence, and love him dearly.’ Jamie sank back onto the settle, his face white.

‘I do and I know he had neither need nor desire to steel cattle from anyone, but he is an Ellwood. He refused to be branded a coward by staying safely at home. Men from our own barony claimed their cattle had been stolen by the Kerrs, whose lands lie between our own and yours I think? They are known to enjoy the thrill of a raid, if not for profit, then for sport, in spite of the King’s desire for peace and the penalty they must pay if caught.’

‘A man who is leader of his clan should not allow himself to be led astray,’ Sir William said, choosing to forget his own adventures, including one which had almost cost him his life, and caused him to leave the woman he loved, Zander’s mother.

‘It was the first raid my young master has been on,’ Sam defended. ‘He did not know the northern boundaries. The Truddles lied. Their cattle had not been stolen. It was an evil trick.’

‘Master Ellwood tells the same story, but how do we know you had not already decided upon it if he should be caught?’

‘Jamie did not know the water marked your boundary, Sir,’ Sam said in desperation. ‘He was still a boy when my master was killed.’

‘When was he killed?’

‘Sir John Ellwood died three years gone.’

‘We were told he died at the hand of the Douglas men,’ Isabella said, ‘but our mother refuses to believe a Douglas could be responsible. Her own life was saved by one of your clan when she was a child, so my father promised never to attack a Douglas, or steal their animals.’

‘Indeed?’ William Douglas looked at Isabella in disbelief. He was finding it hard to believe the story but why would such a lovely young girl risk her life to journey across the treacherous marshlands? Or offer her life for her brother’s? In all his years as a hardened warrior he had never come across a woman with such courage, or selflessness.

‘My father was a man of honour and he had given his word. He believed there should be honour, even among thieves,’ Isabella said proudly. ‘Our mother has never believed he was killed by your men, but that was the story we were told by the men who brought news of his death.’

‘Do you resemble your mother?’ William Douglas asked.

‘No. Jamie and I are like our father, but two of our young sisters are very pretty with fair hair like our mother.’

‘What is your mother’s name?’

‘Mary – Mary Ellwood,’ Isabella replied, puzzled.

‘And before she married your father?

‘She – she was christened Mary by the nuns, Mary Scott. Her mother died in childbirth but the Douglas man who brought her to them said her name was Scott. My mother lived with the nuns for the first twelve years of her life until her father claimed her.’

‘A-ah…’ William Douglas let out a long breath. He knew now why Mary Ellwood considered the Douglas family her friends. He sighed heavily.

‘I do not know your mother, or her family, but I have heard of her story.’ He looked at Jamie. ‘But justice must be done. Whatever happened to your father the truth is you were found on Douglas land. You had been accompanied by a band of thieves.’

‘I understand,’ Jamie said and bowed his head in acceptance. ‘but I will not allow my sister to hang because of my lack of judgment.’

‘Father?’ Henry Douglas ventured diffidently. ‘There is something I should tell you.’

‘Oh?’ his father stared at him. ‘What could you have to say of importance, Henry?’ He loved his son but he had never understood him. He was a strange boy, not at all the warrior son he had longed for. He was nothing like Zander, the son who should have borne his name if fate had not intervened. By the time he returned from his enforced exile in Europe Zander’s mother had died in childbirth but she had married Latimer shortly before his death so that her son would have a name. On his return from exile William had married his beloved’s twin sister who had borne him Anna and Henry. He claimed Alexander as his nephew.

‘I-I believe I have a story which might bring comfort to the mother of the prisoner and his sister,’ Henry said, interrupting his father’s reverie.

‘Comfort?’ William Douglas scorned. ‘Are we to hear some of your biblical verses again? What could you possibly tell them, Henry? You spend your time with your books and your quill. You rarely venture forth with other young men of your age.’

‘Anna and Cousin Zander know I am often abroad when the moon is full and the world is bathed in its magic.’

‘Magic? Save me your poet’s imaginings! Tell your tale.’

