Chapter 35
It was only Cairren’s fourth day on the road after fleeing Foulis and second after leaving Dunrobin, but she was doubting her ability to carry on.
It would take at least five more days to reach Stirling.
What had been a pleasant ride only two months ago was now unbearably cold.
She refused to complain, but she’d left so abruptly that she had no chance to pack extra clothes.
Rain left her in permanently damp clothes, and she was certain all of her fingers and toes would chip off before they arrived at their destination.
Lachlan and the other men took pity on her and offered extra plaids to wrap around her shoulders and drape over her lap.
They stayed as far off the path from Foulis as they could, but they’d had to hide from a Munro patrol that Lachlan’s scouts spotted.
Cairren wasn’t certain, but she thought she saw Duncan among them.
She felt like she’d held her breath the entire time they rode the border between Munro and Ross territory, and she expected to see Padraig come charging after her at any moment.
It surprised her that they hadn’t passed each other, since she was certain he would check with the Sutherlands first. She was positive he would eventually recall that she and Blair were friends.
It had terrified her to ride through Ross territory on her way to Dunrobin.
She and Matthew passed the trysting spot where she’d discovered Myrna and Duncan.
It made her want to weep when she thought about Padraig and Myrna meeting there throughout their courtship.
Myrna’s home was nearly halfway between Foulis and Dunrobin, but Matthew skirted away from it.
She wore her Munro plaid and hoped that if anyone spotted them, they wouldn’t be stopped.
On her way south from Dunrobin, she had Sutherland plaids covering her, so she was less intimidated by the possibility of meeting Myrna on the road.
She didn’t know when next she planned to meet Duncan or how soon she would try to win back Padraig once she learned of Cairren’s absence.
She dreaded an encounter with Myrna while she was trying to flee.
She didn’t doubt Myrna would be happy to see the back of her head, but she would undoubtedly crow like a rooster about seeing her as soon as she arrived at Foulis.
She and the Sutherlands had no choice but to ride through Munro land since it stretched east to the coast. Going west through Mackenzie territory would add extra days to their journey.
She could practically see Urquhart land on her third day south, and it made her think of Wynda.
Tears stung her eyes as she thought about her only friend at Foulis and her untimely death.
It made her think of the bairn she believed she carried and all that Wynda lost along with the one that died with her.
She was so lost in thought, knowing they were nearly off Munro land, that she was unprepared for the ambush.
One moment she was cantering, and the next Lachlan was spurring them into a mad gallop toward the invisible border.
While she spotted an ebony head of hair in the center in the pack that chased them, she knew immediately it wasn’t Padraig.
The man’s build was wrong; too short and not broad enough across the shoulders.
Duncan. Why would he chase after me? I thought he’d be the first to escort me off Munro land. He must know we’re almost to the border, and it’s clear that’s where we’re headed. Is he just in a hurry to chase us off?
“Lady Cairren, those are Munros, and they aren’t a search party. They all carry bows,” Lachlan yelled over the sound of the horses. “We need to get over the border now. They outnumber us.”
Cairren urged her horse on, but the mare couldn’t keep up with the stallions and geldings it rode alongside. While it didn’t flag, its stride wasn’t as long, and its gait wasn’t as quick. The men could tell and remained in a tight circle around her.
“How does he know it’s us? Why else would he chase us?”
“He must know you fled to us and figured the only reason we have to cross their land is to escort you.”
“Couldn’t you be on the way to court for Blair?” Cairren struggled to talk as she gripped the reins and squeezed her thighs tightly around the horse’s flanks.
“Not at this time of year.”
Cairren fell silent as she focused on encouraging her horse to keep up.
She glanced to her left and realized Lachlan was right.
There had to be a score of men to the half-dozen Sutherlands.
The Munros fanned out, trapping them on all sides but their left.
If they went further east, they would be bound in by the Cromarty Firth.
They had no choice but to outpace the Munros who were racing to move in front of them.
When arrows began flying from the men ahead of them, Cairren couldn’t allow the Sutherland men to die for her. They might have been Lachlan’s men and even his guard, but they weren’t hers. When the second volley flew toward them. She reined in, the horse behind her nearly ramming hers.
“Lady Cairren, we must go.”
“Nay. Let Duncan take me. I won’t have your men dead on my account.”
“Cairren’s that’s the point of an escort. Now move!” Lachlan bellowed, but it was too late. The Munros closed in, and Cairren looked at Duncan.
“Let them live, and I go without a fuss. Let them return to Sutherland.”
“It’s not that simple, bitch,” Duncan spat.
The Sutherlands reached for their swords, but Cairren called out, “Wait!” She looked at Duncan, then the other Munros, some sneering at her, others bewildered by the unexpected attack. Cairren mumbled, “that’s the politest greeting he’s ever given me.”
“There’s no doubt it’s coming with us,” Duncan chuckled at his own degrading comment. “I just haven’t decided how to kill the rest of you.”
“Duncan,” Cairren tried to reason. “You can’t be serious.
The Munros would never survive an attack from the Sutherlands, Sinclairs, and Mackays.
After Wynda’s death, the Urquharts are likely to join in.
And it wouldn’t surprise me if the Mackenzies’ and Sinclairs’ alliance isn’t finally put to use.
The Mackenzies need few excuses to harry you. Let Lachlan and his men go.”
Duncan considered what Cairren said, and after a long moment that seemed to draw on forever in Cairren’s mind, Duncan nodded.
“Hand the whore over, and we will let you go,” Duncan spat.
“No.” Lachlan’s answer was succinct, but Cairren shook her head.
“I don’t want this,” she murmured to Lachlan. “Go home. I don’t want Sunderland men’s deaths on my conscience for the rest of time.”
“And I’m not abandoning a lady to this miscreant.”
“You don’t have a choice, Lach,” Duncan’s patronizing tone filled the air. “We outnumber you and will just take her. We have no problem leaving your carcasses to the animals. Mind your business and give her over.”
Cairren decided for Lachlan when she swung down from her horse and tossed the reins to a stunned Sutherland warrior, leaving the borrowed plaids on the saddle.
She slipped between the horses and walked toward Duncan.
She stopped halfway and raised her chin, defiance radiating from her.
“Padraig’s been looking for me, hasn’t he? ”
“My stupid little brother is chasing his tail trying to find his bitch. You’d think you were in heat the way he’s sniffing for you.”
“Then you ken he’ll kill you if you harm me.”
“So he might. Or he might not, since more of the guards are loyal to me than to him,” Duncan’s chuckle made a shiver slide down Cairren’s back.
She knew it wasn’t true. While the clan hated her, most Munro warriors didn’t respect Duncan.
She suspected his only allies were the men who rode with him that day. “I shall take you to face judgment.”
Duncan nodded, and a man dismounted and stalked toward Cairren.
She saw the rope in his hands, and she knew they would bind both her hands and her feet.
The man produced a strip of Munro plaid and gagged her.
She didn’t resist, but when she was flung belly-down over Duncan’s saddle, she thought she would cast up the bannocks and dried beef she ate to break her fast. He gave her backside a resounding slap.
Duncan muttered, “I shall have fun with you before we do aught else.”
Cairren tried to rear up and look at Lachlan.
She hadn’t imagined when she surrendered that Duncan would assault her.
She’d assumed that he wouldn’t actually want to touch her, that his actions in the past had just been to intimidate her.
Now she knew just how deeply she had underestimated him.
She tried to catch Lachlan’s eye, but it was impossible with the horse’s head in the way.
The Munros spun around and headed southwest, the opposite direction from Foulis.
Lachlan held up a staying hand until the men disappeared. “To Foulis, and don’t spare the horses.”