When Fate Dictates (25 page)

“Don’t go down on your own, give me a minute
and I will come with you,” I said, rising and reaching for my shawl
on the end of the bed.

“No, you wait here,” he said, making his way
toward the bedroom door.

A few minutes later he returned to the room,
a sheet of paper in hand. “Who was it?” I asked.

“Alex Grant.”

“Well?” I asked, after a few moments of
silence. “What was he doing banging on our door at this hour?”

He sat himself on the bed and turned to face
me. “Erskine has called the clans to a hunting match; he is on his
way from London now.”

I waited, but again he fell silent. “Simon
you are not making any sense. What does this man Erskine calling
the clans to a hunting match, have to do with us? We don’t even
know the man.”

“You don’t know the Earl of Mar, Corran, but
I do.”

I stared at him in shocked silence. “I still
don’t understand. You are not a clan leader and just because you
know of the man doesn’t make his hunting match anything to do with
you.”

The sun was rising and a faint glow of light
spilled through the crack of the shutters. His brow creased in a
frown as he cast his eyes over the words on the page. “The man
might be a pathetic, groveling little devil, who can’t decide where
his loyalties lie but whatever his nature, his cause is just,” he
said, more to himself than to me.

“What are you on about Simon?” I asked,
growing annoyed with his vaguely erratic one sided
conversation.

“The Stuarts, Corran, I am on about bringing
James home, to Scotland.”

“You what?” I said.

“You heard me. We have a chance to do it this
time. I am joining the hunt,” he said suddenly, “I will leave this
afternoon.”

I opened my mouth to object but he raised a
finger to my lips. “Shh, Corran, don’t argue. You can’t stop
me.”

“But pa, you can’t go, what about the farm?”
Duncan protested as his father saddled his horse to leave.

“I can lad and I am. You are to take care of
your mother and the farm whilst I am gone. Don’t let me down, do
you hear me?”

“What about the harvest? Will you back in
time for it?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know, Corran, I will be back as soon
as I can. Duncan has seen every harvest this farm has had. He knows
what is to be done.”

“And me, Simon? What am I to do?” I
whispered.

He bent down and kissed me lightly on the
cheek. “You wait for me, Corran. I will be back,” he said, his eyes
alight with expectant adventure.

And then he was gone. Without so much as an
explanation I was left again, waiting for the safe return of the
man I loved.

The house was quiet without its master and
for two months I lay awake each night, listening for the sound of
his horse, waiting for his return. He sent no word of his safe
arrival or expected return, no explanation of his intentions.

“Shannon and I are going into town tomorrow
afternoon, is there anything you need us to bring you back?” Duncan
asked one evening after dinner.

I looked slowly up from the table and across
at my son. “Duncan, it would be nice if you took Eilidh into town
this time. I am sure she would enjoy a day out and you only took
Shannon out with you last week. I have need of Shannon tomorrow for
the milking.”

“I would rather have Shannon accompany me to
town, ma,” he tried, hopeful of a retreat on my part.

I shook my head firmly. “No lad, I have need
of her. Times are difficult without your pa, it’s Eilidh or you go
on your own,” He opened his mouth to try again, but I interrupted
him. “Here,” I said, pushing a small purse of coins across the
table at him. “Take this and treat the girl to a new ribbon and get
something for yourself while you’re at it.”

Duncan closed his hand over the purse and
slipped it into his trouser pocket.

“Have you any word from pa yet?”

“No lad, not a word,” I replied sadly,
reaching for another shirt from my mending pile. “We will hear soon
enough, don’t worry, he will be back,” I said with more confidence
than I felt.

“But it’s been two months, ma, and we haven’t
had a single word off him.”

“I know Duncan, but he will come home when he
is ready. He wouldn’t stay away if he didn’t have to,” I finished,
sighing deeply.

“What about the farm ma, we can’t manage
forever without pa.”

“We won’t have to Duncan, I told you, he will
be home when he can. You are a capable lad and can manage this farm
as well as your pa.”

“He is wrong to have left you ma.”

