“You’re very sweet to say that but it’s not true.”
“It is true. You are not the reason we lost the castle. You were not in charge of our defenses. I was.”
“And you were with me.”
“That was my decision, not yours.”
A voice called out from further back. “My laird, the children tire.”
“Concentrate on your clan,” Heather said. “Not me.”
Gavin held up a hand, coming to a halt, looking back at those gathering around him. “There’s a cave up ahead, about a quarter of an hour from here. We can rest out of the rain and the bairns can sleep. In the morning we will continue.”
“Where are we going?” an elderly woman’s voice called out. “We have no home.”
“We are alive,” he replied. “That is what matters. Dinnae worry yourself for now. Come, let us get out of this accursed rain.”
He began walking again. Bruce made his way through the crowd to join Gavin at the front. “What are we going to do?” Bruce asked.
“Take back our castle.”
“I like that idea. How?”
“I will kill the old crone. The rest of them will crumble once their leader is dead.”
“I hear she cannot be killed by any mortal blade.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Heather listened to them talking quietly, wondering if she should go home. Tanya had been so sure she could help defeat the old crone but that hardly seemed possible. They were outside their castle, outnumbered, outfought, outmaneuvred.
What could one woman from the twenty-first century hope to achieve that they could not? All she had was a silver key, she didn’t even know how to fight.
The path beneath them grew steeper and the walk became a climb. Her feet kept slipping on loose stones and she was glad when Gavin called out, “In here.”
The cave was hardly visible in the dark, its entrance hidden behind a large fallen boulder. She squeezed inside, glad to be out of the rain. The cool air made her shiver but as more people squeezed in, their breath began to warm the space around them.
“We rest here for the night,” Gavin said, standing up while the clan looked around for spaces to settle. He was little more than a shadow in the darkness of the cave. “Get what sleep you can. In the morning, we shall retake our castle.”
“How?” someone shouted.
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” he replied. “For now, rest.”
Heather almost shrieked when a hand slipped into hers. “It is me,” Gavin whispered in her ear. “This way.”
“I never heard you,” she replied. “You’re like a ninja.”
“What’s a ninja?”
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“Bruce,” he called out. “I have blankets hidden over there. Make sure the children are warm.”
“Aye, my laird.”
“You sound worried.”
“I just hope Mary got out of there in time.”
