Sarah Gabriel (18 page)

Now he knew just how busy she had been that day. Next time, he vowed, he would set a dozen old women to watch her.

As he rode closer, he saw Davey MacLennan walk out into the yard, looking baffled as he turned in circles. Alec urged the horse forward into the yard as the lad spun again.

“Hello, Davey,” he said calmly. “Did she get away?”

“
Och
, sir! I’m so sorry—I know ye wanted Mrs. Fraser to stay here and wait nicely for ye.”

“Aye, your grandmother and great-aunt were to watch after her. What happened?” Alec waited, hands folded on the saddle.

“They grew weary and asked me to watch out for her. She’s a fine lass, your wife. She said she wanted to meet ye out here and give you her sweetest apology. And now I dinna ken where she’s gone. She’s disappeared!”

Alec nodded. “You did a fine job to keep her as long as you did. I’ll fetch her. Go on inside, lad.” He tossed
Davey a gold guinea, then chucked to the horse and cantered across the road toward the moor.

Sweet apology indeed
, he thought.

Moments later, Alec saw Kate as she topped a low hill. He followed at an easy pace, for she was but half a mile ahead. The sun spilled glorious color through the sky as it sank behind the hills; in that glow, Kate’s hair, slipping loose of its knots as usual, shone like pale bronze.

And Jean’s red gown was as bright as a flag. Bless Jean and Providence, he thought, for making his life that much easier.

He saw Kate walking in the open, where the grass stretched over gentle swells to the rim of a hill. She glanced back then and, seeing him, broke into a run.

Riding steadily, Alec soon pulled near her, and she raced faster, hair and skirts whipping like banners in the wind. He leaned hard from the stirrups, precariously low, and reached out to scoop her around the middle with one outstretched arm. Though she flailed like an albatross, nearly pulling him from his horse, he managed to drag her upward and dump her over his lap. Then he clamped an arm around her middle, and turned the horse.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he grunted, as she almost wriggled away. He snugged his arm tight around her, trapping her arms under his, while he handled the reins in his left hand. He had planted her firmly in his lap—a little too much so, for he felt the blunt discomfort the moment he brought her into his lap. Ignoring the pain
as best he could, he held her tightly, though she wiggled and writhed in her effort to break free.

“That,” he growled, “is enough!”

Quieting suddenly, she stared at him, mouth open. Then she began twisting in his arms again.

“By God, I’ve endured enough of this,” he said. “Next time you try to get away, I shall just let you do that!”

“That would be fine,” she snapped back.

“And then I’ll just follow you to that nest of Jacobites you’re protecting and get all my blasted questions answered,” he said between his teeth.

He rode onward, while she sat silent and frowning.

She had made him furious, yet he felt the vigor of it, the challenge of it—for her sheer contrary stubbornness was the equal of his own. He had to admire her spirit. Having lost some of his own spark somewhere along the way, he had long felt some self-imposed restraints. He understood her need for freedom far better than she could know.

The other feelings that tumbled inside him had no name as yet, but he suspected that they were all part of the birthing of a new part of himself…and by the way she had him spinning about like a whirligig, he wondered if he was beginning to feel a wild sort of love. He had changed some, and just enough, in the last few days, to feel that might be the case.

She did not ride peacefully in his arms, pushing against him now and then, resentful and frustrated. He slowed the horse, holding Kate with one arm, the reins with the other. Reaching the road, he let the horse walk
to cool, then halted it altogether. He looked at Kate, held her while she twisted, and waited.

“Stop, now,” he said quietly. “Just stop. I cannot let you escape, and you know it.”

She sighed, quieted, looked away. He felt strangely caught in a mythic conflict, like a man from an ancient tale restraining one of the wild fairy folk in a battle greater than both of them.

And he realized that both he and Kate were resisting something greater than any individual grievance. If a bond was forming—if he truly was beginning to feel love for her—that had the power to remake and reshape him, and her, into something finer than when they began.

Someday, perhaps, he could accept that he could indeed love this girl, if he dared think about it. And if it proved true, sooner or later he would have to tell her the truth: that he, too, fought for the Jacobites in a covert way.

But that time was not yet, and there were things he had to do, duties to fulfill, secrets to plumb. He held her, feeling her continued tension and resistance.

“Kate,” he murmured. “I am no threat to you.”

She looked up at him. “Then tell the court you lost me out here. You told the soldiers so already. Let me go on my way, and you need never bother with me again.”

“I will always bother with you,” he said, and the word lingered:
always.

