The thought had made Erskine smile. Though Camden was no saint with women and had certainly had his fair share of love affairs, he had more respect for women than many men did. He would never harm a woman, and the thought of Laura being at Earl Moore’s mercy was clearly as upsetting to him as it was to Erskine.
“For that, we have me brother to thank,” Erskine tossed the words over his shoulder.
“What?” Aiden suddenly pulled his horse forward, bringing it alongside Erskine’s horse as they reached the bottom of the cliff and took up their place on the main track heading south. “Dearg would betray ye so?”
“That was me reaction also,” Erskine gestured to his face as he leaned forward and urged the horse to gallop faster. “He wrote to the Earl in me name, tellin’ him where Laura was and askin’ to claim the reward. Then he drugged me last night and locked me in the room, ensurin’ that I wouldnae wake this mornin’ to stop events from unfoldin’.”
“Bastard,” Aiden spat the words too, shaking his head. “Why?”
“Because he’s always been jealous of Erskine,” Tam offered, urging them all to turn their heads to him.
“How did ye ken that? Even I dinnae ken that,” Erskine was amazed.
“Ye really hadnae idea he was jealous of ye?” Tam asked with doubt on his face as he urged his horse to turn the next corner.
“Well, jealous, perhaps, but nae to this point. Nae to the extreme that he would do somethin’ like this.”
“Funny, I never doubted him capable of it,” Tam said in thought. Erskine flicked his gaze briefly to his friend before focusing on the road again.
It seems Tam is much better at readin’ people than I am. He realized about Laura sooner, and he could even read me own brother.
“Any sign?” Camden called from behind.
“Nay!” Erskine called back, his eyes now fixed on the road ahead.
“It will take too long to catch up like this,” Aiden called as he suddenly pulled his horse to a sharp halt.
“What?” Erskine had to scramble to pull his horse to a stop too. In fact, they all did, startling the horses so much in their frenetic actions that they squealed and whinnied loudly in the air. “What is it, Aiden?”
“The carriage set off ages ago with four horses, it will take hours to catch them like this, but there is another way,” Aiden pointed to the hill beside them.
“That path is nae safe,” Camden warned as he came to his side. Erskine grimaced, thinking of the dangerous thin path Aiden was referring to. It was a shortcut, a way to eliminate part of the long road around the hill. He himself had been there only twice in his life, and he could see why many a man had fallen from it, plunging to their deaths off a sheer drop.
“I ken, but usin’ it, we stand a better chance of catchin’ up,” Aiden was speaking with a wild gesture of his arms. “We can go slowly. With four of us, we willnae let anyone drop.”
“I daenae ken,” Erskine shook his head.
“Aiden is right,” Tam moved to his side. “We have to try. It’s the best way to catch them up.”
Erskine looked between his three friends’ faces, a dark thought occurring to him.
“I cannae ask ye three to take that path.”
“Why nae? We’re offerin’ to do it,” Aiden said, gesturing again.
“Because I’d be askin’ ye to risk yer lives on a well-known dangerous path. All for me tryin’ to get Laura back. I cannae do it. I’ll take the path alone,” he said strongly, turning his gaze up the hill.
“Nay ye willnae,” Tam moved his horse in front and blocked his path.
“Tam, get out of the way.”
“The hell I will!” Tam said sharply. “If we were chasin’ Lennox down and I told ye nae to go up there, would ye follow me order?”
“Of course, nae!” Erskine replied. “I’d follow ye right up there.”
“Then ye have yer answer,” Tam gestured to the three of them. “We’re comin’ too.”
“I cannae ask ye to take the risk.”
