It seemed appropriate that he should smile.
The first time Rose heard the raucous voices raised in cheer had been shortly after the carriage left the market square north of the abbey. The coach had not stopped but continued to careen over cobbled streets as if the devil himself were on their tails. But now the black coach came to a grating standstill in the middle of an ill-maintained road five miles outside Jedburgh. In the silence that followed their unexpected halt, Rose heard the faint crack of musket fire.
She moved aside the heavy curtain and peered outside, unable to see any part of the outskirts of the town through the dull gray mists. McBain climbed down from the coachmen’s roost to join Colum, who had dismountedand walked off the road away from the clank and creak of the coach as it settled. The ten outriders, the coachmen, Rose, and Anaya all bent their attention apprehensively toward the sounds floating faintly across the valley on the awakening breeze.
Without waiting for the step to be lowered, she swept aside her heavy skirt and exited the coach to go and stand beside McBain.
“Were thoseshotsfired?” Rose asked, hoping he would tell her this was a positive sign that everything had gone to plan and not the bloodcurdling sounds that preceded battle and the spilling of blood.
Anaya was leaning her head out the window. “Aye, mum,” she said.
McBain exchanged a telling glance with Colum that she did not understand. “Does this mean the trade is completed?” Rose asked.
The fact that no one could answer her only added fuel to an already heated temper. Then Colum pointed his finger. Rose followed his gaze. She felt the low reverberations beneath her feet just as she watched riders materialize from the mists. They were miles away and would pass them at a distance. But the sight was impressive as the mass continued to grow into hundreds strung out along the rustic river valley, high spirits all. She would not have wanted to be in their path.
“Duncan must have arrived with the men just after we left,” Colum said.
“Aye, he’ll fancy himself the hero this day to be sure,” McBain replied.
Rose cared little who was the hero this day as the thunder of their passing faded, leaving only a handful of slower riders, their horses following at an unhurried lope as if they knew the others would have to eventually slow.Halfway across the valley they stopped and seemed to look in Rose’s direction. One rider broke away and turned his horse toward her. She did not have to recognize Loki’s deep red coat to recognize his rider.
She started to follow Colum and McBain down the rocky incline to meet him, but he was not looking at her as he reined in the horse in front of the two men. Dust darkened his handsome countenance.
“Is the boy well?” McBain asked cautiously.
“Aye, he will do fine for now. He has gone on ahead with Duncan.”
“You would let Duncan arrive at Stonehaven in your stead?” McBain asked. Again, Rose was reminded of the earlier look he had exchanged with Colum.
Ruark laughed. Leaning forward with one forearm on his thigh, he said, “ ’Tis a day’s ride to Stonehaven. I have no doubt I will catch up to him in a few hours.”
Then his head lifted and his eyes found her. She was standing some distance away. But not so far that she couldn’t hear every word he spoke or feel his gaze touch her. “Would you care to join me, Lady Roxburghe?”
Indeed, she had more than earned her place to ride to Stonehaven at his side.
Chapter 17
By the time the first stop was made at an inn to eat and rest the horses, most of the riders had broken away and pressed onward in different directions. Later the boisterous group passed the outskirts of Hawick and stopped for supper before the last stretch to Stonehaven. The men, bristling with all manner of arms, took over the common room, running off anyone who did not belong to their crowd, and compelling the poor innkeeper and his wife to feed the unruly throng.
The two rescued Kerr cousins, Rufus and Gavin, found it amusing to have Rose look over their wounds. Since McBain remained in the slow-moving coach, he was not expected back at Stonehaven until tomorrow. So it was left to her to see to the injuries the three incurred while in the warden’s care. She should not have bothered with concern or kindness, or worried that the injuries already showed signs of corruption, because the two considered them badges of honor to be bragged upon and displayed. Perhaps if they were not so drunk they would have taken her more seriously or felt more pain. She wondered what they would think when a foot or an arm rotted and dropped off.
Ruark said nothing over his ale as the men backslappedone another and guffawed as if the three-month ordeal had been naught more than a test of their precious Scottish manhood. The young Jamie was now newly initiated among their ranks. Though far less boisterous.
“McBain should be here tending you,” Rose had said with some asperity, frustrated with their nonsensicality.
“But this McBain, he is not here, lass,” said the younger of the unruly louts as he attempted to pull her onto his lap, perhaps not fully grasping that she was his laird’s bride.
Though Rose understood a person’s need to release pent-up emotions like a heated tea kettle spouting steam, they also needed baths, haircuts, and someone to shake them.
One glance at Ruark told her she needed to contain the situation quickly. He seemed to be allowing her to handle it for now, but the last thing she wanted was for Ruark to rescue her from his own family. She snatched her hand from the grip holding hers.
“I’d be careful if I were yournself,” Angus said casually from a wooden bench across the planked table from the two cousins. He held a drumstick the size of his fist and ripped at the greasy flesh with his teeth.
Chewing evenly, he grinned at the pair, who beneath all that black hair were probably only a year or two older than she. “The lass ’bout skewered Hereford through the gullet with a claymore.” The words were spoken casually with many an “aye” echoing from the crowded tables around them.
Rose felt her throat tighten, realizing the public comment was as much a declaration of their allegiance toheras it was to protect the lads from their own stupidity and arrogance. Not because she would harm them, but because Ruark would. Of that, she had no doubt.
Duncan leaned forward on his elbow, the bench creakingbeneath his weight. “Did ye now, lass?” he asked, interested. “Was that before or after ye married our laird?”
