Sorcha’s brow furrowed briefly as she immediately went to Blair’s side. “Aye, lass. Some women do slip a bairn. MacDonald stock are strong, though. Strong enough to get ye with a babe! But if ye need a bit o’time, I understand. ‘Tis quite a surprise when ‘tis unexpected. But promise me one thing if I do keep this quiet for a time. A short time,” Sorcha emphasized.
Blair nodded. “Aye. What promise?”
Sorcha stood and strode to the door where she had placed the platter she’d been carrying. Blair hadn’t seen it, bent over the chamber pot as she was.
“Ye missed the evening meal, and I dinna think ye broke your fast this morn. ‘Twill be a mite difficult at first as your belly won’t like to keep food in the morning, but promise me ye will eat as much as ye can. Ye and the babe need sustenance.”
Blair couldn’t argue that. She had only nibbled at the dried fruit and not kept it down. She took the platter from Sorcha’s hands and set it on the bed. She did feel better having sicked up her belly. Perchance in a while, she’d be ready to eat.
“Aye, Sorcha. That I can vow to ye. I shall eat what I can when I can. And verra soon, I shall tell Reade about the babe.”
Though she made the vow to Sorcha’s grinning face, her insides were in a tumult, and not from the babe. After everything they’d been through, vowing to be honest, here she was keeping another secret from him. For good cause, she told herself, however, what if Reade was not ready for a bairn?
What ifshewas not?
Reade and his brothersrode out with a half-dozen other warriors, headed south for the Campbell land border. The rain had nearly stopped, naught more than a fine Highland mist. The roads were still muddy, but they did no’ have to ride far. The MacDonald lands south of Loch Leven were but a narrow strip, the southern tip of the vast MacDonald holdings, and buttressed against the Campbell lands. ‘Twas why the Campbells traversed the land as if they owned it. Their audacity at threatening the MacDonalds about signing the oath knew no bounds, least of all that of an invisible line through the woods.
Moreover, they rode south because of the attack on Blair by Paden. Whether the Gordon man was acting alone or not, the assault on Blair lit a fire under Reade, Seamus and their clansmen. A strike at the wife of the laird’s son was a strike too close to home. If a rogue Gordon and his brigands could make their way far into the MacDonalds holdings and remain hidden, then what was to stop this man from bringing Campbells with him next time? Seamus presumed Paden and his men must be hiding along the Campbell borderlands to escape capture by the MacDonalds. The MacDonalds had searched everywhere else.
The MacDonalds’ frustrations had reached a breaking point, and though he hadn’t wanted to trespass on Campbell lands, Seamus had decided they wait no longer. MacDonald warriors set out for the Campbell borders, and into Campbell lands as needed, to search out Paden.
And if they found the Campbell reivers who had attacked Ian’s clanswoman, the more the better.
Reade would not be surprised if Paden and the reivers were one in the same.
This day,Reade thought as his thighs clenched the horse galloping across the wooded glen,this day the Campbells would know their bounds.
Just over the border in Campbell lands, a village burgh of Salachail comprised of several crofts and black houses, came into view, and Reade slowed his steed. Reade’s men followed suit, picking their way over the trail until they reached a cluster of villagers working in the field. The MacDonalds withdrew their swords as Reade raised his left hand to the group. His right hand rested lightly on his thigh. Mostly men, clad in trews and tattered Campbell plaid, dug at the land while a few women in colorless head kerchiefs planted along the far perimeter. They raised their heads, pale and wide-eyed with fear. Yet they gripped their farming implements to use them as weapons as needed.
As much as Reade despised the Campbells, he had to admire that they would defend themselves with naught but a hoe. Then again, the MacDonalds would do no less.
“What’re ye doin’ on our lands, MacDonald?” one of the men, an older, thick-set man, asked. His sharp tone left no doubt that he wasn’t pleased with their appearance.
“My wife was accosted yesterday, on MacDonald lands, by one Paden Gordon. ‘Tis him we seek.”
The men grumbled and exchanged looks. They may not care for the MacDonalds, but at their core, Campbells were pretentious, and they despised even the smaller clans aligned with William of Orange. Reade bit back a grin. Using the Campbells snobbery against them was a sound tactic. Finding Paden might be easier than he hoped.
“Any Gordons on our lands keep to the inn,” the older man responded. A taller man standing next to him spat on the ground.
“Drinking at the inn, ye mean,” he grunted.
Reade nodded his thanks and reined his horse back onto the main road that led toward the inn farther down.
On snowy or rainy days and nights, the inn might be cramped with soaked, road-weary travelers or highwaymen who wouldn’t find prey on the muddy roads. Better to spend that time with company and drink in front of a warm fire than in the cold rain.
On a day like today, however, when the rain was more a mist and ‘twas late morn, inns were not busy. The sleepy Ram’s Horn Inn was just that. Reade and Maddock dismounted while the other men waited on their horses outside. They entered through the door to a dark interior – dark wood, ashy-coated stone – and the only light came from a meager fire and what light managed to penetrate the filthy windows. Other than a lone dirty man much too large to be Paden, who sat at the barkeep’s counter as a barmaid wiped the tables with a damp rag, the inn was empty.
“Good day to ye,” Reade greeted the barmaid. “I’ve been told that I might find Paden Gordon and his kin at your fine establishment.”
The barmaid looked him up and down approvingly before she snorted and returned to her cleaning task.
“I dinna ken any Paden. Gordons have been through this inn many a night. But none are here at the now.”
“None at the now?” Reade repeated.
She shook her head. “Nay, no’ the now.”
“Do ye ken where they might be at the now?”
