Madeleine leaped to her feet, her knuckles white from gripping the table. “I’ll not have ye arguing and fighting amongst yerselves! Stop it, I tell ye. Stop it!” She drew a deep breath, eyeing one sullenly silent man after the other. The tension was so thick it hung over the room like a smothering fog. “Sit down, all of ye.”
“Aye, ‘tis not the time to be quarreling,” Ewen agreed gruffly, taking his seat. Duncan soon followed, but Angus held his ground.
“I’ll not sit ‘til this matter is decided,” he insisted. He leaned against a whitewashed wall and crossed his arms over his burly chest.
“Very well, then, Angus. Stand if ye wish,” Madeleine said. She sat and looked around the gloomy party. “I appreciate yer loyalty and yer willingness to ride with me tonight, no matter the consequences,” she said evenly. “But I canna allow ye to do that. ‘Twould be riding to yer deaths, and ye well know it. I’ll not have that upon my conscience. ‘Tis bad enough I’ve involved ye this deeply.”
“Ye canna be sure ‘twould lead to our deaths, Maddie,” Angus retorted. “How do ye know they winna simply throw us in prison? All we’ve done is steal a bit of food for our starving kinsmen. Surely the court would show some pity…perhaps sentence us to a few years’ time in an Edinburgh gaol—”
“Have ye forgotten that we’ve shot English soldiers, Angus?” Madeleine cut in sharply. “The court winna look kindly upon that indiscretion, ye can be sure.” She winced, recalling what Garrett had said about severed heads and spikes, but she could not bring herself to mention it. “Captain Marshall has given me reason to believe General Hawley wishes to make an example of Black Jack,” she said instead.
“Black Jack indeed,” Angus sputtered under his breath. He pushed away from the wall and began to pace the dirt-packed floor. “Ye seem to have set great store by what Captain Marshall has told ye, Maddie. What if he lies? Perhaps he has concocted this threat about Hawley to trick ye into giving him what he wants, easy and without a fight.” He walked to the table suddenly and leaned over it, looking at her almost accusingly. “I canna believe ye would so readily trust a redcoat, lass.”
Madeleine stared back at him, anger gripping her. “Aye, I trust him, Angus,” she said tersely. “In this instance I trust him completely.” Her words struck a deep chord within her, and she fleetingly remembered her vow to Flora that she would never trust an Englishman. How dangerously far she had come in such a short time!
“And if he lies?” Angus queried harshly, hardly convinced.
“I’ve considered that possibility, and I’ve decided I winna take such a chance with our people’s lives. Enough said on the matter, Angus. I’ve made up my mind.” She stood up, her voice adopting a forceful tone she had heard her father use time and again. “I will ride alone tonight. If I’m wrong, then ‘twill only be my neck that is forfeit. I demand ye swear to me ye winna interfere.”
There was a heavy, brooding silence in the room as the men glanced at one another, then back at her.
“Swear to me ye winna interfere,” she repeated shrilly. “Captain Marshall believes I know nothing of yer whereabouts or even who ye are. And when they catch me, I’ll carry yer names to my grave, I swear it! Ye’re safe, dammit. Safe! Dinna ye hear me? Now swear it!”
Angus was the first to slowly shake his head, followed by his two kinsmen. “‘Tis no disrespect to ye, Maddie, but I canna swear such an oath,” he said quietly. His grim expression mirrored his words. “Ye’ve not considered one important thing.”
“And what might that be?” she snapped, then immediately regretted her shrewish tone. Her kinsmen cared deeply about her, that much was plain.
“Do ye truly think Captain Marshall will believe ye’re Black Jack, especially when he finds ye alone?” he said, painting the scene for her. “To him, ye’re the mistress of Farraline. He’ll think ye’ve only disguised yerself as Black Jack to protect the brigand and yer people. He’ll laugh in yer face, Maddie, and think ye’re playing him for a fool.”
Madeleine stared blankly at Angus, his somber words hitting her with full force. She sank slowly into her chair.
‘Twas possible, she thought dazedly. She had never considered Garrett would not believe she was Black Jack.
Once she was captured, she had planned to supply him with information about her raids, especially when she and her kinsmen looted his camp. But would he believe her? Maybe he would claim she had heard the stories from the brigands themselves. Either that or he would say it was gossip and hearsay, secondhand knowledge she had collected from villagers who knew the identity of the brigand or his men.
Madeleine felt like laughing and crying from the sheer absurdity of it all. She was Black Jack, yet Garrett thought the brigand was a man. He had no reason to believe otherwise.
Garrett could continue his fruitless search until General Hawley came to ravage the valley, and even then they wouldn’t find the man they were seeking. That man didn’t exist! Garrett would never believe she was Black Jack unless—
“Ye must ride with me,” she said, giving voice to her numbing realization. Her eyes held each man’s in turn. “All of ye. ‘Tis the only way.”
“Aye,” Angus affirmed, nodding gravely. “We must ride together.”
“I’ll not say a word against it,” Ewen agreed. “Duncan?”
“Ye may count me in, Maddie,” he blurted excitedly, as if his life were not soon to be in danger. “As soon as we’re finished here, I’ll set out for Beinn Bhuidhe and tell Kenneth and Allan. Ye know they’ll ride with us. ‘Twill give them a chance to settle a few scores when the redcoats come upon us.”
“What do ye mean?” Madeleine asked, startled.
“Ye canna think we would allow them to lead us away by the nose like meek cattle,” Angus said with a short laugh. “‘Tis not the Highlander’s way, and ye know it well, Maddie Fraser. If we surrender easily, Captain Marshall might think ye rounded up some of yer villagers for a midnight masquerade ball, the whole lot of us passing ourselves off as Black Jack and his men.”
“Aye, ‘tis true,” Ewen interjected. “He’d no more believe we were his dangerous brigands than if he’d found ye alone.”
Angus came around the table and put his work-callused hand on Madeleine’s shoulder. “We must fight, Maddie,” he continued. “As we would fight if an entire company of redcoats surprised us during any of our raids. As we would fight if our very lives depended on it. Only then will Captain Marshall believe he has found his Black Jack.”
Madeleine shivered, a cold chill cutting through her body. She knew if such a skirmish took place, there would be casualties on both sides. Maybe herself, maybe Garrett, maybe several of his soldiers. Doubtless one or more of her kinsmen would be wounded or killed before they were overpowered by sheer strength of numbers and taken captive.
She looked up at Angus, meeting his eyes. He was usually the most cautious of all her kinsmen. Now here he was, anxious to fight and die if need be.
