Chapter Eighteen
Highland Retribution
Braden and Cairstine
Loki helps protect the bairns from the Channel of Dubh.
Chapter Seventeen
The men from the channel bring a group of bairns to be shipped across the water. But The Band of Cousins are there to stop it. Loki’s sling does it again, this time in the Channel of Dubh.
Kenzie has faith that Loki, his adoptive sire, will save him and the others.
It had been terribly difficult for Steenie to mind his tongue with the men who’d come to put them in a cart and carry them through the mountains toward the loch.
The one trail had been so treacherous that the wee bairns had cried for their mamas over and over again, and the four men traveling with them had not been kind.
They’d cussed at them so much that Steenie had wished to hit each of them with his fist. He wanted his arms to be like tree trunks like Robbie and Braden Grant’s so he could punch them and make them stop being so mean.
He flexed his muscles to check them out, wondering how he could get them to be so big.
“You have to work in the Grant lists, Steenie,” Kenzie whispered.
“Huh?”
“I saw you looking at your muscles. You want them big like the Grants, do you not?”
Steenie nodded, his face lighting up. “Aye, how can I get them that big?”
“You have to work in the lists. They work there every day.”
“Can I when we get out? I’ll get mine to be bigger.” He flexed his one arm to demonstrate to Kenzie how big his was already.
Kenzie said with a grin, “When you’re a wee bit older, mayhap.”
“I’ll practice every day.” He was sure he could get his arms to be bigger.
Before he knew it, they’d made it through and were drawing near the loch.
When they could see the loch ahead, Kenzie leaned over to whisper to Steenie. “If you see any hawks or falcons overhead, especially more than one, ‘tis a good sign.”
“Why?” Steenie whispered.
“Because my cousin married the Wild Falconer and Uncle Alex sent for them, though ‘tis unlikely they’re here yet. But Papa says they do amazing things. Have you not heard about him?”
Steenie shook his head, his eyes widening. “What does he do?”
“He can send his birds down to attack mean people. They’ve done it before and ‘tis spectacular. If you see them, it means my cousins are here.”
“You two lads keep quiet back there. I shoulda split you two up.” The lead man had a long scruffy beard that hit his chest.
“Scruffy…” Steenie whispered. Then he looked at Kenzie and giggled. That was one of the activities that had helped them make it through the night—giving names to all of their captors. Scruffy, Blackteeth, Stubby—because he’d lost two fingers—and Smelly.
He peeked at the two lassies in the cart with them. They were sisters, and one had her head in her sister’s lap while she sucked her thumb. “Why does she suck her thumb still? I don’t.”
“Because she watched her mother die not long ago. She’s sucked it ever since,” the girl named Edith said bluntly. She turned her head away from Steenie, and he wondered if she was mad he’d asked such a direct question.
“What’s her name?” he asked, hoping to get her to talk to him again. He would feel horrible if he lost his mother, especially if something happened to her in front of him and he wasn’t able to stop it.
“Eva.”
“How old is she?”
“She’s eight summers.”
“How did you get here?”
“Two of these men came and killed our mother, then stole us from my aunt. We were living with her.” She wiped the tears that formed in the corners of her eyes. “Do you know where they’re taking us?”
“Nay, but do not worry,” Kenzie said. “My sire will save us. Watch for the falcons and slingers.”
“Slingers?” she whispered.
“Aye. My sire is the best. He slings small rocks at bad men.”
A bold voice shouted back at them from the front. “I said keep quiet. All of you.”
Kenzie held his finger up to his lips. Steenie scowled, but there was naught they could do but listen. Both lads tipped their heads back, and Steenie hoped he’d see a bunch of wild falcons.
He wished to meet the Wild Falconer. Maybe someday he could be a Wild Falconer.
There weren’t any falcons in eyesight, so Steenie shifted his gaze to the path ahead of them, just then realizing he could see the loch.
He pointed his finger toward the water, and Kenzie glanced over his shoulder to follow.
When they came down the hill, there was a large clearing on one side of the loch with a couple of small huts near one end.
He could see clear across to the other side because it was so big.
He didn’t like the boat at the edge. Two men were stacking crates around the lip of the loch while three men worked on the boat, getting water, sweeping the boat out, spitting over the edge.
He watched the man spit over and over again. Someday he’d be able to spit that far. He decided to practice a bit, so he spat over the side of the cart to see how far it would go. He did this for a while until Kenzie poked him in his back.
