He couldn’t move closer either, so he wasn’t tempted to hit any of the men unless he had to silence the one headed his way in order to protect himself. He wouldn’t use the slingshot for that.
But the man headed his way stopped and muttered, “What—”, then turned back toward the fire and his compatriots. “I heard something.”
Calum sent a few more rocks into the trees.
The man pointed off to his right as he reached the fire. “That way,” he shouted, bent and grabbed his sword. “Who are ye, ye bastards? Show yerselves!”
Calum slung more stones toward the opposite side of the camp and heard another man warn, “We’re being surrounded.” As Calum moved quickly from shadow to shadow away from the commotion he’d caused, he heard the men milling around, pulling weapons out of scabbard’s and heading in different directions, an anthill thoroughly stirred and furiously disturbed.
He kept several trees between him and the guard he’d found earlier. The man was on his feet now, peering through the dark back toward the camp as the noise there carried into the forest, masking Calum’s careful footfalls. Calum didn’t wait to see if he would abandon his post and go to join his fellows.
Back with Euan a few minutes later he didn’t need silence, but he kept his voice low. “Ye hear that? We need to go, now.” He swung up onto his horse and pulled the reins around to head quietly back the way they’d come.
“Did ye cause that uproar?” Euan snorted. “Of course ye did. Dammit, man, I was about to decide I was going to have to come save ye.”
“I wouldha stopped ye before ye got into the midst of the trouble,” Calum assured him. Once they were far enough from the raiders to be certain they hadn’t been pursued, he nodded to Euan. “Let’s ride! We’ve something to report.”
Back at Brodiesoon after sunrise, they turned their mounts over to the stable lads and went straight to Iain.
“There were enough men in that camp to have caused most or all of the trouble the other clans are reporting. I counted a dozen at their fire, plus one confirmed sentry. I would expect at least three more arrayed around the camp, maybe more,” Calum said. He explained how he’d made them think they were surrounded and dispersed them to avoid being found by one of them headed his way. “And I heard Irish voices and boasts about what they’d done. After I disturbed them and they didn’t find anyone, chances are they think those woods are haunted, and they’ve moved on.”
“We took a circuitous route back in case we were noticed and followed,” Euan added. “We werena.”
“Good. Nay sense in leading them here. Kenneth returned late yesterday without encountering any strangers.” Iain paused, then straightened, some decision made. “Euan, get together with him. Ye ken the way. Take enough men with ye to round up that entire band, assuming they’re no’ scattered all over the countryside.” He grimaced, then grinned at Calum. “We’ll gift any who survive to the Marshall with my blessings.”
“Even if they moved from where we found them during the night, a group that large will leave a trail,” Euan said. “We’ll find them again.”
Iain nodded. “First, go speak to yer wife. She’ll have my hide if I send ye out again without a chance to see ye. Dinna take too long.”
Euan grinned. “I’ll be as quick as she’ll let me,” he quipped and left them.
Calum waited for Iain to dismiss him as well, but the laird clearly had something else on his mind.
“Ye proved yer skill and yer worth to Brodie yet again, Calum. Because of that, I dinna want to risk ye in a fight. No’ until ye are certain ye can defend yerself. Ye have earned a rest. Yer role in this willna be overlooked.”
He started to object to being left behind, but kept his complaint behind his teeth. Iain was right. He wasn’t ready to survive in the midst of an all-out fight. He appreciated Iain’s praise and accepted his laird’s resolve to keep him safe until he was able to protect himself and the men around him, rather than to be a burden. “Thank ye, laird.”
Iain nodded. Calum took that as dismissal and headed out into the great hall. Several of the men who’d just come off night duty on the wall walk had taken seats near the hearth. He joined them. Finally, warm and dry and with an ale in him, he answeredtheir questions about his and Euan’s scouting mission until he noticed the sky visible through a high window beginning to brighten.
“The rest of the clan will be here soon to break their fasts,” he said, indicating the window where he’d noticed the early morning glow. “I’m going to turn in.” Iain’s praise and these men’s easy acceptance of his presence had warmed him, but he expected he’d have much more to do later today. He must get some rest.
“Aye, ye’ll never get away if ye dinna go now,” one of the men told him. “We’ll be right behind ye.”
Calum heardsomeone coming up the stairs after he reached the upper hallway. Not one of the men. The steps were too light. A lass, or one of the younger lads. He waited until they reached the top. His awareness of what was around him was heightened while he waited for whomever followed him. The lads he’d been drinking with hadn’t moved when he did, so this was someone else. The closer the steps came the more certain he knew who was coming up. In moments, her scent convinced him.
Ella. As she stepped up into the hallway, Calum reached out and gently grasped her arm. She stifled a shriek of surprise, then relaxed when she saw him.
“Of course ye kenned I was coming,” she said. “Ye sensed me, did ye?”
He released her arm, confident she wouldn’t run away. “I heard ye. Smelled ye, too, on the last few steps. I ken the way ye move. Yer gait. Yer scent.” He let his gaze bore into her, and was gratified to see color rise from her chest to her face. It was a reminder of their walk in the bailey, and of her attemptto disguise herself as Janet. Of course, she would react as if embarrassed.
But rather than quail under his scrutiny, she stared back and let the corner of her lips lift. “I canna get away with anything around ye,” she quipped.
He grinned, his attention on her full lips. Suddenly, the urge to taste them consumed him. He fought it down. “So ye havena learned yer lesson?” He thought his question would fall flat, since clearly they were talking about Janet, not her.
But she took the bait. “If that lesson has to do with ye, probably no’,” she told him, “though I’m honestly no’ sure which lesson ye refer to.”
This was no place for a private conversation. Or anything else. He took her hand, and when she didn’t object, he walked with her down the hall away from the stairs, so their voices wouldn’t carry to the men still seated by the hearth fire. “I’ve spent three cold, dark nights thinking about what ye said before I left,” he told her when they stopped outside his chamber. His pulse picked up. Would her response be very bad, or very good? Would they end up inside his door?
