AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“See, he is quite gentle. He does nae eat wee girls either.”
Annie’s small hand moved, though she kept her fist clenched.
“Open your hand, like I do, see. Lay it flat an’ he will just rub his nose on your palm.”
The stallion played his part impeccably, and in moments the small girl was patting his wide muzzle. “I wish I could have a pony but me ma says we can only have cows, an’ a few chickens. An’ now I live at the castle so I would have nae time tae ride one I daresay.”
“I shall teach ye tae ride, Annie, and ye will be very good at it, I ken. Ye shall help tae lead Lady Roselyn’s palfrey when ye’re a wee bit older but first, we must find her and see her safe.”
“Aye, Laird.” Annie managed a watery smile.
Blair remounted, then reached down for Annie’s small hand. He easily pulled the child up onto his horse and settled her before him.
“Angus, ye will remain here an’ do what ye can tae ease the dog’s pain. We’ll find the cart an’ send it back here so ye can use it tae take Freya the rest o’ the way back tae Duncleit. I’ll be needin’ your mount since the English took the horse that was pulling the wagon.”
The man, Angus muttered his agreement and handed the reins of his horse to another clansmen. In moments the rest had remounted and formed up behind Blair. He kicked the stallion into a gentle canter and started back up the steep hillside.
When the green mass of Dunisburn woods came into view he paused. “We shall ride through the woods, along the track, and you say that we shall find the cart at the far end, just at the spot where Lady Roselyn entered the trees. Is that right, Annie?”
“Aye, Laird, I last saw it there.”
“And after, when you started for home, which side of the wood did ye come around, Annie? Was it the left or the right?”
“The right-hand side, from here, Laird. I followed the burn.”
He nudged his mount forward again and led his men into the cover of the trees. No one spoke, all were alert for any sound to betray that the attackers might still be secreted in the thick woodland, waiting to ambush them. Annie shivered within his arms.
“Fear not, wee lassie. No one shall harm ye.”
She settled, clearly ready to trust in his promise. He hoped that her faith was not misplaced but he had no other choice. He had to find his wife… and quickly.
A few minutes later they arrived at the site of the attack. The scene was much as described by Annie: the cart deserted in the middle of the track, the traces dangling loose where they had been slashed to release the pony which had drawn it. Blair cursed under his breath when he caught sight of the body of his stable lad face down in the dirt. The boy was but thirteen summers and his mother worked with Elspeth in the Duncleit kitchens.
The McGregor horsemen reined in but remained mounted. Blair twisted in the saddle.
“Hamish, I need ye to drive the cart back to Duncleit. Ye should take the lad’s body too, and stop on the way to pick up Angus and my wife’s hound.”
The man dismounted with a curt nod and strode to where the youth lay, half under the cart. Blair also slipped from his saddle to aid his man in lifting the body onto the back of the wagon. He unwrapped his own plaid from about his shoulders and covered the boy with it then he helped Hamish to secure Angus’ horse between the shafts.
“We shall see ye back at Duncleit.”
The man nodded and clicked on the reins. Blair watched, grim-faced as the cart trundled back the way they had come, his equally sombre clansmen parting to make way for it. He swore once more for good measure before swinging back into his saddle behind Annie.
“So lassie, now we shall see where ye found Freya, aye?”
They departed the cover of the trees and Blair was soon able to pick out the tracks left by the small girl as she had made her way homeward. “Now Annie, ‘tis very important that ye show me the exact spot where ye found Freya.” He was relying on the assumption that the dog had followed the attackers and had perhaps even savaged any she might have been able to seize in her instinctive desire to protect her mistress. Whilst she had clearly come off worst in the end he could hope Freya had given a decent account of herself before she fell. Injured men left tracks. He might discover some trail he could follow. Blood would be nice. He slowed Bartholomew to a walk and scoured the edge of the woods with Annie.
“There! ‘Twas there, sir. I know it, just beside that log.” Annie bounced up and down in the saddle in front of him. “Ye can see it, just in front. The grass is flattened where Freya was lyin’.”
The signs were clear, unmistakable. Blair pulled his stallion to a halt and signalled for his men to remain behind him. “No one is to trample anything. Keep the horses back so we dinna confuse our own tracks with those of the English. Annie, ye may stay here if ye would.”
“I am no’ scared now, Laird.” she affirmed, clinging tight to the pommel at the front of the saddle.
Blair squeezed her shoulder then dismounted. He bent to examine the crushed grasses, the trampled undergrowth at the edge of the woodland, and the hoof prints which led away from the spot, due east. Just as he had surmised, his adversary was headed back to the mainland, and from there no doubt their route would take the raiders south to the border. They had a decent head start on him, but the English were still a long, long way from home and in hostile territory. He knew this terrain though. He knew it intimately and could travel at speed, and through the night, whereas they would need to stop or at least pick their way with some care. He would have the bastards yet.
He stood and looked about him. Blair gazed to the east across the empty expanse of Highland landscape, and behind him, back into the oppressive darkness of the woods. And it was there that he saw what he had hoped for. A hand, bloodstained and dirty, just poking out from the undergrowth. And it was moving. He had one of them, but there was no need for Annie to witness what would come next.
“Annie, you have done well. Now I need ye tae go wi’ Duncan.” He beckoned another of his men forward. “He will take ye to find Freya and Hamish, and ye can ride back to Duncleit on the cart. Elspeth will take care of Freya, and of you. Oh, and be sure to tell her I said ye’re not to be lightin’ early fires anymore. Someone else shall have that task now because you are to be my maid of the horse.”
