Chapter Nineteen
They rode back to the house in silence with Elspeth’s cheek pressed against Logan’s chest, her arms coiled low around his waist. He hadn’t kissed her, but he ached to do so.
He would not take advantage of her by tempting her to do something she might not do if she were thinking clearly.
Her thoughts and memories must be in a shambles.
She would forever see her brother doing the unthinkable, and for that, Logan hated Roderick Woodburn.
If he met him, he might kill him. He wondered if his cousins had found the unholy bastard.
What would happen if they did? He would be brought before the Lochiel, who would decide his punishment.
Logan knew his father would not leave a man alive who wanted his son dead. Would Elspeth hate him forever?
When they reached the house, his mother hurried out to him, waving a handkerchief as if it were a flag of surrender.
“Logan,” his mother said, then hit him with her handkerchief she’d been waving. “Where have ye been, and where is yer brother?”
“What is it, Mother?” Logan demanded.
She moved her head closer to his. “Yer—”
“Logan!” A familiar, booming voice shook the walls.
Logan smiled when he saw his father leaving the sitting room.
“Father, ’tis good to see ye.” It was always good to see him. Logan cherished his mother, but it was at his father’s side where Logan set himself from a young age. He went to him now and was caught up in his father’s tight embrace.
“Mother said ye had meetin’s and such,” Logan said, stepping back. “What brings ye here?”
“This lass,” his father said, turning to set his gaze on Elspeth.
“I would have ye know that I questioned all the men, and they all tell me the same thing; they set yer keep ablaze, but they didna kill yer kin and throw them in the fire. In fact, they didna have to kill anyone, as the guards had all been dead already or asleep.”
“Save fer Ewen MacDonald,” she told him. “He killed one of the guards asleep outside yer son’s cell. I understand why he did it now, but that guard was my friend.”
“Do ye have proof of yer claim, Miss Woodburn?”
“Aye, my lord, my eyes are my proof. I was hiding in the shadows. I saw Mr. MacDonald do it.”
“What were ye doin’ hidin’ in the dungeon with yer father’s prisoner?”
There was nothing in the Lochiel of Lochaber that was soft, like his son. This one was just as striking as his sons, and a hundred times more threatening.
“I was trying to save yer son.”
“Why?” his father demanded.
“Because I take nae pleasure in seeing a man suffer.”
He stared at her in much the same way Logan did. As if he was trying to understand her. Like his son, he came away none the wiser.
Finally, he gave her a slight nod and moved on to Logan.
“Where is yer brother?”
Logan was hoping to avoid this, but he couldn’t. “He is with Ewen, Steafan, and Jamie.”
“Doin’ what?” his father asked.
“They went after Roderick Woodburn. Miss Woodburn’s brother.”
“Why did they go after him?”
“He kidnapped her,” Logan told him candidly. He hoped the conversation was over. He knew it wasn’t.
“Why would a brother kidnap his sister?” his father asked. “If he didna want her with a Cameron, mayhap he simply took her, she bein’ his sister and ye bein’ his enemy. Why do ye call it kidnappin’?”
Logan looked at Elspeth. Should he explain to his father? When she nodded, as if sensing what he wanted to ask her, he looked away and let out a breath he’d been holding.
“Father, let us go to the sittin’ room.”
“I dinna feel like sittin’, Son. What is goin’ on, and why did ye get Ealar involved in it?”
“Ealar got himself involved—and earned my respect fer it.”
His father might have wanted to say something, but he remained quiet.
So, Logan continued. “Roderick Woodburn confessed to his sister that he was the one who killed his kin.”
Near him, Logan’s mother gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “His parents?”
“And our younger brother,” Elspeth said, unleashing a fresh storehouse of tears.
Logan took her hand. Both of his parents took note.
“Miss Woodburn,” his mother hurried around him to reach Elspeth. “What a terrible shock fer ye. Come, let me make ye some delicious heather ale.” She put her arm around Elspeth’s shoulders and led her away.
Logan watched them go. His mother would be kind to her.
“Son,” his father’s voice pulled his thoughts from Elspeth, “did Woodburn say why he did it? It takes a poisoned soul to kill one’s kin.”
“I didna ask Elspeth if he told her why. I dinna know how or why he came back fer her. How did he know where to find her?”
“He obviously doesna care fer family, so why spare her?”
Logan looked at his father. Aye, he’d wondered the same thing.
“If the lads dinna catch him—” Logan began.
“I will go lend my aid,” his father said, already turning to leave the hall.
“Father, nae. Ye stay, I’ll go.”
His father narrowed his eyes on him. “Do ye think I’m too old and feeble to handle a young fool like Woodburn?”
“Nae,” Logan chuckled. Never that. His father could still beat him in practice. “I dinna want ye havin’ to go oot when ye just arrived. Besides, a storm is brewin’.”
“Logan.” His father lifted his palm, signaling for silence. “I will send Ealar back to let ye know Woodburn is on his way to Tor prison.”
Without another word, the Lochiel of Lochaber disappeared into the sitting room, kissed his wife farewell, then left the house.
“If it were anyone else, I would feel sorry fer Roderick,” Elspeth said softly. “Having the Lochiel after ye is a frightening thing indeed. But my brother deserves whatever punishment he gets.”
“Constantine is fair, he will do the right thing,” Logan’s mother said and stood up. “I was going to fix ye something to drink. Ye two stay seated and I will prepare it and something to fill yer bellies.”
“Let me help,” Elspeth offered quickly and was just as quickly refused.
Alone again once his mother set off to prepare her ale, Logan glanced at Elspeth and smiled. He was sure that even on the worst day, just looking at her could make him smile. He understood that grinning at her like a damn fool was likely due to the fact that he was in love with her.
“Elspeth, after we eat, let’s go fer a walk along the mountainside, aye?”
