Chapter 31
Cait wasted no time in getting to Sutherland’s home.
She rode harder than she’d ever ridden before, fighting the panic and the tears, furious at both Iain and Palmer for being dim-witted fools. Palmer had to know that Iain would not kill an English soldier.
Since standing above Donaldson’s dead body, she felt like she’d swallowed a pound of pistol balls, and they were ready to explode inside of her. None of this was going to end well, but she was damned if she was going to let Iain take the blame for something she had done.
She arrived at Sutherland’s barely able to stand up, with tears clearing a path through the dirt on her face, the hem of her gown filthy. Sutherland met her at the door, no doubt warned that a crazed woman was riding through his land.
“What happened?” He grabbed her upper arm when she swayed. He motioned for a lad to take the reins, and she gladly handed her horse off to him. The poor beast had never been ridden in such a way.
“Iain,” she gasped between breaths.
Sutherland drew back. “Campbell did this to ye?”
In her panic and fright, she’d nearly forgotten about her bruised face. “Nay,” she said.
“Oh my goodness.” Eleanor came out and hurried down the steps, taking Cait’s other arm. “You’ll be in need of a bracing cup of tea and a soft chair, no doubt.”
Cait could only nod as she gulped in mouthfuls of air.
Among some curious stares, the Sutherlands led her into the house and straight to Brice’s solar, where she was grateful for the peace and quiet.
In her crisp no-nonsense English accent, Eleanor ordered a servant to bring some tea.
Chattering away about nothing consequential, she led Cait to the most comfortable chair and gently pushed her into it.
Cait was grateful for Eleanor clucking over her like a mother hen.
Finally, Eleanor stood back, leaving Cait holding a cup of tea laced with whiskey. She took a sip because her throat was parched, but her hands were shaking so hard that she nearly spilled it. Eleanor rushed forward and took it from her.
Sutherland crossed his arms and glared down at her. “Now tell me what happened.”
“Iain was taken by the English.” Just saying the words made her want to be sick.
“Why?”
So suddenly that it made her dizzy, Cait’s anger surged through her. “Because he’s a hardheaded ijit who thinks he knows better than anyone else and won’t even stand still long enough to listen to anything.”
Sutherland’s lips twitched and Eleanor covered her mouth with a dainty hand. “I mean why did the English take him?” Sutherland clarified.
“Because they think he killed an English soldier.”
Sutherland stilled. This was a very serious offense, and they all understood the ramifications. “They think he killed an English soldier?”
“They think so because he told them he did it.”
Sutherland sighed and took a seat behind his desk. “Mayhap ye should start from the beginning.”
“He told them he killed Donaldson, but really I killed Donaldson.”
Sutherland rubbed his head and Eleanor gasped.
“Start from the beginning, Cait.”
She told them about meeting Donaldson on her way to Alice’s house, about Donaldson arriving at her door, about running through the house to lure him into the woods so he wouldn’t find the refugees, and about the attack. She described how she’d bludgeoned Donaldson on the head twice and killed him.
Here she faltered as the panic that she’d held at bay came back. “I’ve never killed anyone before,” she whispered. “I’m meant to heal.”
“Sometimes it can’t be helped,” Sutherland said. “And sometimes it’s either you or the other person. You knew that ye weren’t getting out of that alive, and so ye killed him. No one can fault ye for that.”
“The English army can.” Sutherland pressed his lips together, and she knew that he agreed with her. She went on, “They took him to Fort Augustus. We need to get him out of there, and I need to tell them that I killed Donaldson.”
Eleanor pressed the teacup back into her hand and Cait wrapped her fingers around the warmth to take a big sip. The whiskey burned on the way down but warmed her all the way to her toes.
“Ye said ye were far into the woods. How did the English find the body so quickly?”
“I…” She hadn’t thought about that. “I don’t know.
Ror—” She paused, thinking of her cousin showing up and then disappearing.
For some reason she hadn’t told Iain that part, and she wasn’t certain she should tell Sutherland.
Damn Rory. Where was he? What had happened to him after he left her cottage to bury Donaldson’s body?
Something must have gone terribly wrong.
“Ye must tell me everything if we’re to help Campbell.”
Cait looked into her teacup, not knowing what to do. If only Rory had returned to tell her what happened.
“Rory came by after I returned from…Donaldson. We decided ’twas best if he buried the body.
We thought that no one would discover Donaldson was missing for some time, as he was supposed to be up north.
