Chapter 27 #2
She screamed then, clawing at the ground to keep her balance. Dragged down by her own weight, she slid backward until the edge was under her armpits. There was nothing to hold onto. No branches, no lumps of stone, no roots or plants, only smooth rock and a few crevices.
Callum and Angus wrestled, dangerously close to the edge.
Callum had strength and youth on his side, but Angus ducked and dodged like a desperate man, one with years of experience on his side.
Callum swept his leg sideways, knocking the back of Angus’ knees.
The man went down like a sack of potatoes, landing heavily on the stone.
“I could have let ye live, fool,” Callum breathed, his face contorted. “I could have let ye live if ye had nae threatened her.”
Angus snarled. He drove a fist into Callum’s side, but it wasn’t enough to move him. Callum drew his sword.
“It’s over,” he promised as he drove his blade into the older man’s heart, and gravity took over the rest.
Confusion crossed Angus’ face when the ground disappeared from under his feet. Realization followed quickly, then horror. He flailed, grabbing at thin air.
Angus screamed as he fell. It was a thin, panicked yell of terror, and ended as quickly as it had come. Melody hastily turned away as he fell. She had her own troubles, anyway.
Her tentative grip on the stone ground slid away, her numbed fingertips releasing her. She gave a startled cry, sliding backward.
No, no, no!
This couldn’t be how the story ended. It couldn’t be how her story ended, like Angus, spreadeagled at the bottom of the Bloody Cliffs.
Then a hand clamped around her wrist. Melody was all but gone, the sharp cliff-edge digging into her forearm. She stared breathlessly up at Callum, his arm shaking with effort.
“I’ve got ye, lass,” he said thickly, and began to slowly haul her up from the edge and back to safety.
The sensation of solid ground beneath her seemed to drain the last of Melody’s energy. She collapsed to her knees, gasping raggedly. Callum knelt beside her, wrapping one heavy arm around her shoulders.
“It’s all right, lass. It’s all right. I’ve got ye,” he muttered. His voice was heavy and strained, as if he were holding back some large emotion. Melody glanced up at him, swallowing hard.
“Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.
He took in the scratches on her arms. “Are ye all right?”
“I’ll live” Melody’s attempt to joke fell flat. Callum looked away.
“It is all me fault ye are in this situation. I’m sorry. I cannae bear to have a woman I care for meet another end at this cliffside.”
She flinched, understanding what he didn’t say. I cannot marry you. Clarity sweeped over her. It was like ducking one’s head in a bucket of ice water.
If he says as much now, after all we have been through, then he will never change his mind. Never.
My staying here can only torture us both.
“I see,” Melody managed at last, her voice wobbling. “I understand. You are a good man, Callum. You know that, don’t you?”
He gave a brittle laugh. “I ken nothin’ of the sort. Come, up ye get. We need to go back to the keep. I’ll have to explain all of this to the rest of the councilors. Ye must visit Kat, get those bruises and scrapes tended to, and then—”
“And then I will leave,” Melody interrupted gently.
He glanced sharply at her. “What?”
A lump formed in her throat, and now it was Melody’s turn to glance away, her heart heavy.
“My sister is married and in love,” she whispered. “She’s starting a family. She’s happy. I suppose I always wanted that for myself, but I… I see now that you and I can never have that.”
“Nay, we never can.”
Was it her imagination, or did he speak a little too quickly, a little too determinedly? It hardly mattered, of course.
“So I’ll leave. Tomorrow morning, early, if you’ll let me take a coach,” Melody plowed on, determined to get to the end of her speech.
“I think that you like me, Callum. I think you are fonder of me than you’d like to admit, but you’ve also been clear about what you want.
No children, no wife. I… I don’t wish to pressure you into changing your mind.
That isn’t fair. So, it’s best for everybody that I leave.
I’ll go back to England. I’ll write to my sister and explain that you aren’t to blame, to be sure that there’s no ill feeling between the clans. ”
“That’s gracious of ye.”
She gave a thin smile, staring down at the loose pebbles digging into her knees. The wind had gotten up again, raking across the exposed stone with a vengeance.
“Everybody has different dreams,” she stated at last. “Yours and mine are different. I’m sorry that it took me so long to understand. I am glad I came here, Callum, but I think you’ll be just as glad to see me go.”
He turned away abruptly, and she could not read his face.
“As I said, ye can do as ye like. Come on, lass. I ken ye are tired, but let’s get ye back to the keep.”
“Callum…”
“Let’s speak nay more, aye? I’m too tired for words, and I’m sure that ye are, too.”