Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
W hen the battle finally waned, Keane, Alisdair and Owen gathered together. Looking at the carnage around them, it took Keane a minute to take it all in. Blood pooled across the cobblestones, more red than black.
Most of the dead were Gunn’s men, as often happened on the attacker’s side. Keane had deduced that only seconds after leaving the castle and seeing the clan colors. Back then, he had been given no time to think why they were being attacked. Laird Munro had given his word that he and Gunn would now leave the Mackay clan in peace.
Of course, the attack earlier that day had warned him that the man had not kept his word. In the council meeting afterward, they had discussed that. Those men had been in hiding, biding their time until their laird launched an attack on the castle. It had only been bad luck that he, Alisdair and Owen had come upon them, forcing them out of their hiding place.
“I dinnae think any meeting with the lairds will dae us any good now,” Alisdair said, referencing the idea that the councilmen had come up with earlier.
“Aye. Ye could say that,” Keane said, still breathing heavily from the hours spent defending his home. “It just doesnae mak’ any sense. What was the point o’ the attack?”
Owen shrugged. “Maybe he wanted tae teach ye a lesson fer stealing his bride.”
“Maybe,” Keane nodded. “And what did it accomplish? A whole lot o’ dead men and nay resolution.”
“He killed yer faither tae tak’ the lands, Keane. We ken that,” Alisdair added.
“Well, if his intention was tae kill me, he failed miserably. He didnae send enough men to actually make an impact.” Keane looked about him, noticing the wounded and injured men, both Gunn’s and his own. “What a waste.”
Already, the exhausted but uninjured were helping the injured. Slowly picking them up from the floor, men threw arms over shoulders, assisting them to their feet.
“We need more help out here,” Keane said. “Let’s go and get the others now that it’s safe.”
They found a great many gathered downstairs in the kitchens. Many of them huddled together, the women trying their best to comfort the children who looked terrified.
“Me laird,” one of the servants cried when Keane walked into the middle of the crowd.
A hushed silence fell over them all, and people began standing and looking at him and those with him.
“It is over?” someone else called out.
“It is,” Keane said. “We now need yer help outside. There are many injured men. Set up in the great hall and begin tending tae them.”
Relief washed through those gathered, and mothers kissed children in their arms. Cries of thanks rippled through the room. Slowly but surely, they began to move towards the door he had just walked through.
Iseabail pushed through the crowd towards them, her brow furrowed.
“Did ye see Elsie on yer way down?”
Anna hurried to her side, looking as desperate as Iseabail. “She went tae find Edward, but he was already down here. She didnae return.”
Keane spun around, looking for her in the crowd.
“She isnae here, Keane,” Iseabail said firmly. We’ve looked.”
“God!” he cried, spinning on his heels and pushing past those in front of him.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he pounded up them until he reached the great hall. It was completely empty. Owen, Alisdair, Anna and Iseabail had been close on his heels, and burst through the doorway behind him.
Keane spun to look at them. “Find her!” he demanded.
All of them ran towards the back of the great hall, and at the double doors, they split up. Anna went with Iseabail, Owen with Alisdair, and Keane on his own. He headed for the wide staircase. Perhaps it was because he had given her the instruction earlier to hide in the bedchamber that he made his way directly there. But as he ran, his heart pounding in his chest, all he could think about was why she would not have joined the others.
Scenarios ran through his head as he went. Perhaps she had found herself trapped. Perhaps she had gone back to collect something. Perhaps she thought she had heard someone else still hiding.
Crashing through the bedchamber door, he bellowed her name.
“Elsie! Elsie, where are ye? It’s me, little one. If ye are hiding, it’s safe now.”
There were not many places to look. After opening the wardrobe, and checking under the bed, he hurried to the adjoining door. Bursting through that one with as much gusto, he continued calling her name, but to no avail.
Hurrying back out into the corridor, he then busted into every single bedchamber on both sides of the corridor. The further he went, the more desperate his yelling became. He couldn’t think the worst. He just couldn’t. She was still here. She had to be.
But half an hour later, when he met the others in the corridor, his greatest fear nearly swallowed him whole.
“She’s gone,” he cried, raking a hand through his hair. “This attack wasnae fer me. It was fer her! Gunn has taken her.”
“The attack was a distraction,” Alisdair said solemnly.
“Och, God. We have tae go after her,” Iseabail blurted. “We have tae go now.”
Keane could feel his heart breaking, and once more, tears sprung to his eyes. Last night was the first time he had cried since his father’s death, but giving Elsie up for what she wanted had nearly killed him. It had still been the right thing to do. It was just the most difficult thing he had ever done.
