The Highlander's Outlaw Bride (28 page)

Jamie bounced beside her, his stout pony trotting to keep up. “Slow down, Anna!”

A sharp, muttered expletive from Auld Willie caused Brianna to swivel in her saddle. Auld Willie gave her a sheepish look.

“I dinnae mean to say that out loud. I need a short privacy stop. I feel my years these days—cannae go long between privies.” He motioned them on. “I will only be a moment or two.”

Brianna’s unease grew by the minute. Leaving the protection of the two men sent warning bells ringing in her head.

“I want to go back, Anna,” Jamie whined, pulling his pony to a halt.

The need for protection warred with her ability to deal with Jamie’s increasing tiredness. Her own curse stifled beneath her breath, she gave Jamie a bright smile.

“Let us race to the big rock and give Auld Willie a moment to himself.”

With a whooping cry, Jamie leaned low over his pony’s neck and shook his reins. Grabbing the bit, the pony darted forward, ears flat against his skull. Jumping to the pony’s challenge, Maude joined the race. Brianna quickly adjusted her seat and steadied the mare, making sure Jamie won by a short nose.

Jamie plumped back into the saddle, shouting in triumph as he waved his hands in the air. His pony gave a quick buck, and Jamie slipped to the side, landing in the dust of the trail.

“Oh!” he exclaimed in surprise. Brianna slid from Maude’s back and hurried to his side. She laughed at the disgusted look on his face, assured only his pride was injured. She helped him to his feet, brushing away the dirt and leaves clinging to his clothing.

“My pony!” he shouted, pointing after the animal rapidly disappearing down the trail.

“Stay here!” Brianna scrambled after the fat pony. He dodged this way and that, and it took her several moments to finally outsmart the four-legged menace. Not sure whether to laugh or insist on roasting the troublesome pony over a fire, she led him back to the large rock where she’d left Jamie. She glanced around in bewilderment. He was nowhere to be seen.

“Jamie?” she called, turning in a full circle, trying to catch a glimpse of his red-gold hair. “Jamie, if ye think this is a game, I assure ye ’tis not!”

Exasperated, she propped her fists at her waist. “Jamie Douglas. Auld Willie will be here in a moment and we need to get going again.” Fear slid cold fingers down her spine. “Jamie? Where are ye?”

Chapter 31

Brianna searched the shadows and hidden areas among the trees. A ray of sunlight split the gloom, glinting off red-gold hair. She started forward, the rebuke dying on her lips as she saw the lad’s wide eyes and the strong arm lying firmly across his neck. Jamie and his captor took one step forward from the shadows.

“Auld Willie?” A wave of dizziness swept over her, and a cold sweat broke out over her body.

“Wheesht, lass. Dinnae fash yerself. It happens so fast. Ye will scarce be aware.” He sighed tiredly. “’Tis the waiting that is the worst.”

“What are ye doing?”

“It has been harder than I thought to make things right.”

“What things, Uncle? What isnae right?”

“’Twas not yer da’s fault he was born first. But Wyndham should have been mine.” He stepped closer and Brianna noted the strained look of his face, the way his eyes darted from one place to another, unable to rest, unable to find peace. Madness.

“Wyndham has always been yer home,” she protested gently, shoving the rising panic deep inside her.

“The running of it should have been mine! Yer da was never the leader I would have been.” He waved a hand about wildly in agitation. “For the past five years he has done naught but sit and stare at the fire in a drunken stupor, seeing naught but a dead wife!”

“He was a good leader. He will be again.”

“Nae, lass. His time is over. With ye and Jamie out of the way, Wyndham will come to me as it should.”

“And then what, Uncle?” Brianna demanded, anger overtaking her fear. “Who will it fall to after ye are gone?”

Auld Willie looked around the glen, bewilderment on his face. “Geordie…”

“Geordie is dead, Uncle.” Brianna took a cautious step toward the old man. “He is dead and ye never even acknowledged him as yer son.”

She pushed him, nudged him one step closer to madness.
Unleash yer anger on me, auld man. Let Jamie go.

