Charlie led them unerringly through the woods until finally they reached the low wall that marked the boundary between Niall’s and Evan’s lands. They ducked low and peered out at the village beyond.
Home, she thought.This is going to be my home.
Or, at least, it would be if they could stop MacInnes.
Ruby scanned the village. It seemed quiet, but even so, Ruby gripped Charlie’s wrist, indicating for her to wait. If she’d learned one thing from Evan during their time traveling together, it was caution. Only after a good chunk of time had passed and all remained quiet did she indicate that they should move.
Vaulting over the wall, she and Charlie pulled up their hoods and skirted the village edge until they reached Hamish’s cottage.Smoke curled from the chimney. Ruby lifted her hand and knocked.
She heard footsteps, and the door creaked open. Hamish blinked at the sight of two hooded figures on his threshold.
“Aye?”
Ruby pulled back her hood, and his eyes widened. “Mistress Ruby? Lady Charlotte?”
Ruby offered a tentative smile. “Hello, Hamish. May we come in?”
He hesitated only a second before stepping aside. The room they entered was warm and smelled faintly of stew.
Hamish looked between the two women. “What can I do for ye?”
Ruby took a deep breath. “We need your help.”
“What kind of help?”
Ruby glanced at Charlie, then back at Hamish. “Things have...changed. Those men you locked up in Niall’s storeroom? Evan let them out.”
Hamish’s eyebrows shot up. “Hewhat?”
Ruby plowed on. “And they are up at the manor house right now. With Evan. He’s working with them.”
Hamish shook his head. “I dinna understand. Why would he work with ruffians who already attacked him once? He planned to leave the village in order to avoid them. This makes no sense.”
“Those men work for a man called Seoras MacInnes, an outlaw warlord who is trying to take over Evan’s lands.”
Anger flashed in Hamish’s eyes. “Wants to take over these lands?Ourlands? Our home? And Evan is going to let them?”
“No,” she said, meeting the headman’s gaze. “He’s setting a trap for MacInnes. He’s making it look like he’s working for him in order to draw him out, find out where he is so that he can be arrested. But it’s dangerous. If MacInnes finds out he’s being played...” She took a deep breath. “That’s why we need yourhelp. We need someone close who can watch and monitor what’s going on and bring word to us if needed. We can’t let Evan face this alone.”
Silence stretched. Charlie shifted beside her but did not speak.
At last, Hamish exhaled slowly. “I have known that lad since he could barely hold a fishing rod. Watched him scrape his knees and get into fights he couldnae win. Watched him leave. And watched him come back different. I canna say that I understand half of what’s going on here, but I pledged my loyalty to the Campbells. I willnae break that vow. I’ll do what ye ask.”
Relief crashed through Ruby, and she met Hamish’s eyes. “Thank you.”
He gave a gruff nod. “For Evan? I’d do far more than carry messages.” He gestured to the table. “Take a seat. We’ve got some planning to do.”
THE NIGHT AIR WAS SHARPenough to bite.
Evan lay flat in the wet grass, the earth cold beneath his chest, the smell of peat and old hay drifting from the dark shape of the barn ahead. A low mist clung to the fields, silvered by the thin sliver of moon overhead. It was the kind of night he used to favor—quiet, watchful, made for men who preferred to move unseen.
Beside him, Fergus Key shifted his weight restlessly. He was not good at waiting. On Evan’s other side, Tam Bisset, one of his other MacInnes minders, lay with his chin on the ground, peering through the coarse grass toward the yard.
They had been there nearly an hour. Long enough for Evan’s back to start aching and his limbs to cramp.
Ahead, the barn sat squat and solid against the dark. Earlier, they’d watched the last of the farm workers leave—two younglads arguing about a dog, an older man with a lantern who paused to spit in the dirt before walking away.
Now there was nothing but the occasional lowing of cattle in the distance and the whisper of wind across the fields. Still, Evan waited. He had to get this right. If they moved too soon, before the people in the nearby settlement were abed, it would bring them running before they had time to get away, and then all hell would break loose.