She looked at him with her melancholy gaze that held back the sorrow and betrayal eating away at all her defenses. How long could she hold on before she needed to weep or scream?
“The moment ye need to leave, we will go. She will understand,” he promised about his mother. “She has her own tale to tell of how she was a runaway bride—” he nodded when Elspeth gasped “—who ran straight into the arms of my father.”
There it was, the smile he’d been hoping to see.
“The man she was to marry by order of her stepmother, didna like the way others looked at her long, red locks. So he cut them off—” He paused to acknowledge Elspeth’s second sharp intake of breath.
“Aye, she told me that a man cut off her hair,” Elspeth told him. “She disguised herself as a lad.”
“My father claims to have known he was a she all along.”
“And then what?” Elspeth tugged on his sleeve.
Logan smiled inside. He got her thinking of something else besides her murderous brother.
“He promised to protect her and slept outside her room, on the other side of the door.”
“Fer two nights!” Logan’s mother corrected enthusiastically while entering the sitting room. She carried a wooden tray and on it were three goblets, a loaf of black bread, and honey.
“Your father brought the heather ale from the castle,” she let him know, handing him a goblet and then one to Elspeth. “Miss Woodburn, do ye cook?”
Logan nearly choked on his ale. His mother and Elspeth both hurried to his chair.
He held up his palms to stave them off. He was all right.
It was the thought of Elspeth cooking for his kin that jolted him.
Suddenly, it was a very real possibility.
But…she wouldn’t try to kill them now, would she? They were innocent.
“Goodness, Logan,” his mother said, concern filling her storm-colored eyes, “I think ’tis too soon fer ye to be up and about! Let us get ye back to bed.”
“I am well,” he reassured her. “My drink just went down wrong.”
She did not look convinced but thankfully, his brother chose to swing open the front door and come inside.
“We didna find him!” he ground out and slid into a chair near Logan.
“Where is yer father?” his mother asked.
“Comin’, and he is no’ pleased.”
This was not good news, Logan thought, standing from his chair to pace in front of it.
A murderer was out there and he wanted Elspeth.
He gave her a worried glance. Her brother had gotten into the house and was bold enough to wake her in her bed.
Logan wasn’t about to let him do it again. “We need to go to the castle.”
“That was to be my next suggestion,” his father said, coming into the house and hearing Logan.
The lads were close behind him, with Ewen in the lead. “Lochiel told us who the culprit is,” his cousin said, and then went to stand next to Elspeth. “Miss Woodburn, please tell us everything there is to know aboot yer brother.”
She said nothing long enough for Logan to think she was not going to answer. But then, she looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and finally spoke. “My brother killed my family and used me to…to participate unawares. I had prepared—” She choked back a sob.
Logan was there immediately, kneeling before her. She didn’t have to do this.
But she started again. “I had seen my father’s men bringing ye—Logan—to the dungeon.
He appeared badly hurt and in need of my medicinal concoctions.
I wanted to help him. I went to Roderick fer advice, knowing he would go against our father to help me.
He suggested I prepare a dwale concoction and pour it into the guard’s water barrel in the kitchen, and then put extra salt in their food, ensuring that they drank the water.
“They were helpless, and made of nae use, thanks to me. Roderick had used the opportunity to kill our parents and our brother whilst they slept.” She wiped her tears away and continued.
“After the Camerons had set fire to the keep, he found me in the dungeon, knowing precisely where to look. He knocked me out and set me near my parents in the ashes of the inner yard. I dinna know what his plans fer me were. He has spent his life angry at our father—and with plenty of reasons. But fer the most part, we got along well. He isna that lad anymore. I stopped knowing him the day he murdered my family.”
“He is capable of anythin’,” Logan said. The others agreed.
“Miss Woodburn.” All eyes turned to his father. “I would know what ye would think if yer brother dies by our hands. Would yer hatred fer us, fer my son, be restored?”
“I dinna owe my loyalty to Roderick. If God allows him to face judgment at the hands of the Camerons, then so be it.”
Satisfied with her answer, Lochiel swept past them to the Main Hall. “Let us get ready to leave.”
“Father?” Every head turned to Logan and waited for him to continue. “I was mistaken. We should remain here until Woodburn is caught. We are better protected in a shelter than in the open. Here, we can also keep him oot more easily.
“I think we should send Jamie to the castle with word of what has happened. Have him return here with a dozen of yer best men. They will set a perimeter aroond the glen and keep watch. We can station a few lads to watch the glen from the mountain ridges.
“Stayin’ here also ensures the safety of everyone at the castle,” his father said, then smiled at him. “Who am I to disobey the orders of the captain of the king’s army?”
Logan returned the sign of affection between them. “Ye are a captain as well, and ye outrank me.”
His father shrugged his shoulder. “Nae reason to ignore sound advice.” He looked around at the others. “Jamie?” He searched the faces around him. “Ah, he already left, I see. Good! The rest of ye should be on yer way to do Logan’s biddin’.”
“I’ll go to the ridge,” Ewen volunteered. Logan breathed a small sigh of relief. He didn’t want to leave Elspeth. Steafan sighed in relief as well but for a different reason. He was built fer knocking rocks down, not climbing them.
“Elspeth, dear,” his mother said, taking Elspeth’s hand from his, “come, let us go prepare fer the day.”
Logan watched them leave the room. He smiled at Elspeth when she looked over her shoulder at him. She didn’t want to leave him either.
“Son.”
Logan turned to look at his father. Still sitting beside him was Ealar.
“What do ye plan on doin’ with Miss Woodburn?”
Ealar turned his head, listening for his brother’s answer.
“I intend to make her my wife.”
No one spoke for an eternal moment, and then his father shook his head and looked away. “I’m afraid…I canna allow that.”