Iain put his hand on Abigail’s shoulder. “I cannae find any MacDonalds. Mayhap they escaped.”
Abigail brushed her tears away and beamed at Iain. “Of course, they did. They are a strong family.”
“Iain? Abigail?”
Iain turned at Mary’s voice, and Abigail was already hugging the woman.
“You’re alive,” Abigail said, moving back and gazing at Mary.
“Aye, and so too are ye.”
They laughed and hugged again as Colin walked up to them.
“How did ye get away?” Iain asked.
“Where are the others?” Abigail asked before Colin could reply.
“They are all safe. We came back to see if there was anything we could salvage.”
Iain gazed at the carnage. “I am sorry, but it doesn’t appear as if they left anything unbroken or unburned.”
“No matter. We have the horses and some supplies, enough to get us to Inverell. Will you join us?”
“No,” Mary said. “The men who did this are going there. I heard the leader, Thomas was his name, say that after they report to Inverell, he is going to Rum to find Laird MacLaren. You, Iain. He said if he can’t get you, he will have your sister.”
Abigail put her hand over her mouth and stared at Iain.
He grunted. “Thomas was always a sore loser. He will not have either me or my sister.”
Iain and Colin left Abigail and Mary there and quickly began collecting what they could find of the MacDonald’s possessions, and after hurried goodbyes, Iain held Abigail as they watched Colin and Mary disappear over the knoll.
If he was to die at the hands of the English, he would die fighting, but he had Abigail to consider. He tightened a protective arm around her waist. He would do anything to keep this angel safe, but he had to get to Dorpol and Maeve. They must get to Rum and then to the MacLaren Keep.
Abigail shifted her weight and spoke into his shoulder. “How far is Rum?”
“Weeks. The weather is warming and crossing the mountains will shorten our travel to mayhap two weeks. But we need to stay off the main roads on our way there, so that will add many days.”
She seemed to sag at his words. “That’s a long time. If my family finds me, I will be leaving you before I see your island.”
“Aye.” Iain didn’t want to think about that. He had been trying to find a way to make her stay with him but couldn’t think of one.
“I know the government army is looking for all Jacobites, but why do you think they are after you in particular?”
The memory of the shock and fury on the Cumberland knight’s face when Iain cut off his ear had him smiling. “Perhaps it’s because I sliced off one of Cumberland’s officer’s ears.”
“You what? Don’t say it again. Who?”
“Sir Thomas Sutherland. He was at Glasgow University at the same time I was, and he was always a mean one. I caught him more than once beating into one of the first-year lads.”
Iain blew out a breath at the memory. No matter how many times Iain bested the man at fisticuffs, he wouldn’t change his ways. “He is one of many traitors belonging to the Independent Highland Company. They are no more than militia, bought and paid for by the English.”
“A knight, huh? What does the knight look like?”
“He is stout in frame, vicious and bloodthirsty, and he has one ear.” He chuckled at the last.
“Isn’t he famous for hating water? If that’s true, he might stop chasing you once you set sail to Rum.”
How would she know that? Iain and his friends knew of Thomas’s fear of water, but they had known him since school. He doubted it was public knowledge. He regarded her and furrowed his brows. Did she know Thomas? Of all the strange things she had said, that was the most odd.
