Chapter 4
Fear barely had a chance to shoot through her.
Furious and scared, she went to scream, but a hand smeared with dirt covered her face, muffling all the sounds that tried to escape.
She writhed and struck out with flailing arms, but they were caught in iron grips.
Her arms were pulled behind her back, and her wrists were tied together.
A gag was pulled over her face. When she felt fingers slip between her lips, she bit down on them hard.
The hand shot away, and there was a curse.
Then, a stinging pain bloomed and rippled across Islay’s face as the man slapped her.
“She bit me. She bit me!” a man said in a rough accent.
Islay was dazed and groggy from the slap, and she had no resistance to offer as the gag was slipped over her mouth, preventing her from making any noise that might draw attention to them.
Her heart pounded, and she gazed around frantically in the hope that someone might come and rescue her.
She never thought that she would be at the mercy of bandits.
It was something that happened to other people, not to her.
She wasn’t some traveling merchant. She was the daughter of a laird!
Except she wasn’t, not really, not anymore. She was a runaway. She was a scoundrel. She had forsaken her home, and couldn’t expect anyone to come and rescue her. How she wished she had listened to Kirsten now!
The two men who had captured her were disgusting and smelly.
It was as though toxic air swirled around them, and she was nauseous.
They dragged her along, her feet scraping against the ground.
She kicked out in an effort to wriggle out of their grasp, but their hands were tight and gave her no opportunity to escape.
Her vision was blurred as anxious tears burned her eyes.
A lump formed in her throat as she remembered all the grim horrors that Kirsten had described, the cruel fates that had prevented Kirsten from coming with Islay.
Islay had never seen a bandit up close before.
She had always heard stories of them, and every so often, she had seen one or two of them dragged through the town ready to be punished.
They had always been a threat that Islay was sure would never affect her.
It just didn’t seem possible, but now she realized that there was no reason why she should remain untouched by anything dangerous.
She had always believed there was something special about her because she was the daughter of a laird, but now she realized how hollow that belief was.
There was nothing that set her apart from the merchant the bandits had killed, and the same fate might very well befall her.
Her heart thundered in her chest. She glanced up.
There were small breaks in the canopy of trees where the moonlight could pour through.
On these occasions, she caught a glimpse of the men.
One of them had long, straggly hair, and he looked more wolf than man.
His lips were thin, and his scratchy beard made it look as though dirt had been smudged across his face.
His eyes were beady and he barely paid attention to her.
The other man was larger; he had a bald head, and his lips were twisted into a snarl.
The tip of one of his ears had been cut off.
“What a find she is,” the man with the straggly hair said.
“Oh, aye! She’ll dae us well. Maybe we should spend a wee bit more time in the woods if maidens like these are waiting tae be plucked.”
“Dae ye think she’s a maiden? Looking at her, I’m nae sae sure. I mean, a girl like that…how could any man keep his hands off her?”
“I’m sure she haes her nasty side. All lasses dae. They need a swift slap tae keep them in line. I’ll make sure tae discipline this one.”
As they spoke, Islay’s stomach churned. She knew she had to do anything to escape because her life depended on it, as did her virtue.
She shuddered as she thought of these men touching her, claiming her—of their hot, fetid breath punching against her skin.
She almost threw up, so abhorrent were the thoughts.
When Islay looked around, she realized she had no idea where she was in the forest. Everything looked the same: bleak and dark, with no sense of respite at all.
But she didn’t care about that. Anywhere was safer than being with these men.
As soon as she thought she had the right opportunity, she pretended to stumble.
The man with the wounded ear turned to pull her forward.
A harsh word on his lips was silenced as she shrieked and kicked him in the stomach with all the might she could muster.
He lost his grip on her as the air was driven from his lungs.
The other man cried out in shock, and Islay was able to use the moment to wrench her arm away.
Without hesitating, she turned and sprinted into the depths of the forest, hoping that the darkness would be her ally.
If it were difficult for her to see, then it would be difficult for the men as well.
She hoped to put enough distance between them and then find some hole she could crawl into to hide from them.
In time they would give up, she was certain of that, and all she had to do was wait them out.
Islay could feel the ground shake with the stomps of the men pursuing her.
Their angry growls and curses promised her nothing but pain.
It was challenging to run with her hands bound behind her back and her mouth gagged.
She choked on her breath as she tried to twist her head and free herself of the gag.
Her fingers worked to try and undo the knot that bound them together to no avail.
Even though she was still tired, the fear and panic filled her with vigor, ensuring she ran faster than she ever had done before.
But just as she thought she was on the way to escaping, she crashed into a branch that seemed to come out of nowhere.
She cursed the darkness and the forest as the impact split her forehead open.
She could feel the warm blood trickle around her eye, and as she fought to regain her balance, she was caught by the men, who were panting.
“Oh, she’s a dumb one as well. What was yer plan, lass? Were ye gaeing tae run through the forest all night? There’s nae escape from us. We’re everywhere!” He and the other man broke into a laugh. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her along.
“Better keep yer hands on her; she’s liable tae escape.
I’m nae letting such a prize slip away,” the man with the straggly hair said.
Islay whimpered and blinked away tears as she knew that she had missed her chance.
She was not likely to get another. She could only hope that her father had some way to find her before it was too late, and that he did so quickly.
She knew the longer she was with these men, the more she would lose herself.
Her heart broke inside, and her soul crumbled.
If she had just listened to Kirsten, she would have been in her own bed sleeping, waking up to the thought of meeting with Callum.
She wished that she was doing that now, even though the thought of talking with him about marriage had seemed unpalatable to her.