She looked at him in sudden wonder. Alec leaned down then, could not help himself, as if drawn forward, and touched his lips to hers. That gentle meeting of lips
plummeted through his body, hardening him then and there for more. The kiss dissolved into another when she sighed and returned it before pulling back.

“Stop that. You muddle my head. Why will you not listen to what I am saying and just let me go?” she asked.

“Perhaps I like kissing you,” he said wryly. “Perhaps you should say more so that I’ll understand—tell me what your kinsmen put you up to with those trips into the military camps. Tell me what you and yours know about those damned weapons.”

Kate scowled. “You know I am far too much trouble to keep, and I intend to be even more trouble. I will not let you take me so easily off to prison.”

“I realize that. But you’ll stay with me, Kate MacCarran, no matter what your wilder blood wants. Make of that what you will.”

She looked at him in startled silence, her frown pensive as he guided the horse down the hill through the gathering darkness.

G
lancing toward the inn, a mile or so away through twilight shadows, he saw its windows glowing with lanternlight. As his careful gaze swept the length of the road in the opposite direction, Alec saw a vehicle moving not far in the distance.

“Ah,” he said. “It’s Jack, at last.”

Kate sat straighter. “Jack? Thank God! He’s not harmed after all! I was so worried.”

Hearing the concern in her voice, Alec felt a pang of envy. He guided the mare down the slope, reaching the stone road at a point between the inn and the oncoming post chaise. Soon Jack slowed the horses and drew the vehicle to a halt.

“There you are,” Alec said, as Jack dismounted and came toward them.

“Jack, all this time and no word!” Kate said. “Are you well? What happened?”

“Met with a mishap, but it’s fine now.
Catriona Bhan
, so good to see you again,” Jack added in Gaelic, and tipped his hat.

Fair Katherine
, Jack had called her. Alec frowned as Kate smiled brightly. He had never thought to gentle her with the compliments that came more easily to Jack MacDonald.

“Alec found me earlier today,” Jack said, “recuperating from my adventure. I was just about to return here.”

“He did not tell me.” She glanced at Alec.

“I had no chance to tell you while you were shrieking like a banshee,” he muttered, only for her to hear. No, he thought, he did not have a knack for facile pleasantries.

“I’m sorry to be late,” Jack went on. “What’s going on? What are you two doing out here?” He seemed to notice Alec’s taut grip over Kate, who sat across his lap.

“A wee dispute,” Alec said.

“He will not let me go home where I belong,” Kate said.

“It is my opinion that the lady should stay at the inn,” Alec said, “but she prefers to traipse about the hills unescorted, especially by her assigned custodial officer.”

“Aha,” Jack said, and Alec was grateful his cousin had the wisdom to say no more.

Kate inquired in Gaelic, then, if Jack was well, and he
replied, and asked after her. Alec listened while she answered that she herself was fine, but that Fraser could sometimes be a military…

He frowned. “
Baobach
—what is that?”

“Blockhead,” Kate answered, and resumed her conversation with Jack in Gaelic.

“Alasdair Callda is trustworthy, never doubt that,” Jack said, “though he likes his secrets and his sulks.” He added something in Gaelic, and Kate laughed.

“If you’re quite done now,” Alec snapped. “I trust you will want to spend some time with Jeanie, now that you’re back?” He added that sternly.

“Of course. Though I know you need to go on to Edinburgh, and I thank you for waiting. You could have gone on ahead.”

“I wish I’d thought of that,” Alec grumbled, with a touch of sarcasm. He felt unaccountably irritated with Jack and realized it had to do with Kate—only with Kate. He turned the horse, while Jack ran toward the chaise, leaping up to ride postillion and follow Alec’s lead to the inn.

“Are you not glad Jack has safely returned?” Kate asked.

“Aye. But I saw him earlier today and told him so already. I’d like to move on now, but he’ll want to spend a day at least here with Jean and the bairn.”

“You can both stay at the inn as long as you want,” Kate replied. “And I’ll just go on my way.”

“You’re as stubborn a lass as ever existed,” Alec said, shaking his head slightly. “I should be shut of you my
self.” Aye, he thought, he was deeply irritated. Jealous. It did not suit him, but there it was.

“You do not find me charming, do you?” she remarked, tilting her head.

“Charming enough, but I’m not one of your fools, lass.”

“I know that,” she murmured.

“How did you get out again, by the way? Did you bedevil poor Davey? Did he adore you enough to do all your will?”

“He was glad to help me.”

“I’m sure, the poor lad. Shall I do that?”

“What, help me? Of course.”

