However, Braden wasn’t in the mood to fight, and luckily Sin glared at him, but kept his lips in a tight, grim line.
Braden moved ahead of them, and approached a man who was loading hay into his wagon. About two score years in age, the man had hard lines around his face and a full gray beard laced with just a hint of brown. Though the man appeared clean and well kept, his brown and yellow plaid was ragged around the edges.
“Good day to you, sir,” Braden said to the man.
The man paused in his loading and eyed him suspiciously. “Who are you?”
Braden answered without hesitation. “My name’s Sean.”
“And who do you follow?”
“Duncan of the clan MacLucas.”
The man’s silvery eyes narrowed even more. “I never heard of him.”
“We’re from the isles.” Braden jerked his chin toward Maggie and Sin. “My brothers and I are on our way to MacDouglas lands to see our sister and her new babe. I was wondering if there might be a place we could spend the night?”
The old man accepted his words with a laugh. “MacDouglas lands, you say? You’ll not have a happy time there, I’ll wager.”
“How so?”
The old man scratched his beard. “My sister married a MacDouglas, and I heard from my brother-in-law that she and the rest of the clan’s women have taken over the castle from the men. They’re standing the battlements like a group of Amazons and have threatened to tar any man dumb enough to venture near them until the MacDouglas ends the feud with the MacAllister.”
Braden feigned disbelief. “You don’t say?”
The man’s visage turned dark. “Aye. ‘Tis an evil, demonic thing that has possessed the women. I heard the MacDouglas has petitioned the bishop for an exorcism.”
“To be sure!” Braden dared an amused glance to Maggie whose cheeks seemed to be a shade or two redder than they’d been a few minutes ago. “Imagine a woman not wanting her man. Saints preserve us all.”
The man nodded gravely, then his mood seemed to lighten a degree. He returned to loading his hay. “Old Seamus rents to strangers. Damn fool he, if you ask me. You’ll find his place down near the stable.”
“My thanks.” Braden inclined his head to the man, then turned and led Maggie and Sin toward the south end of the village where the stable lay.
“Sean?” Maggie whispered as he drew near her.
“I didn’t want to chance the name Braden, lest it jog someone’s memory.”
She agreed with that logic, especially given how many men around this area he might cuckolded. “Quick thinking.”
As they drew near the stable, Braden had to force himself not to curl his lip. Old Seamus’s home was about as clean as a sty.
Still, it would keep them out of the rain, and the last thing any of them needed was to catch their death before the MacDouglas had a chance to kill them.
He found Seamus outside his house, fetching water from a well. The old man paused at their approach and eyed them with great reservation.
“I don’t have beds for three strapping lads,” he said after Braden had asked him for a place to stay. “But I do have the stable if you’re of a mind to use it.”
Maggie cast him a smug “I told you so” look.
“It’s not fancy,” Seamus continued, “but it comes with a meal, and it’ll keep the coming rain off your heads.”
It would do. And judging from the smell of the man, the stable would be preferable anyway.
“How much?” Braden asked.
The old man stroked his chin thoughtfully as he swept them with a measuring gaze. “Free, if you lads don’t mind doing some chores for me.”
Braden noted the strained look on Sin’s face. He could tell his brother would sooner brave the rain than do anything menial for a Highlander. Indeed, knowing Sin it was a wonder his brother didn’t turn berserker and start laying waste to the entire village.
