Glasgow rogue, p.23
Glasgow Rogue, page 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Annie stared at the dark figure on horseback blocking her path. She couldn’t make out his face since a hood partially covered it, but the moonlight reflected off the steel blade he held in his hand. Brigand. She wheeled her horse swiftly, only to find another dark-cloaked rider behind her. He didn’t make a sound as he grabbed her reins. Annie thought to reach for the knife in her boot, but the man was pressed too close to her leg to maneuver.
Where was Niall? She hadn’t been that much ahead of him… At the sound of pounding hooves, she breathed a small sigh of relief. As soon as he distracted the two men, she could reach for her own blade.
But her hope was short-lived. There were several horses galloping toward her, one of which was riderless. As they came closer, she recognized Niall’s gelding. Her stomach suddenly felt as though she’d swallowed lead.
“Is the guard dead?” the brigand holding the knife asked.
“Aye. He hit his head hard on a rock,” one of the three others replied. “We threw the body into the ditch.”
Annie’s heart stuttered in her chest. Niall was dead? She felt the blood drain from her head and the world started to spin around her. She clutched her saddle and struggled to breathe. Niall couldn’t be dead. No. No. No.
“Are ye sure there were nae more men behind him?” asked the knife-holding brigand who seemed to be their leader.
“Aye. Nae one followed.”
“’Tis strange to have only one escort for the lady.”
“Well, this one was well-armed,” the second rider replied. “Half a dozen knives and a sword, plus a musket in the saddlebag.”
“And doona forget the coin.” The third one held up a leather pouch. “’Tis enough to keep us in whisky and women for weeks.”
The leader turned his hooded face toward Annie. “And what riches are ye carrying?”
“Besides the obvious,” added one of the men, snickering.
“Aye, we can draw lots who will have her first.” Another man looked inquiringly at the leader. “Unless ye want to be first, Calum.”
“Stop your blethering,” Calum snapped. “We are holding Lady Briana for ransom, nae ravishing.” He sheathed his knife. “At least, nae yet. If the Campbell refuses to pay, ye can all rut her until she is raw.”
Annie still felt dizzy, the conversation swarming around her like a cloud of midges, but slowly the words began to sink in. Apparently these men mistook her for someone of some importance to a Campbell. That might buy her a day or two of time before whoever this Campbell was refused to pay ransom for someone who had not disappeared. It also meant this band was not regular highwaymen out simply to rob. And rape. A cold shiver swept down her spine as she recalled that part of the conversation. The leader had told the men to hold off, but as soon as they realized they had the wrong person… Annie took a deep breath. She still had her knife. Now she needed to collect her wits.
“So what riches are ye carrying?” the leader asked again.
Annie swallowed and lifted her chin. “I do nae carry jewels or coin when I travel.”
“I can check your saddlebag later.” Calum’s cloaked head moved up and down as he appraised her. “’Tis a rather clever disguise for ye to dress as a lad, but ye took a foolish risk with only one escort.”
A lump rose in Annie’s throat as she thought of Niall’s body lying in a ditch. She felt the lightheadedness begin again and willed herself not to faint. “My…guard was well-armed.”
“Aye, but nae match for five MacDougalls.”
So that’s who they were. Was this about a clan feud? Even though the English had implemented the Disarming Act over fifty years earlier, she knew Highlanders still remained loyal to their clans, but she wished she understood more about such things. A wild idea flitted through her mind. It might not work, but it was worth a try.
“Your men must have remained well-hidden for Campbell men nae to notice them.”
The leader frowned. “What do ye mean?”
“Well, we did have several men travelling ahead of us to be sure the road was clear,” Annie said, her mind racing. Surely there must have been other travelers on this road earlier. “Since we should have been in Crianlarich by now, they’ll be coming back to search for me.”
Calum tossed back his hood and she could see the hard lines of his face. His eyes glinted near black in the moonlight. “Ah. I dinnae think your uncle was so stupid as to let ye ride with one guard, although ’twas clever enough of the bastard to nae call attention to ye.” He looked down the road in the direction they had come. “And does he have a rear guard following as well?”
