“Twenty-five, thirty. Most are bedded down near the fire, but a few are standing guard around the camp.”
Madeleine sucked in her breath. A small troop of English soldiers right in their path. Damn! If there weren’t so many of them, she might consider a skirmish. But thirty soldiers to her band of six did not make for good odds. Now they would have to cut farther east into the mountains, causing a full day’s delay because they wouldn’t make it to Aberchalder Burn before sunrise. A pox and the devil take them all!
“It looks as if we’ll have to double back—” she began resignedly, only to be cut off by Kenneth’s excited voice.
“Before we do that, Maddie, I think ye should know they have at least ten supply wagons loaded to the top with every manner of stuff. Sacks of grain, crates of chickens and pigs. Why, if we could only make off with two of those wagons we’d do well!”
“Did ye say ten, Kenneth?” she asked, her thoughts taking a decidedly different turn.
“Aye. What do ye think?”
By now Angus and Duncan had joined their little group, quickly learning the details. Madeleine carefully weighed the situation. Why would so few soldiers require such a quantity of supplies? she wondered. They were camped a good distance from Wade’s Road on terrain that was easily traversed by wagons, yet they couldn’t be a regular supply train. Supply trains never strayed from the road for fear of marauders like herself.
Perhaps they were raw recruits from Fort Augustus or Ruthven Barracks, sent out on some sort of training exercise to better acquaint themselves with the Highlands, she thought dryly. Spending a week or so away from an established military post could warrant the need for a good stock of supplies.
Well, whatever the reason, ten supply wagons was a strong temptation. Yet a raid on the camp was a highly dangerous proposition. She and her men were outnumbered by perhaps five to one.
Glenis’s words of caution ripped through Madeleine’s mind, along with her own promise not to take any heedless chances. In this instance it was best to seek the counsel of all involved, she decided.
“We have a choice to make,” Madeleine said evenly, looking from one somber face to the next. “We can either make our way to Aberchalder Burn by another route, or we can take these cursed redcoats by surprise and add a few well-loaded supply wagons to our bounty. What do ye say?”
“I’m for raiding the bastards!” Allan spoke up first, with Kenneth not long behind him.
“Aye, and me, too!”
Madeleine had expected as much from the hotheaded Fraser brothers. They were always spoiling for a fight.
“What say ye, Angus?” she asked. Of all her kinsmen, she trusted Angus Ramsay’s opinion the most. He was steady and cautious, and his thoughtful wisdom reminded her of her father.
“Given the number of soldiers, ‘tis perilous at best, Maddie. But we’ve seen worse scraps before. I think if ‘tis well planned, we have a good chance of capturing three wagons, but no more. With the cattle, ‘twould be the most we could manage.”
Madeleine nodded. “So ye’d support a raid then, Angus?”
“Aye.”
“How about ye, Ewen?”
“If Angus believes ‘tis possible, then I’m with ye.”
“Duncan?”
“Aye, Maddie.”
“Then it’s decided,” she said, smiling faintly. “After this raid we’ll have so much food we’ll have earned a week’s rest.” She leaned forward in her saddle, tense excitement bubbling within her. She loved a good challenge. “Now, Kenneth, if ye’ll tell us the layout of the camp, we’ll plan our next move.”
***
Madeleine lay flat on her stomach with her elbows drawn up beneath her chest, scarcely breathing. She gazed intently at the English camp just ten yards away and down a slight decline, irritation gripping her.
Eyeing the blond officer seated by the fire with his broad back to her, she thought, if that bastard doesn’t settle in soon, we’ll have to abandon the raid.
A precious hour had passed since she and her kinsmen had tethered the cattle and crept up on the camp. They could have completed their business and been well on their way to Aberchalder Burn by now if not for that captain. He was the only man left awake in the camp, other than the three guards standing watch.
“Patience, lass,” Angus whispered as if he sensed her thoughts.
Madeleine glanced over her shoulder at him, somewhat chagrined. He and Ewen Burke flanked her, their faces and hair also blackened with peat ash, caps pulled down well over their heads, and dark brown kerchiefs covering the lower halves of their faces.
They were waiting for her signal, as were Duncan and the Fraser brothers, who were hiding near the three guards positioned at cross angles about the camp. That signal could not come until that English officer settled in for the night.
