Highland Rake (13 page)

Dougald glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Alana. "Is he…here now? Standing over there? Protecting you?"

Alana stared at Dougald, her lips parted, her eyes misty with tears. Other than the times she'd mentioned about people she'd seen who she thought had still been alive, she had never told anyone she saw the dead and spoke with them as if they were still among the living. How could she ignore them when they were so real to her? And sought her attention?

"Alana, is your brother here with us now?"

She couldn't believe Dougald would ask her that. She couldn't help looking back at Connell as if confirming to herself he was still there. Which of course he was. He shrugged at her as if he couldn't help her out, and she was on her own when
he
was the cause of the trouble. Well, at least this time.

"Nay," she said to Dougald. She couldn't tell him the truth. How could she? But then she realized she didn't act indignant that he said such a thing to her. She couldn't rectify her mistake that quickly without him becoming even more suspicious.

"Did he tell you to say that?" Dougald asked.

Connell laughed.

She glowered at her brother.

"All right." Dougald let out his breath. "Your secret is safe with me, lass."

She wanted to ask him if his brother and cousin and Gunnolf had also overheard everything she had said to her brother at the camp. Would her secret be safe with them as well?

"A man will be posted outside your room at all times for safety sake. A meal will be brought up later. I dinna believe you got much sleep last night. Take a rest and I will be up to see you in a while."

"Thank you, Dougald."

He patted her bare arm, and she felt her cheeks warm.

Seeing her blush, he smiled, then he grew serious. "I just want to say one more thing. My sister by marriage to Malcolm, Lady Anice, sees…glimpses of the future. I canna say I wasna concerned about her visions when I first learned of them. But I have come to believe her special sight is a gift and no' a curse. Mayhap what you see is just as much of a gift."

Her brother smiled and nodded at her. She scowled at him.

"Just let whomsoever is guarding your door know if you require anything," Dougald finished.

"Thank you."

Then Dougald looked in Connell's direction and said with a brusque tone, "Protect her if you must, but in a way that doesna scare her half to death."

"I rather like him," Connell said to Alana.

"You should. He is a rake just like you…were," she amended, then saw Dougald studying her.

Her whole body heated all over again.

"I will be back in a little while," Dougald said.

She knew then he believed that she truly spoke to ghosts, that Connell was standing against the wall looking smugly satisfied, and that she should never have allowed her brother to get the best of her. She was usually so careful with keeping up her guard. With the other ghostly entities, they had found their way home after a short time. Not so with Connell, and she was getting too lax with seeing him come and go. She would have to be much more diligent in watching what she said to him when the living might be close by.

Would Dougald tell the others? Mayhap not. She hoped not.

Dougald leaned over and brushed her forehead with a whisper soft kiss that warmed every part of her all over again, and she quickly looked to see Connell's expression.

Connell shook his head, but smiled again at her.

So, he approved of Dougald because he wasn't concerned she could see ghosts?

"I will return." Dougald again looked in Connell's direction, nodded to him, then left the room, locking the door behind him.

"I like him," Connell said. "You could do worse."

"He is a rake like you!"

"Mayhap you will be the lassie he loves above all else."

"You were listening the whole time! At the campfire."

Connell smiled. "I love it when your feathers are ruffled. Not a soul who was there was sleeping, Alana. They may have had their eyes closed, but they were smiling."

She turned away from her brother and closed her eyes.

"And for your information, dear sister, I have no' been with a woman since…since…hmm, the predicament I found myself in."

"You are dead!"

"You need no' keep reminding me. I well know what has happened."

Tears filled her eyes as she studied her brother's expression and thought for the first time he truly looked repentant. "I am sorry, Connell. I miss you, you know."

"I know, lass. And I…hate myself for leaving you alone without protection. I should have been there for you until you were married and your husband could protect you."

Was that why her brother stayed with her? Because he had to see her married off? She didn't know why the ghosts came to her, stayed with her for a time, and then finally departed her world. Or why he seemed to be taking so long to find his way to his final resting place.

"I will be all right, Connell. You need no' feel as though you have to stay with me to protect me."

He shook his head. "I dinna know why I canna leave you, lass. But I canna. Rest, as Dougald said for you to do. The rain willna let up, mayhap no' even until the morn. You still have a long day's ride to Craigly Castle."

She closed her eyes then, weary, worried about how she'd be received, what James would decide to do with her, and fearful Dougald would tell his clan how she could commune with the dead.

***

Dougald returned to the table downstairs to join Gunnolf and Angus, and drank the tankard of ale that Angus had ordered for him, wondering if Alana truly had seen her father's murder. If so, would she be able to identify any of the men? If she could, it had been so long ago, most likely no one would believe her.

"What was that all about?" Angus asked, his voice low for Dougald's ears only. Although Gunnolf leaned in to hear also.

"She saw a rat."

"Nay, she didna," Angus said, looking annoyed with Dougald.

"A ghost of a rat rather," Dougald said.

Angus smiled. "Now that I believe. We had heard her dead father had seen her home safely after he was murdered. Think you she truly sees the dead?"

"Some, mayhap. Close family, if 'tis what I suspect."

"Good, if 'tis only close family. Otherwise our sister might plague her also."

Dougald had not considered that. He shook his head.

"Who is the rat?" Angus asked.

"Her brother."

Angus leaned back on the bench and raised his brows. "
Connell
. He was murdered a while ago."

"Aye."

"He made her shriek?" Angus asked.