“We’ll find her, Keane,” Iseabail said, gently resting a hand on his arm.
Taking a huge breath in, Keane tried to swallow his pain. “Gather the men,” he barked, looking directly at Alisdair. “Whoever we have that isnae injured. I need as many as we’ve got.”
“I’m coming with ye,” Isebail demanded.
“Nay!” Owen and Keane barked together.
Seeing Iseabail jump at their reaction, Keane softened his tone. “I need ye here, sister. Ye ken I love ye with all me heart. I cannae lose ye too. But I also need someone here tae look after these people.”
Iseabail gazed up at him and then slowly nodded. “All right,” she said calmly. “I will stay. But ye must tak’ Owen with ye.”
Owen stepped forward. “He isnae leaving without me. Dinnae worry, me love. We will return.”
An hour later, Keane, Alisdair, and a large group of soldiers left the castle. Though Keane wanted to push the horses as hard and as fast as they could go, Alisdair was the voice of reason when night fell.
“We will get there at a slower pace if the horses need more rest, me friend. I ken ye’re worried, but ye’re nae on yer own.” Owen nodded in agreement. “But both the horses and the men need tae rest if ye want them fit for battle when we get tae Laird Gunn’s castle,” Alisdair advised.
Of course, Keane knew his companion was right, although it did nothing to alleviate his worry or the constant thoughts that whirled around his head. His main concern was Elsie’s welfare, but as Owen had remarked earlier, “The laird wants her alive and well, Keane. This alliance is too important tae Gunn and Munro. Munro isnae going tae allow any harm tae come tae his daughter.”
Keane wished he could believe that. He had met the man and knew the depth of his callousness. Besides, Elsie’s parting words to her father had hardly been endearing. Still, he had to believe that Laird Munro would not take it so far as to harm Elsie. Woe betide him if he did, for Keane would tear him to shreds.
The following day and a half were the longest of his life. Such was his anger that when they came over the glen and saw the castle in the distance, Keane was raring to go.
“We need a plan,” Alisdair warned. “We cannae just go charging in there. Fer a certainty, we have many men with us, but still, we’ll be outnumbered.”
“There isnae a way we willnae be outnumbered, Alisdair,” Keane returned. “All we have is the element o’ surprise, and I plan tae use it. If he’s waiting fer an attack, as he’s bound to be, given he’s taken me wife, he’ll expect some elaborate plan. Me plan? We’re going right through the front gate.”
Alisdair and Owen shared a glance before looking back at him.
“Or,” Owen said diplomatically, “we could send the men through the front gate, and we could find another way. Play him at his own game, fer that is exactly what he did tae us.”
Alisdair was nodding, and thus, Keane found himself listening to Owen plan out how and where they were going to enter.
“All castle walls have a weak point. When the sun goes down this night, we will sneak down and discover it. Just us three.”
Keane was impatient to storm the castle immediately, but even he knew that would be a foolish idea. Owen was right. They had to do this with a logical mind. Besides, while Laird Munro might not hurt his daughter, he knew how cold Laird Gunn was. Killing Elise would put an end to the alliance, something he needed. But Gunn’s hatred of the Mackay Clan was so intense, he might just let his rage take over his rational thought.
The men made camp, and, as Owen had suggested, they travelled down under the cover of darkness. It took no less than half an hour to find an unmanned part of the wall. Well, perhaps not unmanned, but certainly less manned. It was their only option. Once back at the camp, Keane gathered the men and laid out the plan for their attack at first light.
“At first light, I need three groups o’ two. The first group will head tae the village and start a fire. Be certain tae mak’ sure it is somewhere away from the people. Perhaps a building on the edge o’ the village. If there are people in it, get them out. The next group will find an abandoned house and dae the same. The third group will go tae the nearest farm and set the barn on fire.”
The men listened intently, all nodding at their laird’s words.
“We are clearly outnumbered. We need tae even the odds as quickly as possible. The rest o’ us will wait until soldiers are sent out tae deal with the fires. The laird willnae have a choice but tae look after his own. Alisdair, Owen and I will breach the castle over the wall at the far side o’ the castle, while ye men attack from the front. But I dinnae want ye tae enter.”
“Me laird?” one of the men frowned.
“There arenae enough o’ ye. We just need ye tae keep them occupied. Fire arrows over the wall, but dinnae enter the boundary, dae ye understand?”
All the men nodded in agreement.
The following morning, Keane and his men watched as, not one, not two, but three sets of soldiers left Gunn’s castle. All heading in different directions. The directions of the fires his men had started.
“Now they have fewer men tae fight, we might just have a chance,” he declared to all those around him. “Still, watch each other’s backs and be careful.”