Emilia picked up his hand again and kissed it. “It is good to see you smiling again, Father.”
“Thank you, Emilia,” he said, standing up. “Now I must get back to the church. May God bless you both.”
“I am so glad that the priesthood was not my calling,” Adam sighed.
“And so am I,” Emilia agreed.
Just then, a little red-haired missile flew across the room and slammed into Adam’s knees, nearly knocking him over. Adam laughed and picked Mara up, and she put her arms around his neck so tightly that he coughed. She giggled as she looked at him and he realized how much he had come to love her in the last few days.
“My prince,” she said in English, just as Emilia had taught her.
“My princess.” He smiled at Emilia over Mara’s shoulder. His life would be almost perfect if not for the McElwee problem.
But a few days remained until the French arrived. They would certainly be sleepless nights for Adam...
21
Three days later
“Sir! Sir!”
Adam had been supervising the inspection of weapons to make sure all was in order. The French were due today. His soldiers were battle ready and able to move at a moment’s notice. He did not know if the McElwees would attack them.
Suddenly one of his guards came rushing down from the top turrets, his shoes clattering on the stone, and skidded to a halt in front of him.
“Some soldiers are goin’ towards Inverinch, sir,” the man said urgently. “Looks like a fair number.”
Adam ran upstairs, taking them two at a time, and peered into the distance. He could not see which colors the army was flying, so he decided to go and find out, since the French were due today. He went downstairs and mounted Trojan, then rode over the bridge across the moat. He had no time to be afraid. He needed to find out if his men were facing friend or foe.
He rode fast to intercept the army but as their leader turned and saw him, Adam’s greatest fear was realized. These were not French soldiers, but members of the McElwee clan. His heart sank.
A rider was coming towards him, and Adam saw that he was facing Neil McElwee once more. “Well, well, Master McElwee,” he drawled. “We meet again.”
The man gave him a triumphant smile. “Indeed we do, and I have more news for you.”
“Good or bad?” Adam asked.
McElwee shrugged. “It depends on your point of view,” he replied, and there was that irritating smirk again. “We want you to surrender. We only need the village and the people, and we need them living, not corpses and skeletons.”
Adam looked into the steel gray eyes. “Give me a day to think about it,” he replied, trying not to look desperate.
“You have till noon.” McElwee replied, his eyes like chips of ice. Adam had no doubt that he was remembering the punch and swearing revenge. Men like Neil did not easily forget.
Now Adam had to work fast.
He gathered twenty of his best men from the castle and lined them up in front of him, then he took a deep breath.
“I am not the Laird you all dreamed of, I know that,” he began. “But I am not asking you to do this for me, but for your people. The McElwees are about to take the village and I would like you to go and get the women and children to safety in the woods and caves behind the village. Take as much food as you can.
“All the old and infirm must go to the church. You must take blankets and warm clothes for them. The nuns from Sisters of Mary Immaculate are coming to nurse them. Do you have any questions?”
“Aye!” one of the biggest guards, Robbie McPhail, spoke up. “When we chop their heids off, can we keep them as candle holders?”
“We can have a competition,” Adam suggested. “The one who chops the most heads off gets a bottle of whisky!”
There was a huge cheer, then they went riding out on their mission of mercy.
Emilia had just finished hanging out some washing when she heard the sound of horses thundering up the path to their house. She looked outside and saw Adam dismounting from Trojan, looking as if he were being chased by the hounds of hell. He burst in through the front door and ran into the house, then came to a skidding halt in front of Emilia, Mara, and her mother, all of whom looked at him in amazement.
