Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I f Isla had imagined she could not feel worse about her failure to assist her beleaguered brother, two days later—day twenty-three of the siege—she found out she was very wrong.
She and Ewan were at the table, sharing a breakfast of oatmeal, toasted bannocks, and strong tea, when Colin came in to give Ewan his morning report. After greeting them both, at Ewan’s invitation, the captain took off his cap, sat at the table, and accepted the mug of tea Isla poured for him.
“So, anythin’ tae report?” Ewan asked as he finished eating and pushed his dish aside, leaning his elbows on the table.
In reply, Colin reached into his coat and drew out a folded paper. “All quiet and in order, except for this,” he said, placing what Isla could now see was a letter on the table in front of Ewan. Ewan picked it up and examined it curiously.
“What is this?” he asked. “How did it get here? I’ve nae seen that handwritin’ before.”
But Isla had, and she felt the blood drain from her face in shock. As Ewan carefully slit the letter open with his dirk, she raised her mug to her lips and hid behind the rim, hoping to conceal her alarm. For the handwriting belonged unmistakably to Gregory, and the only possible reason she could think of for him writing to Ewan was—she felt queasy just thinking of it—to surrender.
Colin shrugged. “Unfortunately, I have nay idea who brought it. Someone left it stuck in the gatepost at the main checkpoint overnight. The guards say they saw naethin’, so I put them both on kitchen duty for the rest of the week, the useless buggers.”
“Well, well, well, a letter from the enemy, eh?” Ewan said, smiling. “Looks like we’ve succeeded in persuadin’ Galbraith tae give up the fight and make peace with us.”
Isla’s stomach plummeted to the floor as she watched him unfolding the single sheet of paper and starting tae read. Sure he was about to announce Gregory’s capitulation, she was confused when instead of doing so, her remained silent. As he continued reading, his smile faded, his forehead creased into a frown, and his lips pursed.
Finally, he tossed the letter over to Colin, saying, “What the hell is this? Is it some kind of ruse, d’ye think? A trick of some sort? What can he mean by it?”
Poised in a state of painful expectation, Isla took firm hold of her own wrist, to stop herself from ripping the letter from Colin’s hand, so galvanized by fear and curiosity was she to know the contents.
This must be it. This is the end. What else can Gregory be writin’ about but surrender?
Colin finished reading, lowered the letter, and looked over at his commander, his puzzled expression matching Ewan’s. “Well, if ’tis a ruse, I dinnae ken how Galbraith figures he’ll benefit from it,” he said. “’Tis very off indeed.”
“I wasnae even aware the man had a sister,” Ewan replied. Isla’s mouth went suddenly dry, and the hair stood up on the nape of her neck as she struggled to hold her tongue and remain in her seat. Gregory was not writing about surrendering at all—he was writing about her disappearance! She had forgotten all about that!
Ach, he must be worried sick by now , what with me vanishin’ just when Ewan’s army arrived in Waverley Forest, and now, havin’ the enemy camped on his doorstep and nay sign of me. What must he be thinkin’?
She was stabbed by guilt for adding to his woes.
She was soon to find out what her brother was thinking, for Ewan picked up the letter and scanned the lines once more. “He demands tae ken if I’ve breached the castle somehow and kidnapped her, the cheeky bastard. What sort of a man does he think I am? I dinnae go about kidnappin’ innocent lassies,” he said with obvious disdain. But then his eyes darkened as he added, “Unlike some of the others he associates with.”
That caught Isla’s attention. She wondered, scrutinizing his face for clues, what he meant. Who could he be referrin’ to? She was at a loss, and so she brushed the question aside for the moment, to be quickly subsumed by guilt once more at the worry she was inflicting on Gregory.
“He clearly believes I’m holdin’ her captive, though why he imagines I’d waste time sittin’ out here if I could use her tae get him tae surrender is beyond me. He must be so worried about her, he’s nae thinkin’ straight.”