Annie forced herself to smile and managed a shrug. “Perhaps.”
The leader’s brows drew together. “I doona like lasses with sassy mouths. If ye are nae careful, I may let my men have sport with ye in spite of a ransom.”
“’Twould be a fittin’ revenge for what Campbell men did to your sister,” one of the riders said.
“Aye, it would,” another added. “Perhaps just a wee taste of her now?”
“Not now.” Calum turned his hard gaze on Annie. “Ye would be wise to watch your mouth.”
Annie steeled her hands not to shake and hoped her voice didn’t either. “I simply meant that my…uncle…did nae advise me of his plans.”
“That sounds like him. Nae matter though.” He pulled a small sack from beneath his cloak and shook it out. Before Annie could respond, he reached out and pulled it over her head, blinding her. “We will be well out of the way by the time they pass by.”
****
Niall groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Or one eye, anyway. The other seemed to be pressed shut by something damp and hard. He lay still, trying to adjust his senses to where he was. An earthy, somewhat putrid smell filled the air and he realized that half his nose was buried in something slimy. He snorted and pushed himself up to find he was sitting in a grassy ditch still muddied from the last rain.
His head throbbed. Niall touched the egg-size bump along the side of his head and stared at his hand, covered in half-dried blood. How long had he been out? And why? His memory cleared and he remembered the ambush.
Annie. Where was Annie?
He started to leap up and then fell back as dizziness swept over him. Damnation! Now was not the time to be weak. Niall gathered his strength and rose, more slowly this time. He had to wait a moment for his equilibrium to adjust itself and then looked in either direction. The road was deserted. He glanced up. The moon was low in the western sky and streaks of lavender heralded dawn in the east. He had been unconscious for several hours.
His horse was gone. The brigands obviously had stolen it, but had they abducted Annie as well? A slim sliver of hope that she’d managed to ride on to Cairnlarich shriveled when he thought of the time elapsed. If she had managed to escape, she’d have had time to reach the village and return with help. Was she lying somewhere up ahead in the ditch? Hurt? Or even dead? Fear washed over him like a cold bucketful of water as he forced himself to start walking, crisscrossing the road to check both sides, hoping he would not find her body. She couldn’t be dead. She. Just. Could. Not. Be. Dead. Niall knew he was repeating the words in his head to reassure himself, but it was somehow comforting, nonetheless.
He wished he knew who had done this. Brigands who wore hooded cloaks were unusual, but who else would lie in wait along a well-travelled road? Niall cursed roundly at having continued on for the night. He knew damn well they made an easy target after darkness fell. He should have insisted that they stop and take shelter in a copse of trees, hidden from view. Had he not been so intent on reaching the inn and setting the mood to persuade Annie to see his reasoning was right, this wouldn’t have happened.
Niall stopped when he saw the jumbled hoof prints about a half mile from where he’d been attacked. The dirt on top of the road was dry, but loose. He wasn’t the expert tracker that his brother Braden was, but the sky was lightening and as Niall bent down, he counted different hoof imprints of at least six or seven horses. One horseshoe had a missing nail. He straightened. Only three men had accosted him, which meant two more had been waiting around the bend. That was strange too. Usually a band of brigands surrounded whomever they were robbing so no one could get away.
And usually, they didn’t take victims with them. But he hadn’t seen Annie lying in the ditch and her horse was gone. The trail led clearly off the road and toward the woods. Niall started along the path. Whoever the abductors were, they either were unskilled in covering their tracks or they didn’t care if they were followed. If the latter were true, that probably meant there were a lot more of them lurking inside the forest.
Niall didn’t have the talent for stealth that Gavin had, but he’d learned enough from his brother to know how to shadow. He moved from tree to tree cautiously since he his weapons had been stolen. He didn’t know what odds he would be facing, but it didn’t matter.
They had Annie.
