Chapter 24
The four of them sat in silence; Lilidh in the bed, Margaret by her side, and the laird and steward in their seats. She wondered how long Blaine would stay with her, and just at that moment the door to the room crashed open. A soldier appeared.
“Blaine,” he said, before shaking his head. “I mean, Laird McCaskill.”
“What is it, David,” Blaine asked, standing quickly.
The man seemed about to speak, but then he gave Lilidh a look and hesitated.
“Tell me,” the laird ordered. “She knows everything.”
“It’s MacBrennan.”
Lilidh’s heart lurched at the naming of her husband. “What about him?” she asked urgently.
“He’s been taken.”
At the man’s words, Lilidh felt a tremor of fear. “Taken?” she repeated. “What do ye mean, taken?”
“I was watching the house… yer house, I should say. I was watching yer house like I was supposed to, and I saw MacBrennan rush in with the owner of the West Gate.”
“Rabby Gordon,” Blaine said.
“Aye, well, Rabby left no” long after, but Mathe stayed behind. I was just about to come up here and give this morning’s report - which was to tell ye about Mrs MacBrennan here packing her things earlier that morning and leaving in a hurry - when a group of men went into the house.”
Lilidh frowned at David’s words. “Ye were having my house watched?”
Blaine gave her an apologetic nod. “Only watched, naught more. I needed to hedge my bets, in case Mathe couldnae be trusted. I had yer house and the front of the West Gate kept under watch, and only from the outside. Sounds like we should have had the rear stable doors watched, too.” He turned back to his soldier. “What did these men look like?”
“They all wore masks, so I didnae get to see their faces. But they went in, and a few minutes later they all left again, and one of them had a bag over his shoulder that was mighty large. Almost the size of a person, in fact, if they were bound tightly.”
Blaine’s eyes widened. “David, was he alive?”
“Oh, aye. I couldnae tell at first, and I almost had half a mind to let them go, so I could check the house first, but as they left, the bag started to struggle. Maybe MacBrennan woke up or freed himself, but he started to fight back. I heard him shout something that might have been a name, but it was muffled and I couldnae catch it. Then someone hit him with a wooden bat and put him right back to sleep.”
“Nay,” Lilidh whispered. What if the blow had killed him?
“I followed them as far as the entrance to the auld quarter,” David continued, “but they were mighty nervous and I couldnae get any closer. There were a lot of people on the street down there. More than I remember seeing ever before, and they didnae look too pleased to see me. I figured ye needed to hear about this, rather than go in there on my own.”
“Ye did good, David,” Blaine said. “I have a feeling it wouldnae have gone well for ye, if ye went in alone. It seems something is coming to a head, and quickly at that.”
“What does it all mean?” the soldier asked.
“It means ye need to get in there and rescue him!” Lilidh demanded.
Blaine and Fergus exchanged a look. The old man frowned, not looking happy at all. “If we go in there now,” he said, “it’ll kick up a hornet’s nest and push them all back into hiding. We dinnae know where they took him, do we? We dinnae have the manpower to search every house.”
“Ye cannae just leave him,” Lilidh said, almost unable to believe what she was hearing. She turned to Blaine. “Mathe was in this mess to help ye. He wouldnae have been taken at all, if he wasnae putting his nose into affairs that didnae concern him.”
Blaine looked at her in silence. He was torn, she could see. But he was also the laird, and when had a laird of the McCaskills ever done anything other than what he wanted? The old laird had taken her husband and twisted him into the man he became, and she knew he wouldn’t have felt one measure of regret or sympathy. MacBrennan was a tool, nothing more, and it seemed that Blaine would view Mathe the same way.
“Ye”re right,” the laird said.
“Blaine,” Fergus started, but the other man lifted his hand.
“Mrs MacBrennan has the truth of it. We approached Mathe, no” the other way around, and gave him incentive to do what he did. We need to accept at least some responsibility, and I’ll be damned if a man who was working on my behalf will be left behind.”
Fergus blew out his breath, “Fine, lad. I know that tone, and I know better than to argue. So what’s the plan?”
“Put the soldiers in plain clothes. Groups of two, always with one group in sight of another. Flood the auld quarter and pray that Mathe can get their attention somehow. Put the whole damn barracks down there if ye have to.”
“But he’s being held prisoner,” Lilidh said. “How will he get anyone’s attention?”
“Lilidh, I’m sorry, but Fergus was right; we just dinnae have the numbers to search every house, and certainly no” without letting everyone know exactly what we’re up to. If we use all of our men, though, we have enough people to cover every street and intersection, and to remain vigilant. This is the best I can do, and I wish it was more.”
Lilidh looked down and frowned. “Ye said he called out something, when he was being taken away?”
“Aye,” David said. “I’m pretty sure it was a name, but that willnae help us now, will it?”
“Unless there was somebody close enough to hear it,” Lilidh said, thinking fast. “The auld man next door sits outside on his porch all day. He never moves, so it’s easy to miss him. He might have heard something.”
David nodded slowly. “I remember seeing him a few days ago, and ye’re right; I started to forget that he was even there.”
“It’s our best lead,” Blaine said. “Fergus, why dinnae ye hurry down there and speak to the neighbour. If he heard anything, learn what it was. David, get back to the barracks and have everyone change into plain clothes with concealed weapons. We can try and narrow down his location from the auld man, but in the meantime let’s get every available body on the ground.”
The soldier nodded and dashed off again, and Blaine and Fergus quickly followed. Lilidh shivered, and Margaret put her arms around her.
“It will be alright,” she said softly.
Lilidh nodded, even though she felt very far from alright. In fact, she felt utterly drained. Her day had been such a wild combination of highs and lows that she felt exhausted down to her very bones. “Can I see my son?” she asked in a small voice.