Macbeth's Niece (23 page)

Again Tessa left out the marriage to Cedric,
acknowledging her own cowardice in doing so. “Your Aunt Madeline
helped me to return to Scotland. At my uncle’s castle, I learned
you might be alive.”

“And so came to rescue me?” His voice took
on the tone of amusement that never failed to irritate Tessa. How
dare he sneer at her efforts to help!

“Only to be betrayed by you to Hawick and
his henchmen. How could you do such a thing?” As anger returned,
her voice rose.

“I meant no sarcasm,” Jeffrey assured her.
“I’ve never before been rescued by a contentious Scotswoman, and I
must adjust my masculine pride accordingly.” This time the
amusement was directed at himself, and Jeffrey put a hand on
Tessa’s shoulder to calm her. “I did not want to betray you, but I
had to tell Hawick something. After you left, I returned to the
castle to find them preparing to ride out. Hawick was pleased with
himself, I could tell, and he let slip that he expected to find ‘a
bit of gold along the road to Jedburg.’ It seems a local innkeeper
reported to him that a man and a boy who came through had the
king’s gold in their possession. He was smart enough to let you be
seen leaving his property, so when you came up missing later, he
could swear you’d departed in safety. The intention, though, was
that you’d not get far.”

“So you betrayed my identity to keep me
alive,” Tessa said, realizing the danger she and Banaugh had
escaped.

“I had to think quickly to save your
friend,” Jeffrey said with some pride in his acting ability. “But
then, Hawick doesn’t hire his men for their impressive brains.”

Tessa felt she had misjudged Jeffrey badly,
and she tried to atone. “I am sorry. If I had known, I would not
have struck you in the eye—”

Banaugh’s cackling laugh sounded beside her.
“She hit you, did she? Ah, the lass can fight, always has
done.”

Jeffrey cut him off, embarrassed by the
topic. “Now you know why I acted as I did.”

Tessa related Hawick’s comment of the night
before that he might rid himself of Jeffrey. She tried to spare his
feelings, being tactful about Mairie’s comment, but Jeffrey saw the
truth of it and laughed.

“Do you think I don’t know what a
treacherous liar Mairie is? I have used her to stay alive, knowing
her brother will deny her nothing, but I never deluded myself she
has even one genuine feeling for me or anyone outside herself in
that beautifully coiffed head. They are quite a pair, the two of
them: he grotesque and rotten, she lovely and even more so.”

Surprised, Tessa told herself she should
have known. Jeffrey, who could himself act many parts, would be the
first to recognize the actress in Mairie.

“Still, I can delay them long enough for you
two to get away,” Jeffrey mused.

“No!” Without analyzing why, Tessa was
unwilling to be separated again from Jeffrey. “We came here to get
you out, and you must come with us.”

Jeffrey’s face was visible now that her eyes
had adjusted to the darkness, but after a pause, she could hear the
old amusement return to his voice. “It was just a thought. If I
must come with you to get you to leave this place, then I must. Now
get some sleep. We must be ready at first light to make our
escape.”

She was surprised he agreed so easily, but
perhaps it was just as well. The tension of the evening had drained
her of all but the tiniest bit of energy to make this last demand.
Gratified that Jeffrey gave in, and finding she really was quite
tired, Tessa did as he suggested, though doubtful she could
actually relax. Some time later, she realized sleep had indeed been
possible, in fact, inevitable. Awaking as light began to creep into
the stable, she saw Banaugh and Jeffrey talking quietly on the
other side of the room. They stopped when she sat up and rubbed her
eyes.

“Jeffrey—”

“Hush,” was his answer. “We’re listening for
someone’s coming to release me. It could be any time now.”

Tessa spent a few minutes combing the straw
from her hair with her fingers. Soon a carefree whistle was heard
outside. Someone was coming to let Jeffrey out of his makeshift
prison. Her attention was focused on the door, so she never sensed
Banaugh coming up behind her. Before she knew it, his wiry arm was
around her waist and the other hand clamped firmly over her mouth.
Dragging her into the corner behind the door, he held her tightly
while Jeffrey watched with approval.

At that moment there was a rattling from
outside as the latch-pin was removed from the catch. When the door
opened, Jeffrey rushed out in a feigned rage, knocking the servant
who had opened the door back and slamming the door behind him.

“Where is the woman? I will tear out her
hair by the roots! How dare she leave me to shiver in there all
night with only mice for company?” His voice grew fainter, but he
continued his tirade all the way to the house. Tessa realized in
despair he was making sure no one looked into the tiny storage room
where the two of them hid.

