[The Mackalls of Dunnet Head 01.0] Her Trusted Highlander Page 13

  “Such as?” Rory asked. His eyes were as big as saucers and Nick couldn’t help chuckling as he watched him. He was concerned about what Malcolm would tell them and he glared a warning in Malcolm’s direction.

  Malcolm nodded imperceptibly and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He continued on, telling the family quite the tall tale about the places he’d been and the land where he lived. Everyone, including his sisters, followed his every word.

  The meal continued and Nick and Kat didn’t participate much in the conversation unless they were spoken to directly, and then their responses were brief. After they were done eating, everyone gathered around the fire to chat some more with Malcolm, who after a short while gracefully bowed out.

  “I’m quite tired. I’ve had a long few days as I’ve traveled, so if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to retire for the evening.”

  There was a chorus of voices begging him to stay and talk some more.

  “I’m afraid I cannot. I’ll speak more with you in the morning. Good night.” Malcolm headed to the stairs and then up to his room.

  Once Nick was sure he was out of earshot, he said, “Be careful of him. He’s not the man he appears to be.”

  “What do ye mean? He’s fascinating,” Lettie argued.

  “Yes. He is. I cannae explain why, but just know that he is a dangerous man and behave accordingly. I expect ye will continue to be as generous as ye’ve been to this point and as welcoming, but keep yerselves on alert. Now, if ye’ll excuse me, I’m off to bed as well. Kat, may I walk with ye to yer room?”

  Kat put her hand in his and followed him out of the room, calling “Good night,” over her shoulder.

  Chapter 15

  Kat settled into bed and fell asleep rather quickly, considering the events of the day, but she had been exhausted. At some point, after the castle was quiet, she heard her door open and smiled to herself, thinking it was Nick, come to join her.

  “Nick?” she asked, but there was no answer.

  As she lay there in total darkness, she could hear him approaching the bed and then before she could speak again, she found a hand covering her mouth.

  “Katriona, please don’t scream.” Malcolm’s voice whispered into her ear. “I’d like you to come with me. We’re going to find the emerald that brought you here. Mackall doesn’t want you to leave, so he’d do nothing but hinder us in our efforts to find it.”

  He continued to cover her mouth and Kat became concerned at what he was saying. She didn’t want to leave in the middle of the night without saying goodbye to everyone. Malcolm slowly removed his hand, but kept it close so that if she screamed he would cover it again.

  “Get dressed. We must leave quickly. And be as quiet as possible, we don’t want to alert the family.”

  “But why? I want to say goodbye to Nick; he’s right across the hall.” She got out of bed and started heading for the door. Malcolm grabbed her and covered her mouth again. “Katriona, you leave me no choice.” He pulled his sword from its sheath and held it to her chin. “You will do as I say and do not make a sound. If you do, it will not go well for you. Do you understand?"

  Katriona nodded her head, shaking now with fear. This was her boss, holding her at sword point. Had he lost his mind?

  “I will have that sword, and the only way I can get it is with your help. I must bring that emerald back to the tomb encasing the sword. Only then will the sorcerer allow me to take the sword, don’t you see.”

  Kat didn’t utter a sound. The moonlight shining through the window gave off enough light that she could see where she’d left her clothes. “My clothes are on the chair.”

  Malcolm walked her over to them and she threw her dress on over her shift. She grabbed her cloak and put on her boots. Malcolm walked her to the door and then opened it quietly, searching the passageway for any stray Mackalls who might happen to be up and about. When he saw no one, he pulled her into the passageway ahead of him and pushed her towards the stairs. She walked slowly, hoping that Nick would come out of his room. That he’d know she was in danger and he’d rescue her from this crazy man, but he didn’t. His door remained closed.

  “Move,” Malcolm whispered in her ear as he pushed her forward.

  Having no choice, Kat picked up her pace and was at the bottom of the stairs in the blink of an eye. They opened the doors, which creaked slightly, but no one seemed to hear. Malcolm led her through the courtyard and into the stable, where Jordy, the stable boy slept in the hay of the first stall.

