Wild Highland Rose (Time Travel Trilogy, Book 2) (16 page)

Her captain nodded, but it didn
'
t look as if he
'
d forgotten a thing.

"
Who is else is down there?
"
  She forced her mind back to the looming confrontation.

"They've brought Aida with them."

Marjory felt her chest tighten.  Ewen's whore, here.  He had never hidden the fact that he had a mistress, but since their wedding night, he hadn't seen fit to bring her back to Crannag Mhór.  Marjory flushed with the memory.

It hadn't been bad enough that their wedding night had been harsh and painful.  No, Ewen had added insult to injury by taunting her with the fact that he much preferred the
skilled arms of his lady love. 
So much so that he had left her alone after taking her and returned to his lover's embrace.  She shuddered at the memory of lying alone in her shame, listening to the sounds of their passion from the adjoining chamber.

"They're asking for ye, lass."

Marjory put her sewing down and rose slowly, trying to steady herself on shaking legs.  "Well, I suppose I'd best get it over with then."

Fingal moved forward, taking her arm, giving her needed support.  "Have ye seen Ewen about?"

"Nay, I've no' seen him all morning."  And not because she hadn't tried.  She'd looked for him everywhere, but to no avail.  She prayed that he hadn't picked today to go wandering in the woods.  All she needed was to have to inform Torcall Cameron that his addled son had disappeared.

Fingal interrupted her thoughts.  "Marjory, we've got to send someone to find him.  If we canna produce him
—
"

"
I know.  But, unfortunately, producing him may have exactly the same effect.  There
'
s no telling how Torcall will react once he learns his son
'
s mind is no
'
what it once was.
"

"
There
'
s nothing wrong with the lad
'
s thinking, Marjory. 
'
Tis only that his memories are gone.
"

Marjory felt her eyebrows raise in surprise.  Fingal
'
s hatred for the Camerons was only surpassed by her own.
"
You almost sound as if you
'
re defending the man.
"

Fingal looked uncomfortable. 
"
I'll no' pretend I understand him, but I dinna think in his present state he would purposely put us in a dangerous position.
"

"
That
'
s no
'
enough and well you know it.
"
  It wasn
'
t Ewen she was afraid of. 
"
When Torcall finds out that his boy isna quit right, he
'
ll no
'
take it peacefully.  And if Allen goes on about how the accident was no
'
as it seemed, I guarantee Torcall will act.
"

"
Then we
'
ll just have to convince him otherwise.
"

"
And how, pray, do you imagine we
'
ll do that?
"

"
I
'
ve no notion.
"
Fingal shrugged. 
"
But two days ago I
'
d have never thought that Ewen would protect you from his brother.  Strange things are afoot, Marjory, and mayhap the tide is finally turning in our favor.
"

"
You
'
re placing a lot of faith in Ewen
'
s change.
"

"
Aye, that I am.  But I trust my instincts, and right now for whatever reason, Ewen appears to be willing to play his part in helping to keep the peace.  And if that
'
s so then all he has to do is convince his father he
'
s well.
 
That done, perhaps the old man will head back to Tyndrum and leave us in peace.
"

"
A noble thought.  But not one I
'
d want to stake my life on.  Besides you
'
re forgetting one important fact.
"

Fingal lifted bushy eyebrows in question.

"
Ewen may yet get his memories back.  And seeing Torcall might just be the key.
"

*****

"
Tell me everything you know about Ewen's family.
"
  Cameron stood at the edge of the lake, idly skipping stones across its glassy surface.  He had already safely positioned Grania on a nearby log.

"
There's no' much to tell, really.
"
  She paused. 
"
The truth is I dinna know much about the Camerons, save that they're enemies of the Macphersons.  It began long before I came to Crannag Mhór.
"

Cameron stopped in mid-throw.  "I thought you were born in this valley?"

"I was," Grania said, "but my home was always on the far side of the loch.  So I dinna interact much in the affairs of those that lived in the tower."

"Until, they took you in."  Cameron swung around to look at Grania sitting calmly on her perch.

"Aye, when my husband died."

"So, what do you know about the Camerons?"

"Well, I do know that Torcall was imprisoned for a number of years.  At Cluny, another Macpherson stronghold."

"I know that already.  Marjory told me."

"She did?"  Grania's voice rose slightly.

Cameron fought the urge to explain further.  Marjory had spoken to him in confidence, the least he could do was honor her trust in him, fleeting though it may have been.  "Yes, she did, but she didn't know why.  Allen said something about his mother being killed.  Is that it?
"

"Could be. 
'
Tis an awful tale.  The story goes that he was out riding with his wife Cait, yer mother, and they came across a party of reivers.  Macphersons they were.  Anyway, they tried to outrun the invaders, but couldna, and in the process Torcall was captured."

"What happened to Cait?  Was she captured, too?"

"Nay, she was killed in the struggle.
"

"
Manus Macpherson did it.
"
  Allen
'
s words made sense now.