“I mean adore you,” he said. His voice was a low growl—his heart pounded. Earlier he had thought his closed-up heart was softening some, but now he wanted to indulge in some of the old, familiar edge and annoyance that he used to keep others away.

She lifted her chin in that way she had, not haughty but proud, confident, knowing her worth—the way of a fairy queen. “You could do so if you like,” she said. “Adore me, I mean.”

“What if I already do?” His heart thumped hard, and a feeling turned within, that same whirligig set to motion.

She laughed softly. “If you did, I would know.”

“Would you?” he asked, watching her, knowing how easily he could adore her—perhaps already did.

He heard her breath catch. “If you did, you would not drag me about in chains, would you,” she replied.

He touched the crystal dangling at her throat. “You’re wearing this chain, and no other, just now.”

She touched it, her fingers covering his. Then she looked away. He loved the clean grace of her profile. Aye, adored it.

“Kate,” he said suddenly. He was not sure what he wanted to say, or do. He only knew he had to touch her, felt the pull of it like a storm within.

But they had reached the inn yard, the chaise rumbled past them, and Davey himself came running out to take care of the horses. Seeing Kate and Alec, he stopped uncertainly.

Alec saluted, Kate waved, and the lad smiled. Then he ran to help Jack bring the horses into the stables. Alec dismounted and reached up to lift Kate to the ground.

But he hesitated, holding her against him for a moment, her hands on his shoulders, her body curving so sweetly against his, even here, in a public yard, though it seemed as if only the two of them existed for a moment.

“If I set you on your feet and let go, what would you do?”

“Run,” she said.

“That’s honest.” Setting her down, he held her firmly about the waist and turned as Jack approached. “Jack, if you want to go inside and see your lady, go ahead,” he said. “I’m going upstairs with mine. We’ll wait for you there.”

“Aye then,” Jack said, and smiled at Kate.

She was looking only at Alec, neither smiling nor frowning, her gaze thoughtful.

“So you have the urge to run, hey,” Jack murmured. Much later that evening, he sat with her in the small rented room. Alec slept on the bed, his back turned to them, snoring deeply. He had been so tired that he had asked Jack to stay in the room and keep watch over Kate while he slept.

“I do,” she admitted. She sat on the bed, her back propped with pillows while Jack occupied the single chair.

“I can understand that.” He leaned back, stretching out his legs and crossing his feet and buckled shoes. He wore a brown frock coat, breeches, and waistcoat with white stockings, with no Highland gear at all. If he did not wear the full Highland kilt, then wearing a tartan jacket or waistcoat was grounds for arrest as a Jacobite. But for all his finery—snowy white linen ruffles showed at his jacket cuffs and neck, and his buttons were good silver—he was a thorough Highlander, Kate sensed, inside.

And he was that rare thing, a truly beautiful man, with expressive hazel green eyes beneath straight brows, glossy dark hair, a ready grin with a hint of a dimple. He looked more like a gentleman than a servant. He spoke to her mostly in Gaelic, his manner respectful but casual, so Highland in his manners that he set her at immediate ease. She felt as if she had a trustworthy friend already in Jack MacDonald.

“If you understand that I need to be free, then please let me out of here,” she murmured, glancing at the door.

Jack waved a hand in dismissal. “I would if I could. But we’ll do as Alec Fraser wants.”

“Why?” She crossed her arms. “I have kinsmen I must see, a home to return to. I must go west, not east.”

“I know. MacCarran.
Tcha
,” he said. “You could have told me. I’m a Keppoch MacDonald. Our kin are allies.”

“If you are Jacobite, then why are you with Alec Fraser?”

“I’m loyal to the great cause,” he said amiably. “And loyal to that cause, too.” He pointed a thumb toward sleeping Alec.

“I do not need to stay here,” she insisted.

“That may be,” Jack said easily, leaning his chair back until it thumped the wall so that he could rest his head there. He closed his eyes. “You will have to think on that for yourself. Who will benefit if you go? Yourself? Your kin? Alexander Callda? Who will benefit if you stay? It could be you and Alec both. That is what I think. But you must decide.”

She frowned, taking in his meaning. Jack was silent then, seemingly intent on sleeping. Slowly Kate stood, watching him warily. But his hand lashed out to grip her forearm and coax her back down to her seat.

“I would not be doing that just now,” he murmured, opening one eye.

“You closed your eyes. I thought it was a signal that you would look the other way if I left.”

“I wanted to keep from looking at you, lass. You’ve a blinding sort of beauty. Makes a man lose his wit. I thought I’d best not look upon you, with all your fairy magic.”

She touched the crystal at her throat. “My what?”