  “Boy, wake up. We need our horses and quickly.” Malcolm kicked Jordy in the side to wake him.

  “Yes, sir.” Jordy sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before rising and heading down the aisle of the stable to find Malcolm’s horse and then Kat’s. He saddled them up and then before he could say a word, Malcolm hit him over the head, knocking him out.

  “Why did you do that?” Kat dropped to her knees at his side.

  “Get up. He’d only ring the alarm and we can’t have that. Come along.” They exited the stable and mounted their horses. As they got to the gate, they had to deal with the posted guard awaiting their approach.

  “Where are ye off to at this hour of the night?” he asked.

  “We’re leaving before the others wake. We didnae wish to disappoint them by not saying goodbye,” Malcolm lied.

  The guard didn’t seem to think that was a good answer, so Malcolm dismounted. He drew his sword before the other man knew what was happening and forced him to open the gate. After it was open, Malcolm used the hilt of his sword to knock him out.

  “Let’s go. He swung into the saddle and when he noted that Kat wasn’t moving, said, “If ye don’t come with me now, you’ll be forced to ride along with me on my horse. It would be uncomfortable for both of us, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t give me any trouble.” He flashed his sword in her direction. “Kat, I know that once we’ve found the emerald, you’ll understand why we had to leave without telling anyone. Believe me. I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else if I don’t have to, but I want that sword and in order to get it I need the emerald. You’re the only one who knows where I can find it.”

  Kat nodded and nudged her horse forward alongside Malcolm.

  “Take your horse up to a gallop. We’ve got to get as far away from here as possible, as quickly as possible.” Malcolm watched her carefully and Kat did as he directed and then he followed suit. They flew across the open field beside the castle, away from the ocean and inland. She had no idea at all how to get where they needed to be, but Malcolm seemed to have a natural ability to navigate by the stars and that’s what he was doing. Once the sun rose, Kat knew she’d be better able to tell where they were going, but until that time, she was going to have to trust that Malcolm wouldn’t get them so lost that no one would find them.

  * * *

  Nick was feeling restless. He couldn’t sleep. He’d been tossing and turning for what seemed like the entire night, but had probably only been a few hours. Something was telling him to check on Kat. She was just across the hall, so it would be easy for him to peek his head in the door and see if she was sleeping or if she too were awake. Having Malcolm just upstairs from him had him feeling a strange sense of unease. He rose from his bed and quickly wrapped himself with his plaid and then headed for Kat’s room.

  He stood in the hallway, feeling guilty for the thoughts that were making their way round and round his brain. He was only there to check on her, he told himself, but he hoped she’d invite him into her bed and into her arms. He was disturbed to find that her door was ajar. He pushed it open further and called her name, “Kat? Are ye awake?”

  He waited, but there was no answer. His heart began to race in his chest as he sensed danger. He charged into the room and was met by an empty bed. Where is she? Turning on his heel, he quickly made his way up the stairs to Malcolm’s room. Again, the door was open and no one was in the bed.

  “Damn it.” He hurried down the stairs and barged into Duncan’s
room. “Duncan. I think Malcolm has kidnapped Katriona. They are both gone from their beds. I must stop him.”

  “I’ll come with ye,” Duncan said. “We should search the castle grounds first.

  “You’re right. I’ll meet ye downstairs.” Nick went back to his room and got himself dressed before running downstairs, where he met Duncan awaiting his arrival. “I’ll check the stables. You check the guard house.”

  Duncan didn’t answer, instead opening the castle doors and heading off in the direction of the gate. Nick ran towards the stable, fear had a grip on his heart, but he knew he had to think clearly, so he pushed those thoughts aside and continued on into the stable, where he found Jordy slumped in the middle of the aisle way.

  “Jordy? Are ye all right, lad?” He lifted Jordy and propped him up against a nearby stall. Once he saw that Jordy was awake and seemed to be unharmed other than a knot on his head, Nick asked. “What happened?”