Once it was quiet again, Banaugh released
Tessa. She said nothing, knowing they had done this for her, but
her heart quailed for Jeffrey’s safety. “He will mak’ his escape
and mee’ us on th’ river,” Banaugh soothed her. “We ha’ arranged a
place.”

Picking up the pack with her boy’s clothes
inside and handing it to her, the old man turned his back. Tessa
quickly dressed in her disguise, reflecting that for a second time
she was exchanging an exquisite wedding dress for rough boy’s
clothing. The crone’s prediction suddenly rang in her ears; “Two
men who marry you will never be your lover.” So far that was true;
maybe it meant they would escape Hawick’s clutches. “Your true
lover will forget your name,” the third one had said.

Jeffrey had forgotten her name, but he was
not her lover, was he? He claimed to care about what happened to
her, had seemed at times to be attracted to her. Tessa could not
decide what kind of man Jeffrey Brixton was. It could simply be
that he was grateful for her attempts to find him, or maybe he was
a man who loved adventure and women too well to resist either, or,
most likely, she didn’t understand him at all. Pulling her hair
back into a knot, she covered it with the hood that hid its color
and shine, then said to Banaugh, “I’m ready.”

“We must get t’ the river if we can,”
Banaugh told her. “There’s an old rowboat there tha’ I ha’ patched
as best I could, and in the mornin’ mist, we should be able to ge’
far enow downriver t’escape th’ scoundrels. We must ge’ t’ Jedburgh
an’ book passage on a ship. ’Tis the fastest way t’ put distance
twixt us and Hawick.”

“But we have no money!” Tessa protested.

“Och, but we do,” Banaugh replied. “Tha’ day
when I heard the horses comin’ behind us, I dropped the purse into
the bushes at the side o’ the road. Ye never ken wha’ t’ expect i’
these parts, bu’ ye can usually expect trouble. Later I went back
an’ picked it up again.” Tessa smiled at his canny forethought.
What would she do without Banaugh?

Their first task was to escape Hawick’s
courtyard. “How are we to get out of the gate? It may be open, but
it will be guarded. They’ll be looking for me soon if they aren’t
already.”

“Yer Master Brixton thought o’ that.”
Banaugh left the stable, first checking to see that no one was
around, and returned shortly with a barrow. “It is sma’, but then,
so are ye. Ge’ in an’ I will cover you with straw.”

Tessa did as she was told and soon was
bumping along the path toward the gate. It was terrifying to lie
there, unable to see what was happening. A coarse voice called for
Banaugh to stop. The old man had pulled his cap low and bent over
to hide his face, appearing to be an ancient worker from some
nearby farm.

“Where do you go so early, old man?” said
the voice.

“Home, to the west o’ here,” Banaugh
squeaked. “I ha’ straw for my dovecote, and I ha’ paid for it, too,
with pigeon eggs for the master’s table. My ladybirds will ha’ soft
bedding this night.” His voice sounded so querulous Tessa herself
almost didn’t recognize it. Then he began to sing, “Coo, coo,” in
an idiotic manner.

“Go on with you, then!” the guard growled.
As Banaugh plodded on slowly, so slowly Tessa thought she might go
mad, the gruff voice growled, apparently to another standing
nearby, “Crazy as a bedbug.”

Banaugh continued down the path until they
were far enough away to not be heard. “The benefits o’ lookin’
ancient, lassie, which ye wi’ not know for some time yet. An’
seemin’ a bit addled doesna hurt, either.”

Finally they reached the trees that lined
the Teviot River, and Banaugh wheeled the barrow into some trees,
out of sight of Hawick’s castle. Tessa jumped out, brushing off her
clothes as they hurried to the riverbank. Banaugh untied the
rowboat, which did not look at all serviceable to her with its gray
wood and the green slime growing on the bottom. “Dinna worry, lass,
we’ve not far to go in it,” Banaugh encouraged as he helped her in.
Taking up two crudely made oars he had fashioned from driftwood, he
guided the boat into the current.

Water began immediately to seep in around
the rags and grass Banaugh had used to stop the holes. Without a
word he handed Tessa his tin cup. She bailed as he rowed, and they
were away.

Chapter Twenty

As they floated toward Jedburgh, Banaugh did
his best to convince Tessa Jeffrey would be all right. “Tha is a
clever man. ‘E has a plan for ’is own escape, and will mee’ us if
’e thinks it safe. ’E hopes they’ll be sae int’rested in findin’ ye
tha’ they won’t watch ’im close.”

