Page 21 of Edge of Yesterday

“Nae,” he murmured.

She drew a sharp breath, then groaned.

“Elizabeth,” Cailean whispered.

She convulsed. Valdar dropped to one knee at her side. Cailean’s heart thundered. The baby cried louder. The red stain that began to spread across the sheet below her belly confused him for an instant. Then understanding struck.

“Elizabeth!” Valdar shot to his feet.

Cailean glanced about, but saw no sign of the midwife. Where was the woman? He returned his attention to Elizabeth, then choked at sight of the blood-soaked sheets.

“No!” Valdar pulled her into his arms.

She lifted a hand to his cheek. “The babe.”

The child’s cry nearly drowned out her whispered plea.

Cailean stared at her, his heart stopping.

“I will no’ let you die.”

“Annora,” she said. “My daughter.”

“Annora,” Cailean whispered.

“I will find the man who did this to you,” Valdar swore. “And that” —He turned his gaze onto the screaming child.

“Please.” Elizabeth grasped his shirt.

Then her hold went lax and her head lolled to the side.

Valdar shook his head. “Nae, nae, nae.” He hugged her close. “It cannae be,” he whispered. “I won’t allow it.”

“Go.”

Cailean jumped at the rough male voice in his ear. He whirled. “What?”

“That’s our cue,” his companion said.

“Cue?” Cue. The reenactment.

“Go on,” the guy said. “You’re supposed to be our leader.”

Bloody hell. Cailean started forward on shaky legs. He had been awarded the part of the warrior who led the party that discovered Valdar Ross in Heatheredge. They were to capture him. Christ, he’d gotten so wrapped up in the reenactment he’d forgotten it was a show.

Cailean grinned.

It just didn’t get any better than this.

He motioned the men to follow. They left the trees and crossed the street to the cottage where Valdar mourned the woman he loved. They reached the cottage and Cailean burst inside, with the men following in single file as if they were rushing in through the open door.

Valdar sprang to his feet and yanked his sword from its sheath. The baby wailed. Cailean caught sight of the child and started. That was a real baby lying beside Lady Elizabeth Ross—played by Lady Morgana, he realized with a start. Strange, how he hadn’t recognized her earlier. He’d assumed they were using a doll with a recording of a crying baby. The little mite was bawling in earnest. Was the child all right?

“Who are ye?” Valdar shouted above the baby’s screams.

Cailean jarred from his thoughts. His men fanned out beside him, swords drawn.

Cailean said in an aggregation of his soft Scottish burr, “Ye are accused of witchcraft, Valdar Ross. Throw down your sword—or do your clansmen hide behind dead women and babes?”