Highland Rake (10 page)

"'Twas no' a green lad I saw with her," Gunnolf said. "Beyond that, I had already discovered the lad sleeping in the shed."

That gave her pause. What was Gunnolf intimating? That the man who had been with Odara was her lover? "Mayhap he was one of my kinsmen seeing to her welfare, or mayhap trying to learn what had become of me."

"He was in bed with her," Gunnolf said bluntly.

Her cheeks flamed as if they were on fire again. "In bed?" She didn't want to know if they were doing anything more than just sleeping. Then she recalled how adamant Odara was about loving the man called Rob MacNeill. "Was it Rob MacNeill? The father of her bairn?"

"Nay, lass, and they were rather noisy while conducting their business, which was why they did not hear me enter the shieling. They were together as lovers, no' in any other way. Because of what you had told us, I thought I might have discovered our Rob MacNeill, and then the task of finding him would be finished. But 'twas no' him."

Her heart was beating erratically, and she felt her knees weaken. Dougald stalked forward and caught her arm before her legs gave out beneath her.

"No' Rob MacNeill," she said in a very small voice.

"She still may believe Rob is the father of the bairn,
if
there is a wee one," Gunnolf said.

"And then took another lover? She wanted Rob. She said so. My uncle is trying to wed her to a man named Gilleasbuig. She doesna love him."

"Gilleasbuig?" Gunnolf snorted. "'Tis the very same name the man gave me, after he tried to kill me."

"He…he had to have forced himself on her," Alana reasoned.

"Aye, when she was asking for more, begging him to go faster," Gunnolf said, his ire raised.

Alana was certain she would combust into flames at hearing the crude remarks. Dougald was fully supporting her now, rubbing her arm in a soothing way. She couldn't quit thinking of how it would have looked had she returned to the croft and found Gilleasbuig rutting with Odara, and the woman wanting more of the same.

Alana would have been shocked to the core like she was now. And angry.

"Do you know her well?" Dougald asked. "Well, enough to determine what the shepherdess's reason was for having sent you on this errand?"

A fool's errand, Alana thought. "You must return me to the border at once," Alana said, her voice determined as she tried to mask her alarm.

"Do you know her well?" Dougald asked again.

"Aye," she said, then hesitated and shook her head. "Nay. No' really well. We played together when we were little and her da brought her to the castle when he sold sheep to my da. I tended to her another time when she had taken ill. She had to bring her sheep into the bailey when we had trouble with a neighboring clan once or twice after her da died." She paused, realizing the neighboring clan and the trouble was with the MacNeills. "She is a quiet woman, not one to chase after the men." Alana let her breath out. "She is too quiet. Mousy even. I canna see she would be behind this deceitfulness."

Although she could conceive that the shepherdess might have been forced to play her role. "She sent word that she was ill. My uncle refused to tell me the woman was sick. That since she refused to wed Gilleasbuig she could just suffer her complaint."

"I can only report what I myself have witnessed," Gunnolf said, arms folded across his chest, standing by his observation, though he looked as though he wished the news had been otherwise.

"Was your uncle adamant about this? Did he suspect you would go against his word and see to the woman?" Dougald asked.

"He wasna at the keep. One of Cook's assistants gave me the word. She said the lad had spoken on Odara's behalf to my uncle. My uncle had already left before daybreak to meet with one of the bordering clans. I didna learn of this for three days."

"'Tis the kitchen help's claim your uncle knew about any of this," Dougald said darkly. "Are you certain any of it happened as she said?"

"That the lad spoke to my uncle? Nay."

Dougald furrowed his brow. "And that the woman was ill?"

"She was…flushed, hot, but not feverish when I arrived.

"What if she had run inside in a panic when she chanced to see you coming?"

Alana didn't say anything as she considered the notion and found it did indeed have merit as much as she hated to admit it.

"Was she dressed?" Dougald asked.

"Aye." Which hadn't made sense to Alana if the woman was so ill, she couldn't take care of her sheep. Then again, she wondered if she had been caring for them all along, had intended to take them out into the glen, when she'd heard a rider—Alana—and rushed to carry on the pretense that she was ill. Or mayhap, knowing she had to care for her sheep and not having any other choice, she was doing so, ill or not. Though if that was the case, why would she have sprinted into the croft and pretended to be resting? "Return me and I will speak with—"

"Nay. If someone put the shepherdess and the cook's assistant and whoever else might be involved up to this, you could be in harm's way. Who within your castle walls would benefit if the MacNeill took you hostage?"

"No one would benefit." Alana wiped the clamminess from her hands on her wool brat and was attempting to assess the dilemma. What was the shepherdess plotting and who would have solicited her involvement in such a scheme? And how had she sought Pelly to assist her in getting the word to Alana? When the two did not live close by. Pelly lived with the servants in the keep. And Odara had no horse to ride to the keep and give her the word that she was ill.

Someone else had to have asked or forced the women's compliance. But why had three days passed before the word was given to Alana? Why not earlier, if all of what she had said had been a ruse and they needed Alana to chase down a Rob MacNeill, lover of Odara's, who was not her lover?

Did Rob MacNeill exist? And what of his niece?

She couldn't imagine her uncle arranging such a ploy. What if she had
not
gone to see the woman? Then what? Besides, he would have been too concerned for her safety.

Anyone who knew her well enough would also know she would always go to someone's aid who was ill and needed her help.

After she had visited the shepherdess, what if she had not tried to find Rob MacNeill? Only treated the shepherdess with the herbs, then returned to the keep? But then there was Rob's sick niece, which would have ensured Alana would have sought the man out for that reason alone.

Again, anyone could have known she'd seek to aid the woman both to help her overcome her sickness and to search for the man who was the father of the babe and to see to his sick niece. Her uncle had accused her of being too tender-hearted as if she would suffer too greatly if she didn't harden her heart to the cruelty of others.

