Chapter 10
The ride back was agonising. Eileen rode in front, since her arms were not injured and could handle the reins.
However, this meant that she bore the brunt of the icy wind that blew into her face, making her eyes stream, and her hands become numb.
Even though one of Ronan’s arms was looped securely around her waist, she felt as though she might fall off the horse at any moment. She was terrified.
As well as that, the thought of Margot sitting alone and unprotected was horrifying.
The men who had attacked them had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and there was nothing to stop any others from doing the same thing.
Margot had had the presence of mind to grab a knife from one of her attackers, but one knife against even one man made for terrible odds against her survival.
Eileen spurred the stallion on until it was galloping with all the speed it could muster, but after a while it began to slow down as it began to tire.
Fortunately, the castle came in sight shortly thereafter, and they thundered over the bridge and inside, whereupon Margot leapt off the horse before it had come to a halt and began to sprint towards Callum’s study.
Eileen was almost breathless with fear and exhaustion by the time she reached her destination. She did not slow down, but threw herself at the door and stumbled inside, almost falling down in the process.
“Callum!” she cried. “Something terrible has happened!”
Her hair was a wild tangle, her dress torn, tattered and filthy, her face streaked with tears and her hands smeared with blood. She staggered up to his desk, and Callum jumped to his feet, his heart hammering with sudden fear and an ominous premonition of doom.
“Eileen? Eileen, tell me what has happened?” he asked as he rushed around his desk and took her by the shoulders.
He looked past her just as Ronan stumbled in and, suddenly, he began to shake as a wave of terror swept over him.
“Where is Margot?” he demanded. “Tell me!”
Eileen was trying desperately to recover her breath, but Ronan was standing just behind her.
“M’Laird, she has had a fright. Gie her a wee minute, please.”
“We-we were ambushed by three men,” Eileen stammered, still struggling to breathe.
“They were all armed—one of them had a gun. We fought them off, or at least Margot and Ronan did. They wanted Margot. Ronan had his arm injured—” She pointed to the bloody makeshift bandage on his arm.
“Margot injured one of them too, and was hurt in the process.”
“How badly?” Callum demanded. His face was thunderous with anger and fear.
Eileen shook her head. “Only a twisted ankle,” she replied. “We tried to get her to ride with Ronan, but she insisted we came back to ask for help.”
“I am glad you are unhurt,” Callum said gently, although his thoughts were elsewhere and his eyes and breaths were frantic. “And the bandits who attacked you? What happened to them?”
“I killed them all,” Ronan said, with a hint of pride in his voice.
“Well done, lad, but there might be others!” Callum claimed grimly.
He was about to chastise them both for leaving Margot behind, but decided to keep his mouth shut, since it was hardly appropriate to berate his betrothed about the fate of another woman.
“Lad, tell some other guards to follow me in case they are needed,” Callum ordered.
He grabbed his sword from where it hung on the wall and dashed out of the door, then sprinted out to the stables and saddled up his stallion by himself, much to the astonishment of the stable hands.
They watched as Callum raced out of the castle and onto the well-worn path on which Eileen and Margot had walked into life-threatening danger. As he urged his horse into a gallop, he visualised Margot’s face in front of him, smiling her most mischievous grin.
Be safe, lass, he thought desperately. Please be safe.
He thought of how guilty Margot had looked when he found her in his office.
And then—their kisses. He had kissed many women in his time, but never the way he had done with Margot because the ones he had shared with her had been almost other-worldly, as if they had left the earth and moved to somewhere ethereal and sublime.
Her lips were so soft, and moved against his with such suppleness and warmth, and when he tasted her with his tongue he thought he knew what heaven was like.
Even now, desire mixed with terror and rage as he was, as he remembered those stolen moments with the woman he could now admit to himself that he wanted.
There are so many things I want to say to you, he thought. Wait for me. Live for me. I need you, Margot.
Eileen had not told him precisely where the ambush had happened, but Callum soon found out when he saw the three bloody and bruised bodies, which were already being picked at by some opportunistic crows.
Callum felt sick, but he called out as loudly as he could.
“Margot! It’s Callum! You are safe, answer me, please!”
The light was beginning to fade, and Margot was becoming more and more desperate as she saw the sun going down. Soon it would be dark, and she would be here, alone and freezing; perhaps she might not even make it through the night.
She could not help thinking about Eileen; they had become such good friends, and it was she who had encouraged Margot to stay at Kilmuir, but she and Ronan were in love. It was transparently obvious by the tender looks they gave each other and how they spoke when they thought no one was listening.
