She moved as fast as she could to gather water and ignored the growing sting in her palms. Emily was determined to save as much from the fire as she could. After what seemed a very long time the fire was just smoldering and she sank against the doorframe and fought to catch her breath. When that proved a troublesome exercise due to the lingering smoke she stumbled back into the kitchen and filled her bucket, leaving the second one she had been filling behind. She went back to the doorway and leaned against it again as she watched the spot where the fire had blazed. If it showed even the tiniest spark of life she would be ready.
* * *
Ian sighed as he watched the men scattered over the land in front of him. They appeared to be giving up but he did not dare believe in that. Some were belly crawling back toward their horses but he was not sure how far they would get. The Powell brothers were proving to be lethal shots.
“We give up,” yelled one of the men, and it took Iain a moment to find him amongst the dead.
“And why should that matter to me?” he called back.
“Just let us get to our horses and we will be gone.”
“So ye can come back another time?”
“We ain’t that stupid.”
Iain was not sure of that but he was tired and there were a lot dead to deal with. He was not looking forward to all the digging. He did not think he wished to know just how many they had killed, either.
“Take your dead with ye,” he said. “And leave your guns. I dinnae see ye drop them to the ground and I will drop ye.”
“All right. All right.” The man stood up, revealing that he was wounded, and tossed his rifle and pistol to the ground.
“And dinnae forget to tell the man who hired ye that he failed. Again.”
One by one a few more did the same. They each grabbed one of the dead but by the time they were gone there were still a sizeable number on the ground. Iain continued to wait until he saw one of the Powell brothers signal him and there was no more sound of horses.
“They didnae take that many with them,” said Matthew.
“Suspect they took the ones they knew.”
“Which means we have a lot of digging to do.”
“We’ll see if we can use the plow for some of it.” He looked toward the house. “If a fire was started it seems to have gone out.”
“Bastards. Always trying to burn things.”
“They wanted us to run to the house because they kenned there were women and children inside.” Iain continued to watch the land in front of him and then shook his head. “Suspicion they are gone. We best go see how Nigel and Duncan are.”
Matthew signaled the others that the fight was over and then followed Iain. “Was one of them hurt?”
“Nigel had his arm burned by a bullet but nay more than that.”
When he saw his two younger brothers sitting and leaning up against the wall looking as exhausted as he felt, Iain breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried about them and had felt guilty about ignoring that worry as the fight had continued. So far they had been lucky in this fight but he was not sure how long that would last, especially if the man was going to keep sending an army against them.
“You lads get any more hurts?” he asked.
“Nay, we are fine,” said Duncan in a subdued voice, and knew the young man was already feeling a sickness over what he had had to do.
Looking over the wall, he saw the dead and sighed. He patted Duncan on the shoulder but had no words to give him. They had all killed today and must each sort that out in their own way. Then he realized there was at least one thing he could say that might help.
“They were here to kill a bairn, lad. Dinnae waste any grief on them.”
Duncan looked a little stronger and nodded. “That fire they tried to start didnae happen?”
“Dinnae think so but havenae gone inside yet.” He sighed. “Better get that done and then we have some burying to do.” He could almost smile as his brothers all groaned. “Come on, lad”—he helped Duncan stand—“we best get that wound seen to properly.”
He was just about to head down to the ground when he saw a man move. The man sprinted for the back door and Iain cursed as he got down from the wall as fast as he could. Obviously this man did not realize the others were dead or had quit. He moved quietly around the house and watched the man kick at the door. He knew his gun was emptied so Iain pulled the sword free of the scabbard and went after the man. He reached the back door just as the man broke it open and went inside.
His heart pounding with a fear he refused to recognize, he stepped quietly up behind the man. The man was heading right for Emily. He watched her hurl a bucket at the man and stayed back to avoid getting hit. It did not stop him for long and he started after her again.