“That may be the case Duncan, but he wouldn’t
have gone without good reason. It’s late my boy; I am going up to
bed. Will you lock up when you are done down here?” I said,
returning the shirt to the pile. “Good night Duncan,” I said,
heading toward the stairs.

The following morning, Duncan was up before
dawn. Black clouds weighed heavily in the morning sky and I guessed
he had gone to move the animals into shelter before the storm
hit.

“Eilidh will you take this food and flask out
to Duncan please?” I called, wrapping some meat in some cloth and
placing it in a wicker basket. The girl nodded, blushing slightly
at the mention of Duncan’s name, and moved to take the basket.
“Here, take this as well,” I said, pushing a slice of fruitcake
into her hand. “He will notice you better if you give him this,” I
finished, smiling kindly at the girl.

Barely sixteen, she was a sweet, honest child
who had obviously taken a shine to my son. Duncan, however,
appeared not to notice the dreamy way in which she had started
staring at him whenever she thought no-one was looking. The problem
lay in the fact that Duncan had his eyes firmly set on Shannon.

“You shouldn’t do that you know, Corran.”

I swung around to see Simon standing in the
doorway of the kitchen. Dropping the knife with which I had been
cutting up vegetables, I ran toward him, throwing my arms around
him in delight.

He lowered his head and kissed me hard. He
smelled of smoke and dusty roads.

“Oh Simon, I have missed you so much.”

Holding me tightly he brushed his lips
against the top of my head. “And I have missed you my darling,
Corran.”

“Come tell me all about what you have been
doing and where you have been?” I said, ushering him to the
table.

“I think you ought to tell me what you have
been doing first,” he said.

I shook my head, confused. “What do you
mean?”

“Eilidh. You shouldn’t do that Corran,” he
said.

“Do what?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Meddle in the boy’s life.”

“I am only trying to help him. That Shannon
is a nightmare and you know it. Eilidh is a much nicer girl and she
has taken a real shine to Duncan.”

“That may be the case but it is not our place
to meddle. Do yourself a favor and let the lad work out his own
love life.”

“Enough about what has been going on here, I
want to know what you have been doing.”

He frowned, and lifted his hands to his head.
“We will be having some house guests in the next few days. I have
invited General Mackintosh and a few of his men to stay with us for
a few days.”

“General Mackintosh?” I said, stunned, “Who
is General Mackintosh, and why have you invited him to come
here?”

“He is a friend of mine and we have some
business to discuss,” he said.

“You seem to have a lot of new friends
lately, Simon,” I said cynically.

******

October 1715

A nineteen year old Duncan was uncontainable
in his excitement at the thought of meeting with a real highland
general and had declared that he was going to join the army. In
particular he had a wish to follow the General and it was not long
before he announced to both Simon and me that he planned to follow
General Mackintosh and fight for the restoration of the Stuarts to
the Monarchy. In other words, he was going to join the ‘cause’.
This subject became the trigger of many heated disagreements
between Duncan and his father in the days prior to the general’s
arrival.

“Simon, we can’t let him go with the Highland
army,” I said, neatly folding a pair of Duncan’s trousers onto the
pile of his washing on the table.

“I won’t let him go Corran, don’t worry about
it.”

“But I do worry, Simon, he is so young and
impressionable.”

“I told you Corran, I will sort it. I give
you my word that Duncan will not join General Mackintosh’s
men.”

“Why did you have to invite him here? There
is no good that can come of it. Have we not had enough trouble in
our lives without inviting a whole damn army of it to stay with
us?” I shouted, allowing my fears to get the better of me.

“I have work to do,” he said, walking
off.

As much as I sympathized with the ‘cause’ and
as much as I hated the English Crown and the new King George, along
with the old King William; I did not have any wish to lose our only
son in the fruitless pursuit of what I deemed to be a lost cause.
Simon agreed with me on one point, that he had no wish for Duncan
to join the army, however, as for assuming the ‘cause’ to be a lost
one; I was very much on my own.