Auld Willie’s face darkened. “Ye dinnae know what ye say, lass,” he snarled. “His mother tried to play me false, but I dinnae fall for it.”

“So, he wasnae yer son? He was no blood kin of yers?”

His mood changed abruptly. “Aye. He was my son.” His voice fell softly, finally admitting aloud what he had lost. He let Jamie slip from his grasp and turned away. Brianna motioned wildly for Jamie to run, but he stared at her in shock, rooted to the ground.

Please run, Jamie!
She took a step forward, shooing Jamie into the woods with her hands, and he leapt as though sprung from a trap and darted behind a tree, out of harm’s way.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she faced her uncle.

“Auld Willie?”

He turned his sorrowing gaze to her. “Ye were supposed to be easy to get rid of. I dinnae want to do it myself. Ye have always been special to me. But we couldnae let Wyndham go as yer dowry.”

“Wyndham is Jamie’s, Uncle.”

“Yer brother is sickly. Ye would have inherited Wyndham. We couldnae risk it.”

“Who is
we
?”

“I only wanted Wyndham. Malcolm wanted Morven. But Conn came home, and the two of ye were to wed. We couldnae let that happen. With ye both gone, we would have had what we wanted.”

“Wyndham is Jamie’s inheritance!”

“Not if he is dead!”

The vehemence in Auld Willie’s voice stunned Brianna, and she reeled from the hatred spewing forth. He advanced on her, words pouring from his lips amid the spittle of rage. “Because of Jamie, I had nothing to offer my own son!”

He lunged at her, and her feet failed her. She scarcely cleared one step before he grabbed her, knocking her to the ground. She rolled awkwardly, fighting him as they locked together, her strength no match for his. He rolled atop her, her arms beneath his knees as he pinned her to the ground. His breath wheezed in his chest, his weight numbing her arms.

“Ye were always a stubborn lass.” He pulled a dagger from its sheath at his waist and held it at her throat. “’Tis time to end this.”

A ferocious growl rolled like thunder across the small glen. Leaves rustled in a tempest as Tam launched himself at Auld Willie, a length of broken tether dangling from his collar. Brianna twisted to the side as the force of the dog’s attack struck Auld Willie on the side. He cried out, grabbing at her for balance, and the blade of the dagger bit into her shoulder. He fell heavily to the ground beside her and she rolled away, blotting out the searing pain as the dagger jolted from the wound, blood trailing hot down her arm. She scrambled to her feet amid a swirl of skirts and an angry dog who danced between her and Auld Willie, barking furiously.

Auld Willie ignored Tam and reached for her, tearing at her gown as he dragged her back to him. Her feet slipped on the slick, damp leaves and she landed hard. Rolling to her back, she clawed at her uncle’s face. Tam landed with a roar on Auld Willie’s back, and he gave a shout, reaching behind him to ward off the dog’s attack. Brianna shoved him aside, hands fumbling in the leaves for the fallen dagger.

* * *

Conn drew his horse to a halt. Beside him, Gillis gasped.

“
Mon Dieu
!” Bray exclaimed.

Jamie appeared in the path before them, struggling for breath. He fell to his knees, his hands clasping his stomach as he sobbed incoherently.

Conn leapt to the ground, covering the distance between them in three long strides. He grabbed Jamie and shook him.

“Where is yer sister, Jamie?” Images of every imaginable horror snaked through his mind and his voice rasped harsh with worry.

Jamie hiccupped and wriggled in Conn’s grip, pointing down the trail. “She is back there. I was supposed to hide, but I ran away.”

Realizing he frightened the lad, Conn loosened his grasp. “Ye are a brave lad, Jamie. Is she hurt?”

“Auld Willie has her!”

“What do ye mean?”

“He wants to give Wyndham to Geordie—but Geordie is dead!”

Conn glanced over his shoulder to Bray, who had dismounted and stood behind him, listening to Jamie’s tale. “Does this mean anything to ye?”

Bray frowned. “There is a rumor Geordie was his
fils illégitime
. It is possible he is the one who gave Brianna over to the sheriff. His son’s death could have pushed him into madness.”

