Seduced by a Rogue (42 page)

Others, still horsed, fought as fiercely, to the disadvantage of their opponents who, thanks to their places of ambush, were
all
afoot. So Rob shifted his attention to a second attacker, hoping none of his men would mistake any of Hugh’s for the enemy
or vice versa. Members of their party wore red cockades on their helms or caps, rather than clan colors. But a man might easily
lose his badge in battle.

Recognizing one of Alex’s men fighting one of his own lads as he dispatched his second opponent, Rob spurred his horse toward
them, shouting, “Hold there, Jock MacGowan and Ian Rigg! Where is the sheriff, Jock?”

The two men flung up their swords at the sound of his voice and whirled to face him. Both looked shamefaced. The taller one
met Rob’s stern gaze and said defensively, “I didna hold wi’ lying in wait for ye, Master Rob. But the sheriff did say that
if ye came here, we was to arrest ye and all who rode wi’ ye.”

“Where is he?” Rob repeated grimly.

Jock gestured toward the keep. “Yonder, Master Rob, inside. He took a dozen men in wi’ him, and he said he’d tell them at
the gate he were expecting to speak wi’ the lady Mairi, that doubtless summat had delayed her.”

“So ’tis likely he surprised those inside, too, and has been asserting the authority of his office,” Rob said. “Now, listen
to me, Jock MacGowan. We have Maxwell men injured who need tending, so this must stop now. I warrant you do not recognize
that man yonder,” he added, gesturing toward Hugh. “He is Sir Hugh Douglas, cousin to Archie the Grim. The dowager Lady Douglas
is likewise Archie’s cousin and Sir Hugh’s sister. Do you take my meaning?”

“Aye, sir, I’d ha’ to be ten times a fool no to ken better than to stir Douglas tempers,” Jock MacGowan said, his eyes widening.
“Sakes, but we’ll ha’ the whole fearsome clan after us an we do that, I’m thinking.”

“Not if we can end this now,” Rob said.

Jock bit his lower lip, looking around. Bleeding bodies lay everywhere.

Rob kept his eyes on Jock, trying to ignore the dreadful sounds of clashing steel and injured men. When Jock met his gaze
again, Rob said quietly, “Where is Abel the hornsman?”

Nodding decisively then, Jock gestured to someone beyond Rob on his right. As Rob turned, he heard the two-note Maxwell signal
to cease fighting.

In almost the same moment, three sharp notes came from another horn. Looking swiftly toward Sir Hugh, Rob saw that Hugh’s
man, Lucas, held the horn. Hugh had lowered his sword. The rest of his men and Rob’s were doing likewise.

Rob breathed a sigh of relief, although he knew the battle was far from over.

“You must have more men than these, Jock,” he said. “Where are they?”

“A few be inside and a score o’ them yonder,” the man said. “Near the road, wi’ Old Jardine’s lot, a-waiting for them what
may come from the south.”

“From Annan House?”

“Aye.”

Swearing, Rob shouted for Hugh.

The cessation of battle sounds raised Mairi’s hopes until Phaeline, pointing to the road below, said, “Look! It must be a
hundred men! They cannot be ours.”

“I expect they are the sheriff’s men,” Mairi said. “I see no banner, but with all the talk that Archie the Grim means to take
the dales, mayhap the sheriff hoped folks would think that his force, being so large, must be Douglases.”

“Would they not wonder why they do not fly the Douglas banner?”

“Sakes, they’d be daft to wave the Douglases’ banner when they dinna be Douglases,” Gib said scornfully.

“Folks might wonder, but I wager most would keep clear,” Mairi said dryly. “It might explain why we had no warning that the
Maxwells were coming.”

Phaeline nodded. “Gibby is right, too, though,” she said. “If our Archie were to hear that men were falsely waving his banner
or otherwise aping Douglases, he’d soon have their heads on pikes at Threave. Why has it grown so quiet below?”

“I heard horns, so it must be over,” Mairi said. “But I mean to find out.”

“You mustn’t go down there!” Phaeline exclaimed. “I shan’t let you!”

“Nay, m’lady,” Gib said. “Ye must no go down. I can go and see
for
ye.”

“I’m going,” Mairi said. “This is my land, and they attacked my people. If those riders yonder did not join the fray, the
sheriff’s force must—Wait,” she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. “Is that large black horse not Gerrard’s?”

“Aye, it is,” Gibby said, his eyes wide. “Sakes, m’lady, they’ve got
our
men!”

“Then I
must
see what has happened at the Hall. But you stay here with the lady Phaeline, Gib.” Giving neither time to argue, Mairi wrenched
her horse toward the track downhill to the Hall. But before she reached it, half a dozen armed riders crested the hilltop
from the south and quickly surrounded her.

They all wore helmets, but she recognized Will Jardine when he urged his mount up beside hers and grabbed her horse’s bridle.

“Let go and get out of my way,” she snapped. “You are on Dunwythie land!”

“Aye, sure, and don’t I ken that fine?” Will said with a cheeky grin. “One day soon, though, it will all belong to me.”

“Good sakes, Will Jardine, how do you think
that
can happen?”

“Aye, well, let me see now. Dunwythie be dead, and if
ye
be dead next, the land goes to my Fiona and hence to me,” he said, ticking the statements off on his fingers.