"Imagine being a naked lassie, who suddenly sees a dead brother appear in the room she is staying in. Would you no' shriek in fright?" Dougald asked, sounding annoyed.

Angus grinned. "I never imagined myself being a lassie." Then he grew thoughtful. "But I see your point. What do you think James will do about her?"

The maid came up to the table and smiled at Dougald as if Gunnolf and Angus were not even there. "I am free in a wee bit."

Dougald shook his head. "But I will take more ale."

She frowned at him. "She says she isna yours. That she loves another."

Dougald smiled up at her. "The lady? She was shy about declaring her love for me to a perfect stranger. We will wed as soon as we are able."

Angus choked on his ale. Niall joined them at the table and slapped Dougald on the back. "A wedding? When did this happen?"

It wasn't happening, he wanted to tell his companions. He just wanted Ragnall to know he was not interested in her today or any other.

Then Ragnall's scowl quickly changed into a calculating smile. "Aye, and when you tire of her bed, you know where I will be. I will bring more ale." She bounced off as if she was perfectly pleased with the idea.

Niall took a seat across from Dougald. "Think you James will go along with your plan?"

"There isna a plan," Dougald growled low under his breath.

They all laughed.

"You know," Angus said, still smiling, "the lasses will soon get word of this and some will shun you if you come to see them."

"And others," Niall said, having just as much fun with this, motioned with his tankard toward Ragnall, "will be just like the wench. The sport so much more intriguing when you are wed."

Wanting to get them off the subject, Dougald said, "The lass witnessed her da's murder."

Everyone's expression instantly turned somber.

"But there has never been any word as to who had done such a deed," Niall said. "If the lass knew—"

"She said she didna. But she was there. Hiding. Buried by leaves. What if she had seen one of the men, or more of them than that?"

"Would they have not killed the lass already?" Gunnolf asked, his face dark with concern. "Even if she had not seen them, they wouldna know that for certain. They could not risk her telling what she saw."

"What if that wasna the strategy?" Angus asked. "What if the plan was to kill the lass's father? No' the lass?"

"You mean because they wanted him out of the way?" Dougald asked. "So that her uncle could take over?"

"Aye. But here is another thought, Dougald. Was Lady Alana betrothed already? Often a clan chief's daughter will be promised to another clan in marriage even at a youthful age. So was she? And if so, is that the same clan that her uncle has gone to see concerning a marriage agreement or no'? Did killing the lady's father change the marriage agreement?" Angus asked.

"Or what if the lass was no' betrothed, but her father had been approached concerning such an arrangement, and he had said no? What if the uncle was more agreeable?" Dougald offered.

"Suppose someone suspects as much. Someone who believes the new arrangement would benefit someone who had her father murdered. And that someone sends the lass away from the castle, from the safety of her people, only to keep her from falling into the wrong hands? The same ones who murdered her father?" Gunnolf said.

Angus slapped his hand on the table. "Then Dougald will have to marry the lass and that will be the end of that."

Dougald could just imagine attempting to bed the lass, and there her brother would be, watching over them, speaking to the lass and being more than a nightmare than he would know how to handle.

When Laird Alroy Cameron rode into the inner bailey surrounding his keep, he found utter chaos. He had successfully negotiated a betrothal arrangement with Laird McDonald's middle son, Hoel, and Alana, believing the match suitable for his niece. The man drank a little too much for Cameron's liking, but that was inevitable as he was celebrating the agreement. He didn't care for Hoel's slipping off with a serving wench later that eve, either. Though Cameron had to remind himself the man could avail himself of the wenches, until he was married to his niece.

If Hoel upset his niece, he would have words with the knave. That was one reason he planned to arrange a marriage where Alana's husband would live under the Cameron's roof and Cameron's watchful eye.

He stroked his beard as he surveyed his staff rushing out to greet him and his men. No one met his eyes in greeting, the whole lot of them cowering as if they were not pleased he had returned home so quickly. Business done, he had wished to give the word as to his niece's coming nuptials as soon as possible.

He noted his niece was disturbingly absent. She was always there first, lady of the keep, all smiles for him, greeting him upon his return no matter if he'd been gone only a mere few hours or days. Was she upset with him for making the marriage arrangement without speaking with her about it first? He wouldn't have. It was his decision to make, not the lass's. She wouldn't have a head for deciding such a matter. She would go along with his decision no matter what because she knew how important such an arrangement was for their clan.

His advisor, Turi, stalked toward him, his continence grim, and Cameron knew before he even spoke that something untoward had happened to his niece.

"Where is Lady Alana? Is she ill?" Cameron snapped, dismounting, and not waiting for an answer as he stormed toward the keep.

"Gone, my laird."

Cameron whipped around and glared at his advisor. "Gone? Where? Spill it, mon. Where is my niece?" He didn't like the concern etched in his advisor's face. All at once Cameron felt the blood rush from his face. "Dead? She has died?"

Blue eyes widening, Turi quickly said, "Nay, my laird. She…she left the castle and hasna been found."

Cameron studied him, not believing that the man could have let this happen. Turi knew never to allow her beyond the curtain walls when he was gone for any length of time. A few hours, he would allow when he was in residence, but not when he was gone for days.

"How? How did she get beyond the curtain wall without my permission?" he snapped, heading again for the keep. He needed a meal and a good night's sleep. He didn't need this news. Not now. Not after having made arrangements for her marriage to Hoel. He motioned to one of his men. "Ready new mounts for us. Have food prepared that we will take with us on our journey. We will eat and leave again at once."