The day arrived, wet and dull, which was
fairly typical for late October in the borders, when the men of
General Mackintosh’s army arrived.

“Corran, may I present to you, General
Mackintosh,” Simon announced proudly.

“Very pleased to meet you, sir,” I replied,
knowing my eyes betrayed my lie.

“And I you, ma’am,” he said, bowing with
exaggerated politeness.

“I have business to discuss with the general;
will you have one of the girls bring us in some food and whisky
please,” Simon said, ushering our visitor into his office.

Back in the kitchen, Duncan bobbed up and
down like a small child. “Let me take the tray into them ma,
please?” he begged.

I shook my head slowly. “No, Duncan, I can’t
let you take it in. You know your father will be livid if I
do.”

“He won’t care who brings him his whisky, so
long as he gets it.”

“No Duncan, I told you. I can’t let you go in
there and that is my final word. If Shannon and Eilidh are not
around, I will take it myself.”

“I saw Shannon earlier. She has gone off with
one of the soldiers,” he sulked. “But I think I saw Eilidh cleaning
the birds for dinner.”

I set the tray on the table, raising my eyes
to my son. “You know Duncan, Shannon is not a nice girl for
you.”

“She can go with her soldiers for all I care,
ma. She means nothing to me,” he scowled.

“Well, just remember son, there are lots of
nice lasses out there, you don’t need this one.”

“Aye, ma, you are right,” he said, moving to
lift the tray off the table.

I slapped his hand affectionately. “Nice try
Duncan, but I will take it thank you. Why don’t you go and see if
Eilidh needs a hand with those birds? I don’t think Shannon will be
offering any help.”

“I would rather go and meet with the
general’s men,” he replied.

“There will be plenty of time for that after
dinner. We have an army to feed tonight and Eilidh can’t do it all
by herself. Go give the girl a hand Duncan.”

For two days Simon and the general remained
squirreled away behind closed doors. Duncan on the other hand drank
copious amounts of ale and talked and laughed with the men as if
they were his kin. They told tales of war and glory, of bloody
battles lost and won. They talked of how they would one day restore
the Stuarts to their rightful place on the Throne of England and
how all of Scotland would be free of the tyranny of the English. I
had seen too much to ever believe these tales. I listened with
sadness as they spoke and heard their passion, courage and belief.
But, as night fell and I settled to bed, I cried because I knew it
never could and never would be. To the young minds of these boys
there was hope and each and every one of them would give their
lives for that hope. I only prayed that my son would not be one of
them.

******

The house fell silent as the general took his
army and left for town. We gathered around the table, all three of
us, drinks in hand waiting for the first one to speak, knowing that
when they did, our lives would change forever. It was Duncan who
broke the silence, “I am going with them,” he announced, to neither
Simon’s nor my surprise.

“No, you are not Duncan,” replied his father
calmly.

“You can’t stop me.”

“I think you will find I can.”

I watched, my head moving from one to the
other as I followed their conversation. Duncan clasped his fists
and banged them hard on the table. “How will you stop me? I am
nineteen, I can do what I want, and you can’t stop me.”

“You see lad,” he said, bending forward
toward his son, “I can stop you because I know they won’t take you
in their army.”

“You know they won’t take me?” shouteed
Duncan, heaving his chair backward and moving to stand. “How can
you know such a thing?”

Simon sighed and moved his hands up to his
forehead. “Sit down Duncan and I will tell you how I know.” Duncan
did not take up the offer but continued to stand.

“Go, if you like. Follow them to town, but it
will do you no good because the general won’t have you. I know
this, lad, because I made it so.”

I stared in surprise at Simon, opening and
closing my mouth like a fish as I went to speak and then thought
better of it.

“Duncan, the army is no place for a young
man. People get hurt and people die, and neither your Mother, nor
I, want to see either of these things happen to you. I know you
have been raised to hate the English, we all do for one reason or
another, but this is not your fight. The fight is ours and we will
follow the general tomorrow and you, Duncan, will stay here and
mind the farm.” A deathly silence filled the air.