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Brown had leveled a pistol at her and regarded her with a cold smile.
Angus let out a groan as he struggled to sit up. He looked dazed, and there was blood on his forehead.
“Please let me go to him,” she said.
“Don’t move,” Brown ordered.
Just seconds later, she heard pounding hooves from behind.
A stranger pulled up in a flurry of dust. “All right, Cap’n?”
“Fine, although it took you long enough.”
“I had to cut through the woods. Didn’t expect you to have company.”
“No, that was a surprise,” replied Brown. “But your shot was the distraction I needed.”
Kathleen stared at the big man in the greatcoat and slouchy cap. She didn’t recognize his face, but she definitely recognized the voice. “You’re one of the robbers, the one who went through my trunk.”
“Happens you’re right, miss. And a nice haul it was.” He flashed an ugly leer. “Liked them dainties of yours, too. Pretty, like you.”
She ignored his salacious remark and turned back to Brown. “You apparently are the leader of that blasted gang. How appalling.”
“I must say, Miss Calvert, we’ve had a grand time here in Dunlaggan. Yet now we must depart for richer pastures. Once we take care of you and your ridiculous escort, that is.”
Bile rose into her throat. “Please just tell me if Jeannie is unharmed,” she hoarsely said.
Brown’s gaze suddenly filled with a cold, unnerving anger. “I have no idea where your sister is. She did not keep to our rendezvous, unfortunately. Now, I must do my best to track her down.”
Kathleen could only hope that Jeannie had come to her senses, and was now safely back at the manor. “My sister is obviously smarter than you are. And don’t even think to go to Lochnagar. The game is up, sir. If you have any brains, you’ll make your escape now.”
Brown studied her for several long seconds before flicking a glance at his henchman. “Get that old fool up onto the horse behind the woman. And make sure you tie his hands.”
“We’re taking ’em with us?”
“For now, yes.” Brown gave Kathleen a toothy, avaricious grin. “One never knows when one needs a hostage, my dear. You might prove to be useful, after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kathleen studied the rock wall, searching for any kind of possible handhold. If she couldn’t get them out of this cave, they would be abandoned to their fate or to the tender mercies of Captain Brown.
She held the lantern over her head. “Do you see that bit of rock near the top? I might be able to toss the end of the rope ladder around it. If so, maybe I could scramble out from there.”
After making Kathleen and Angus descend the ladder, Brown had tossed it down after them, into the cave.
Angus, who was sitting on a blanket and calmly stuffing his pipe, shook his head. “Lass, I’m not the sort to give up, but there’s nae gettin’ out of this cave without help. The scaly bastard has seen to that.”
She sighed. “I suppose you’re right. These walls are too bloody steep.”
“It’s a grand hiding place for that band of rank riders. It’s nae to be wondered that the lads couldna find them.”
“I cannot believe the thieves were able to find this place. It’s almost invisible from the outside.”
Tucked beneath a large rocky overhang, the cave was a deep hole that was impossible to see until one was virtually upon it. About twenty feet down with steep walls, the space remarkably resembled a large room. The floor was dry and relatively flat, several dozen feet across in diameter. There was no way out but up.
Brown using them as hostages was probably the best they could hope for. If he decided to leave them here, Kathleen feared they had no hope of escape unless they were found. Those desperate thoughts tied her stomach up in knots.
Angus patted the blanket. “Lass, sit yerself down. Yer burnin’ up yer energy wanderin’ aboot like that.”