  “Yer visitors came in and told me to get their horses ready. I did as they asked and that’s all I remember until you woke me.”

  Nick cursed under his breath. “Get my horse ready, Jordy. I’ll return for him in a moment.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Nick ran out of the stable and towards the gate just as Duncan came running in his direction. “Malcolm left with Kat. He doesn’t know where they went because Malcolm knocked him out.”

  “Same with Jordy,” Nick responded. “I’m going after them, Duncan.”

  “I’ll come with ye. I’ll wake Rory and some of the men.”

  “Meet me here as quickly as you can. Aidan and Lockie can stay here with Ma and keep an eye on things.”

  “Right.” Duncan headed towards the castle with a purposeful stride.

  Nick headed back to the stable to get his horse and to tell Jordy they would be in need of Duncan’s mount as well. The other men could saddle their own horses, but they needed to get after Malcolm soon, or they’d have trouble catching them.

  Chapter 16

  Exhaustion had seeped in. Katriona hadn’t slept much the night before, especially since Malcolm had dragged her out of bed in the middle of the night. Now, they’d been astride their horses for hours on end and she could feel herself drifting off to sleep on more than one occasion. She jerked back up, afraid that sleeping equaled falling. Malcolm hadn’t said much to her. He seemed completely focused on reaching Sinclair Castle, the place she’d been helping to excavate on the fateful day she’d found that enormous emerald.

  Curiously, it had appeared in a spot where she’d been digging for hours and hadn’t seen a thing and then there it was lying right on top of the soil, like she was meant to find it. She had learned from Malcolm that the sorcerer who controlled the sword had been put under a spell, which rendered him invisible and trapped in the netherworld. The only way he could escape was if the emerald was reunited with the Twin Sword. That worried her. She couldn’t imagine that it was a good thing for this sorcerer to be set free. “Malcolm, aren’t you worried that if you bring the emerald to the sorcerer, that he won’t let you have the sword as he agreed?”

  “We had an agreement. I’m sure he’ll abide by it.”

  “But what if he doesn’t? You said yourself that the sword would give you all sorts of power to do as you liked in the world. Why wouldn’t he want that?”

  “Because he’s a sorcerer and he doesn’t need anymore power. He’s already powerful,” he replied testily.

  “I’m sorry. I just had to ask. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “It doesn’t have to make sense to you. All you need to concern yourself with is getting back to your own time. Once we get the emerald to our friend, we’ll work on returning to the future.”

  She wasn’t so sure that was going to happen either. This whole thing seemed like an elaborate trick perpetrated by a desperate sorcerer, who no longer wished to be imprisoned. He’d found the perfect fool to carry out his plan. Kat would never have even thought that Malcolm was a fool in the past. She worked for the man. He paid her salary. She never felt she had the right to have any opinion about him, but here she was being dragged across Scotland by the man Nick had warned her not to trust, and she didn’t have a very good feeling about where this was all leading. She got the impression she was expendable and that Malcolm could care less about what happened to her as long as he had his sword. “Do you think we can stop soon? I’m exhausted and I’m afraid I’m going to fall off of my horse if I don’t sleep.”

  “There’s no time to stop. We’ll keep going until it gets dark and then if we can find a safe place, we’ll stop to sleep for a few hours.”

  “Fine. But I’m not responsible if I fall asleep and end up on the ground while we’re riding.”

  “That won’t happen. You’ve managed to stay awake so far. I imagine you can go on for a while longer.”

  Kat started singing at the top of her lungs. If she had to stay awake, the only thing she could think to do was keep her mind active. Since she didn’t really want to communicate any further with Malcolm, she decided singing would do the trick. She sang an old tune she’d learned as a child. The words she sang were hardly correct, but it didn’t matter. Kat had to stay awake until nightfall.