‘Yes, Father.’ He looked across at Isabella. She gave him an encouraging smile. ‘It was a night when the moon was brightest. It is written in my journal so I could recount the time exactly. It is a little more than three years ago..’

‘Get on with it,’ his father growled impatiently.

‘That night the world was so beautiful I was led further than I intended.’ His father fidgeted but his cousin Zander moved to Henry’s side, knowing he rarely spoke more than a couple of sentences unless it was of importance.

‘I found myself beyond our boundaries when I heard a band of men approaching. I was on land belonging to the Kerrs. It was too late to run. I knew my life would be forfeit if they discovered me so I climbed into a beech tree. It was in full leaf and I was well hidden, but I could hear clearly. I knew at once the men were not Kerrs. They were near our own boundary when two men drew aside and stopped beneath the tree where I was hidden. The older one spoke in a low voice, “This will be near enough, Neb. The land across the burn belongs to the Douglas Clan.” The name Neb awakened my memory. I had never heard it before.’

‘Could it be Neb Truddle?’Isabella exclaimed. ‘Please, do go on.’

‘Another man appeared to be the leader for he held up his arm and spoke with an air of authority. He said, “We have reached the boundary of the Douglas lands. We go no further. We have seen no sign of thieves, or of the stolen cattle the Truddles claim they have lost. They brought us on a fool’s errand.” A few men grumbled but they turned and began to canter back the way they had come. Their leader turned to follow them. I didn’t see how it happened but he suddenly fell from his horse, not far from my tree. I could see he was hurt. The rest of his men had gone so I was about to climb down to see if I could help him but the two men were still beneath the tree, whispering. I heard the younger man say clearly, “My arrow brought him down but he’s still alive.” The older man went to their injured leader lay but instead of helping him he drew his knife and stabbed him many times. I gasped aloud. The man with the long nose looked up. I thought they would kill me too.’

‘Good God, Henry. I had no idea you ever got yourself into such adventures,’ Sir William exclaimed.

‘Yes, God was good that night,’ Henry said with faint reproach. ‘At least He kept me safe, Father.’ He and his father disagreed often about religion. ‘The killer said the gasp must have come from the dying man. The one with the long nose didn’t argue.’

‘You never breathed a word of this before!’

‘Would you have believed me, Father?’

‘I don’t suppose so. Can you blame me? You never hunt or fight or seek adventures like Zander and his friends’

‘The moonlight calls to my soul, Father.’

‘You should have told me. We would have given the man a decent grave.’

‘I gave him a grave,’ Henry said simply, as though it had never occurred to him not to do so.

‘You? Alone? How?’

‘I waited until the two men had gone. From my bough, high in the tree, I could see clearly in the moonlight. Some yards away, on our own side of the burn, a large tree had been uprooted by a storm some time ago. The roots had left a small crater. I carried the man and laid him there.’ It had been a struggle and taken Henry a long time. He looked at Isabella and Jamie. ‘I covered him well with leafy branches from other trees, then I pushed the soil from the edge of the crater to cover them. He sleeps in peace there. I have been back. Nothing has disturbed his resting place.’

‘Thank you, oh thank you,’ Isabella said, her grey eyes luminous with tears as she crossed the floor to stand before Henry and take his hand in both of hers.

‘I am sure that man was our father. It will comfort my mother to be assured he always kept his promise to her and now he lies in peace.’

‘We are very grateful,’ Jamie echoed her words. Henry Douglas gave them both his gentle, boyish smile.

‘I have always told you, Father, that my brother can be both brave and resourceful when he needs to be,’ Anna said.

‘I didn’t even know he could climb a tree,’ her father answered gruffly.

‘No,’ Henry said with a note of surprise, ‘I didn’t know either. I think the spirits of the moon must have taken me up there.’

‘Ach, you and your moon magic,’ Sir William muttered impatiently. Isabella gave Henry a sympathetic smile and squeezed his hand. Sir William observed them. His gaze became speculative.

