Page 56 of Highland Steel

Rhoswen couldn’t hear what Bug said, and this bothered her immensely. If she was going to be able to sneak into the Drummonds’ castle to look for her nephew, she needed to have a plan and this could be the way to do it.

“Thank ye,” said Logan, walking away as a crowd of kids started running toward the wagon. “Oh, I almost forgot,” said Logan, turning back. “Do ye ken if Ranulph Drummond has a baby boy named Lockie?”

“A baby boy did ye say?” asked Bug, holding a hand to his ear. “Aye, I believe he does,” said Bug. “He kept the baby that wasna even his after he killed off that Sassenach wife he had. Everyone kens that.”

“How would I determine this baby from others?”

“Well, let me think,” said Bug scratching his head. “The boy is probably about six months old by, now I’d guess. Oh! He has a small, dark birthmark on his right cheek that is shaped just like a heart. It’s the oddest thing. Ranulph complained about it to me because he hates it.”

“Thank ye,” said Logan with a nod, walking back to his hut as the children all surrounded the man. Rhoswen nonchalantly strolled out there, pretending she was inspecting his wares in the back of his wagon while the clan traded and bought things from the man. It was a wagon with tall wooden sides, kind of like the ones that gypsies used. It had a roof on it, and also a wooden door that opened up on the back, probably so people couldn’t steal the man’s goods.

“Hmm,” she said in thought. Didn’t she hear that the merchant was going to the Drummond Clan next? She had an idea. Bug closed the door to the wagon to leave once they were finished, but Storm called him over. The man left to talk to Storm, giving Rhoswen the break she needed.

Looking around, she made sure no one was watching and then she quickly ran over and slipped inside the back of the wagon. Her heart raced wildly in her chest. She reached out to close the door, stopping when she saw a little girl standing there, clutching her doll. She recognized her as Ethan’s young daughter, Isobel.

“What are ye doin’ in there?” asked the girl in a sweet, soft voice. Her innocent, wide eyes looked up at Rhoswen.

“Shhh,” said Rhoswen, putting her finger to her lips. “Isobel, you can’t tell anyone I’m here.”

“Are ye playin’ hide and seek?” asked the girl.

“Somethin’ like that,” she said. “Now, go on back and play with your friends,” she told her, seeing Bug headed in her direction.

“All right,” said Isobel, skipping away to join the children.

Hurriedly, Rhoswen closed the back door of the wagon, feeling like she’d finally found a way to sneak into the Drummonds’ castle. She’d slip out the back once the wagon stopped, and hide until she was able to find her nephew. Now that she’d heard what the baby looked like, he shouldn’t be hard to find. If she was fast, she might be able to find the boy and sneak back into the wagon with him, and leave the Drummonds’ castle without anyone knowing.

She smiled to herself. This was going to be easier than she’d thought.

“Guidbye, Bug,” she heard Logan call out to the man. “Thanks again . . . for everythin’.”

“Guidbye,” the man called back. “I’m off now to trade and sell my wares to the Drummonds.”

She was waiting to hear him climb up onto the bench to drive the cart but, instead, she heard something else that almost made her heart stop.

“Och, I almost forgot to put my padlock on the back,” said Bug. “I’ve had bandits on the road steal from me so many times that now I lock the door between my stops.”

“Guid idea,” Logan called out. “Ye can never be too careful.”

She heard the sound of a metal lock being put into place on the back door. Then she heard a clinking noise as Bug used the key in the lock, making her a prisoner inside his wagon.

“Nay,” she said to herself as the wagon rolled away. She tried to open the back door, but it wouldn’t budge. Then she put her shoulder against it and pushed but it would not open. “Let me out,” she cried. But by now, the horse was moving pretty fast and the noise of the wagon wheels crashing over rocky terrain muffled her cries for help. “Stop the wagon, please,” she called, banging on the side, but still the man didn’t hear her.

Then Bug started to sing, and it was off tune and very loud. Since the man was half-deaf he probably couldn’t hear himself well. He certainly would never hear her. Rhoswen sank down among the furs and blankets that the man had for trade, her back against the side of the wagon. She was so close, but yet so far.

Closing her eyes, she decided there was nothing else she could do but wait. There was no way she was going to be able to leave this wagon until someone unlocked and opened the door.

Chapter 18

Logan hunkered down at the edge of the water, rinsing off the women’s ring he’d gotten from Bug. It looked to be a plain silver band, but there had been so much mud caked into it that, until now, he hadn’t seen the small engraved hearts or the tiny pink stone in the middle. There had been a little blood on it, like Bug said, and he hoped that whoever the woman was who’d owned it hadn’t been murdered.

Something about the ring called out to him and he only took it because he wanted to give it to Rhoswen, if he returned from the Drummonds alive.

“There ye are, Logan, we’ve been lookin’ for ye,” said Hawke, walking down to the shore with Caleb and Ethan. They all wore traveling clothes and had an array of weapons strapped to their belts. Trapper and Jack waited up on the hill and Apollo screeched, making circles in the sky above them.

“What have ye got there?” asked Ethan, looking over Logan’s shoulder.

“It’s a lady’s ring I got from Bug.” Logan stood up and handed it to Ethan who held it up to inspect it.