Arabella did not fight Rob as he led her over the rough terrain. Indeed, she leaned on his strong arm as the uncertain path ahead continued. With her eyes covered as Brodie had ordered, she followed Rob’s instructions. But being blind like this did not mean she did not hear things.
Whispering voices as she passed. The laughter of children in the distance. Her name spoken, both in surprise and derision. Several people called out to Rob, though he never slowed or stopped along the way to their destination.
Margaret. She was being taken to Margaret, whoever she was, and to be treated as a prisoner, he’d ordered. She shivered then, for his tone had been ominous...and angry. The anger frightened her. Remembering the beatings and punishments of her childhood, they had always come after something had drawn her father’s close attention and ire. Another shiver and Rob stopped then, cursing under his breath again.
She wanted to smile at that realisation for he did utter a surprising number of profanities and impolite words. Usually in response to something Brodie had said or ordered and usually they stood unanswered by that man. He was the opposite of his friend who rarely spoke and seemed to parse out each single word. But that wordless man might yet take her life as he had her brother’s, so she needed to keep her wits about her now. They began walking again but this time only for a few minutes before he drew her to a stop.
‘Margaret?’ Rob called out. A few moments and then again, ‘Are you in there, Margaret?’ He released her for a moment and then took her arm in his hand and guided her forward. She heard no reply but he must have seen something in answer to his call.
‘Here now, my lady,’ he said. She felt his hand on her head. ‘The opening is a bit shorter than you are, so you must bend slightly to enter.’
She allowed him to guide her head lower and she followed him inside...some dwelling. It was warmer now, the smell of a fire and something cooking made her stomach grumble unexpectedly. A few more steps and they stopped, then Rob took her by the arms and placed her on a stool or chair. Someone, Margaret most likely, scuffled and moved around from behind them.
‘Brodie said she is a prisoner, Margaret, not a guest,’ he repeated the words to this woman.
‘Did he now?’ the woman asked. ‘And is she to be trussed up like that the whole time she is hisprisoner, as well?’
‘Until he says otherwise,’ Rob answered from further away now. ‘And you’d best heed his orders.’
Arabella thought she heard humour in his voice, but surely that was not possible? Then he was gone and she could only hear Margaret moving around near her. A few minutes passed in silence, the gag preventing her from saying anything to the woman who seemed her gaoler. As she sat in the warmth, her body protested the long hours on the road and her bindings. She felt herself begin to sway and feared falling over. The touch on her face surprised her.
‘Here now, my lady,’ Margaret said as she tugged the gag free of her mouth and removed it from around her face. ‘Let me take these off.’
‘Nay,’ she warned. ‘He said...’ She did not want someone else to be the target of Brodie’s anger.
‘Ah, pish,’ Margaret whispered as she untied the cloth covering her eyes. ‘The man says many things, but I still do as I please.’
Arabella opened her eyes then and looked around. They sat inside a tent that had a small brazier at one end, creating the warmth. A pallet lay in one corner, a small trunk in another. Then she looked at the woman Brodie had sent her to. It took no time at all to see the resemblance between Margaret and Rob. Siblings most likely.
‘First, drink this.’ Margaret held out a steaming cup of something and she reached to accept it. ‘That man!’ she huffed out in an aggravated whisper.
Then, after she put the cup down as she tugged and loosened the rope around Arabella’s wrists, Margaret continued her hushed diatribe against Brodie. Brother and sister, for certain, she thought. Once freed, Arabella took the cup and sipped from it. Some kind of brewed tea or concoction. She did not recognise the flavour but the warmth of it eased some of her shivering. When her belly grumbled once more, Margaret shook her head and began another string of curses under her breath. Soon, a hearty soup filled the same cup and Arabella spooned it into her mouth so quickly, she barely tasted it.
Once her belly was full and her body warm, the exhaustion gained control and she drifted to sleep where she sat.
* * *
She only discovered when she was awakened by the loud whispers close by that Margaret had guided her to the pallet and covered her with a thick blanket.
‘I gave orders, Margaret.’ Brodie’s voice was harsh and demanding. ‘She was to remained blindfolded and bound.’
‘Oh, aye, you did,’ Margaret replied. Arabella dearly wanted to open her eyes and watch this exchange but pretended sleep so that she did not interrupt them. She would learn more this way.
‘And you dragged that puir lass for days and miles, without proper food or care. I thought you knew better than that, Brodie?’
‘She is a prisoner, Margaret. Something you need to remember,’ he said, letting out a loud breath. ‘The blindfold was for your protection and for the others. If she did not see you, she could not report back to Caelan who was here. Now she can identify you.’
‘Then leave her to me since she has seen my face,’ Margaret replied in a calm voice. ‘No need for the others to be endangered.’
‘Do not answer her questions. She will poke and prod and pry, but say nothing about any of this,’ he warned.
‘Should I wake her now?’ Margaret asked.
‘Nay.’ He paused and she knew he was dragging his hands through his hair as he did when frustrated. ‘Nay. Let her sleep. Send someone for me when she wakes.’ She heard his movements as he stepped out of the tent. ‘And send to me if you have need of anything.’
‘I will, Brodie,’ Margaret said.
When they finished speaking, Arabella intended to say something but the cocoon of warmth and the first real rest in days tugged her back to sleep.