****
Annie blinked in darkness almost as dense as the sack over her head had been. At least, her abductors had taken that off after she’d been pulled from her horse and half-carried, half-dragged across a rocky path full of gnarly tree roots. Perhaps it was just as well that two of the men had a firm grip on her, since her legs almost buckled when she dismounted. She didn’t know how long they’d been riding—the hood had made her disoriented—but it seemed like hours.
She sat on hard-packed ground in a small enclosure that smelled damp, a cave of sorts, made of outcroppings of rocky ledges and boulders. She could hear the men’s voices, so the entrance must not be far away, although she couldn’t see it. She guessed it was still night.
She heard the scuffling of boots and then a lantern flared, the sudden brightness nearly blinding her in the cramped space. Annie shielded her eyes. A moment later, the wick dimmed and she dropped her hands.
Calum crouched down beside her, setting the lamp on the floor, and handed her a small sack which she recognized as the one the cook on the ship had given Niall.
“Your food,” Calum said. “Ye should eat.”
“I am nae hungry.” Her stomach growled just then to give lie to the fact, but Annie didn’t think she could swallow past the lump in her throat. This was food she should have been sharing with Niall. But Niall was… No. no. no. She couldn’t bear the thought that he was truly gone.
“Suit yourself.” Calum cupped a hand under her chin, forcing her to look up, and studied her. “Your hair is much redder than I expected.”
He expected? Annie held herself still, although her mind was moving as fast as a hare being chased by a hound. Had he never seen her, then? That was a blessing.
“Ye are taller than I was told, as well.”
Her stomach knotted, threatening to push itself up to join the lump in her throat. She had no idea who Briana was or what she looked like. Would Calum believe Annie was the Campbell girl? She desperately needed to convince him she was.
“Your source was nae verra accurate, then.”
His eyes narrowed and he released her chin. “Ye need to curb that saucy mouth before ye truly vex me.”
She looked away so he wouldn’t see the apprehension that was probably showing in her face. How many times had her mother tried to instill the need to think before she blurted out words? Annie recalled all too well the threat Calum had made at her earlier remark. He didn’t need to repeat it. She’d seen the lecherous looks on the other men’s faces before the hood had been pulled over her head.
Annie felt a hysterical bubble of laughter rising. After Broderick had taken her virginity and she’d asked when they were getting married, he’d scoffed and said not to think she was that special. Put a bag over a woman’s head and they were all the same…
The hysteric bubble turned into a choked sob which she quickly stifled. She dared not show fear in front of Calum MacDougall.
“I dinnae mean to offend ye. I just doona understand why I am here.”
He stared at her. “How can ye nae ken?”
Oh, Lord. She suspected she knew what Briana’s brother had done to Calum’s sister, but what if she was wrong? Or it was even worse? She couldn’t afford to blunder. “Since I am here, I would prefer to hear your version.”
“My version?” Calum practically sneered at her. “’Tis nae version. ’Tis fact.”
Annie nodded. “Fact, then.” He looked at her suspiciously and Annie held her breath, afraid he was going to realize he had abducted the wrong person, but he finally answered.
“Your fine, upstanding brother—a man with a wife and two bairns—got my sister with child. That fact is plain enough and getting plainer every day.”
“But—”
“Doona try to defend your brother! My sister kens who took her virtue. I’ve heard enough lies from your father.”
She wouldn’t defend the man even if he was her brother. He was a worse cad than even Broderick had been. She had only started to say it wasn’t her fault, although she doubted Calum cared. “I am sorry about your sister, but how can abducting me undo what’s been done?”
“It cannae.” Calum stood to leave. “But your ransom will pay for my sister to move to Edinburgh, once the babe is born, so she can begin a new life.”
Dear God. The amount he was asking for must be huge. Not that the amount mattered, since Briana Campbell was safe and sound somewhere and her father would simply ignore a ransom note. That meant… Annie put the thought from her mind. As if he read her thoughts—hopefully, she hadn’t spoken aloud—Calum smiled grimly.
