“Laird Elliot, even if she hasn’t been visiting vendors for clothing, she will need to eat. She may have gone to buy food, and someone might recognize her description.”
“The lass is more likely to wander into a tavern and order a meal there than to know how to negotiate with street merchants. She didn’t go to fairs or markets often at home.”
Ewan wanted to bellow that the lass hadn’t lived at home in four years and demand to know why the man couldn’t recognize that four years at court had changed Allyson. In Ewan’s mind, they wasted precious time searching the town’s taverns when he understood Allyson wouldn’t be foolish enough to enter one unless it was dire. She’d realize the danger a tavern was to an unaccompanied woman, and she had to guess that her father would look there. Ewan sighed and waited until Kenneth continued the search among the permanent shops.
“The mon worries aboot his daughter; give him some credit for trying,” Eoin whispered as Ewan passed him once more during his pacing.
“And the mon doesnae ken his daughter even a tad. She isnae going to give herself up so easily. She might have been foolish to run, but she isnae foolish enough to get caught this soon.” Both men lapsed into their Highland burrs as they felt more themselves away from court. “What I said is true. Even if she didna go to the street vendors, she needs food and clothes. I’d venture to say she also kens she needs coin. If she hasnae already traded, then she’ll have the sense to look for employment.”
“Employment? What can she do? She hasnae been to any of the taverns, so where else would she ken to go?”
Ewan glared at his brother. He didn’t understand why everyone underestimated Allyson after she’d escaped two well-fortified keeps, evaded detection for the most part, and remained elusive after more than a day on the run.
“She can sew at the least. She may have found a dressmaker or haberdasher where she might trade her services for a roof over her head.”
Eoin paused and considered what his brother suggested before nodding his head. “Mayhap she can cook, too. Mayhap she’ll hire herself out as a maid.” Eoin grinned at what seemed like nonsense to him. “She’s a lady-in-waiting nae some village lass. She doesnae ken how to do any of that. Nae when she’s had someone to do it for her, her entire life.”
Ewan’s scowl darkened before turning toward Kenneth. “Laird, did Allyson spend any time in your keep’s kitchens before she left for court? Does she ken how to run a household?”
“Aye, she knows because her mother taught her how to be a chatelaine. As for the kitchens, I have no idea. Perhaps.”
Ewan wanted to ram his fist into the man’s belly for knowing so little about his daughter. He swept his gaze up and down the street, peering into any doorway he could see. Movement across the street caught his eye. The very merchant he suggested they visit had a shop in front of him. He squinted against the daylight to glimpse the people milling about the bakery, where the scent of warm bread wafted from the doorway.
“There! She’s in there. I’m certain of it.” Ewan pushed his way across the street and dashed into the store, but he didn’t see Allyson. He was certain he had, but instead of finding her, he heard a door slam shut. He followed the sound, disregarding the elderly couple’s complaints when he entered the kitchens. He ran to the back door, but when he looked down the alleyway in each direction, there was no one to see. He ran toward the public stables. Intuition told him that if Allyson had been in the shop and feared being found, she would claim her horse and disappear from Glasgow. The streets were congested and while being a large man made it easier to see over people’s heads and to intimidate them into moving aside, it left little space for him to maneuver. He slowed his pace several times before he found a stable boy mucking out stalls. Gordon and Elliot men still lingered about the front of the stables, so Ewan suspected Allyson would have found someone else to gather her horse.
“Aye, a young woman asked me to fetch her horse. Said she feared the men out front and what’d they say. Face like an angel, ma mama would say. She gave me a few coins, and I brought her horse out. She didn’t linger and spurred the beast as soon as there was room. I watched her go.”
Ewan thanked the boy and ordered the guardsmen to ready all of their mounts. Ewan gave up politeness as he steered through the people milling about until he reached his brother and his potential future father-by-marriage. He wasn’t sold on the idea of marrying Allyson, but he didn’t want her to come to any harm, especially not after Laird Elliot explained what happened to her older sister. The story had haunted him the entire ride to Glasgow, and he felt shame now that he understood how real Allyson’s fear was.
“She’s run again. A stable boy just gave her back her horse and said she barreled out of the city gates. We missed her.Again.”
* * *
As the day wore on and another night approached, frustration grew among all the men. Ewan wanted to throttle Allyson for sending them on the least merry chase he could imagine. He was grimy and tired, and what he wanted most was a hot meal and a pint of ale followed by several drams of whisky. For the first time in ages, a willing woman wasn’t on his list.
