“Which just gave the jackanapes time to gather their ammunition,” Deidre replied. ‘They had nae intention of even listening to us.”
“So what happened after I was knocked out?”
“Oh! Well, that’s the best part!” Kiara said.
“Aye! I have nae seen anything like it before!” Nairna added.
“Likewhat?” Annie asked.
“Niall—Mr. MacDonald—was magnificent,” Inis said. “He—”
“When he saw ye on the floor, he practically flew across the room!” Kiara interrupted.
Nairna nodded. “I’ve nae seen a man move so fast.”
Fenella grinned. “His fists were quick too. He smashed the nose of one of the swine and I think he broke the jaw of another. I heard a nice crack.”
Annie winced. “Were the men still throwing rotten fruit, then?”
“Nae. I think they’d run out,” Aileen answered, “but some of them were coming at us.”
Annie felt her eyes widen. “Why? What were they going to do? Beat us?”
“Who kens? They had become a mob.”
“But doona fash.” Fenella gave Annie another grin. “They didnae get a chance to do anything.”
“Niall stopped all of them?” Annie asked.
“Owen—Mr. MacLean—helped,” Kiara replied.
“I dinna ken a walking stick was a real weapon,” her twin said.
“Ye are nae making sense.” Annie hoped the bang to her head wasn’t worse than the doctor thought. “What did Owen do?”
“He called the entire crowd cowards,” Fenella said, “and then asked who wanted to fight him.”
Annie lifted both brows. “With only his walking stick?”
“Aye, but the way he handled it, it could have been a sword. He felled two men practically in the same move,” Fenella answered. “I think maybe he broke the knee of one of them. Maybe we can get a count of the number of bones broken?”
Aileen frowned. “That hardly matters.”
“It was amazing the way Niall and Owen fought with bare fists and a walking stick. They acted like knights of old.” Inis smiled. “If they’d been dressed in their tartans and carrying their regular weapons, those men would have turned tail and run.”
Fenella nodded. “Some with wet trousers, too.”
“That does nae matter either.” Aileen shook her head. “Having four of them passed out on the floor stopped the rest of the mob.”
“Thank God,” Cora said.
“But what do we do now?” Deidre asked. “How can we make our voices heard if we are nae safe speaking in front of what was supposed to be a civilized group?”
“We cannae back down,” Fenella replied.
“Nae. We cannae let them think they frightened us,” Cora said.
“We could organize a protest march,” Aileen answered. “We can use what happened to shame those men. We’ll make signs and gather in front of Glasgow Cathedral on Sunday. Pelting innocent females who had permission to speak at their meeting is both dishonorable and base. If we take the righteous stance of being wronged, their wives will no doubt make them pay for it, even if the ladies don’t believe in our cause.”