They found the spot Jeffrey and Banaugh had
agreed upon, a bend where the river was shielded from the road by
thick gorse and scraggly trees. The river had cut into the bank and
then receded, leaving a hollow that allowed them to hear passers-by
on the road above while hidden from view. Just above the place they
pulled the boat up onto the bank and into the underbrush, its
bottom fully waterlogged now. Their journey had been spent with
feet soaked as the porous old boards allowed in more and more of
the river. Still, the boat had accomplished its purpose. Their
means of escape would not be easily detected since no boat was
missing from the castle’s supply. Hopefully, pursuers were
searching for them along the roads, where they would find no track
or sign.

They sat quietly, surrounded by the smell of
damp earth and leaves, and waited for the sound of Jeffrey’s
approach. Tessa felt her stomach growl and remembered she’d had
nothing to eat since noon yesterday. Banaugh wordlessly unwrapped a
bundle he pulled from his pocket and offered her a carrot. She
grinned at him, and he murmured, “I didna suppose the horsies in
Hawick’s stable wuld miss a few o’ the sma ones.” Grateful for
anything, Tessa concentrated on munching quietly.

They waited several hours, dozing in the
morning sun. Autumn was advancing fast, but their place of
concealment was sheltered from any breeze, and the midday sun soon
made it comfortably warm. It was not easy, though, to lie idly
while thoughts of Jeffrey’s situation kept disturbing the quiet
around her. Was he coming? Had Hawick caught him while trying to
escape? Had they killed him? Banaugh too was worried; she could
tell by the way he looked in all directions every few minutes,
chewing his bottom lip.

Finally they heard noises on the road above.
With a finger raised, Banaugh signaled she should stay where she
was and crept quietly away. As she listened, Tessa’s heart sank.
There were two horses. She prayed they would pass by, but they
stopped just down from her. A saddle creaked as someone climbed
down, and shortly after an unmistakable sound as he relieved
himself not ten feet away.

“I still think she went north,” said a
voice. “She’ll want to find her uncle the king and tell on us.” She
recognized the voice of Dougal, the man she had first seen at
Brixton Hall.

“Hawick thinks she’ll head to Jedburgh,”
came the reply. “A girl alone would have little chance traveling
overland. She’ll have to find passage on a ship.” That was good.
They had no idea Banaugh still lived, so they sought only one
person.

“I still don’t see how she managed to
overpower Ian, tiny thing she is.”

The other man guffawed. “He dinna want to
dwell on it, did he? I’d wager his second head distracted him!
Right shamed he was, though, to be o’ertaken by a lass, and in his
own bedroom!”

“Dinna let Hawick hear you laugh at him, or
he’ll have your guts for garters,” Dougal reproached the other.
Sounds of metal meeting metal accompanied the conversation. The men
were eating something, judging by the way their words distorted
from time to time. Dougal’s next statement came between chews.
“We’re on a wild goose chase.”

“Someone had to go to Jedburgh on the chance
she heads that way,” the second man said reasonably. “I’d rather be
here than on the way to meet Macbeth with Hawick and the others. He
takes a great chance with this business.”

“Hawick knows the risk,” Dougal assured his
friend, “but the Englishman’s newest idea is a good one. The best
way for Hawick to prove loyalty to young Malcolm is to kill
Macbeth.”

Below them, Tessa gasped. Jeffrey had
plotted with Hawick once again. It was a terrible blow to the faith
in his character that had just begun to grow in her. The man’s
voice went on. “He has the girl’s letter from the king, which will
gain him entry, and he will go as her husband, offering his
services against the English and Malcolm. Once inside, he can
dispatch Macbeth, signal the English, and hide until the battle is
over. Once the king is dead, the castle will fall easily, I’ll
wager.”

“All we must do is catch the girl and see
she doesna live to tell a different tale,” the other added
grimly.

Sounds indicated the two were about to
remount and be on their way when a splash sounded from the river.
Both stopped and listened, and a second splash followed soon after.
Stepping into the brush, Dougal peered down at the water but could
see nothing. He turned back to his companion, and immediately
another splash sounded. Now the second man joined Dougal. They
carefully descended the steep bank, slippery with vegetation. As
they reached the water, a decrepit rowboat floated around the bend
and toward them. Someone in white huddled on the floor of the
thing, obviously trying to avoid detection. With a shout, Dougal
waded in as the second man stood on the bank shouting
encouragement. For the tall Dougal, the river was only chest deep
at this point, and he easily intercepted the old boat in
mid-stream.