“Ah,Aunt, I am verra pleased ye are here to help,” said Sorcha. “This is Sir RuariKerr.” Sorcha was unable to control her grin as she looked at a still-gapingRuari. “And, Sir Ruari, this is my aunt, Neil Hay.”
“Neil?”Ruari shook free of his fascination with the woman and stared at Sorcha. “Didye say Neil?”
“Aye,she said Neil,” replied Neil, scowling down at Ruari. “I was the seventh ofseven daughters. Papa couldnae think of another lass’s name.” She shrugged. “Aye,and he may have hoped that, if I was given a laddie’s name, I would become theson he so badly wanted.”
“Neil,”Ruari muttered, shaking his head, but no one paid him any attention.
“Doye really think this battered piece of flesh will gain ye enough coin to buyback my foolish nephew?” Neil asked Sorcha.
“Aye,”replied Sorcha. “The Kerrs of Gartmhor are wealthy enough to spare a sack ortwo of coins to get their laird and his cousin back. We will wait until theEnglish ask their price for Dougal and then ask the same of the Kerrs for himand the lad.”
“Noprofit made in that.”
“Weel,I dinnae do this for profit, Aunt, but out of need.”
“Yekeep speaking of need, but I see none,” snapped Ruari. “This is a fine sturdykeep, larger than most and stronger than any I have seen, save mayhap for myown. It had to have cost ye dearly.”
“Verradearly indeed—in coin and in lives,” replied Sorcha. “What wealth our clan hadwas eaten away by this keep ere my father was born. Living on the edge of sucha lawless stretch of land and so near the English requires a strong, dependablekeep. Building such a place requires a great pile of coin. Aye, a great pile,and my forefathers were skilled at gaining that coin. ‘Twas rare that a daypassed without some poor soul wandering the halls of Dunweare awaiting hiskinsmen and the ransom they would bring. And many a raid was made into England,raids that cost us the lives of our men.”
“Andye now reveal that the blood of those reivers runs fast in your veins.” Ruaristarted in surprise when Neil suddenly swung a tight fist at him, the blowquickly halted by Robert who grabbed the woman by the wrist. “I see hertemperament matches her hair,” he murmured as, after a brief staring matchbetween Robert and Neil, she yanked back her hand.
“Mayhapwe just havenae learned to accept insults as graciously as ye, sir,” Sorchadrawled, pleased to see a hint of color tint his high-boned cheeks. “While myfather was still a beardless youth, the true cost of this keep became painfullyclear. We had bled Dunweare of its manhood.”
“Here,lass, I dinnae think ye ought to tell the mon such things,” Neil said.
“Heand his cousin will be here for a while, Aunt. They would have to be blinded tostop them from seeing the truth for themselves. And, I believe Sir Ruari iswarrior enough to have already seen that Dunweare could be successfullyprotected by a handful of suckling bairns.”
“Aye,I saw that clear enough,” agreed Ruari, his reluctance to admit it evident inhis deep voice. “Aye, and so too have I seen the lack of men-at-arms. I hadthought the men had gone to battle, then recalled that Dougal came alone.”
“Dougalkenned that no mon would go with him nor allow him to go if he revealed hisplans.” Sorcha moved to collect a blanket from an ornate wooden chest beneath anarrow window slot. “We depend upon Dougal to replenish the male half ofDunweare, sir, to replace the blood our forefathers so carelessly spilled ontothe dirt of so many battlefields.” With Neil’s help, Sorcha spread the blanketover Ruari. “Yewillbe held for ransom, sir, for we have no otherchoice. For nigh on fifty years our wee clan hasnae played the ransom game, agame most all others consider a fair one, even an honorable one.”
“Butyewillplay it now.”
“Aye,Sir Ruari, we will and dinnae think that because our army consists of the old,the verra young, the crippled, and women that we will play it poorly.” As shespoke she tucked the blanket up over his chest and leaned closer to him. “Yewill be treated weel, kindly, and with the respect that is your right, butdinnae mistake any of that as weakness. If ye try to escape, we will stop you.If ye somehow manage to slip beyond our walls, we will hunt ye down. Ye are ourcaptive, sir, and though ye may scorn your captors, dinnae let that arroganceprompt ye to act foolishly. I promise ye, we will make ye regret it.”
Sorchasuddenly realized that she was staring at his mouth. It was a fine mouth, justfull enough to be interesting. That mouth tempted her, drawing her closer, andthat startled her. She quickly turned her gaze up to meet Ruari’s moredirectly. There was a look of growing curiosity in his rich green eyes thatwarned her that her distraction had not gone completely unnoticed. Sorchaswiftly straightened up.
“Ipray I have made myself understood,” she said, inwardly thanking God for thesteadiness of her voice.
“Aye,completely,” Ruari replied.
“Good,then if my aunt doesnae object, I shall leave you in her care for now.”
“Yego, lass,” Neil said. “I will see to the lad’s care. Ye go and have a wee talkwith Robert. He has a few things he has been wanting to tell you.”
“AboutEuphemia.”
“Aye,wee Effie. I fear we have a few troubling months ahead of us.”
Althoughdreading all she was about to hear, Sorcha nodded and left with Robert. Shefelt a pinch of reluctance over leaving Ruari. He had been in her sole care foralmost three days, but she knew that was not the source of her hesitation.Despite his anger, she had enjoyed being near him. It would be the first timesince she had found him that she would be away from his side. The extent of theunease that caused her was a real concern. It was obviously not enough toremind herself that there was no hope of a steadfast attachment between herselfand Ruari. She decided she needed to put some distance between herself and SirRuari Kerr, to dim her fascination with the man by concentrating on thetroubles at Dunweare.
“Nowye may speak more freely about Effie,” Sorcha told Robert as they walked downto the great hall.
“Thetrouble began but hours after ye and Margaret went chasing after Dougal.”
“Therewas no hint of its onslaught?”
“Nay.‘Tis why I feel we are going to suffer a long, unsettling time. The spiritsjust descended. Aye, with a cursed vengeance. Everyone kenned that Effie wascoming of age and expected the trouble to begin, but even those of us who havebeen through this time and time again, found the first onslaught so strong asto cause us some qualms.”