“MacCarran—I know the stories. I do not know if Alec does, but I do. And you and I both know that I would fall at your feet like all the rest, subject to your fairy gifts. So I’d best not look at you too often.” He closed his eyes again.

She laughed. “You have your own charm, Mr. MacDonald.”

“So I do. But I’m not such a fool as to flirt and fiddle with the lass who’s taken Alec Fraser’s heart.”

Her own heart beat very fast, suddenly. “I doubt he would truly give his heart to any woman.”

“He has given it to you,” Jack murmured. “I can tell you that. He might realize it himself one day.” He opened his eyes to fix her with a piercing glance. “And when he does, you’d best take care with his heart. That’s no man to trifle with.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“Good. And I’m no man to trifle with, either, should my kinsman be heartbroken by a fairy-blooded lass who does not even know her own power.”

“No need. He does not love me,” she said.

“Mm,” he grunted. “He does, or he will, or he can. Do you?”

She was silent, glanced at Alec. “I…could.”

“This is hopeful. But we’d best change the subject. This one is dangerous. I might be tempted to look at you, and you might look at me, and we’d both be lost forever in our own wicked charm, my darling. And then where would our Alasdair be?” He smiled with wry satisfaction.

She laughed again. Jack made her want to do that. Yet despite his beauty and smooth charm, she did not feel the sense of irresistible attraction with him that she felt so clearly with Alec Fraser. That both puzzled and thrilled her.

And she began to wonder if Alec could be the one man with whom she could find true love, the only sort of love she could ever accept in her life because of the fairy legend. She touched the fairy crystal again, thoughtfully.

“I’m sure you and I could manage to behave,” she said.

“We could. I’m that loyal to Captain Fraser that I’d not allow anything else. Would you?” Jack opened his eyes again.

She shook her head and glanced at Alec, at his broad back and strong shoulders, his tousled brown-gilt hair, all she could see of him, but for his hand tucked over the coverlet as he slept. He had strong, graceful hands, she thought.

“I’m glad you came to no harm these last two days, Jack. You took a risk for Captain Fraser and me, and I thank you for it, even if the captain is not so appreciative.”

“In his way, he is, though he keeps things to himself.”

“He keeps to himself why he is so determined to rush me to Edinburgh,” she said. “I am in no hurry. And I suppose you want to stay here for a while.”

He looked at her. “Me?”

“To stay with your lady and your son,” she said bluntly.

A frown puckered his brow, and he was silent for a moment. “I do want to stay with them,” he said.

“He’s very bonny, the bairn. You must be very proud.”

“He looked like a dry apple when I saw him last, but he looked bonny tonight,” he admitted.

“He is beautiful,” she said. “I love his laugh.”

“He did not laugh for me.”

“Just wait. You will fall in love, Mr. MacDonald. And Jeanie is a very good mother.”

“I know. And I am…not so good a father. I offered to marry her, you know, but she refused me,” he added. “Said she would wait until I knew for sure what I wanted. And all I have wanted to do, for the last year, is marry Jeanie MacLennan, if I could only convince her. I fear my wicked past follows me about.”

“I know what that is like. And I think you are a very good man, Jack MacDonald.”

He huffed a laugh. “My secret is out. What about Alec Fraser? What do you think of him?”

She glanced away. “He…puzzles me. Befuddles my brain.”

Jack laughed. “You befuddle his brain. And more.”

“I know he’s one of the good ones,” she said quietly.

“He would prefer we not know that,” Jack whispered.

“If you want to spend more time with Jean and your son before we go to Edinburgh in the morning,” she ventured, “you had best go down to her now. It’s late.”

“I promised Alec I’d sit with you while he slept.”

“I’m sleepy myself. I think we should all rest.” She yawned a little and stretched.

Jack looked at her, eyes narrowed, and chuckled. “I’m not a silly young lad, Miss Katie Hell,” he drawled.

“Cut more of the cloth of your employer than I thought.”

“My cousin,” he corrected. “Through MacDonald of Keppoch, where I was fostered as a stray and an orphan.”

“He mentioned that.”

“Did he? I’m surprised. He keeps his past and his thoughts to himself, does Alec.”

“All those rules and such. A good Whig.”

“Hardly that,” Jack said.

She leaned toward him. “What do you mean?”

“Ask him yourself. He might tell you.”

“Is he…a Jacobite sympathizer?” Once dawned, the idea thrilled and would not go away. “Is he?”

“I cannot speak of another man’s politics. It is very personal. You will have to ask him. But even so, either way,” he said sternly, “his politics would not erase your arrest and your upcoming hearing.”