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“Aye, I ken. Lord Beaufort brought the prisoners to the castle before sunup. There was one who was claimin’ to be chieftain.”
“Dinna tell me,” he said, gritting his teeth and inspecting the job she did on his wound. “I am sure it was Brohain. Ye remember – the one who wanted to kill ye.”
“Yes, he’s the one.”
“Help me wrap this wound, and I will make guid on my promise and bury yer friend.”
“Ye are weak and need to rest,” she told him, tearing a bed sheet and wrapping up his wound. “I will cover up Imanie with a blanket and be back with my cousins and my sister. We will bury her.”
“Nay,” he said, starting to get off the bed. He moved too fast and grimaced. Then he shook his head and sat back down. “Dinna bring any Sassenachs here. I will bury her myself.”
“All right,” she agreed so that he would stop fighting her. She had to get help and wouldn’t be able to do it if he was keeping such a close eye on her. “I will dig the hole. Please, lay back and close yer eyes. I will tell ye when the hole is ready and ye can help me move her body.”
“Nay, I am the man. I will do it.” He reached out and gripped her wrist, causing her to struggle.
“Stop that,” he commanded.
She panicked and fought him, raising her knee and hitting him right in his wound.
“Bid the devil!” he cried, letting loose of her hand and using both hands to hold his side. His eyes closed while he leaned back against the wall.
Through the open door, the sunlight streamed into the room. It was already daybreak. Fia had to get back to the castle quickly. If she didn’t, Lord Beaufort would be sending out a search party for her. She couldn’t take the chance they’d find the secret garden or Imanie. She also didn’t want them to find Alastair because they would most likely kill him if they did.
Scooping up the blanket from the bed, Fia hurried out to the porch without bothering to close the door.
“I will be back, Imanie,” she whispered, covering her mentor with a blanket. She wasn’t sure what to do. Imanie was dead, and there was no evidence that the Highlander hadn’t killed her. She needed to get help and back to the castle quickly. “I will miss ye, my guid friend,” she said, kissing Imanie on the head for the last time. Then, getting to her feet, she ran for her horse.
Alastair openedhis eyes to find the girl gone. When he heard the sound of horse’s hooves, he realized she had fooled him. She wasn’t digging a hole to bury her friend at all. Nay, she was running right back to the castle to tell the English where he was.
He got off the bed and staggered to the door, holding on to the doorpost, watching the girl ride away.
For some reason, she stopped in the gateway and turned around and looked right at him. No words were exchanged, but neither did they need to be. The girl might be Scottish, but she was also a traitor. Tugging on the reins, she turned and left the garden, leaving him alone with the old lady’s dead body.
Alastair felt like hell and needed to rest, but he could no longer stay here. He noticed the old woman’s horse in the single stable and decided to take it to find the rest of his clan. He went back into the house and donned his bloody tunic, fastening his weapon belt around his waist and replacing his sword into his scabbard.
As he left the cottage, he stepped over the body that was now covered with a blanket. “Well, Imanie,” he said, using the name he’d heard Fia call the old woman. “I dinna suppose ye’ll be needin’ yer horse anymore. I hope ye dinna mind if I take it off yer hands.”
He took a few steps but stopped in his tracks when he saw a bracelet on the ground. Scooping it up in one hand, he inspected it. In the center was a wooden heart and the name Fia carved into it. He thought about how the girl had helped him. They had made a deal, and now he was going back on his word – something he never did. His conscience got the best of him. Nay, he couldn’t leave yet.
“Damn,” he spat, not wanting to go before he buried the old woman’s body as he’d promised. No other Highlander he knew would keep such a promise in such a dire situation. Then again, he wasn’t like most Highlanders. That was his downfall. He cared too much about others than to turn his back on a woman in need.
Fingering the bracelet in his hand, he couldn’t stop thinking of the red-haired beauty named Fia. Fate brought them together. This was the second time he’d seen her now. And the part that intrigued him the most was that, just like three years ago, she was still wearing the heart brooch. Curiosity ate away at him, and he needed to find the answers he’d been searching for. Perhaps she was the one who could do it. He slipped the bracelet into his pouch, shaking his head.
Seeing a shed at the opposite side of the garden, he headed toward it to find a spade, wondering if he would regret keeping his word in the end.