Isla noticed that he spoke the last sentence with a peculiar note of sympathy in his gruff voice. It suggested he felt sorry for Gregory, but she knew that could not be right. Should he not be pleased that the matter of his sister’s mysterious disappearance was weighing on his foe as well as the siege? The worry was a sign of weakness, was it not?
“Well, I dinnae have her, and I have nay idea where she could be,” Ewan said at last, setting the letter down and swallowing the last of his tea.
“So, what d’ye want tae dae about it,” his captain asked.
“Colin, I cannae just ignore this. The lassie could be in real trouble. She could be dead even. What if brigands have captured her, or Allan’s holdin’ her? I wouldnae put it past the connivin’ dog. She’d be a useful bargainin’ chip tae coerce Galbraith intae doin’ what he wants. But the man seems tae genuinely care about his sister.”
“Aye, and like ye said before, Allan will have spies out, watchin’ what’s happenin’ with the siege and all. Maybe one of them has got hold of her,” Colin suggested.
“Aye, maybe so,” Ewan said, getting up, his expression dark. Much to Isla’s frustration, he picked up the letter from Gregory and stowed it inside his coat, preventing her from reading it herself. Colin rose too and donned his cap. What Ewan said next took Isla completely by surprise. “I wantae set up a couple of search parties tae look fer the lassie.”
She was surprised when Colin simply nodded. However, he did add, “If ye’re sure, but ye ken we need every man we have here I case anythin’ happens, eh?”
Isla noticed the strange look Ewan cast his captain and was even more taken aback when he replied, “There’s a moral element tae this, Colin. The lass is innocent. ’Tis the right thing tae dae, tae try tae find her and return her tae her braither unharmed.”
“Aye, I understand,” Colin agreed with what Isla thought was unusual compliance as the pair strode to the entrance of the tent.
But before they could leave, Isla, eaten up with curiosity, found she could hold her tongue no longer. “But why would ye search fer this sister of Galbraith, and if ye find her, send her home tae him? Why would ye want tae aid the enemy like that?” she asked.
Ewan paused by the entrance and looked over his shoulder at her. “Because if it were me own sister who was missin’, then I would hope someone would dae the same fer her,” he answered. “And he is me enemy fer only as long as he decides tae be. Allan is me only true enemy.” Then, he opened the tent flap and disappeared outside, followed closely by Colin.
Isla did not move but continued drinking her tea, turning his final words and the manner of his speaking over in her mind. She thought she had glimpsed a certain furtiveness in his eyes just then, as though he were keeping something to himself. It was clear that the matter of her disappearance held greater importance for him than seemed warranted, considering the situation.
She pondered for some time what it could be and what it could have to do with his apparent determination to assist Gregory by searching for her—Laird Galbraith’s missing sister. She could not forget the last thing he said about Gregory. But the only thing she could come up with that made any sense, was that if he found the missing sister alive, he intended to use her as bargaining chip to get Gregory to surrender, just as he had suggested Allan might do.
But if that were the case, then would he nae be pleased about it? It would be a great opportunity fer him tae use me tae manipulate Gregory and get the outcome tae the siege he wants. So, why would he nae have just come out and said so?
Recalling his shifty look, she could not help feeling convinced there was more to it, that by sending out a search party to find her, he was serving some hidden agenda of his own. But what it could be, she had no idea. And she was not about to ask Ewan about it.
She drummed her fingers on the table in distraction, realizing she was in greater peril of discovery than ever. Ewan was intelligent. Surely, it would not take long for him to put the pieces of the puzzle together. A strange woman turns up in his camp and tries to kill him just as Galbraith’s sister goes missing? It was too coincidental to be coincidence.
In fact, the truly surprising thing about it was that on reading the letter, he had not immediately realized the missing woman was sitting right in front of him, in the guise of the trusty Harris.
After issuing his orders to the search parties, Ewan waited until they had left the camp, his mind turning on the unexpected events of the morning. The letter from Galbraith had been a shock, and it had immediately brought back painful memories of when Allan had kidnapped Deidra the previous year. The same, tormenting questions immediately raced through his mind, stirring up his emotions: Who has her? Where is she? Is she safe and well? Is she even alive?
