Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Cailean’s Return
Elayne could only imagine the joyous homecoming and feast for Cailean and his men.
She hoped their journey home would be safe and uneventful.
After they left, she counted the days to when they reunited with their families.
Aware that a few of Calean’s guards were married, she understood their wives’ trepidation, thinking about what might have happened to their husbands.
Elayne pounded out the hard steel in the forge and focused solely on working through the days of her agreement until the fifth day after Cailean’s release.
That day filled her with pride. A mere woman, although disguised as a lad, had accomplished the men’s release from their imprisonment.
If not for her, the men would still be languishing in the cold and moldy dungeons of their rival clan.
Elayne hoped Laird MacPherson sent his warriors soon after she left the clan, and hoped Cailean and his men encountered them on their return journey home.
When would Bessie realize her absence? When she discovered Elayne had left the clan, she would have her suspicions, but Elayne didn’t think Bessie would reveal them to Cailean.
No one would rescue her. Otherwise, it could jeopardize the tenuous peace.
Elayne sought to avoid bloodshed between the clans.
Now distrust existed between them, but given time, the clans could forge alliances beneficial to both.
Elayne never ken if the MacPherson laird sent warriors to free his son and guards.
*
Cailean and his men rode hard to be fast away from Tor Castle and the Cameron clan lands.
Their swift release aroused suspicion—they feared a trap and deceit.
That evening, they met the warriors from their clan who were riding to Tor castle to demand their release under threat of war.
Cailean and his men were happy to be reunited with their friends as they journeyed back home.
The weather turned more threatening each day.
It rained—a drizzle at first, then transformed into a downpour, turning the ground muddy, slowing their journey.
The men camped and took shelter under a canopy of trees.
They huddled around the campfire to dry themselves.
The warriors dined on grouse and pheasants, eating wild game while available.
They didn’t know what the next few days held for them.
If it snowed, they may not take the time to hunt for game in order to return home sooner, and could eat the oatcakes and dried or smoked meat their would-be rescuers had brought.
As soon as they arrived at the campsite, they set the watch.
Additional guards took their shifts, giving Cailean and his men time for rest after their imprisonment.
One warrior, who had training from the healer, examined the wounds and injuries of the former captives, applying an herbal paste and bandages to open wounds to prevent infection and promote healing.
Their bruises were healing, and it did not appear they had received new bruises before their release.
The next day, they arose early in the gray dawn that had swallowed the sun.
After breaking their fast, they attended to their horses, mounted, and rode onward.
The warriors slogged through mud and rain, but they were grateful it hadn’t turned to snow yet.
They stopped long enough to let their horses rest, drink, and eat before they set out again.
In the late afternoon, the rain became intermittent, yet the weather still deteriorated, becoming foggy and making it difficult to see the terrain.
So they stopped, hoping the next day would be better for travel.
A few intrepid warriors hunted for pheasants, and Cailean caught salmon and trout in the river so they could enjoy a hot meal.
As they drew closer to clan and home, Cailean focused more and more on seeing Elayne.
He had missed her fiercely and couldn’t wait to be with her again.
Reuniting and embracing Elayne was foremost in his mind, but protocol demanded he visit his father, mother, and siblings first. He had good news to share with Elayne regarding her original clan.
Cailean had obtained the written testimony of witnesses he hoped his father accepted as proof that Elayne was Lady Grant and worthy of his hand in marriage.
The clan members and elders he’d spoken to wished for her to return and become their clan leader if she were willing.
The elders kent being laird carried a heavy burden.
They hinted that a warrior by her side would lighten that burden.
Cailean dreamed of seeing Elayne’s reaction when he returned home, and then asking her to be his.
The next day began cold with a brutal icy headwind that bore down on them relentlessly.
The horses rode on, undaunted. In the afternoon, heavy snow fell, and fortunately, the wind abated while snowflakes fell steadily.
The snow blanketed the tree branches like icing on a cake.
Soon the green forest became a winter wonderland.
The warriors pulled their heavy cloaks around them to keep warm and dry as much as possible.
Cailean’s thoughts turned to Elayne as he pondered what she was doing.
No doubt, she hammered metal at her father’s forge no matter the weather.
The warriors rode on in the snow, steadily making progress toward home.
Late in the afternoon, the wind whistled through the trees, sending snow flurries circling them below pewter skies as the snow fell to the ground.
The men took refuge in a bothy. An old wooden stable would offer their horses shelter.
Soon the fire blazed in the hearth and they hung a pot of freshly fallen snow to heat over it.
A few of the men scouted in a group close to the bothy and shot rabbits for rabbit stew.
In the bothy they discovered potatoes and carrots in a cellar.
They added these to the stew. The men took turns by the fire to warm up.
Drinking tea from the few cups they had among themselves helped a great deal.
The men stood watch for shorter durations and in a perimeter closer to the bothy.
It enabled them to raise the alarm if they spotted men from other clans.
A warrior took the water to the stable to water the horses, which were eating hay inside the stable that sheltered them from the wind.
They were also fed a ration of dried oats each and covered with an old plaid across their backs.
The men took pride in caring for their horses, for they relied on them and rode them at home most days.
Their trained warhorses maneuvered expertly under attack and were extremely responsive to their riders, commands, and whistles.
The men sat on the stone floor. Fortified with shots of whiskey, they told stories in front of the fire and were grateful that fate had set them free.
They had no idea that fate was the form of a petite woman armed with love and fierce determination to win Cailean’s freedom, no matter the cost to her.
A warrior added logs to the fire to ensure they had heat throughout the night.
The men bunked down on the floor near the hearth, wrapping themselves in their tartans and cloaks.
Soon, snores filled the room with a few random bellows throughout the night, while the fire crackled in the hearth.
Different men assumed the watch while others returned to warm up and rest. Cailean took his turn at the watch like the other warriors.
While outside, he listened to the wind whistle through the trees, the distant hoot of an owl, and the forlorn howl of a wolf.
The rest remained quiet and still as the snow fell silently.
Cailean hoped Elayne was snug and warm in her small bed in the kitchen in her father’s house.
He couldn’t help but fantasize about the many ways he could keep her warm and give her pleasure.
Imagining it, despite the cold, his trews became tight with his arousal.
Thoughts and memories of Elayne kept him warm on this cold, snowy winter night.
In the morning, the men drank hot tea and ate dried meat and hot oatcakes to fortify themselves for the last leg of their journey home.
Cailean and his guards were especially grateful they were released now, because in a few more weeks, treacherous weather would have prevented their journey home.
Thoughts of loved ones spurned them onward.
Finally, late in the afternoon, they arrived back to the welcome sight of the castle and their village blanketed with snow.
The guards on the turrets cheered when they saw the colors of the men’s tartans.
It seemed to them that the warriors had been successful in gaining Cailean’s and his guards’ release from the dungeons of the Cameron clan.
People streamed out of the castle to greet and welcome the warriors home.
The men took warm baths, then donned clean clothes and went with their loved ones to the great hall for a feast celebrating their return.
William and Mrs. Logan attended the feast with Thomas.
Their eyes searching to see if Elayne had miraculously returned with the warriors.
The clan celebrated with roasted meats, stews, drinking, and dancing in the warmth of the great hall.
The clan members listened intently to the stories of the warriors’ travels, alliances made, and finally their capture. Learning the men were freed before the warriors reached the Cameron clan stronghold mystified them.