Chapter Thirty-Two
Ronan stared up at the darkening sky and frowned.
It had rained most of the day, and now the sun was giving up to the clouds.
He hadn’t wanted to stop in his hurry to get back to Brenna and beg her forgiveness.
But it appeared the weather was going to force him to delay his plans.
When he’d realized he needed to see Brenna, he couldn’t wait even the time it would have taken for him to pack all his things.
Hugh wasn’t happy he was leaving without him, but Ronan wasn’t traveling with treasure or livestock, so he’d not be bothered.
By anyone but the weather, apparently. His horse, stalwart and sure-footed as he’d always been, could also do with a rest. He quickly removed the saddle and brushed the horse down before tucking him in close to a fir tree.
Ronan was not far from Strathspey. Another hour and a half and he would have been able to spend the night with his wife.
Instead, he’d be sleeping rough in the forest another night.
Using some branches to provide shelter, he lit a fire and set a snare for his meal.
Soon after eating, he pulled his plaid over his head, hoping to catch some sleep to leave at first light. But rest wasn’t to be had.
He’d no sooner fall asleep than the fire would pop or sizzle in the rain and startle him awake.
He was nearly back to slipping off when he heard a different snap of a branch, and Brimstone snorted his unease.
Ronan tossed off his plaid to see someone standing over him in the darkness.
His eyes didn’t have a moment to adjust before he heard a low, familiar chuckle that sent a shiver up his spine.
Ewan.
Before he could think, he took a sharp blow to the side of his head, and the darkness of the forest pressed in, blocking out everything else.
***
The storms the night before cleared off by morning. The sky was a cloudless blue, and the air was warm but not stifling. The perfect day. Or would have been if Ronan was there and they could talk things out.
Instead, Brenna visited the Campbell family, and as she was walking back to the castle before noon, she saw a group of men riding for the castle carrying the Grant banner.
She picked up her pace, wanting to see Ronan.
She wasn’t sure how to start the conversation they needed to have, but she knew they’d have it and be stronger for it.
Her gaze searched the men dismounting in the bailey, eager to see the one man she loved more than all.
Hugh, Will, Ephraim, and young Adam, the same men who had left with Ronan. Yet she didn’t see her husband among them.
“My lady,” Hugh greeted her.
“Hugh. It’s good to have you back. Where is Ronan?”
The three men stopped in their unpacking and turned to her.
“He left a day and a half before us,” Hugh said. “We didn’t reach the MacKenzies before meeting up with the MacPhersons, who told us Deirdre was not at the castle. So we returned to inform Ronan his mother was still on the run.”
“He had not wanted to wait another minute to see you,” Adam added, and Brenna’s heart would have warmed over if not for her worry.
“He should have arrived last evening,” Ephraim said.
“There was a storm. Mayhap his horse lost his footing and Ronan was thrown.” Brenna could feel the fear settle in as she considered her husband lying somewhere hurt and alone. “We must find him.”
Turning to the stable lad who’d come for the men’s horses, she instead instructed him to bring her mount. “Please hurry.”
“I’ve never known that beast he rides to slip a foot, but we’ll look for him. You should stay here,” Hugh said. Malcolm and Gabe came up to meet them.
The men came up with a plan. Will ordered Hugh and a few of the others to stay back and take watch of the keep while the other men mounted fresh horses to go look for the laird.
“Is there any use in asking you to stay behind?” Will asked, unlike Hugh, who had made it sound like an order.
Brenna only cast him a look. She knew better than to make a nuisance of herself. If she thought she would cause a distraction by going, she would have willingly stayed back even if the thought made her stomach flip. But she knew she could help.
She wouldn’t hold them back.
He let out a breath. “I didn’t think so. Come on, then. Let’s go find him.”
They rode out together. While Brenna just wanted to push on, calling her husband’s name, the men had a plan, and she did her best to be patient so they could find him quickly.
Norman, the warrior known best for his tracking ability, was in front. He stopped where the three men had cut across the field.
“Only three horses.”
Brenna refrained from yelling, but in truth, if Ronan had been in the field, he would have been easy enough to see. Except for a few outcroppings of rocks, it was mostly flat and unobstructed.
Skirting along the woods, they continued on. They were riding too quickly to look into the forest. She understood. Ronan wouldn’t have ridden through the woods if there was an easier path. He’d been in a hurry to get home to her. And because of that, he may have been injured.
She made an impatient sound, and Gabe looked over.
“We’ll find him. You’ve never seen a tracker like Norman. He’s a spook when it comes to talking to people, but he’s the best at reading prints and determining which way an animal would go.”
“But it’s not a stag we’re looking for. It’s a man who wouldn’t think like a deer.”
“Patience, my lady. We’ll find him. We won’t stop until we do, even if we end up back at the MacKenzies’s.”
It turned out she didn’t need to gather all that much patience. It was only an hour later that the group stopped.
Dismounting, she heard Norman say, “Here.”
Pushing through the horses, Brenna couldn’t help but call out, “Ronan? Is he alive?”
But when the men parted, she saw the tracker bent down by a small shelter made from branches. A dark spot on the ground indicated a past fire.
“It’s new. Surely from last night. It burned out,” Norman said while pointing at two logs that hadn’t burned through.
“Where is he?” Brenna asked.
Norman moved to the other side of the burned wood and bent down again. At first, Brenna thought it was ash, for it was the same dark color as the place where the fire had been laid. Stepping closer, she saw it was not blackened earth, but bloodstained.
“He’s injured. He stopped because he was bleeding.”
“Nay. He wasna bleeding when he got off his horse over there. There are other tracks coming from deeper in the forest. Someone met him here. And then someone was dragged off. Whether it be the laird or the other person, I can’t say.”
Brenna could barely swallow around the lump in her throat. Her gaze met Will’s pained expression as four terrifying words hissed across her lips.
“Ewan has my husband.”