The door closed, and the light dimmed. She spit in the dirt and slumped down the rough, dirty wall, the scuttling around her less important than her knees giving way. She said a prayer then and asked for forgiveness. She asked for strength. She asked that Alexander would know that she’d not been angry at him at the party, just those short hours ago, only that she wanted him beside her. That she was selfish. She took a deep breath and pulled her bound hands to her mouth, pulling the rope with her teeth.
The parlor was silent other than the occasional whispered exchange between Aunt Murdoch and Mrs. McClintok and the clink of a teacup on a saucer. Alexander was charged with pent-up anger, his heel lifting and dropping in a staccato rhythm. James paced in front of the fireplace, and Kirsty sat beside their aunt, holding her hand and sniffling. The room was dark aside from the light from a low blaze in the fireplace. MacAvoy was at the front door, and a guard was at the kitchen doors. Payden and Robert sat beside each other on a low footstool. Graham stood sentry by the door to the parlor.
James had taken Alexander upstairs when they’d first arrived and given him a dark sweater to wear and grease to blacken his face. He’d put it on liberally and now waited. Sick to his stomach thinking of what she might be going through. Trying to tamp down the need to kill.
“A messenger is here,” Muireall whispered from her place near the window. “Just one man. He’s dropped a bag, a canvas one by the door. He’s gone.”
“My man will follow him and see if he leads us to anything. I’m guessing, though, that the messenger was just that, a messenger with no idea what is going on,” Graham said.
James opened the door, picked up the bag, and carried it inside. Graham pulled the bag open. He reached in and pulled out a closed envelope. “It’s addressed to the Thompson family.”
“Read it,” Aunt Murdoch said. “Read it out loud.”
He glanced at her. “There may be things written that might be unpleasant to hear, ma’am.”
“Read it,” Muireall said.
* * *
Bring Rory’s boy to the corner of Clearfield and Bath Street at six in the morning. He’ll be told what to do from there. When he gets to where he’s told to go, we’ll set the girl free. She ain’t a maid no more but still has her fingers and toes and tongue. If he’s late, she won’t.
* * *
Alexander bowed his head as Kirsty let out a cry and Aunt Murdoch gasped. He rarely prayed. In fact, he could not remember the last time he’d been to church and heard the words, but he was a believer. There was something bigger than everyone, he was certain. He prayed then to stay alive long enough to save her and that she knew that he cared for her, that he loved her, although he’d never said the words.
“I’m going. You won’t stop me, James,” Payden said.
“Has it occurred to you that if you go, I’ll be worried about you instead of worrying about retrieving Elspeth?” James asked.
“We won’t get her back if I don’t go, and you know it. I’m going.”
“You must remain here, Payden. I insist! It is far too dangerous!” Muireall said.
Payden looked at his eldest sister, even as she towered over him, and spoke calmly. “The Earls of Taviston have a long history of defending their keep. I know because I’ve read all the history books you’ve ever handed me. The fifth earl was eleven years old when he took his men into battle. You cannot tell me I’m the chief of the clan with one breath and then tell me to go to my room with the next.” He turned to James. “I’ll need whatever it is you use to darken your face.”
“I’ll get it, Lord Taviston,” he said and left the room.
Muireall dropped to the seat behind her, her face white, her hand over her mouth.
Elspeth held her ear to the door and held her breath. Giggly voice was talking to a rather large group of men she gathered because he said several names and told them the location they’d be stationed at.
“The boy will go straight to the ship,” he said. “I want ten men surrounding him at all times.” She strained to hear a question being asked but could only hear the answer. “He may be just a boy, but we will not underestimate him. And anyway, he is worth a fortune.”
“Kill the brother first,” he continued. “As soon as you can. He’ll be our only challenge.”
There was a cheer from the crowd at that and then another question she could not make out.
“I don’t care about the woman. Those not boarding the ship can have her.”
Another loud cheer erupted. Two things came to Elspeth’s mind. She was trembling and terrified, and that would never do for a MacTavish. She was not ready to die, but apparently her time had come, and she must face it with all the courage she could. She would face it as her parents had, protecting the next generation and the chief of the clan.
Secondly, it would not matter if she managed to kill one silently. There were just too many to fell with her lone dagger, if she could kill even one of them. She blinked in the darkness and swallowed a cry. But she would still take out as many as she could, even if she only injured them or slowed them down. She would not give up without a fight.
Chapter 18
Alexander pulled on the heavy black sweater that James had given him, rolled up the cuffs, and stood at the door of the parlor. Graham had left, and two more of his men had been brought in to guard the house. Robert McClintok was to stay and guard the women. Apparently, the young man had learned his lessons with guns alongside Payden, as he handled the weapon safely and with confidence. He was calm as James handed him a knife.
“If the house has been breached, get the women to the safest place you can think of. If the worst has happened and you have a chance to get them outside onto the street past their people, that may be wise. Some of our neighbors will come to your defense. You’ve got six bullets in that revolver and another handful in your pocket. Shoot straight for the chest. If you’re in close combat, stab in the heart or the sides of the neck where the jugular vein is. Do you understand?”
He nodded and looked James in the eyes. “Yes. I understand.”
“You’ve got the safety of your mother, our cousins, and our aunt in your hands,” James said and wrapped his hand around the back of Robert’s neck.
Muireall stood dry-eyed, clutching a dagger, staring at James and Payden. Kirsty sobbed and kissed her brothers and MacAvoy.
“Dia a bhith maille ribh,” Aunt Murdoch said and kissed her nephews. “God be with you. With all of you.”
Alexander was anxious to go, to find her. Whether they had a lifetime together or he was just a passing interest to her, he needed to make sure she was safe. Thinking of her at the mercy of dishonorable men, dangerous and violent men, made his ears buzz and his hands shake. He must control himself when the time came.
Graham came up the steps from the kitchen carrying a large piece of paper in his hands.
“I thought you’d gone,” James said.
“I had. But we’ve already had some skirmishes. My men have taken down two groups already, one three blocks away and one five blocks away from where we believe your sister is.”