Now she wondered if Odara's child was a deception also.

Had Odara known that Alana wouldn't be returning this eve? If she had returned, Alana would have caught Odara with Gilleasbuig. She shuddered at thinking of how she would have seen them, him on top of Odara, naked, grunting, her clawing at him, urging him to go…
faster
.

She noted Dougald and the other men were all watching her, waiting for her to come up with some conclusion that would explain why she'd crossed their border alone.

"Are you absolutely certain, Gunnolf, that Gilleasbuig had not forced himself on Odara?" Alana asked one more time, not wishing it to be true, but wanting to believe Odara was innocent of claiming any untruth.

"She noticed me when I stole into the croft and watched them, to see if they were both agreeable to committing the act, and also to see if it might be Rob MacNeill. She didna warn him that I was there, and I thought that odd. After the man finished with her and turned to see me standing there, he came at me with both fists."

Alana shuddered at the image of that—a naked sweaty Gilleasbuig, hairy and meaty and no doubt red-faced with rage.

"I broke the mon's nose, and he sat on the floor holding it, cursing me. I tried to learn who he was, certain it was no kin of the MacNeil," Gunnolf said. "He readily gave up his name. I wanted to ask the lass about carrying a babe, but thought better of it. She seemed to wish to speak with me alone, but couldna with the man in her shieling."

"Three days ago we were informed a Cameron raiding party had crossed into MacNeill lands, but we have seen no sign of anyone, except the lass this day. And she doesna appear to have done much raiding." Dougald said.

"My uncle has been away these past three days." Alana folded her arms. "His men wouldna raid when he is gone."

Appearing as though he was considering her sincerity, Dougald studied her for a moment, then asked of his men, "Who sent word that the Cameron had a raiding party on our lands?"

The lad, Callum, spoke up. "Tavis did. A man he didna know told him when he was hunting rabbits."

"When Tavis became separated from the other hunters?" Dougald asked.

"Aye. He told me that two of our men were chasing a deer. Unable to keep up with them, Tavis spied a rabbit and went after him instead. A man stopped him before he got very far and warned a raiding party had just crossed our border."

A frown furrowing his brow, Dougald rubbed his whiskery chin, then said, "Why did the man tell the lad? Why not seek me out?"

The lad shrugged. "Tavis was excited to learn of it and made haste to speak with you. He didna think to question him, but thanked him and hurried back to find and warn you. You were on the hunt with the other men and had just returned with another deer."

"Yet we discovered no raiding party near the border or anywhere else on our lands, nor have we had any word from our crofters that they had been plagued by raiding parties." Dougald cast a glance in Alana's direction.

Everyone else turned their attention on her. Her cheeks burned. "I told you there had been no raiding party. The men of my clan wouldna have left the keep to conduct one with the laird away."

"What if you were supposed to be told of the shepherdess's ailment three days ago?" Dougald asked.

"There is no need to speculate. I didna receive word, nor did I come earlier."

"But what if you were to be told? And somehow the plan didna going into effect like previously plotted?" Dougald insisted. "What if we had also been told to go to the border for that very reason and would have intercepted you then?"

She shook her head. She didn't know what was going on.

"Did the man who warned of the raiders know who was leading our men this time?" Dougald asked the lad, sounding suspicious.

"He said to get word to you. So aye, he mentioned you by name. That is why Tavis thought he knew us and was one of us."

"Aye." Again, Dougald looked in Alana's direction, and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Probably was just as confused as she was. Or mayhap not. She wasn't used to men's scheming ways. Mayhap he knew just what this was about. Or worse, mayhap he thought she was part of the whole plan. Whatever it was.

"Even if we find every Rob MacNeill in your clan, I suspect none will come forth to say he has been with Odara. If anyone
had
been meeting her," Alana said glumly. "Now that she is seeing Gilleasbuig, you must return me to the border at once. This has all been a big mistake."

"Nay, lass," Dougald said. "I am certain there was some purpose in you crossing the border, and we shall learn what it was in time."

"You were warned a raiding party had crossed into your territory," she corrected. "It was a mistake and has naught to do with me."

His mouth curved up, but his eyes held no mirth. "Aye, led by and made up of only one wee lass three days late. We will let James decide what is to be done with you."

Alana scowled at Dougald. "I had a task to do and 'tis no more. You have no need to take me to your laird."

Stubbornly, he shook his head. "You remain with us for now."

"You wished to know if I would attempt to release you from our dungeon if my uncle ever put you there? Nay. I wouldna." She stalked over to the spot of earth where she'd rested before, curled up on the soft grass in Dougald's blanket and jerked it over her head so she could not see the men watching her.

No one spoke a word, nor did anyone move from the ground they were rooted to.

Dougald finally broke the silence. "Go back to sleep. We leave before dawn."

And his was the word of God, Alana thought, figuring James would even be worse.

***

Later that night, horses' hooves pounded the ground from a distance, and Dougald quickly rose from his plaid, grabbing his sword in the process, pulse racing as he readied himself to fight the enemy, and protect the lass.

No one would ever get any sleep at this rate, Dougald thought as the horses drew closer. All his men hurried to rise from sleeping on their plaids, wrapping the wool around their bodies, grabbing swords and readying for the assault, except for those already on guard duty.

With a slight moan, the lady stood shakily on her feet, looking tired and the worse for wear, particularly after the very long horse ride she'd had, and Dougald imagined she was feeling sore all over. Her golden hair was bared for all to see and in the full moon's light and the flames still flickering in the fire, he was momentarily entranced by the silky rumpled fall of it about her shoulders. Sometime during the night she must have removed her veil.