“In case ye are wondering, if your father doesnae deliver the full amount, we will take the rest of the payment from ye.”
Annie raised her chin, determined not to let him see her fear. “He will pay.”
Calum stopped smiling. “For your sake, lass, I hope he does.”
He had hardly cleared the door before Annie’s body began to shake uncontrollably. She had no power to stop it. She fought the nausea that threatened, as well, and tried to think, but she felt as though she was floating in fog.
Eventually the shaking subsided and her head began to clear. She had to get out of here. Somehow. Annie looked toward the entrance, now visible in the dawn light. A pair of booted legs blocked the way. They’d posted a guard. She quickly surveyed her surroundings, which didn’t take long. There was no other way out. She picked up two loose rocks from the floor and laid them beside her.
Had the MacDougall leader already sent one of his men to deliver the ransom note or would he have waited for dawn? How long did she have before the man returned and Calum would find out she wasn’t Briana Campbell? Would he listen if Annie pleaded for mercy and spare her from rape? Annie doubted it, given his remarks that his men could rut her raw. In any case, it wasn’t a risk she wanted to take.
There were five men in the party, plus one who had been waiting here for them when they arrived, so that made six.. Perhaps two would ride to deliver the ransom note. She hoped—prayed—the others wouldn’t just sit in camp all day, but be patrolling or hunting or something. If they left just the one guard… Annie fingered the knife hilt in her boot. Niall had taught her to use it. She choked back a sob, realizing too late that she had grown to love him dearly. A tear trickled down her cheek, followed by another. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. Niall wasn’t here, but she wouldn’t disappoint him.
She picked up her rocks and moved closer to the entrance to wait for the right moment, as he had taught her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
At the sound of horses approaching, Niall crouched behind a thick pile of dried bracken. The forest had thinned out considerably, giving him fewer places to hide as he tracked Annie’s abductors. It had also given way to a narrow, dirt road which probably explained why those men had not been that concerned about the trail they’d left earlier. Numerous hoofprints were jumbled together, making it harder to find the distinctive one with the missing nail in the horseshoe.
The sound grew louder as the horses came into sight past a small copse of trees. Two riders, wearing MacDougall tartans. Niall wondered what they were doing so far into Campbell lands. Being a MacDonald—and still not fond of Campbells—Niall had decided travelling would be safer for Annie if he wore conventional clothes. The riders had just passed him when one pulled a dark cloak from his saddlebag and flung it over his shoulders. It looked vaguely familiar. When the other rider did the same thing, Niall realized why. The men who’d accosted him had worn the same type of cloak.
Niall stared after them, staying hunched until they’d ridden a good distance and then he slowly stood. MacDougalls had taken Annie? Niall couldn’t fathom why, but that was something that he could ponder on later. They had come from the south and Annie hadn’t been with them, so the other three abductors must be holding her farther along. Niall just hoped there were only three of them and not half a clan waiting.
He checked the hoofprints of the horses that had just passed. Neither of them was missing a nail in the shoe, so he hoped he could continue to track that print. Niall proceeded slowly up the road, his ears alert for other riders. It was still early in the day for travelers to be about, but he didn’t want to be spotted.
He’d gone not quite another mile when he noticed grass that had been trampled off to one side. He couldn’t find the track of the missing horseshoe nail, but it looked as though a number of horses had left the road. Niall looked up. The terrain was steeper here, the trees somewhat sparse, replaced with boulders and shale overhangs that would provide cover. A rocky, rutted trail led upwards.
Niall began to follow it. There wasn’t enough space between the rocks and scraggly bushes that grew out of crags to hide horses, but the deep crevices could certainly hide a man acting as a guard. He hated feeling so exposed, especially since he was unarmed. At least, the damp moss that covered the ground masked the sound of his boots, but he still needed to keep a sharp lookout.
Even so, he almost missed the slight noise off to his left. It sounded like boots shuffling. A soft thud followed. Niall dropped to his stomach and began to crawl, staying close to the side of large boulder. He peered around it cautiously.
