It surprised Ewan to hear how familiar with his daughter Kenneth sounded, but then he reasoned that anyone who lived in a keep would have seen guards taking shelter while on duty in the rain, and if she hunted, she’d be aware the weather would provide cover and also weaken her scent to her prey. He and Eoin trekked through the meadow until they reached the spot where they’d lain in wait the day before. The rain beat down on his head and back, but he barely noticed as he prayed Allyson would appear. They waited half an hour, but their patience was rewarded when a small hooded figure appeared at the edge of the wall. Allyson shifted as she pried a rock free from the wall, then shielded her eyes to search the land beyond the keep.
“Stay here,” Ewan hissed to Eoin. “If the parchment falls in a puddle or remains out here, the water will destroy it.” Ewan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the wall, weaving through the meadow and keeping low to the ground. He approached the wall and waited for the alarm to sound. When nothing stirred, he crept along it until he stood beneath Allyson and looked up at her. She waved and leaned forward, mouthing “be careful.” Ewan nodded before mouthing the same in response. Allyson placed the notes against the rock and tied them together. She peered back at Ewan before pointing to the missives and holding up two fingers. She pointed to the rock again, but this time held up one finger and pointed to him before tapping the rock and sweeping her finger to encompass the trees and the field. Ewan nodded once more, and she dropped the rock into his hands. She watched him dash back to where she assumed Eoin waited, then she watched them return to the trees.
Chapter Fifteen
Ewan separated the missives before he stepped near the fire. Whatever Allyson had written, she’d made it clear one was only for him. He’d save it until he was alone. Once Kenneth and Eoin joined him as they all warmed themselves, he read aloud the missive Allyson intended for all of them. His fears had, in part, been justified. He wanted to rampage through the keep, tearing asunder anything and anyone he encountered until he wrapped his hands around Sage’s neck and snapped it. Kenneth swore several oaths before going to stand on his own. They hadn’t spoken of the betrothal since leaving Glasgow, and Ewan wondered if Kenneth feared Allyson would no longer be marriable. A sennight earlier, he would have welcomed that news, but now he wasn’t so sure. Her time at Chillingham surely traumatized her, and he supposed that would be far greater punishment than anything her father meted out. Spending her life alone as a spinster seemed extreme, but her father’s fears would be warranted if word got back to court. No man would want to marry her. Except for him. Ewan lost his aversion to marriage somewhere between Glasgow and discovering who held Allyson. He’d marry her and offer her his protection, but he still intended to carry on with his life. He’d reflected upon how different Allyson was from his mother, but he didn’t consider himself that different from his father. He’d never keep his leman in their home, and he wouldn’t flaunt his relationships at court, but he still didn’t find any reason to alter course despite taking a wife.
Eoin joined some men who left to hunt, and Kenneth retreated to a solitary spot under a fir tree. Ewan used the moment of quiet to read the missive Allyson intended for him. Its contents surprised him. There was sincerity in Allyson’s words, and he heard her voice as he read it. But there was also a touch of defeat, as though she held little hope that she would escape alive. That she feared for him and the others and expressed her guilt rather than plead for rescue spoke to him. Several days ago, he was convinced she was a coward and spoiled to run away because she didn’t get what she wanted. But the time alone on the road, then what she must be facing in the keep, made him realize she was far from a coward. She was dangerously naïve, but she wasn’t a coward. The rain made it almost impossible to see, but when he stepped to the tree line, he believed he saw her still standing on the battlements. Alone.
* * *
It was approaching nightfall when the Elliot warriors arrived. A swollen river and bogs that threatened to suck down man and beast slowed their progress. Learning that Lord and Lady Grey were departing the next morning also forced Ewan to delay his plans, but he recognized that it would even the odds if they breached the walls either under the portcullis or through the postern gate.
The men huddled around three cook fires, having built more now that their numbers swelled. Ewan chewed on the rabbit leg but tasted little. He once more longed for a hot meal and an ale. The notion of a willing woman made his cock twitch, but the appeal wasn’t there as he gave it more consideration. It wasn’t exhaustion that failed to raise his sail. He wasn’t sure what it was, but as tired as he should have been, nervous energy thrummed through him. It wasn’t like what he felt on the eve of battle. The anticipation of freeing Allyson the next day then being underway made him fidget. He’d long ago consumed the whisky packed with his bedroll, so he had little to do as a distraction. When nature called, he stepped away from the camp and away from the light. The darkness allowed him to notice a small light that shone at the keep. It was lower than the torches on the battlements, and it appeared to flash. It shone bright then darkened, then brightened again with a steady pattern. Ewan was certain it was a beacon.