‘You think me too hard on my son do you, Miss Isabella Ellwood?’

‘I am grateful to him and you do seem very impatient, Sir.

‘Well, you have just provided a solution to two of my problems.’ He turned to look at Zander. ‘It would be a waste to cut short a life with so much spirit, and more courage than most men. Don’t you agree, Zander?’

‘I do indeed. Both Miss Isabella and her brother have courage. I would not like to see either of them hang.’ Behind him the two men on guard sighed. There would be no excitement tonight.

‘But a penalty has to be paid. You will agree?’ Isabella looked at Alexander Latimer. Did his uncle always consult him? Was he in charge of the guardsmen?

‘What do you have you in mind?’ Zander asked with a puzzled frown.

‘One of them must stay to pay the penalty.’

‘Then I must stay,’ Isabella said, as Sir William had known she would. Her voice low but firm. ‘My mother and sisters need Jamie to protect them and the Ellwood Clan needs an honest man as leader.’

‘No! Isabella I cannot leave you here as a prisoner to take my place,’ Jamie said in consternation.

‘Our mother needs you, Jamie.’ She looked at Sir William Douglas. ‘If I have your permission, I will write my mother a letter. I shall tell her what your son did for our father and that you have agreed to spare Jamie’s life.’

‘You can read and write?’ Henry asked, his blue eyes lighting with interest. His father groaned.

‘It is all the boy thinks about, but this time it may prove an advantage.’ He looked at Jamie. Your sister will not stay here as a prisoner, but as a wife.’

‘A-a wife?’ Isabella’s eyes flew to Alexander’s face. He gave a little smile and his blue eyes danced. In that moment she knew he expected, yes and wanted, her to be his wife. She felt her stomach clench and her heart beat faster, but it was not with the fear or loathing she felt for Neb Truddle. Sir William Douglas claimed her attention, breaking the invisible thread which drew herself and Zander Latimer together.

‘Instead of celebrating a hanging tonight, gentlemen, we shall celebrate a wedding. I shall enjoy having grandchildren if they inherit, your spirit and courage, Isabella Ellwood. Your loyalty will be an extra gift. Yes, fate has taken a hand this day. Henry you will have a more worthy bride than I could ever have found for you.’ There were gasps from the men. Zander’s face darkened.

‘Me?’ Henry’s face paled. Henry stared at his father in dismay.

‘Of course I mean you. Who else can give me grandsons with the Douglas name. It will be an excellent match,’ Sir William insisted. Isabella opened her mouth in shock, then closed it. Her eyes were drawn to Alexander’s. She was sure he was surprised, yes, and disappointed. The other men whispered and chuckled amongst themselves even before Henry began to protest.

‘But Father you know I have no wish to be married. Not to anyone! You know what I want to do with my life. Cousin Zander will make a far better leader for the Douglas Clan when the time comes.’

‘No son of mine will become a monk and spend his days in a monastery,’ his father bellowed. ‘Anna!’ He turned to his daughter. ‘Will you tell the women to prepare. We hold a wedding feast tonight. Perhaps you could help Isabella find a suitable gown?’

‘Isabella?’ Jamie protested, rising awkwardly to his feet. ‘Surely you do not agree to this arrangement?’ he asked. ‘Sam must take you home at once.’

‘And leave you to hang on the end of a rope? Is that the celebration we shall have tonight?’ William Douglas interrupted. Isabella saw a ruthless glint in his blue eyes and knew why he was chief of the clan, and why his word was obeyed.

‘What will it be Isabella Ellwood, a celebration of your brother’s hanging or your marriage to my son, Henry?’

‘If - if Henry is willing to…’

‘Well Henry?’ his father demanded. ‘A hanging or a wedding? The choice is yours.’ Henry’s eyes swivelled to his cousin and there was no doubting the plea in them. Zander gave a helpless shrug but he stepped close and clasped Henry’s shoulder, turning their backs to Sir William.