He peered over his shoulder at Kenzie, who pointed up to the sky.
He was careful to make sure no one else saw what he was doing, so Steenie guessed it was important.
He tipped his head up toward the gray sky, but he didn’t see anything at first. A moment later, two big birds soared above them, sweeping lower and lower.
He couldn’t help but clap his hands.
“What the hell is with the birds? They’ve been following us for the last quarter hour,” Stubby yelled.
Scruffy shouted back at him. “Who cares? They’re just birds, you daft arse.” Then he spat to the side of his horse.
Steenie giggled and whispered, “Daft arse.” Then he spat over the side, pleased that it was farther than his previous marks.
Blackteeth pulled the first cart full of girls, also carrying Hilda, into the clearing, waving to the men aboard the boat. Then he cursed and slapped the back of his head. Spinning around on his horse, he stared at Scruffy who was mounted behind him.
“What the hell? Why are you throwing stones at me?”
Kenzie pulled on Steenie’s tunic, wide-eyed. He whispered, “My sire. He’s here!”
Scruffy said, “I didn’t throw naught at you, but I will if you don’t keep moving.”
The two men who’d ridden by themselves climbed down and moved over to the cart in front, lifting the lassies out one by one and pushing them toward the boat. One of the men roared as his head was jerked backward. “Who did that?” he shouted, his hand flying up to his forehead.
Steenie watched as Kenzie pulled out his own slinger, stuck a rock in it and sent it flying at the man who’d been in the first cart, hitting him in the back of the head. “I grabbed the stones when we got into the cart when the men weren’t looking,” he explained with a whisper.
Blackteeth turned on Scruffy and shouted, “You bastard. ‘Tis the second time you’ve hit me. Come over here and try it. I’ll kick your arse.”
Scruffy got hit in the back of his head next. “I didn’t do naught,” he said, “but somebody just hit me.”
The other cart had emptied, but Kenzie, Steenie, Edith, and Eva were still in their cart when the falcons dipped down from the sky again, soaring over the entire group of them.
“Kenzie, look. ‘Tis the falcons again just like you said,” Steenie whispered.
Their captors, nine in all—the four who’d brought them here and the five near the boat—started jabbering and shouting. Hilda must have sensed an opportunity, for she sent the girls running toward the huts at the end, but they were so confused, they ran in different directions.
All of a sudden, three horses carrying men with red plaids charged out of the woods. Kenzie grabbed Eva out of Edith’s arms and said, “Run!”
Steenie hopped out of the cart and ran for the trees as fast as his wee legs could carry him. He knew those plaids.
The Grants had come.
Chapter Eighteen
Maggie had led Braden and the others down a rarely used path to the loch.
He (Braden) couldn’t help but smile when he noticed Loki ahead of him, his slinger in hand.
The others were gathered behind him. His brother was sheer magic with his slinger, able to catapult small rocks long distances with dead aim.
He’d been doing it since he was young and living alone behind an inn.
Cairstine started to speak, but he squeezed her hip and covered her mouth. He pointed down to the loch, where he could just barely see the boat through the trees. It looked like there were several bairns in the clearing.
He heard Cairstine gasp.
“We found him. ‘Tis what’s important,” he reminded her with a whisper. “And now we’ll get him to safety.” She spun around and nodded, her lips sealed.
They all took their places, not needing to converse with each other because they had planned their roles in advance.
Gavin, Will, and Gregor would find perches where they could back the ground crew up with arrows, while Loki, Connor, and Roddy would use their swords, and Braden and Maggie would go scoop up the bairns, the archers protecting them.
Usually Braden preferred sword-to-sword combat, but he was grateful Maggie had suggested this change. His body could only endure so much.
“What about Loki’s group?” Braden had asked before they set out.
Maggie had snorted, quite like a man, and said, “Loki planned to leave his guards at the top of the hill to search for any other men in the area before he joined us. He and Connor and Roddy are probably the best swordsmen in the Highlands. They don’t need any instructions.
With our three swordsmen and three archers, we can easily take on nine men. ”
Cairstine gave him a questioning look and said, “Nine to six?”
Braden grinned. “You’ve not seen all the Grants fight before, so I’ll ignore that question. Do not worry about it. I’ll bring the bairns to you, all of them. Can you handle it?”
She nodded. “Aye, absolutely.”