Taming the Wild Highlander 04 (27 page)

Now, here he was looking for the lass—again—and wishing she could be his.
Again
. Aye, it was true he had had every intention of ensuring Oppida no longer bedeviled or murdered anyone else. That had been one of his main goals in accompanying the Chattan chief and his men. But in truth, he wished he could in some way rid himself of Edana's new husband. A perfectly timed accident. No witnesses. Just a quick drowning. Something that would not make
him
suspect.

Not that he hated the MacNeill. He just desired the lass for his own that much.

He would ask for the grieving widow's hand in marriage—and succeed in getting her into his bed.

If she were
already carrying a MacNeill babe, no matter. He would call it his own. And provide her with more that would be spawned by
his
seed and not the MacNeill's.

The trouble was
he wished to be the one who rescued her and returned her to MacRae's keep. The more he could do to show how chivalrous he was, the more she would be willing to agree to his marrying her.

He wanted a couple of
his men to dispose of MacNeill in the most tragically accidental way possible. But the man was with MacRae and his lad, and Keary wasn't about to have them tragically disposed of as well. He truly liked children.

So he was in a quandary what to do.

He had the notion that somehow he and some of his men could follow the lass and MacNeill back to James's keep. Just MacNeill, his cousin, Niall, and the Viking would not prove a difficult number to deal with.

Not that Keary intended
to kill them all. But he thought at some time or another, MacNeill would leave the others on personal business and some misfortune could befall him.

None would suspect Keary or his men
, who at his word, had returned to Lockton Castle and were not even in the area at the time—or so their ruse would indicate. He would wait for a short time after the man's demise. Then he would make some excuse to visit James's castle and enquire within as to Angus and Edana's health. He would act his part to show shock at Angus's death, as if they had been best of friends. He would do his utmost to console the grieving widow. He'd already convinced her father he would be a suitable husband since he had a title and he desired to have the lass as his wife. James would have to see the benefit as well as he was also a laird.

Keary smiled to himself. Aye,
one way or another, the lass would be his. Sooner than later, he hoped.

***

Beside himself with worry, Angus didn't know what to think. Edana's horse must have been spooked. By what though?

What bothered him just as much was that Pol co
uld not reach her. That made Angus fear she'd been too injured to respond.

Men calling her name throughout
the woods in every direction gave him hope they would soon find her. If she could but hear them and call out in return. He prayed she was all right.

"
Edana!" he hollered again, his voice near hoarse with yelling for so long. "Edana!"

"
We will find her," Kayne said, riding nearby.

"
Aye," Hawln said. "She is a resourceful lass. She has taken spills before and has been all right."

"
She is a hardy one that," Gildas agreed.

But Egan said not a word.

And Angus thought her brother Egan felt as he did. She was in trouble.

He looked over at Pol who appeared to be sleeping again. He hated to wake the boy, knowing the lad had been through one
awful trauma already and now was forced to stay awake when he had been up all night.

"
Pol, call her again," Angus insisted.

MacRae scowled at Angus.
"Can you see 'tis no' working? Leave the lad be." The chief still sounded as though he didn't believe Pol and Edana could speak to each other in their unusual way.

"
Pol, try again," Angus said, his voice angry, then turned his wrath on the lad's father. "If you hadna dragged her out here, MacRae, she wouldna be in trouble. And from what your son has said, she saved his life."

"
I…I am trying," Pol said.

They all paused in the woods and waited to hear if Pol was able to reach Edana.

Then his face brightened. "She…she
spoke
to me."

"
Where is she?" Angus asked in unison with two of her brothers.

Pol looked puzzled
. "She…she says she is in a tree. I didna think girls climbed trees."

"
Where?" Angus asked.

Pol shook his head.
"She doesna know."

"
Is she hurt?"

"
Aye. Her head. She fell."

"
Why is she in a tree?" Angus asked, concerned that someone or something had attempted to hurt her further.

Pol
's eyes widened. "A wild boar."

"
God's wounds. Is she safe where she is?"

"
The sow is still below the tree with its piglets."

"
But is she safe?" Angus asked.

"
Aye, she says unless she falls from the tree."

"
Is she unable to hold on?" Angus didn't wish to hear that she was too weak to do so when they had no idea where she was and the threat of a wild boar roaming around below her perch still existed.

Pol stared in the direction of the trees and Angus assumed he was listening to her talk to him. But then Pol shook his head.
"She didna answer."

Kayne cursed.

"Does she hear men calling for her? Can she call out to let us know where she is?" Angus asked.

Again a lengthy pause
, and then Pol shook his head. "She didna say anything."

They moved again, calling her name. It was all they could do until someone alerted them they had found the lass. He prayed she had not fallen from the tree and run afoul of the wild boar.

"Nay!" Angus heard a woman shriek. It was
his
woman.

"
Edana!" Angus said, riding as fast as he could through the thick woods, her brothers keeping up with him. Niall and Gunnolf were somewhere nearby but he could not see them. "Edana!"

