Not wanting to trip and hurt the fawn, Claray kept her attention divided half on the bleating baby deer, and half on the ground she was covering. She didn’t glance up until the shade of the trees suddenly gave way to bright sunlight. She raised her head then, and came to an abrupt halt when she saw Conall and all eight of their guards standing in a half circle in front of her. Not all eight, she realized as Colban stumbled out of the woods beside her and quickly joined the other men.
Her eyes narrowed on them briefly, suspicion rising up within her, and then a shout from the men working to gather rushes caught their attention and all of them looked over to see that a party was halfway down the hill, heading toward the castle. It must have come over the ridge the moment she’d stepped into the trees to be so close already, she thought.
“Me uncle is returned,” Conall said, suddenly at her side. Taking her arm, he urged her back toward the wagons loaded with rushes, his gaze sliding over the fawn in her arms as he did. He shook his head, and then smiled crookedly. “It has been so long since ye presented me with a new abandoned or injured beastie ye’d found, I’d begun to think we’d built the small stables fer nothing. I was surprised ye did no’ find four or five on our journey home.”
Claray smiled faintly at his teasing, but just shook her head. She herself had been a little surprised when she hadn’t even seen an animal during the journey from MacFarlane to MacDonald. But they’d traveled only during the day and slept at night, allowing them to travel at a canter throughout the day. She’d realized that the drum of over three hundred horses would have been heard from quite a distance and no doubt had sent most animals fleeing in the opposite direction. Aside from which, she’d always been with Conall’s aunt and cousin when they stopped at night. Most animals might approach one person for aid, but usually would not risk a group of them.
“Do ye want to wait fer them or take yer deer back to the stables?” Conall asked as they stopped by the closest wagon.
Claray hesitated, and then bit her lip and eyed the approaching party, before murmuring, “This little one needs goat’s milk. Yer uncle was going to try to purchase livestock fer us, was he no’?”
“Aye.” He looked toward the traveling party, his eyes squinting as he tried to make out what it included.
The two men riding at the front looked to her to be his uncle and cousin. They were followed by several wagons with large casks on them, obviously ale, mead and wine to tide them over for a while. Hopefully, they’d be able to make their own eventually, but until then they’d have to purchase it. There were a lot of wagons with casks. They were followed by wagons filled with what looked to be sacks of flour and perhaps spices, as well as vegetables. But behind the wagons came various animals and a lot of them, herded along by the soldiers who closed them in on the sides and followed, keeping them moving after the wagons. The soldiers on their horses made it hard to see what exactly the animals were though.
“I can no’ see what animals he managed to get fer us,” Conall admitted after a moment.
“Neither can I,” Claray confessed, and then glanced down at the fawn she carried, before deciding, “I’d like to wait fer them to see.”
Conall nodded, but caught her by the waist and lifted her up to sit on the back of the wagon where she’d been earlier.
Claray murmured a thank-you, and then turned her attention to petting and soothing the distressed fawn in her arms as they waited. It didn’t take as long as she’d feared for the traveling party to reach them. While they took the path down the hill at a slow pace, once on the valley floor they picked up speed and were soon slowing to a halt when Conall walked over to meet them.
His smile when he returned to Claray told her he was pleased with what his uncle and cousin had managed to purchase for them.
“He found everything I asked him to look fer,” Conall announced, hopping onto the back of the wagon next to her. “Includin’ a couple o’ goats with kids. So they’ll be producin’ milk.”
Claray smiled with relief, and then grabbed the side rail with surprise when the wagon rocked as Roderick and Hamish climbed in to sit on one side of the wagon behind them and Gilly and Machar did the same on the other. Hendrie, Colban and the other two young soldiers who had been set to guarding Conall all stood in front of her and Conall, and walked behind the wagon as it began to move.
“The men had just finished fillin’ the wagons with rushes when they saw the travelers approachin’,” Conall explained, and she peered along the row of four wagons to see that the others were all as full as the one they sat on.
Nodding, she relaxed and turned her gaze back to the fawn. It had stopped bleating and had curled up to sleep in her lap. When Conall’s arm dropped around her shoulders, she leaned into his chest and sighed contentedly.
“Me uncle said he brings good tidings,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“What tidings?” she asked at once.
“I do no’ ken. He said he wanted to tell us both at the same time,” he admitted a touch wryly.
“Oh,” Claray murmured. She supposed he’d been disappointed to have to wait to learn what these tidings were too. Wondering what it could be, she watched the returned traveling party follow them across the new drawbridge and into the bailey.
“MacNaughton is dead.”
Claray blinked at that announcement from Conall’s uncle and stared at him wide-eyed. She, Conall, his aunt and Kenna were all seated at the trestle tables. Meanwhile, the eight men who made up their combined guards stood behind them, while Ross MacKay and Payton stood facing them on the other side of the table to make that announcement.
It was nearly the sup, more than two hours since they’d crossed the drawbridge with the MacKay men and their warriors and the animals following. But it had taken that long to get everything from the wagons sorted and the animals looked after. Conall’s men were even now building fencing to keep the animals from wandering, while others were doing their best to keep the beasts in the area where they would eventually live.
Claray had reluctantly given up the fawn to Allistair to tend, so that she could help Conall go through the provisions his uncle had brought back and decide where they needed to go. Now that was all done, Lady MacKay and Kenna had been fetched from where they were working. Ross MacKay had herded them all to the tables and had insisted they sit before making his announcement.
“Really?” Lady MacKay said finally when no one else spoke.
“Aye.” Payton grinned and then his gaze moved to Claray and he explained gently, “He went after yer sister Allissaid.”
Claray’s eyes widened with alarm. “Is she all right?”
“Aye,” he assured her. “Apparently, he dragged her back to Fraoch Eilean and forced her to marry him, but she escaped. Jumped out the window o’ the tower, right into Loch Awe. MacNaughton’s men searched the shore and pounded the bushes all around, but did no’ find her. She stayed in the water and swam all the way to Kilcairn.” He shook his head. “I can hardly fathom how she managed it.”
“Allissaid was always a good swimmer,” Claray said softly.
“She must be,” Payton said solemnly.
It was Ross MacKay who finished the tale. “The Campbell gave yer sister shelter when she reached Kilcairn. But somehow, the MacNaughton got wind she was there. He tried to steal her back, and the Campbell took exception. He killed him for his trouble. MacNaughton’ll trouble ye no more.”