Page 69 of Highland Steel

“Dinna ask,” said Logan, not wanting to explain that the woman he loved just pushed him out of a tower window. “Where are Ethan and Hawke and the rest of the clan?”

“We’ll, when we figured out ye’d left without us, we came after ye but saw that the drawbridge is raised so we couldna get in. Storm and the clan are waitin’ in the woods for my signal as soon as we figure out a way to save ye.”

“Save me? I’m no’ the one that needs savin’. It’s Rhoswen we need to worry about. She’s about to be married off to Drummond.”

“Och, nay,” said Caleb.

“We’ve got another situation on our hands now, too.”

“What is that?”

“We have no’ only Rhoswen to save, but also the baby, Bug, and now Rhoswen’s sister, Ailsa.”

“Ailsa? I thought she was dead.”

“Apparently no’, but close to it. I’ve got to save Rhoswen. I love her and want to marry her.” His hand went to his pouch where he’d put the ring he’d gotten from Bug. “My sporran is gone,” he said, looking around the ground. “Damn, I must have lost it when I fell in the moat.”

“Ye are worried about that at a time like this?” asked Caleb.

“I had a ring in there I wanted to give Rhoswen when I propose to her. Well, I guess it doesna matter. After all, we might all be dead before this is over.” He got to his knees and felt around on the ground for some sort of secret entrance but couldn’t find it. He sighed and looked back at the moat surrounding the castle. He was never going to get back in. Then he looked back at the stump and smiled. “That’s got to be it.”

“What?” asked Caleb. “And where did Slink go? I canna find him.”

“Forget about yer weasel. We’ve got lassies and a baby to save.”

“It’s no’ a weasel,” Caleb protested. “Besides, we have no way to get in.”

“We do if we find the hidden door with the tunnel that leads under the moat and into the castle.” When Logan felt the top of the stump, his hand ran across metal hinges. Sure enough, he lifted the wood and it opened up to a hole that went right through the hollowed-out stump and into the ground. “I think I found the secret entrance.”

“Ye’ve got to be jestin’,” said Caleb, looking down into the dark hole.

“This tunnel will take us under the moat and into the back of Drummond’s castle. Now, go back and tell Ethan and Hawke about it. Together, mayhap we can lower the drawbridge and raise the gate for the rest of our clan. Mayhap all hope hasna been lost yet after all.”

* * *

“We found her with this in her hands,” said the guard, throwing Rhoswen’s sword down at Drummond’s feet after they’d hauled her out to the courtyard. Rona stood behind them holding Lockie who screamed at the top of his lungs. Rhoswen was dressed in her sister’s wedding gown, since Rona wouldn’t let her leave the tower until she’d donned it. It was the same gown that her mother had once worn when she married their father.

“My little bride has a sword? How amusin’,” said Drummond, chuckling and eyeing her up. “But where did she get it?”

Bug stood by his wagon parked across the courtyard by the kitchen. He faced Drummond, shifting his weight from one foot to another, looking very nervous. Rhoswen

thought Rona was going to say something about him but she didn’t.

“It’s my sword, given to me by my father,” Rhoswen spoke up loudly to be heard above the crying baby. “And I know how to use it, too.”

“No bride of mine will use a sword,” he snarled. “Tamhas, go get MacKeefe from the dungeon so he can watch me wed his lover before he dies.”

“He’s no’ there, my laird,” said Tamhas.

“What?” spat Drummond. “Well, where is he?”

“It seems he escaped. The guards said the girl pushed him out of the tower window.”

“What? This is preposterous. Then bring me his dead body, so I can see it with my own eyes,” snarled Drummond.

“He fell into moat,” said one of the guards who held on to Rhoswen’s arm so she wouldn’t move. “I saw him out the window as he swam away.”

“Ye let him escape?” asked Drummond, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the man.