Chapter 11
MacKinnon Keep, Inner Hebrides
Laird Boyd MacKinnon, otherwise known as the Monk, loved his wife and son to distraction.
He sat by the fireplace of the Great Hall bouncing a giggling baby Quinn on his lap. The babe jumped and babbled and occasionally grabbed Boyd's finger and tried to eat it, and Boyd laughed each time as if it were the funniest thing he had ever witnessed.
Father and son were thoroughly lost in their mutual admiration of one another when the door to the hall opened and his wife Bella came running in with a worried look upon her face.
Boyd's attention snapped to her immediately. He stood, cradled Quinn closer against his chest, and extended his free arm to his wife.
Bella crossed to them and pressed her lips to the top of Quinn's dark head, holding them there for a moment. Then she pressed herself against Boyd's chest as he enclosed her with his free arm.
"What is it, wife?" he asked quietly.
She pulled back enough to look at him. "Una is missing, Boyd.
Two days now. She was supposed to be at the festival – I thought I'd meet her there as we usually do – but she never came.
I didn't think anything of it at first, but then Cora Fergusson sent word that Una had missed a fitting.
Una never misses fittings with her patrons. "
Boyd said nothing, listening.
"So I took Thamas with me to the village." Bella's voice had gone tight. "Her cottage was closed up. Nobody had seen her. Not since the morning of the festival."
Bella reached into the fold of her arisaidh and held out a small basket – or what had been one.
It was crushed, the handle broken clean away.
"We found this in the woods at the north edge of the green.
This is Una's, Boyd. She takes it everywhere.
She would never leave it." Her voice broke.
"I ken something terrible has happened to her. I can feel it."
The tears she had been holding back broke through. Bella was not a woman prone to weeping easily, and the sight of it tightened something in Boyd's chest.
"Hush," he said, drawing her closer, Quinn between them. "Hush now – ye're frightening the lad."
Quinn had gone solemn. He looked at his mother's face with a small frown, then pressed himself against her chest and tucked his head under her chin.
Boyd's heart melted. He felt so much love for the small family he held in his arms.
Bella smiled through her tears and pressed her mouth to Quinn's head. "Sorry, my wee one. Ma is worried for yer godmother." She kissed him until he settled, one small fist gripping her collar.
"Dinnae fash, love. I'll find her," Boyd said.
Bella looked up at him with relief and worry in equal measure. "Thank ye, husband. If there's anyone who can find her, 'tis you."
"No need to thank me. Una is family," Boyd said simply. "I'll not rest until we ken she's safe."
"I love ye, Boyd," she said.
"I love ye more, my Bella." He kissed her, hugged Quinn tighter, then kissed Bella once more for good measure before making his way toward the door.
***
BOYD HAD REMAINED CALM for Bella's sake, but he had been the Monk long enough to know what Una's discarded basket meant.
He became aware then that Thamas, his second-in-command, had been standing in the hall since Bella arrived – far enough away to give the family the privacy the moment required, but close enough to hear everything.
Thamas met his eyes and gave the slightest nod. Boyd tilted his head toward the corridor and walked out. Thamas followed without a word.
They moved away from the hall door, far enough that their voices would not carry back to Bella.
Boyd did not bother with preamble. "What do ye ken?"
Thamas's expression was grim. "I made enquiries before the mistress came to ye. The Una lass is certainly missing. Her neighbour said there have been no lit candles or fire at her cottage for the past two days."
Boyd gritted his teeth as they walked at a brisk pace.
"However, there's been talk in the surrounding burgh," Thamas continued. "Nothing I'd stake anything on yet, but there is mention of raiders working north of Kyleakin. A merchant lost a cart of goods several days past."
Boyd looked at him. "Ye think she has been taken by raiders?"
Thamas met his gaze directly. "I think the basket being found where it was, and the stories coming out of that stretch of road, point in the same direction. Aye. I think someone took her."
"Gather the men," Boyd said. "We need to find her, and fast."
***
THE ORDERS TOOK LESS than ten minutes.
Several of Boyd's most trusted men were to remain behind and guard Bella and Quinn. The Keep was to stay on alert with extra patrols between it and the village.
Then Boyd, Thamas, and seven of Boyd's war band readied their horses and took their leave.
Bella had given Boyd a large boist filled with clothes and essentials she felt Una would need when they found her. It was now strapped to his horse.
"North road first," Boyd said quietly. "I want every route out of those woods searched, and scouts sent to check taverns and inns – especially those off the main thoroughfare."
Thamas mounted. "Consider it done."
Boyd nodded, swung up into the saddle, and gave the command to ride.
The gates opened, and the Monk rode north at the head of his men.
***