” She glanced quickly at Sutherland, but he was watching her impassively.
“We all know what will happen to me when they discover I was the one who killed him.” Her voice wavered and she swallowed.
“Where is Rory?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he left my cottage. I think something terrible has happened to him. He wouldn’t just walk off and not come back.”
“Obviously, he didn’t bury the body, and somehow it got moved.”
She nodded miserably.
“Tell me the rest.”
“This morning Palmer arrived to tell Iain that Donaldson was killed, this time on Campbell land. The soldier who was with Palmer found Donaldson’s horse in my paddock.”
Sutherland straightened. “What was Donaldson’s horse doing in yer paddock?”
“I put him there. I didn’t know what else to do with him.”
“And Palmer thought this suspicious.”
She nodded. “I was going to confess, but then Iain said he killed Donaldson. I tried to tell Palmer the truth, but Iain wouldn’t allow it. The muddleheaded fool.” She looked up at Sutherland. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“Because he loves ye.”
She jerked and looked at him sharply. “How do ye know that?” Iain had just told her that morning.
“Because I’m a muddleheaded fool as well.” He grinned at Eleanor.
Cait’s heart felt like it was breaking in two. “We talked about marriage just that morning,” she said mostly to herself. “But I was too scared to make a commitment.”
Eleanor put a comforting hand on Cait’s shoulder.
“We need to find Rory,” Sutherland said.
“We can’t sit around here while Iain is at Fort Augustus. I’ve heard terrible things of that place. We need to get him out.”
“And how do ye propose to do that?” Sutherland asked.
“Iain had a message for ye. He said to gather you and MacLean, that he’s calling in the favor ye both owe him.”
Sutherland grinned. “The limey bastard,” he said in affection. “I knew he’d call that favor in soon. MacLean is no’ far from here. He’s been helping me some.”
“What do you need from us?” Eleanor asked her. “Have you tended to your wounds?”
“I just need Sutherland and MacLean to ride with me to Fort Augustus, but I fear we won’t be able to free Iain. What can the three of us possibly do?” Despair washed over Cait, but she refused to give up. Iain wouldn’t give up on her, and she wouldn’t do that to him.
“Let me have someone fetch MacLean and we’ll talk then,” Sutherland said.
“I’ll no’ be left out of this,” Cait warned Sutherland’s retreating back. “I want to be a part of it.”
“Did I say I was leaving ye out of it, lass?”
—
“It’s near impossible to escape that place,” Colin MacLean said once he’d heard Cait’s story.
She’d never met MacLean but had heard plenty about him.
For a long while he was ridiculed as the reluctant chief who’d abandoned his people to the English soldiers who had taken over his home.
He’d also been imprisoned where Iain was being taken, which gave her a wee bit of hope that he would know what to do to free Iain.
His declaration chipped away at the hope.
“But ye escaped,” she said.
“Aye. With Campbell’s help.”
“So ye’re saying that we should just leave him there?”
Colin MacLean was a dark-haired, compact man with wide shoulders and glittering dark eyes that held a touch of humor. He was wed to the Sinclair lass who walked, talked, and dressed like a man, although Cait had heard that Maggie Sinclair was a changed woman since wedding MacLean.
“Did I say that?” MacLean said irritably.
“Stop putting words into my mouth. I said it was near impossible to escape, not completely impossible. When Iain helped me they allowed him into the prison because he was friends with Cumberland.” MacLean’s lips twisted when mentioning the Bloody Butcher, and Cait didn’t blame him.
She had no love for the man who had marched into Scotland and killed every Scotsman in his path.
“We don’t have that powerful a calling card,” MacLean went on.
“But I’m certain we can think of something. ”
“If Maggie were here, she’d get them all drunk,” Sutherland said, and the two men chuckled. Cait was sure she was missing out on some private joke, but she didn’t care at the moment.
“So what do ye suggest?” she asked.
“I suggest we go in and ask Cumberland what we can do to help our friend,” MacLean said.
They all looked at him as if he were daft.
“Just walk in?” Cait asked.
“And demand to speak to Cumberland,” Sutherland added in more of a statement.
“We can’t break him out of prison,” MacLean said. “He’d be hunted, and he’d have to leave Scotland if he ever wanted to live in peace, and let’s face it, Scotland needs Campbell and the connections he has if we want to survive as a nation.”
Sutherland lifted a brow.