Sutherland rubbed his head and Eleanor gasped.
“Start from the beginning, Cait.”
She told them about meeting Donaldson on her way to Alice’s house, about Donaldson arriving at her door, about running through the house to lure him into the woods so he wouldn’t find the refugees, and about the attack. She described how she’d bludgeoned Donaldson on the head twice and killed him.
Here she faltered as the panic that she’d held at bay came back. “I’ve never killed anyone before,” she whispered. “I’m meant to heal.”
“Sometimes it can’t be helped,” Sutherland said. “And sometimes it’s either you or the other person. You knew that ye weren’t getting out of that alive, and so ye killed him. No one can fault ye for that.”
“The English army can.” Sutherland pressed his lips together, and she knew that he agreed with her. She went on, “They took him to Fort Augustus. We need to get him out of there, and I need to tell them that I killed Donaldson.”
Eleanor pressed the teacup back into her hand and Cait wrapped her fingers around the warmth to take a big sip. The whiskey burned on the way down but warmed her all the way to her toes.
“Ye said ye were far into the woods. How did the English find the body so quickly?”
“I…” She hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t know. Ror—” She paused, thinking of her cousin showing up and then disappearing. For some reason she hadn’t told Iain that part, and she wasn’t certain she should tell Sutherland. Damn Rory. Where was he? What had happened to him after he left her cottage to bury Donaldson’s body? Something must have gone terribly wrong.
“Ye must tell me everything if we’re to help Campbell.”
Cait looked into her teacup, not knowing what to do. If only Rory had returned to tell her what happened.
“Rory came by after I returned from…Donaldson. We decided ’twas best if he buried the body. We thought that no one would discover Donaldson was missing for some time, as he was supposed to be up north.” She glanced quickly at Sutherland, but he was watching her impassively. “We all know what will happen to me when they discover I was the one who killed him.” Her voice wavered and she swallowed.
“Where is Rory?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he left my cottage. I think something terrible has happened to him. He wouldn’t just walk off and not come back.”
“Obviously, he didn’t bury the body, and somehow it got moved.”
She nodded miserably.
“Tell me the rest.”
“This morning Palmer arrived to tell Iain that Donaldson was killed, this time on Campbell land. The soldier who was with Palmer found Donaldson’s horse in my paddock.”
Sutherland straightened. “What was Donaldson’s horse doing in yer paddock?”
“I put him there. I didn’t know what else to do with him.”
“And Palmer thought this suspicious.”
She nodded. “I was going to confess, but then Iain said he killed Donaldson. I tried to tell Palmer the truth, but Iain wouldn’t allow it. The muddleheaded fool.” She looked up at Sutherland. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“Because he loves ye.”
She jerked and looked at him sharply. “How do ye know that?” Iain had just told her that morning.
“Because I’m a muddleheaded fool as well.” He grinned at Eleanor.
Cait’s heart felt like it was breaking in two. “We talked about marriage just that morning,” she said mostly to herself. “But I was too scared to make a commitment.”
Eleanor put a comforting hand on Cait’s shoulder.
“We need to find Rory,” Sutherland said.
“We can’t sit around here while Iain is at Fort Augustus. I’ve heard terrible things of that place. We need to get him out.”
“And how do ye propose to do that?” Sutherland asked.