"
I never knew how.  No one here ever talked of it.  But I do know she was dead, with two sons left behind.  You and Allen."

"Who took care of the boys when Torcall was gone?"  He watched as a stone he hurled bounced one, two, three, four times.  It was a pity Grania couldn't see.

"I've no notion.  I canna imagine it was a pleasant time for the lads, though.  What with their own sweet mother fresh in the grave and their father imprisoned at Cluny."

"So after Torcall was released, he came back to Tyndrum?"

"Aye, and soon after that, he attacked Crannag Mhór."

"What do you remember about the battle?"

"Nothing much.  I wasna there. 
As I said,
I'd gone to live across the loch.  I only came back afterward.  There was a need for my healing touch."

"I'd imagine so."  Cameron sucked in a deep breath, trying to banish the sudden image of Marjory's butchered family from his head.  "And when you got there, Torcall and his men were already gone?"

"Aye, they were gone.  Leaving, behind nothing but the dead and the injured, and most of them dying.  'Twas an awful sight.  I willna easily forget it."

"You could see then?"

"Aye, I dinna lose my sight fer many more years."

"What happened to Marjory after the battle?"

"She was traumatized.  I couldna even get her to speak at first, but slowly she returned to us.  And then her cousins arrived to take her away to the safety of Moy."

"Moy?"

"Aye, 'tis the seat of the Mackintoshes.  Her grandfather is the head of Clan Chattan.  Everyone agreed she would be safe from Torcall if she remained there."

"I see.  So when was the marriage arranged?"

"Well I dinna recollect precisely, but it wasna long after Marjory left.  It was a repayment, of sorts, for all that Torcall had taken from her."

He nodded.  "Marjory told me some of it, but I still don
'
t understand how her being forced to marry her father's murderer's son is any kind of justice."  Or for that matter the reverse, as it must have been for Ewen.

"I understand yer confusion, but 'tis the way of the Highlands.  Malcolm," she paused, then offered clarification, "Marjory's grandfather, no doubt wished to avoid further feuding with the Camerons.  Mackintoshes and Camerons have always been enemies.  There would have been desire on both sides not to escalate the feud further.  Anyway, Torcall had taken her father away from her.  In the Highlands, 'tis the father who protects his wee daughters, then in turn hands them over to a husband for continued protection."

"I'd say that things are much the same in all cultures, Grania."  He flipped a stone, but it sank without a single bounce.

"Aye, but here, 'tis the only thing that stands between a wee lassie and the cold cruel world.  Scotland is still a verra wild place."  She shook her head as if lost in a personal memory.  "Anyway, in effect, Torcall took away Marjory's protection.  By marrying her off to Torcall
'
s son, Malcolm assured that the protection was restored, and at the same time, he ended the need for retaliation.  Marjory regained all that she lost."

"You've got to be kidding.  An unwanted husband is supposed to make up for the loss of her family?"

Grania sighed.  "Ye canna remember the way of it then?
"

He shook his head, cursing his loose tongue.  He had sounded too much the foreigner just now.  And even though he trusted Grania, now wasn
'
t the time to reveal his secret.

She sat patiently, waiting for his response, her face turned toward the pale rays of sunlight trying to peek through the dark clouds.

"
I guess the concept is there somewhere, but when you put it in a personal context, it seems barbaric.
"
  His words sounded lame, but she seemed to accept them, and he breathed a sigh of relief.  He had to be more careful.  It was so easy to say or do the wrong thing.  Something that would brand him as more than just a little off center.

"
What about me?  Was I happy with the decision?
"

Grania shook her head. 
"
I dinna know ye then.  But
'
twas easy to see ye were an angry lad.  Angry about yer mother.  Angry about the marriage.  Ye did no
'
tolerate the union well.
"

"
I hurt her?
"
  He hated that he had to ask the question, but he wanted to know.

"
I dinna know for certain.  Marjory does no
'
confide in me.  But Aimil says it
'
s so.
"

"
Fingal
'
s sister.
"

"
Aye.  She
'
s a bitter woman, that one.  She hates all things Cameron
,
especially Torcall
,
and because of that she
'
s no
'
friend o
'
yers.
"

Cameron mentally added yet another enemy to his list.  A noise from the surrounding brush pulled his thoughts back to the present, and he whipped around, searching out its source.  A young boy broke from the cover of the trees, running to the edge of the lake.

"Mistress Marjory sent me," he gasped, his cheeks bright from exertion. 
"
The Camerons are here, and they
'
re asking fer ye.
"

"
Help Grania
,
"
h
e barked, as he sprinted for the tower, his mind trying to assimilate all that he knew about his supposed father.  With or without memories, it was time to face the old man, and hopefully convince him that all was right with the world.

Except of course that he wasn
'
t Torcall
'
s son.

And nothing, it seemed, was anything close to all right.