* * * * *
“I dinna ken her problem,” Stuart growled, his sword clashing against Euan’s. They were sparring in the lower bailey, honing their skills.
Euan disarmed him almost immediately, then pointed the tip of his sword just under his brother’s chin. “Ye best figure it out, mon. ’Tis affecting your concentration.” He released him and resheathed his weapon.
Graeme, who had been watching from the sidelines, chose that moment to amble over and do a little grumbling of his own. “At least ye have a wench tae moan o’er, Stuart. I still can no’ believe Auld Sheumais let wee Elizabeth get away from him.” He threw his hands in the air dramatically. “All the mon had tae do was watch her whilst I took a piss!”
Stuart found a grin at that. “He’d been hitting the cups again, no doubt.”
Euan snorted. “As always.” He shook his head, then rumpled Graeme’s hair affectionately. “’Tis tae young ye are tae worry o’er a wench, boy. Ye’ll get another. I’ll find ye a betrothed myself come Michaelmas when a few of the clan leaders come tae sup.”
Graeme shivered at the notion. “I can scarcely contain my excitement, brother. Will ye betroth me tae that MacPherson wench who possesses a face with a frighteningly close resemblance tae that of a pig, or will it be the dowered daughter of the MacInnis with the over-large teeth?”
Euan and Stuart couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Well,” Stuart teased, “what is your preference? A pig face or over-large teeth?”
Graeme didn’t see the humor in the situation. He sniffed at such a choice. “Ye best save your ill-wit for one who can appreciate it. Since I dinna care for it and since your lady wife is planning tae run away from ye, one must wonder—”
“Back up, whelp,” Stuart interrupted. His smile faded abruptly. “What do ye mean Morag plans tae run away?”
Graeme’s eyes widened. “Well,” he stammered out, “she was mayhap no’ serious. Mayhap she was just grumblin’ aboot because she was mad at—”
“Graeme,” Stuart ground out, “tell me what ye heard.”
“Aye,” Euan rumbled, his thoughts turning to Janet and her close friendship with Stuart’s wife. “Tell us.”
Graeme sighed, thinking the scene he’d witnessed this morn not worth the telling of it, but eventually he gave in with a shrug. Why not. “I dinna ken most of what she said for she was mutterin’ tae herself in that foreign tongue of hers, but after ye stomped off from the great hall this morn she grumbled under her breath in Gaelic that she was off tae find Janet and leave this place forever.”
A chill of foreboding coursed down Euan’s spine. Janet had never even confessed to him from whence she’d come. If she got away, he wouldn’t have the foggiest notion where to hunt her down to.
“Damme!” Angered, Stuart cursed up a mild storm before turning back to his brothers. “I best go see what the wench is aboot.”
“I’ll come with ye,” Euan murmured.
Stuart’s eyes rounded comprehendingly. He nodded. “Let us go.”
Chapter Twelve
Morag twirled a freshly picked bluebell between her fingers and smiled as the women walked alongside the perimeter of the wall that led toward the waters surrounding Skye. “You were right,” she admitted on a grin, “I feel a lot better now. Sunshine and sea breeze was just the thing.”
Janet tossed a tawny ringlet over her shoulder and smiled. “It is quite beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Mmm. Like a dream.”
Janet stopped when they came toward an area of the wall with a hole in it. Gliding up to it, she put her eye against it and looked to what was beyond the stone structure. “Wow. Morag come look at this. The beach out there is about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Morag tried to oblige her, but wasn’t able to see anything. “I’m shorter than you by a good three inches and you are standing on tiptoe. I canna see a blessed thing.”
Janet chuckled. “Too bad. It’s so pretty.”
Morag thought that over for a second as she surveyed the wall. “We could try to climb to the top using these holes as footfalls.”
Janet wrinkled her nose at that. “What if we fall? No thanks!”
Morag sighed. “Janet, we may love our husbands but let’s face it, there is no’ a damn thing to do in this time. If we fall, so what. At least trying to climb the wall gives us something to do for the next fifteen minutes!”
Janet half laughed and half snorted. “True.”
Five minutes later the women had gotten no more than half way up the wall when the thundering sound of horses’ hooves came rumbling from the castle bailey charging toward them at top speed.