“Allyson may have gone to the Hermitage. She doesn’t know anyone there, but the keep is under our clan’s protection. She would find shelter there with few people recognizing she’s my daughter. I say that’s where we try next.”
“The Hermitage? That’s barely more than a league from the border.” As a Highlander, Ewan detested being in the Lowlands, but the possibility of traveling to the border was unpalatable. He had no respect for the English, and no desire to go anywhere near them.
“So is our keep on Elliot land. Allyson grew up within miles of the border and will be more comfortable in this area. While most wouldn’t recognize her face, they would recognize our clan’s name.”
“And you assume she’d give that out. She must understand that along the border, she’d be a prize to capture. She’d be held for ransom; a ransom you couldn’t pay because you’re not home to receive the demand.” Ewan ground his teeth as he looked south. He would shake her when he finally got his hands on her slim figure.
It was too late for them to continue riding, so they made camp. Ewan settled on his bedroll and looked at the stars. He was certain they shone brighter in the Highlands, but he picked out patterns just as he and Eoin had done countless times as children. His mind wandered to where Allyson must have been spending the night. He pushed away the guilt, reminding himself that she’d chosen to run away and not return with Edward. While he didn’t want her to come to harm, he still believed it was her fault if she did.
The mixture of Gordons and Elliot rode hard until well after sunset, when they reached the Hermitage. A young man who bore a striking resemblance to the king welcomed them. There was little doubt that the Robert Bruce who stood before them was King Robert the Bruce’s illegitimate son. While Kenneth and Robert spoke in hushed tones, Ewan glanced around the Great Hall and up the stairs to the family and guest chambers. He wondered if she was hiding in one of them. His frazzled nerves tempted him to bound up the stairs and tear each room apart until he either found her or was certain she wasn’t in residence.
“The matter is worse than you think, Laird Elliot.” Robert’s words carried to Ewan, making him turn toward the young man. “We’ve had trouble with reivers over the past sennight. These men are more ruthless than the usual lot. They’ve done more than steal horses and cattle, terrorizing the local villagers. They aren’t men we’re familiar with, and none of our reivers know them. There're rumors that they’re from Chillingham.”
The group fell silent at the mention of the infamous keep where unimaginable torture was the norm. Ewan’s stomach clenched as he pictured John Sage getting his hands on Allyson if these reivers got hold of her—assuming she made it there alive. His mind flashed a picture of Allyson lying on the ground, battered and defiled, dead where they left her. He glanced at Kenneth, then Eoin, and knew they imagined the same thing.
“There’s naught we can do tonight. It’s too dark to track them, but we leave at first light,” Ewan announced. He’d deferred to Laird Elliot’s leadership until that point, but he’d lost faith in the man after they missed Allyson by a hairsbreadth. His opinion on marrying her and his opinion on marriage may not have altered, but he wouldn’t ignore any woman in such danger. He could admit to himself, and maybe even to Eoin, that he had liked Allyson and enjoyed her company up to the time when they discovered they were being forced to marry. He’d danced with her and shared jokes and easy conversation in the past. It was his fault things soured because he’d antagonized her in the passageway even before they’d learned of their fathers’ plans. Now he needed to collect his runaway bride.
Chapter Nine
Allyson didn’t know where to go. She considered cutting back northeast and making her way to Edinburgh. Now that she knew her father and Ewan were away from Stirling, she didn’t fear them finding her on roads outside the city. She discarded the idea because she sensed her father would have guards posted around the city just in case she made that very attempt. She set off south from Glasgow, wondering if she dared go to the Kennedys and use her friendship with Cairren as an excuse to shelter there for a few days. Laird Kennedy was only an acquaintance of her father, so she didn’t worry as much that the man would notify her father with haste. She glanced at the sun’s position and gained her bearings before galloping further south.
The sun was setting hours after she fled Glasgow. She approached a cluster of crofts that was more of a hamlet than a village. Men were gathering their tools and making their way from the fields. She strained to see the plaid draped over many shoulders. She sucked in a breath so sharply that it whistled. The further south she traveled, the easier it became to recognize the woven patterns. These men were Crichtons; she’d been certain she’d aimed far enough west to be entering Wallace territory. The great defenders of Scotland were well-known for their loyalty to King Robert after their most famous member, William Wallace, was butchered by the English while he fought for Scotland’s freedom. She thanked all the angels and saints that the Elliots had always been loyal to Robert the Bruce and not switched sides like so many other border clans. She didn’t intend to announce she was an Elliot, but if she had to disclose the information, at least she didn’t fear their response.
