The men nodded.
After riding a short distance, they left the torches and lanterns with a couple of guards and advanced the rest of the way through the dim moonlight so as to give Claybourne no warning.
As Rebbie approached the rear guard, 'twas easier to see all of them because of their torches and lanterns. Toward the front of their group, Calla's long blond hair gleamed in the low light where she sat before Claybourne. The bastard. Rebbie wanted to draw his pistol and take the man out now but he had to be patient and make sure no one harmed Calla.
One of the rear guards glanced around at him as he came up beside him. With a shove to his shoulder, Rebbie knocked him from the horse. The man squalled and his horse let out a scream.
Rebbie didn't want to have to kill these bastards, but they'd forced his hand.
Lachlan and Alasdair approached the group of riders from the other side.
Claybourne and his men whipped their horses into a faster gallop. Rebbie grasped another man's cloak and yanked him backward. He fell over his horse's haunches to the ground. Lachlan did the same to another of the men.
Rebbie drew his sword. He was finished playing games. The guard closest to Claybourne wheeled his horse about, drew his sword, and struck out. Rebbie deflected the blow and delivered one of his own. Clangs sounded as they fought. The tip of the other blade nickedRebbie'sshoulder. The pain sharpening his rage, he intensified his attack. With the next slice of his sword, he cut the man's throat. Screaming, he fell to the ground.
Four other guards broke away from Claybourne to hang back and fight.
He urged Devil forward and quickly dispatched two of them. Thanks to Lachlan and Alasdair, all four guards lay on the ground within seconds and their horses fled.
Rebbie and the others continued along the narrow trail following Claybourne. But even after several minutes, they didn't come upon them.
"Where the hell did they go?" Rebbie grumbled and drew up. Alasdair, Lachlan and the other men stopped beside him. In the silence, they turned this way and that. No torchlight showed from anywhere. "They must have hidden in the wood and put out their torches," Rebbie said, keeping his voice low. Trees grew almost to the edge of the trail in this area.
They'd have to be careful or get ambushed. "Come." He motioned to the other men. They all melded into the dark wood and dismounted. "The bastards could be anywhere. We may be able to hear their horses."
Seconds later, someone cried out, further along and off to the right. A woman. "Calla," Rebbie whispered. Rushing forward on foot, he followed the sound. His friends trailed behind him.'Twasnear impossible to see in the wood, but the dark silhouettes of the tree trunks were clear enough that he didn't crash into them.
A horse snorted, the sound much closer this time. Attempting to be as quiet as they could, they continued. Finally, several human silhouettes became visible amongst the straight tree trunks, moonlight behind them.
"There," Rebbie whispered quiet as a breath. He sheathed his sword and pulled out his Highland dirk. He intended to be right on Claybourne when he slit his throat. "I'll get Calla. You lads take out the guards."
"Aye," Lachlan said.
As they approached, a horse neighed and reared, alarming the other horses and all hell broke loose. Rebbie launched himself toward Claybourne and grabbed his right arm. As Rebbie had suspected, the man held a knife in his hand. Rebbie latched onto his wrist, near breaking it and stabbed his arm, forcing him to drop the knife. The man roared in pain and his horse reared.
Yelling curses, Claybourne kicked his mount forward and Calla toppled off the other side of the horse. Rebbie raced forward, but wasn't quick enough to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Let's go!" Claybourne yelled, already yards away as they retreated.
"Calla? Are you hurt?" Rebbie dropped to his knees beside her, unable to see her in the near darkness. Saints! If her head struck a rock…
He sheathed his dirk and touched her head, feeling for blood. "Calla?" Beneath her head, he found a small hard stump.
God's teeth. Nay!"Calla?"
She moaned.
"You're alive," he said, finally able to draw breath. "Where does it hurt?"
"My… head," she breathed. "And my shoulder."
"I'm going to pick you up. I have to get you back to the castle so I can see to your injuries."
"Nay. My son," she gasped.
"What?"
"Claybourne… said he has Jamie." She spoke slowly as if forcing the words out. "Holding him hostage."