It was puzzling because, though Galbraith was his enemy, and he strongly suspected him of involvement in Deidra’s kidnapping, he found himself feeling a little sorry for the man.
As he started off back to the tent, he was aware that others might believe he wanted the girl to use her in manipulating Galbraith into surrendering. But he would never stoop so low, unlike Allan. However, apart from his personal sympathy for Galbraith and real concern for the girl herself, he had quickly identified other beneficial strategic reasons for trying to find her, reasons he knew Galbraith must be aware of.
He realized it must have taken Galbraith a lot of soul-searching to risk sending him that letter, and that he must have sent it without Allan’s knowledge. The maniac would never have allowed his ally to show such a sign of vulnerability, and he began to wonder if he had misjudged Galbraith according to the wicked company he kept.
Galbraith must love his sister very much . He kens I could use her tae force him tae surrender tae me, as Allan would undoubtedly dae. But I’m nae gonnae dae that. Instead, if I find her, I’ll return her safe tae her braither, as a gesture of good will. That would satisfy me and show Galbraith I’m a man of honor, who would rather have peace with him than war. It might just persuade him tae trust me instead of Allan. There’s everythin’ tae be gained by helpin’ him.
But in the meantime, he had to consider if and how he was going to reply to Galbraith’s letter, which he intended to do when he got back to the tent. As he passed the open-air stable, he spotted Harris busy shifting horse muck with a shovel. He stopped for a moment to watch, impressed by the effort the fake boy soldier was putting into the job. Harris, or Annie, was swapping good-natured banter with the other grooms, another sign that she was well embedded in camp life. Ewan felt a warm glow of satisfaction in his chest to see it.
As it often did, his mind went back to the gloriously intimate moment which he and Annie—or whatever her name was—had shared at the pond that night. That brief connection had been tantalizing and confusing and embarrassing all at the same time. He recalled the sudden wave of desire that had washed over him as he held her naked body close to his and looked deeply into her eyes. He had almost lost control and kissed her. Oh, he had wanted to kiss her, and if she had not sensed his arousal and broken away, he suspected things might have gone a lot further than that!
The memory troubled him like a stone in his boot, causing hm to question himself repeatedly. Why should he have felt that way fer a lassie who had tried tae kill him and was almost certainly lying to him about who she was? He couldn’t fathom it. It made no sense. In truth, his own reaction had scared him more than battling Laird Allan’s army did. For a while, he had been forced to take refuge in cold silence, put distance between them, just as she had. It was a relief that they seemed to have gradually regained their previous camaraderie. But the fact remained, that as much as he yearned to trust her, he still had no good reason to to do so any further than he could throw her.
Kiss her, aye. Explore those temptin’ curves I ken are hidin’ under that lad’s clothin’, aye. Protect her with me life? Aye, all of that. But trust her? Nay.
When his initial anger had waned after catching her stealing food, despite more of her lies, he had decided to take a different track. Rather than tie her up and restrict her movements, he thought he might have more luck finding out her true identity and purpose in the camp by giving her more freedom. He figured that if she was up to something underhand, she would soon slip up, and he would catch her.
However, if she turned out to be an enemy spy, he had no idea what he would do. Because the thought of harming a hair on her head was out of the question.
All this was going through his mind as he continued to observe her and saw Colin go up and speak to her. The pair immediately became engrossed in conversation. They seemed as thick as thieves, perfectly relaxed in one another’s company. He was pleased to see them getting on so well… until a hint of jealousy suddenly crept into his thoughts and made his heart clench in his chest. He immediately brushed it aside and strode away, telling himself it was completely unwarranted.
There’s nay reason tae be possessive of her . Colin has nay idea that Harris is a woman. He kens naethin’ about her identity. As far as he’s concerned, he’s just sharin’ a laugh and a joke with a young lad.