"
Edana!" Kayne called out, the only one of the brothers whose voice hadn't given out.

"
Nay!" she screamed again. "She has wee ones!"

Angus
's jaw dropped. Someone must have found her and intended to kill the sow so he could rescue Edana. In all her goodness, she hadn't wanted the mother of the piglets killed.

He came upon several of Keary
's men attempting to draw off the mother while Keary tried to reach Edana.

I
t didn't matter who rescued her from the tree as long as she was taken from it before she fell and injured herself further. Yet the notion Keary would be the one to do so, and not one of her brothers, her da, or his own kin or good friend, Gunnolf—if it could not be Angus—forced the bile to rise in his gullet.

With a mighty roar, he galloped his horse into the fray, piglets squealing and running every which way, sow dashing a
fter one rider, who attempted to draw her away from the tree, and then another.

Before Keary could offe
r Edana his mount, Angus rode in under the branch that she clung to, reached up his arms, and offered her protection and security. She slipped into his grasp, then he galloped out of the tusked boar's path before his horse was injured.

"
Edana," Angus said, wishing his voice was soothing when all that came out was an anxious croak.

"
You have lost your voice," she said, then closed her eyes.

"
Edana, dinna sleep, lass." He feared she would not wake up, like sometimes would happen when men suffered head injuries on the battlefield. "Pol told us you were in a tree. He didna think girls climbed trees." He hoped she would smile or react in some manner, but he couldn't get a word out of her and she didn't smile either.

When he saw MacRae staying out of the boar
's path, Angus said, "Pol, can you reach her?"

"
She is with you," Pol said, as if he thought it silly that Angus would not just talk to her when she was resting in his lap.

"
She must no' sleep. She may no' wake up. Can you wake her? I canna."

They rode with all haste back to the keep, the word soon spreading that the
y had found the lass and all were to return to the castle.

"
She is asleep," Pol said. "I canna wake her."

As soon as they reached
the keep, several men began giving orders. Tibold told ten of his men to return to his castle. Keary ordered half of his own to return home as well.

Gildas
pulled Edana from Angus's arms so Angus could dismount. Anxious about her head injury, Angus took her back, and he and her brothers, her father, Niall, and Gunnolf headed for the keep.

"
I will have a chamber readied for her at once," MacRae said, then issued instructions to his people.

"
I will get the healer," Pol said. "She will take care of her." The boy dashed off.

Edana stirred in Angus
's arms. His heartbeat quickened to see her coming to. "Edana."

She moaned
, then her eyes fluttered open. And in that instant, she gave him the sweetest smile, her blue eyes swimming with tears.

No matter how worried he was for her, he smiled back, her expression cheerin
g him to the center of his being. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his damnable voice nearly gone from all the yelling he had done while trying to locate her in the woods.

"
My head hurts something awful."

"
Pol is getting the healer. She will give you something for your pain." He wanted to scold Edana for trying to rescue him when she should have stayed safely with MacRae, but he couldn't do it. Her loyalty and caring nature was part of what he loved about her.

She glanced at someone and furrowed her brow. Angus looked to see who she was frowning at.
Keary.
But she didn't say a word, and Angus wouldn't either until he'd settled her in a chamber and Keary was no longer within earshot.

"
What were you thinking, daughter?" Tibold asked, annoyed with her and when Angus hadn't scolded her, her father took up the reins.

"
Of saving you, Da."

Angus shook his head.

"Then we had to rescue you," her father said, "and your husband near died over it."

As if her father and her brothers hadn
't felt the same panic.

"
The same for me when the guard came and told us you were fighting MacRae's men. I had to stop it," Edana said softly.

"
Dinna fret, lass," Angus said. "You need to rest and when you and Drummond are well again, you and I will travel to Craigly Castle where we will meet with my brother, his wife, and my clansmen." Angus still wondered if James knew what might have happened between Edana and him when he found her.

"
Is everyone all right?" she asked.

"
Aye," Angus said. "'Tis you who are no' well."

"
Drummond?" she asked, ignoring his comment as if it didn't matter that
she
had been hurt.

Gildas spoke up then.
"Kayne and Halwn have already headed inside to check on him."

"
I want to see him for myself," Edana said.

"
See the grief she gives us?" Gildas opened the door to the keep for them.

"
I will rest better if I see Drummond."

"
Aye, lass, you will get your wish." Angus would begrudge her nothing that would lift her spirits and make her injuries fade into the background.

MacRae met them
at the narrow, curving stairs. "The lass has the chamber next to Drummond's."

"
Thank you," Edana said.

Still angry that MacRae had forcibly taken Edana with him
, believing that she had been in league with the devil named Oppida, Angus couldn't see the chief in a good light for now.

He
climbed the stone steps and strode down the corridor toward Drummond's chamber, following her father. Her remaining brothers, Niall, and Gunnolf kept in step behind them. When they entered the chamber, Drummond scowled at her, though his face was again pale and not flushed with fever. Halwn and Kayne stood nearby, arms crossed over their chests, brows raised.