Ewan crept out of the woods and inched along the tree line until he viewed the castle with nothing obstructing his view. The light appeared to come from a chamber window, and Ewan’s intuition screamed that it was Allyson trying to signal him. He pushed through the tall grass until he glimpsed a figure in the window casement. It looked like Allyson, but he couldn’t see the woman’s face until she held the lantern higher. Ewan recognized Allyson, and he recognized the panic on her face. He sprinted the rest of the way until he stood beneath the opening in the wall.
“Ewan?” Allyson’s voice floated down to him.
“Aye, Allyson. Tis me.”
“Catch.” Ewan raised his hand in time to grasp a potato with a piece of linen wrapped around it. “Hurry. They’ll find me soon.”
Allyson lifted the light once more as if to help as he stepped away from the wall. He considered telling her to jump, but the height was still too great. If he failed to catch her, the fall might injure or knock both of them unconscious. He nodded and spun on his heel and sprinted all the way back to the camp.
“Allyson dropped another missive,” Ewan announced as he came to a halt by Eoin.
“What? How?” Kenneth demanded.
“I spotted a beacon and sensed it was Allyson. She stood in a window with a torch and dropped this down to me.” Ewan held up the potato before unwrapping it, then dropped the linen and potato but kept the parchment. He unfolded it and scanned its contents before looking up aghast. He looked at the others before reading aloud.
Elizabeth is dead. Sage strangled her on his wrack while coupling. Accident, he claims. Lord Grey furious. Locked Sage in chamber with body. Lord and Lady depart soon. Word spread to the village. Servants fear Elizabeth’s father arrives by morn. Greys avoiding Charlton. Discovered Charlton nabbed me. Fear he’ll kill me when he comes for revenge.A.
Ewan looked at the faces that shared his shock. He shook his head as he read the missive for a third time. The sound of horses galloping toward them made all the men scramble to hide among the trees, those closest to the fires kicking dirt to extinguish them. A large contingent of riders approached with Lord Thomas Grey’s standard at the front of the line. Ewan watched as the knight and his lady raced away from their home and the impending retribution. None of the Scots moved until the last English rider was out of sight.
“They’re tucking tail and running,” Laird Elliot spat. “What type of man besides Sage inspires such terror that a vaunted knight would run away from home? In the dead of night, at that.”
Ewan couldn’t believe Kenneth’s genuine confusion. He bit his tongue to keep from shouting.The type of man who knows another is coming to avenge his daughter. A father who won’t stop short of tearing everyone limb from limb for taking his lass from him.Ewan opted for a different line of comments.
“Do we try to intercept this reiver and partner with him to storm the keep, or do we leave him to break into the keep and we follow once the gates are open?”
“You’d have us make a deal with the man who put my daughter in danger? I’ll gut Charlton before I do that.” Kenneth fumed.
“You can do that after we get Allyson out alive. One way or another, the man who took her into that cesspit will be the one who helps us get her out.” Ewan narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips. He shifted his weight forward, knowing he made his threat clear without speaking aloud. He wouldn’t allow Kenneth to get in the way of retrieving Allyson.
“They will raise the portcullis for him,” Eoin spoke in calm tones, the voice of reason between two hotheads. “We don’t need Charlton to know we’re here, but we do follow him through when they open the gate. They’ll allow him entry because they know him from previous visits or because they fear him just as Allyson does.”
Ewan nodded, conceding his brother was correct. He dropped his hands from his hips and pulled his plaid over his head before settling against a tree trunk to wait out the night.
* * *
Allyson dashed back to her chamber once she’d extinguished her torch in the empty fireplace of the chamber she’d slipped into. She dropped the bar across her door and stoked the fire. She’d taken firewood from Lady Grey’s chamber when the woman went belowstairs to ready for her journey. Allyson had already squirreled away extra peat earlier that day. She didn’t know how long she’d have to remain barricaded in her chamber once Elizabeth’s father arrived. She would also use a lit torch as a weapon if the reivers attacked her. She climbed into bed to catch as much sleep as possible since she suspected the next day would be very long.
* * *
The sound of screams woke Allyson as the sun rose. Weak light floated through her window, but it was enough to see across the chamber. She ran to peer out at the chaos erupting in the bailey. It was easy to recognize the man who’d captured her as Charlton’s stout pony screamed and reared before the reiver slashed his sword across a guardsman’s belly. He attacked with indiscriminate rage as he called for Sir John to present himself. Allyson watched as a band of cutthroat cattle thieves flowed into the bailey following their leader. Allyson hadn’t been able to see the man the night she arrived, but she recognized Charlton from stories she’d heard while she still lived near the border. King Edward sanctioned the man’s thievery because the reiver’s band of outlaws fought for the English monarch and were instrumental in beating back the Scots when they attempted to reclaim land that had once been part of their country. It wasn’t long before her abductor dismounted and fought his way to the keep steps with several of his men in tow. Allyson refused to be unprepared for this attack.
Chapter Sixteen