Conn turned back to Jamie. “Stay with Gillis.” He rose quickly and mounted his horse. Embarr tossed his head and launched himself down the trail, Bray following close behind.

They reined their horses to a sliding halt next to Maude, Conn’s feet on the ground before Embarr stopped moving. He hurried forward a few steps, searching the road and immediate area for signs of Brianna or Auld Willie. Furious barking sent him racing toward the sound, and he slid down a small embankment, hands flung to the side for balance.

He stumbled to a halt. Auld Willie stood over Brianna, his hands covered in blood. Tam fought frantically against his tether caught in the fork of a slender sapling. The long blade of a sword blinked in Auld Willie’s hands, the tip poised over Brianna’s chest. She twisted to avoid the blow as the blade plunged downward. A spark of light flashed in her hands and Auld Willie stiffened, his arms losing their purpose as his hands loosened, releasing the sword.

He fell to the ground, staring up at the brown and gold canopied sky as snowflakes settled onto his sightless eyes. Brianna lay in the leaves beside him, her breathing harsh. Conn knelt beside her, pulling her into his arms. She cried out and he saw tears spring from her eyes.

“Are ye wounded?” He released her enough to run his palms over her, drawing a quick breath at the large blood-stain over her chest. Laying her carefully back onto the ground, he slipped his plaide from his shoulders, covering her for warmth.

“She has been hurt,” Conn murmured to Bray as he slid through the leaves to his side. “Check the auld man. I believe she pierced his black heart, but make sure, aye?”

He stripped off his shirt and ripped it into strips, ignoring the icy sting as snowflakes lit on his skin. Pressing a pad of folded cloth to the wound in Brianna’s shoulder, he wrapped a long piece around her chest and arm, holding it in place. Satisfied with the bandage, he lifted her into his arms.

“She has fainted?” Bray asked. Tam, released from his tether, nuzzled Brianna anxiously.

“Not…” Her voice was a soft sigh against Conn’s chest.

“She has lost blood,” Conn replied, his words clipped, tight with fear. “I must get her to Morven!”

Bray helped him to the top of the embankment, and Conn handed Brianna to him only long enough to mount Embarr. He settled her tight against him and spurred the horse to top speed, leaving the others to follow, praying as Brianna’s body went slack in his arms.

* * *

Brianna opened her eyes, blinking against the flickering light, and bit her lip against the pain of consciousness. The warm caress of a hand on her cheek soothed her, and she leaned into the comfort.

“Easy, dearling.”

She turned her focus to the face hovering above hers, storm-dark eyes the only detail she could determine in her hazy vision. Sighing as she recognized Conn’s visage, she closed her eyes again.

“Brianna?”

She responded by lifting her eyebrows, but other movement was beyond her, the ache in her body dragging her into relentless darkness. The reprieve of painless sleep coaxed her into its grasp.

The next time she woke, both her vision and memory returned with agonizing clarity.
I left Wyndham…
With a moan, she tried to force the rest of the memory away.

“Brianna? Are ye in pain?”

Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes as she shook her head. “Nae. Not so much.”

“Can ye tell me what happened?”

“I dinnae want to remember.”
But I do. The man who plotted with us to get our cattle back, the uncle I trusted with my life, betrayed me to the sheriff. Auld Willie tried to kill me and Jamie.

She clenched a fist, the memory of the dagger’s jeweled hilt burning the palm of her hand. She’d found it beneath a layer of leaves and known instantly what it was. And knew just as certainly Auld Willie was dead.

Her head pounded, and she could no longer hold her grief inside. Conn’s arms came about her and she sobbed against his chest. Finally, drained, she took a deep, shuddering breath. He smoothed a strand of hair from her cheek.

“How do ye feel?”

“I hurt.”

“Yer shoulder was a wee bit of a mess, but it is healing. Ye came down with a fever and have been sick for nearly a sennight. But ye have been fever-free for a couple of days now. I am glad to see ye awake.”

“What are ye not telling me?”

“Ye are fine. Ye just need rest.”

She stiffened. “Where is Jamie?”