“Go,” the intruder said. “Go and tell Captain Pierce what has happened. Now.”
The man shakily rose to his feet, and Jane saw that his breeches were soiled. She turned her sights back to the intruder. “Tell him, also, that Clan Fletcher is ready tae negotiate.”
It was when the coachman got on the carriage and took the reins that the reality of the situation dawned on Jane. She would be left alone with these marauders! They would take her captive and do to her whatever they wanted to until Commander Pierce agreed to whatever terms they would give him for her release.
“I refuse to be treated like property!” she lashed out. “I am a proper lady, and I will not be treated like chattel, like some… medium of exchange in this foolish game of male dominance. I refuse to be your captive!”
The men burst into laughter. It was a loud, rancorous sound that startled her. By now, the carriage was on the move, bouncing along the road in a hurry. Her heart sank.
“If only captives had a say in their captivity,” the intruder said. He walked to her and bent so his lips were scant inches away from her ear. “I will nae exchange you fer land, lass. I will use ye as bait tae reel Commander Pierce in. And then, I will kill him.”
“Have you not had enough?” she snapped. “You killed my Uncle Howard three weeks ago. He was a kind, honorable man and you snuffed his life away.”
“Lady,” the intruder said, “I ken nae of whom you speak.”
“How dare you!” Jane exclaimed. “How dare you kill a man and not even know his name?”
“I could nae possibly ken the name of everyone I have killed, lass,” the intruder said.
“Don’t call me that!” Jane protested. The term was for their women, women who men like this no doubt treated as property and nothing else-
“Nae?” The man leaned so close to her, they seemed to share the same breath. His blue eyes looked intently into her green ones. Jane swallowed. And then she felt pressure on her hands. Her eyes grew questioning, and she looked down. The rogue was binding her hands while his eyes were still fixed on hers!
“You brute! You savage rogue! Let go of me this instant! Untie my hands! You’re nothing but a callous, heathen, primitive-”
“Those are nae words that ladies use,” he said with a chuckle as he did a final knot. “Have ye lied tae me, lass?”
Before she could answer, she was swung over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing. She shrieked, but with her hands bound together there was little she could do. He started to walk into the forest, and his comrades followed. From her position, Jane could only see their feet. “Let me down!” she ordered. “I am not a doll, or a child to be carried so! Let me down, you knave!”
His response was a chuckle. She drummed on his back with her bound fists, but that achieved nothing except elicit laughter from the rest of the warriors. She remembered Eleonor’s letter. She’d slipped it into one of her pockets the last time she had alighted the carriage to relieve herself. But the rest of her things were gone!
“Look what you have done!” she said angrily. “You have sent the coachman away with my belongings!”
“Ah, but ye are nae a very observant lass, are ye?” her captor said. “Yer belongings are being carried by one of me warriors.”
“How dare you!” she said but receive no answer. They were in the forest now. They all spread out, and Jane wondered why. Her captor walked with purpose, and soon she heard the whinnying of a horse. From her position, she could not see it. She realized, then, that they had left their horses in the forest to avoid raising suspicion before their attack on her carriage. A new wave of anger shook Jane.
“Spread your legs wide,” she suddenly heard.
“Excuse me?” Jane thundered in the most proprietary English accent. Without another word, he flung her astride a horse. It was black as night, the biggest horse she had ever seen, a magnificent beast. The horse moved a little, and, with her hands bound, she could not grab the animal and feared that she would fall off. She panicked. Her captor, in one fluid movement, mounted the horse and grabbed her waist, pulling her to him. A blush crept up her face. He whispered in her ear, “Did ye think I meant something else?”
Jane blushed even harder. “You are a pervert.”
He chuckled. “And yet I am nae the one having those thoughts.”
“Shut up,” Jane said. She knew this would likely anger him, but she did not care. How dare he laugh at her?
One of the other warriors, the one with the ginger hair, rode up to them. There was a smirk on his face. “Watch out fer this one,” he said to his comrade. “She has fire in her.”
Another one of them laughed. He looked a little older than the first two. “Dinnae fash, Keith,” her captor said, “I know how tae tame a wild mare.”
“You behave like animals!” Jane declared.
Again, her captor leaned into her, his breath a chilling thing against her skin. “I can be an animal if ye want me tae be, lass.”
Jane grew red, and again, the warriors laughed at her expense.
“I willnae dae anything ye dinnae beg me tae,” her captor said.