  * * *

  Nick, Duncan and his men travelled at breakneck speed through the woods. They’d found evidence that two riders had passed this way. There was no way to determine who those two riders were, but they were fairly certain that they’d been tracking Malcolm and Katriona. Nick was extremely concerned about Kat. He hardly spoke, concentrating on reaching her as soon as possible. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Malcolm would do anything to get his hands on that sword. He’d go after the emerald and Kat was the only one who knew where it was. He had no doubt that once he had the emerald, Kat would no longer be of use to him. He needed to stop him before he could get his hands on that sword and he’d do anything that needed to be done to accomplish that goal.

  “They can’t be much farther ahead of us,” Duncan said. “We’re going to need to let the horses rest, Nick.”

  “Aye.” Nick knew his brother was right. Traveling on at the speed they were going would exhaust their mounts to the point where they wouldn’t be able to continue tomorrow. “We can stop for the night. Find a place to camp. We need to rest as well. We’ll sleep and then be back on our way.”

  Duncan sent a man off ahead of them as they slowed their mounts. He’d scout out a spot for them to stop where they’d have some shelter from the elements. They’d been lucky that to this point the weather had been in their favor. Tomorrow was another story. A storm could blow in at any moment. Nick worried that Katriona wouldn’t be warm enough. He remembered finding her that day in the woods. She’d been nearly frozen. His heart ached at the thought that she might be experiencing any discomfort at the hands of that madman Granger. When he got his hands on him he’d do what he should have done a long time ago.

  Duncan’s man came back with news that he’d found a spot up ahead for them to stop. They rode until they reached it and each man took care of his trusted steed. The horses had worked hard and deserved to rest even more than the men. They all realized it and took special pains to make sure that their horses were fed and watered and then left to rest.

  A fire was started in the middle of the campsite and the weary travelers sat around it, some yawning and others searching their saddle bags for food. They always carried a bag of oats and griddle for just such times. Once everything was located, Duncan took charge of making the bannocks and while they waited, the griddle was heated on rocks they placed in the fire.

  “We’ll get to her before any harm comes to her,” Duncan reassured his brother.

  “I hope so. I’m not doing a verra good job of protecting her. This is twice now I’ve let someone get to her. The first time I was lucky enough that Bearach wasn’t smart enough to spirit her away during a quiet moment when no one else was around, instead of in the middle of the Mackall feast. This time, I ca
n’t believe I didn’t think to keep watch over Malcolm, even when he was supposedly sleeping. If anything happens to her, Duncan, I’ll never forgive myself. She trusted me and I’ve disappointed her, I’m sure.”

  “’Tis nae yer fault, Nick. The rest of us were taken in by him and should have been more suspicious. Ye were, but we paid ye no heed. We let him charm us into trusting him. We were all fools.” Duncan placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Nae matter. She’ll be fine. I have nae doubt he willnae hurt her. He needs her to find his gem. We must get to him before he does, because after that I’m nae sure what will happen.”

  “He needs help to get back to his own time.” Nick realized he’d said the wrong thing. “I mean he…”

  Duncan interrupted him, “What did ye say? His own time? Explain yerself, brother.”

  Nick realized he was going to have to tell Duncan the truth. “Duncan, I didnae tell ye the truth about my whereabouts for these past two years. I lied to ye because I knew ye’d think me daft.”

  “Daft? Did ye nae think we might nae believe yer faerie kingdom story? Tell me everything.”

  Nick shared his story with Duncan and the other men around the campfire. When he was done, they all sat with mouths agape, staring at him.

  “Why do ye look at me like I’ve two heads? I told ye it would be hard to believe, didnae I? I’ve told ye the truth, so close yer mouths and stop with yer staring faces.”

  “I’m sorry, brother. It’s just the most unlikely thing I’ve ever heard, but I believe ye. Ye’ve seen the future.” Duncan shook his head and stared into the fire, eyes wide.

  “Aye. What’s more, Malcolm Granger and Katriona are from the future. They’ve journeyed back here to our time to retrieve a sword that Malcolm would like to add to his collection of artifacts from this time. Katriona was brought back accidentally, or at least I thought so. The fact that she knows Malcolm and she seems to have been transported here by an item he needs to free the sword, makes me think otherwise.”