Chapter 36
Padraig decided after leaving Dunrobin to return to Foulis for more supplies and men before he would begin the chase to Stirling and possibly beyond.
He was nearly home when he noticed the Sutherland party racing toward him.
He reined in and waited, but his heart hammered when he heard Lachlan call out, “Your brother has her!”
Padraig’s horse ate up the scant distance and reared when he pulled his mount to a stop. “How?” he demanded.
“He had a score of men who outflanked us and shot at us. Lady Cairren refused to consider evading them, arguing she didn’t want to see any of us dead.
Honorable, but it put her in your brother’s hands.
She walked to him willingly, but he bound and gagged her, riding southwest. Fool that he is, he left us alive.
I think Cairren’s argument aboot what awaited the Munros should we die was convincing.
But he had to know we’d go straight to you. ”
Padraig looked in the direction Lachlan mentioned and wondered if Duncan would ride around the western side of Foulis and then head to Ross territory, where he would receive a warm welcome from Myrna.
But Padraig knew he wouldn’t. It would be too easy for Padraig to cut him off, and it would put him in Mackenzie territory.
Padraig wondered if Duncan would circle back and hide on Urquhart land or even try to get as far south as the Frasers. He just didn’t know.
“He wouldn’t dare cross over into Mackenzie territory, would he?” Lachlan asked and brought Padraig out of his ruminations.
“I doubt it. He might continue south to the Frasers, but that’s too far to return to Foulis without too many questions asked. He might head to Urquhart la—” Padraig suddenly knew where his brother would head. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it immediately.
“Are you planning to share what you’ve realized?” Lachlan asked as he looked sideways at Padraig.
“He’s headed to the caves along the coast of Cromarty Firth where it meets Moray Firth. He’ll put Cairren in one of the caves and leave her there for high tide to drown her. It’s the easiest place to be rid of her without having to do it himself or worry aboot disposing of her body.”
“If that’s the case, he probably rode far enough to see us turnaround and then turned east. He has an hour’s lead on us,” Lachlan noted.
Padraig glanced in the sun’s direction and knew they couldn’t waste time if they were to be there before the afternoon high tide.
He knew Cairren was a strong swimmer, but it wouldn’t matter if her skirts weighed her down and the waves bashed her against the rocks.
Padraig, Lachlan, and their men spurred their horses to the east as Padraig began his litany of prayers over again.
Cairren swallowed as the jostling and hanging upside down made her gorge rise.
She would choke if she were ill with the gag in her mouth.
She kept her eyes closed. Watching the ground race by beneath her had only made the sensation worse.
She listened to the men, but they didn’t speak.
She’d been able to tell when they turned east, but she didn’t know the geography around Foulis to know where they were going.
She knew Cromarty Firth lay to the east, and she suspected that was where they were headed, but she wasn’t certain.
She remembered Padraig telling her about the caves he’d explored as a child.
He and Duncan rode out one day, and his older brother pushed him in just as the tide was changing.
The tide nearly sucked Padraig into a cave.
He told Cairren he’d never forgotten his fear, but one of his father’s guards had ridden after the boys when he learned they’d snuck out.
Adam dove in and used his larger body to shield Padraig from the crashing waves until he could drag Padraig ashore.
Cairren recalled Padraig telling her that Duncan received a beating for his actions, but he’d grinned at Padraig when his punishment was done, unrepentant for nearly killing his younger brother.
Padraig told Cairren that it was that event that made him never trust his brother again.
Cairren supposed Myrna’s duplicitous behavior surprised him at first, but Duncan’s hadn’t.
He’d told Cairren he wouldn’t put anything past his brother’s depraved mind. Not after he saw Wynda’s body.
Cairren caught a whiff of sea air, and her stomach finally sank, to her body’s relief but her mind's horror. She knew her death was imminent. She wondered if Lachlan and the Sutherlands would find Padraig. She had a moment of doubt that he would come for her, if he even guessed where Duncan took her. She almost slid from the horse when Duncan brought them to a stop. He’d fondled her bottom and breasts throughout the ride, even hitching up her skirts to reach his hand beneath to her bare skin.
He’d tried to slide his hand between her legs, but she’d pushed her knees against his horse’s flank, threatening to push herself off the horse.
The horse stumbled a step then tried to rear, and a hard spank rained down on her over her clothes.
Duncan continued to touch her, but he didn’t risk his horse rearing and throwing them both.
Duncan was none-too-gentle when he yanked Cairren from the horse.
Her knees gave out, but when she sank to the ground, Duncan pulled her up by a handful of hair.
She yelped behind the gag, and many of the men laughed.
She scanned her surroundings, hearing the crashing waves and seeing the expanse of water.
They were incongruous, the water flat but the waves loud.
She knew it meant the tide was rising, and she knew it meant Duncan would hurry to place her inside a cave.
They’d tied her hands in front of her, which made the horseback ride more comfortable, she supposed, but it also meant that she could reach the dirk she carried.
It surprised her that Duncan hadn’t remembered she carried one and taken it from her.
She tucked her belt under her arisaid since no one gave her a smaller plaid and still wore Padraig’s.
This made it easier for her to move about Foulis with no one realizing she was armed; now that would come in handy.
She was certain she could reach it, but she didn’t know whether she could saw through the ropes binding her hands and feet before the surf was higher than her head.
Not for the first time did she wish she was taller.
Still holding her hair and a rope coiled over his shoulder, Duncan maneuvered her along the uneven path that led to the caves.
She caught her first glance at the caves, and her heart sank.
The tide was rising, but people could still come and go.
It meant Duncan had time to secure her in the cavern rather than just toss her in.
She pretended to stumble when they reached the sand, giving her an opportunity to pull the sgian dubh free before Duncan pinned her arms down.
The short, sharp knife would make fraying the rope easier, even if the blade wasn’t very long.
She would also use it to stab Duncan, if she had the chance.
Cairren trudged along as Duncan led her to the back of a cave.
A stalagmite was conveniently located near the back wall.
She kept the knife hidden within her sleeve; the blade nicked her with each step, but she figured having the blade poking her was the lesser of two evils.
“I shall remove your gag, so you can scream to your heart’s content and ken no one is coming for you.
Padraig will never guess to come here, and even if he did, the tide will have drowned you before he figures it out.
Perhaps he’ll wade down and drag your corpse out.
Likely, you’ll become food for the fish.
There are some rather large ones with pointy teeth just waiting to tear you apart,” Duncan chuckled, but it faded when Cairren didn’t cringe.
She knew the basking sharks were seasonal on the east coast, just as they were on the west. They would already be gone this close to winter.
She also knew the water would be frigid.
They splashed through the swishing water that entered the cave along with them.
Cairren’s boots and skirts absorbed water, already making it hard to walk.
She stumbled again and forced herself not to cry out when her dirk poked her.
She was certain it broke the skin, and she wasn’t excited about blood attracting larger fish.
She didn’t resist when Duncan tied her to the enormous standing stone, grateful that he bound the rope around her arms above the elbow.
It meant she could work the thick coil free.
“If there was only more time,” Duncan sighed. “I would have given you a good swiving.” His laugh echoed off the walls and sounded more like a cackle. He pulled the gag free before squeezing her chin between his fingers and thumb. “Go ahead and scream. I want to hear your fear as I walk away.”