And yet, Eileen was still betrothed to Callum. It was clear that Eileen’s affection belonged to another, and yet Margot still had some guilt over kissing Callum, though she now knew she shouldn’t feel it.
Margot was beginning to shiver uncontrollably and decided, much as the idea disgusted her, to fetch the cloaks from the thugs Ronan had killed.
They were soaked in blood, but wrapping herself in them would at least stop her perishing from the cold.
How long had it been since Ronan and Eileen had set off for the castle? It seemed like days.
She was about to try to struggle to her feet when she heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance, becoming louder and louder as they approached her.
A wave of terror washed over Margot, and she froze, screwing her eyes shut.
She was unsure whether she should call out or not. What if this was another attacker?
She was utterly unable to move as the rider passed only a few yards away from her. Then suddenly she heard a sound that made her almost faint with relief.
“Margot! Where are you?” Callum’s deep, resonant voice pierced the quiet of the winter twilight.
Margot had no hesitation in replying, shouting at the top of her voice. She raised her hands, waving them frantically in the air. “Callum! Callum!”
Callum looked around and leapt from his horse the moment he saw Margot, then ran towards her, threw his arms around her and held her as though he would never let her go. Neither of them said anything for a moment, but both were breathing heavily, almost weak with relief.
“Thank god,” he breathed.
Margot had forgotten her pain for a moment, and was melting into Callum’s embrace, soaking in the strength from the warm, hard male body pressed against her own.
Margot groaned in pain and Callum put her away a little to look at her.
“What is it?” he asked urgently. “Did they hurt you, Margot? Did any one of those swine touch you?”
Margot shook her head. “No, no,” she replied soothingly. “It’s just a sprain. One of the bandits fell on my foot, but he will never do any harm to anyone else. Ronan saw to that.”
She looked at the three bodies sprawled on the ground and pointed to the one who had injured her.
“I am so glad you’re not badly hurt,” Callum said, as he cupped her cheek gently and looked down at her with infinite tenderness. “We must get you back to see the healer.”
At that moment, they heard the sound of more hoofbeats as several guards came into sight and stopped beside Callum’s horse. They dismounted and walked over to the corpses of the bandits to examine their wounds. By the expressions on their faces, it was clear that they approved of Ronan’s work.
At last, the leader called to Callum. “What dae ye want us tae dae wi’ these, M’Laird?” He looked down at the bodies with an expression of deep disgust.
Callum sighed. “I am tempted to leave them for the boars and the crows,” he answered, “but I think we should take them back with us. They can be buried in the unhallowed ground behind the church, although I think that is too good for them.” His voice was bitter.
“They would be better off in the midden along with the rest of the rubbish.”
The midden was the place where all the castle waste was deposited, and it was a stinking, fly-infested heap. Indeed, it would be a good place for them, Margot thought. However, Callum was the Laird, and had to set an example.
Callum turned back towards Margot and lifted her into his arms, and she flinched as his hand brushed against her sore leg.
“I am so sorry, lass,” he said as he walked across to his horse. “I do not want to cause you pain. The healer is very good at what she does, she’ll make you good as new.”
“Thank you for coming to get me,” Margot said softly. “I was beginning to freeze. I thought you would send one of your men. I never dreamt you would come yourself.”
Callum would have ridden to the ends of the earth if he had to in order to find Margot Tewsbury, and now that she was in his arms, he knew that he could never let her go again.
Callum smiled at her. “I will always come for you,” he promised tenderly. “And I would never let you freeze to death.”
He took her by the waist and lifted her onto his horse so that she was riding behind him, then he tucked his cloak around both of them.
“Thank you. I truly thought I was going to die.”
He laughed. “You can stop thanking me now, Margot. Let us get home and have your injury seen to. Eileen is very worried about you.”
From where she was sitting, Margot could not see his face, but Callum’s tone of voice suggested that Eileen’s feelings did not concern him too much.
As he had said often, their marriage was one of convenience, but somehow Margot knew, even though their relationship was amiable, that both of them would be deeply unhappy.
It was criminal that this should have to happen, she thought—perhaps it might be better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable.
She leaned her head on Callum’s strong back and sighed with a strange kind of contentment.
With his body heat keeping her warm, she could ignore her pain for a while and enjoy being with him.
After all, it would not last for much longer.
Callum had said the word home, but Margot knew that Kilmuir would never be home to her.
It would be the place where she would watch Callum and Eileen live together, a saddening thought indeed.
And when he finally paid him back, she would have to leave him behind forever.