Page 65 of Highland Steel

“Hey! I told ye to get out here, little man,” shouted the guard. “Dinna make me come in there and get ye.”

“The guard is callin’ ye,” Logan told him.

“I’d better go,” said Bug, but Logan stopped him.

“Wait! I have an idea. Let him come get ye, and we’ll speed this process along.”

“What are ye sayin’?” asked Bug, sounding terrified.

“I have a plan.” Logan used the key and unlocked the cell door.

The guard stormed into the dungeon with his sword in one hand and the bottle of Mountain Magic in the other.

“Didna I tell ye no’ to pay . . . sssstay . . . here too long?” His speech was becoming slurred, and Logan figured the whisky was working fast. As soon as the guard walked in front of the cell door, Logan threw it open, hitting the man hard. The guard fell to the floor, dropping the bottle as well as his sword.

“What is goin’ on?” From the floor, the guard looked up, dazed and confused, doing nothing to collect his sword. Logan could already see his eyes rolling back in his head.

“Kill him!” shouted Bug. “Hurry.”

“Bluidy hell, I canna kill an unarmed man. I’m no’ a murderer, Bug,” said Logan. “I only kill in self-defense.”

“Well, do somethin’.”

“Och, sorry about this,” said Logan, hitting the man over the head with the hilt of Rhoswen’s sword. The man’s eyes closed and he lay there, unconscious. “Put him in the cell and lock the door,” said Logan. When he saw the worried look on Bug’s face, he added, “He willna hurt ye. He’s dead to the world from the amount of Mountain Magic he drank and willna wake until mornin’.”

“Guid,” said Bug, rushing over to drag the guard by the feet into the cell. “Mayhap we’ll be out of this godforsaken place by then.”

“What about me?” came a small voice from the next cell.

“Dinna worry, lass, I willna leave ye to the wolves. Ye’re comin’ with me.” He opened the door and the girl almost fell into his arms. She looked too weak to walk. “Bug, where is yer wagon?” he asked.

When Bug didn’t hear him, he waved his hand to get the man’s attention and asked him again.

“Where is yer wagon?”

“It’s right outside the dungeon door,” said the man, closing the cell door and locking it, making sure to take the key. “Why?”

“I’ve got to save Rhoswen and the boy,” said Logan. “I’ll carry Ailsa to the wagon but I want ye to keep her hidden inside. Give her some food, but no Mountain Magic or she’ll pass out.”

“What if someone finds her? Drummond will have my head!”

“Hopefully, before that happens, I’ll have the gate up and the drawbridge down. I’m plannin’ on all of us ridin’ right out of here.”

“Och, Logan, ye are as mad as yer faither who is kent to be a Madman MacKeefe. It’s never goin’ to work. Drummond has guards everywhere. We dinna even ken where to find Rhoswen and the baby.”

“They probably took her to my solar to prepare for the wedding,” Ailsa told them.

“Guid to ken. Where is it?” Logan hoped it was nearby but, unfortunately it was the very last place he wanted it to be.

“My solar is at the top of the tower at the far side of the castle, overlooking the moat.”

“God’s eyes, why there?” asked Logan. The tower was too far away, plus he’d never be able to get up there unnoticed.

“You’ll save my sister and my son, won’t you, Logan?” Ailsa looked up with her one good eye filled with hope. How could Logan deny her request? He would finish the mission he came here to do.

“Aye, of course, lass,” he said. “Now, can ye walk?”

“I – I don’t think so.” Her legs trembled beneath her.