‘Nay. He will not tell us anything.’
Brodie walked forward then, close enough to force the lad to lift his head and look up at him. ‘Are you certain you have nothing to tell us?’
Alan shivered even more but his lower lip slid out in a stubborn, belligerent gesture that gave his answer. Brodie shrugged and walked out of the cave, leaving the rest of it in Rob’s capable hands.
One way or another, the lad would share his secrets.
* * *
After he’d eaten and given Rob about two hours or so to get the information from their captive, Brodie made his way back to the cave. Unfortunately, the lady stood there on the path, arms crossed and ready for battle. He did not know whether to gird his loins or call for help from her fierce expression.
‘I know you have Alan within,’ she said. ‘I want... May I see him?’ Her tone surprised him. He expected fire and brimstone to rain down on his head, so the polite request was a shock.
‘Nay. We are not done questioning him yet,’ he answered.
‘You have had him for hours. How much can he bear?’
Tears glistened in her blues eyes and somehow Brodie managed to stand firm, in spite of the need to wipe them away. Damn, but she found his every weakness! If she offered herself to him again, he doubted he could refuse.
‘Rob,’ he called out. His friend came out of the cave and nodded. ‘Done, then?’
‘Aye. He told us what we needed to know,’ Rob said before he noticed Arabella. Then he saw her and nodded. ‘Lady.’
Brodie could see her struggling with her need to castigate him and to ask questions. Knowing the stories passed around about him, he understood her fears. He did not like that she believed them, but he understood.
‘Go on, then,’ he said to her.
Arabella bolted into the cave and they followed. Alan slept in the corner. She knelt next to him and touched his face. Brodie fought off the jealousy of such a tender gesture and watched as she whispered the lad’s name several times. Rob nudged him with his elbow and leaned in to tell him what they’d learned.
‘He truly did come alone. The lad is quite talented. His uncle may or may not know of this, but he has returned home at Caelan’s request.’
Just then the lad opened his eyes and greeted his cousin in a drunken, slurred voice.
‘Arrrrabelllllla,’ he whispered, tilting his head this way and that and squinting his eyes to try to see the lady.
Young lads could rarely hold their own againstuisge beathaand Rob had used it to loosen young Alan’s tightly sealed lips.
‘Are you drunk, Alan?’ she asked, leaning in and sniffing the scent of her cousin’s breath. ‘Whisky? You have been drinking whisky?’
She sat back on her heels and turned her attentions to him now. He waited for the eruption of anger and accusations from the lady. In preparation, Rob, the coward that he could sometimes be when it involved women, backed away, heading for the entrance to the cave. Her gaze narrowed and she nodded at Brodie.
‘That was well done of you, sir,’ she said. ‘Well done.’
Something that looked like respect filled her eyes and she nodded at him, the slightest curve of a smile appearing on her mouth. Before he could say something foolish, the lad interrupted.
‘It would have worked, you know.’
Then he shrugged and tilted his head again in the other direction as though unable to find his cousin to speak to her. She turned to say something and he shook his head so hard and fast he fell over laughing. The lady helped him right himself as she clearly fought the urge to smile.
‘She would not come, you know. It took much time and you found us. If she’d only come when I told her, we would be free now.’
They would not have escaped, but it somehow made him glad to know she’d kept her word to him. Especially in a situation where he’d have difficulty honouring a promise not to try to escape.
With that admission, Alan gave up fighting against the effects of the powerful liquor and fell back to sleep. Arabella eased the boy down to the blanket on which he lay and then stood. When she was right in front of him, she looked up at him.
‘You thought I would brutalise him to get what I needed.’ The words hung there between them.
‘I did...for about one minute. Then I realised that you would not do such a thing.’
