“I cannot understand how they keep slipping through our fingers,” muttered Lucette, halting Sir Anton’s attempt to slip away. “These barbarians should not be able to thwart us so.”
It was a good thing he was speaking in French, Brian thought, or he would be dead. That sort of sneering insult was very akin to what many English aristocrats were fond of saying. Since Scotland and France had been allies more than enemies for many, many years, it surprised him that there was such distaste for his people among the French aristocracy. But then, most of the time all they wanted was extra men to fight their battles and to keep their old enemy the English beleaguered at home.
“This is their land, Lord Lucette,” replied Sir Anton. “And their skill at fighting is well known, my lord. They have long made up some of our mercenary force.”
“As arrow fodder so that good Frenchmen might stand back until it is safer. No, this puzzles me. I also think it was wrong for us to divide the men. We only need to catch hold of one of the men helping that bitch and my brother’s get and that one would soon tell us where the boys are.”
“Why should they? This is not their fight and they gain nothing from it.”
“So why should they fight or die for either that red-haired bitch or those two common little whelps?”
“They may feel it honorable to assist a woman and two children.”
Lucette waved a heavily beringed hand, sniffed the tankard of wine the maid gave him, and wrinkled his long nose in a clear sign of disgust. “I should not be so surprised that there is no good wine in this heathen land. If we had gained hold of Lady Arianna or one of the boys upon the beach, we would soon have had the lot in our hands. Those men would bargain with us. The message we received from Lord Ignace said this MacFingal clan has little money and is known to be very odd. That wench has no coin to pay them, does she? What coin she may have stolen from my family is undoubtedly at the bottom of the sea.”
“No, she has no coin but she is very pretty.”
“Not so pretty that one of these savage fellows would not turn her over to us for a nice, full purse. My brother certainly did not find her worth much in bed or he would have left that slut he married. Her dowry was a hefty one though, although this mess Claud left behind could cause the Murrays to demand it returned. And that is another good reason to see that she does not return to her family.”
Lucette badly needed killing, Brian decided, and had to fight the temptation to try and fulfill that wish. He began to get a clearer idea of what Arianna’s life had been like with the Lucettes, and it was not good. Things she had said had let him know it had not been a happy time for her, but listening to this fool talk made it all chillingly clear. She had never been accepted.
“I will settle the men, m’lord. After a good night’s rest, we can begin the hunt again. We should also have word from at least one of the other groups soon. I will send a man to the meeting place to see if word has come. If one of the others has managed to find the boys, we could end this and go home.”
“Only the boys? Your lord wishes to catch the woman, too. I thought you knew that. His family is eager to pay back the Murrays for things that happened in the past and she would be a very good weapon to use. I cannot see the DeVeaux giving that up. That family lives for vengeance.”
Sir Anton just shrugged and walked away. A few moments later a tall, broad-chested man joined Lucette. As Brian watched Lucette order the man to see to his food and drink as well as make certain a bath was prepared, he decided he would gain no more information now. Lucette’s mind had turned to his own comforts. Brian was also running a risk by lingering too long. His family was not completely unknown in the area.
Despite the danger of being caught showing far too much interest in a party of visiting Frenchmen, Brian meandered by the stables. Hoping the stable hands would say nothing, he grabbed a shovel and began to clean out one of the stalls. When an older man came over to stare at him, Brian tensed but just winked and kept working. His tension eased when the man simply collected a bridle, sat down near him, and set to work on it.
“So what is your interest in these fools?” asked the older man the moment the stable was clear of Lucette’s men.
“Mayhap I have just taken on a job here,” Brian replied as he set the shovel aside and looked at the man.
The man gave a short bark of laughter. “Dinnae try to fool me, lad. I own this place. I do the hiring. Now, what is your interest in these men who think we are all naught but swine?”
“Ah, ye speak French.”
“Mother was French. Father brought her back when he was done fighting one of their battles for them.” His sharp gray eyes remained fixed upon Brian’s face. “Ye are verra good at nay answering questions, m’lad.”
Brian considered his answer for a moment as he studied the innkeeper. The man looked honest enough, his gaze straight and clear. The deciding factor, however, was that the man had not exposed him. One word and Brian would have been fighting for his life, a fight he might well have lost against so many. Lucette’s men might not know who he was but they were strangers in his country, hunting three innocents with murder on their minds. They would have viewed anyone unknown as suspicious and a threat to their plans.
“Just here to try and discover how close they are to the bonnie wee lass I am trying to get to Dubheidland.”
“Dubheidland, huh. Ye dinnae look like one of those cursed Camerons.”
“I am from the dark side of the family.”
“Ah, one of old Fingal’s lads. Ye do have the look of him. Odd mon, that Fingal. Always was.”
Since his father had been born and raised in this area, Brian was not surprised that the older man would know who his father was. “Aye, odd, but verra virile.” He grinned when the man laughed heartily and slapped his knee.
“True. Verra true. Get out of here, lad. Get your wee bonnie lass far away. These men are nay good. Didnae like them from the moment they stepped in my door and will be glad to see the back of them. If business round here wasnae so poor, I would ne’er have let them in the door. They will gain no information here. I will see to it. Get her to Dubheidland. That braw laird will enjoy swinging a sword at a few Frenchmen.”
Brian did not hesitate to obey the man. With a grin and a wink that made the man mutter something about Fingal breeding true, he slipped out of the stables and made his way back to his horse. He had not gained much information on how close Lucette was to finding him but what he had learned was not good.
They knew who might have taken Arianna and the boys. They even had developed a way to keep each group informed of what the other had discovered. That meant there was no stopping them from eventually riding to Scarglas. At least he knew the man would gain no help from the ones working at the inn.
He also knew he could not tell Arianna all he had learned. The moment she heard that her enemy had knowledge of who might be aiding her, she would be terrified about the fate of the two boys. She had enough to worry about. He would not add to her fears.