“That is
not
going to happen,” she said. “Even Sheriff Maxwell would not be party to such a theft, if only because he wants to seize my
estates for Clan Maxwell.”

Will chuckled. “Nay, then, for he sent word to me da that he were a-coming, sithee. And me da means to make the facts plain
to him. He already has your lads, and he’ll soon take anyone else who gets in his way.”

“Where is Fiona?” Phaeline cried out to him.

“At home where a good wife belongs,” he snapped.

“There are many others coming,” Mairi said, striving for calm. “We sent men out to warn all the lairds in Annandale before
we came here.”

“Ye did, aye, and I warrant ye must be a-wondering what became o’ them. Sithee, me da sent his lads out to collect yours,
and others to relay the news that ’twas all a mistake and nobbut the sheriff and a few lads paying calls like before.”

His men were listening and watching him with grins much like his own when Mairi saw Gib slide down the offside of his pony
and dive into nearby bushes. To give him time to get safely away, she kicked her horse, making it plunge and pull hard against
the bridle Will held, nearly unseating the man.

He raised his whip menacingly. “Do that again, lass, and see what ye get!”

“Alex has more men with the Jardines’ lot, lying in wait on the road just south of us for anyone coming from Annan House,”
Rob told Hugh. “Gather all these men here, ours as well as your own—”

Hugh’s eyebrows rose. “Your
brother’s
men?”

Rob looked at Jock and Ian Rigg. “My brother’s men will do as I tell them,” he said sternly. “Will they not, Jock MacGowan?”

“Aye, sir,” Jock said, nodding hastily. Ian Rigg nodded, too.

“Very well, then,” Hugh said. “What do you—?”

“Master Rob! Master Rob!”

Whirling, Rob saw Gibby dashing headlong toward him, heedless of armed men or injured ones. Brambles and twigs clung to his
tattered clothes.

“Them Jardines ha’ her ladyship!” he shouted. “
Both
o’ their ladyships!”

Gasping, the lad stumbled, and Rob caught him, set him upright, and looked into his sweat-streaked face. “Where, lad?”

“Yonder… hill,” Gib said, taking gusty breaths. “I ran all the way down!”

“How many men?” Rob asked him.

“Six on the hill, many at the bottom, but methinks lots o’
them
be Annan House men the Jardines caught. They got the lads that Captain Gerrard sent out to raise the other lairds, too. Lady
Mairi were expecting many to join us, but them wicked Jardines—Sakes, laird, the one a-leading them… her ladyship did call
him Will Jardine. He said her land will belong to him when
she
be dead like her da!”

“You’ve done well, lad,” Rob said, squeezing Gib’s shoulder as his own fury leaped within him. He was as angry with Mairi
for putting herself at risk, and with Phaeline for letting her, as he was with the treacherous Jardines. Ruthlessly controlling
his ire, he turned to the two Maxwell men beside him.

“Ian, look after the men seeing to our injured. Gibby here will help them when he gets his breath. Jock, are our own men on
the gates yonder?”

“Aye, sir.”

“Tell them they are to stay right where they are. Then get the rest ready to ride. But first, send Abel the Horn to me.”

Hugh said, “My lads are ready, so what is our plan?”

“How many clan calls does your hornsman know?” Rob asked him.

Hugh grinned. “Any you need. Lucas Horne!” he shouted. “I want you!”

A dour-looking man with bushy dark eyebrows who had ridden directly behind them from Thornhill strode up to join them, “Aye,
sir?” he said to Hugh.

“Maxwell here wants to know how many clans’ horn calls you can blow.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows in much the same way that Hugh had earlier. “Happen we be up to old mischief then, eh, Master Hugo?”
Looking at Rob, he said, “Who d’ye want we should pretend t’ be, sir?”

“Annandale clans, Johnstone, Kirkpatrick, whoever will impress the Jardines,” Rob told him. Then, indicating Abel, he added,
“This is my hornsman. Teach him one or two as we ride. Then I want the two of you to split off into the woods and make as
much noise as you can when we get near the Jardines.”

“Ye’ll want Douglas, too,” Lucas said. “But Sir Hugh has his own horn and can blow as good as most. Ye be lookin’ to ha’ armies
in t’ woods, I’m thinkin’.”

“That’s it,” Hugh said, but he was frowning. “What if they run, Rob?”

“I want the Jardines to run.”

“But they might take the women with them.”

“Recall that Gib told us there are only six men with them on that hill,” Rob said. “I doubt Will Jardine has the stomach to
fratch with two resistant women if the rest of the Jardine men take off. And Mairi
will
resist. Recall, too, that Old Jardine has hostages to give
him
trouble. Mairi’s captain and his men are unlikely to stand idle when they know reinforcements are on the way.”

“I hope you’re right,” Hugh said.

“Me, too,” Rob said. “Will Jardine better hope so, too. If I’m wrong, and I can get to him, he’ll soon be a dead man.”

Some time had passed since Mairi had stared back at Will until he lowered his whip. He had told her then that he did not want
to hear another word from her, and she had kept silent, wondering what he would do next.

He had moved them farther east on the hill until they could not see her men, Old Jardine’s, or the road to the Hall.

Will was evidently waiting for a signal or for someone else to join them, because he had not told her or Phaeline to dismount.
He had also sent two of his men to keep watch, one looking south along the road and the other north.

At last, he said to a third, “Go see if anyone be coming from the Hall yet.”