Highlander's Dark Seduction Read online

  Benjie grimaced. “Something like that.”

  “Well, I’ll show you to your room and bring you some water and some soup to warm you up. Would you like that?”

  Benjie’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Yes please.”

  “Alright then, come right this way.”

  They found the horses a few hours later, grazing in a clearing near a spring of water. They were clearly not very good horses but they would do well enough to ride back to manor.

  “What d’ye think happened to her? D’ye think she’s safe?” Boyd asked after a half hour of silent riding. No one answered him, but Connell spurred his horse into a faster trot. The rest followed suit.

  They had about a day’s ride ahead of them to get to Dun Alba and having filled themselves with the chitterlings and drank water at the spring, they were able to go for quite a while without stopping. They came to an inn as dusk was closing in and after much debate, they decided to stop for the night.

  “We don’t have any coin to pay them,” Lachlan pointed out.

  “Yes, but perhaps they would let us sleep in the stables. We have to be well rested when we arrive at the house. Ready to fight. We canna do that if we are exhausted and hungry.”

  “You’re right Connell, but they might chase us away like dogs.”

  Connell sighed. “Nothing to do but try.”

  He alighted from his horse and approached the entrance to the inn. The others stayed on their horses, waiting. As Connell stepped in the door, he looked back at his men with a nod and then turned back, bumping into a young man carrying a bowl as he came down the stairs. The man dropped the bowl and a few stray vegetables were strewn on the floor.

  “Apologies. I didn’t see ye there.”

  The man bent down and picked up the bowl, looked up at Connell with a nod and then froze.

  “It’s...you.” he said.

  Connell stiffened, wondering if this was one of the brigands. “What d’ye mean by that?”

  “You’re...one of the men the mistress came with.”

  Connell studied the young man in front of him. His clothes were old but well mended. His face was flushed and his eyes were bright with fever. “Who are ye?”

  “Oh, I’m Benjie. I work for Mr. MacTavish.”

  Connell’s eyes brightened with understanding. “And what are you doing here?”

  “I’m on my way to tell Mr. MacTavish about his sister.”

  “Oh, ye are? And ye have a room here for the night?”

  “Ye-yes. I felt a little fevered and so I-I...”

  Connell held up his hand. “Tis alright. The brigands left us with nothing but weak horses. We need a place to rest up. Think ye can put us up?”

  Benjie dug into his pocket. “I think I can pay for two more rooms.”

  “Good, ye do that. Then we can rest up. Tomorrow we rescue the lady.”

  Benjie stared up at him, with his mouth open. “Uh...”

  Connell narrowed his eyes. “What?”

  “The main brigand, he took her.”

  “What do you mean, took her?”

  “Before the others rode off wi’ you. He took her with him on a horse.”

  Connell stiffened. “Do ye ken where?”

  “I heard his fellow hoodlums talking. They said he was going to marry her.” Benjie’s voice rose with the stress of what he was saying.

  “So... where would he take her to wed her?” Connell’s tone grew urgent and he gripped the kid by the arm.

  “I... don’t know. Maybe Gretna Green? It's not so far from here.”

  Connell tried to think. They had no money, no food, no weapons...they couldn’t travel to Gretna Green with nothing but some bad horses.

  “Benjie? What do you have on you? Do you have any weapons? Food? You could go back for more and me and my fellow men could ride to Gretna Green and rescue the Miss.”

  “What? No! If you’re going to rescue her, I’m coming with you.”

  “We need somebody to go back and-”

  “No, I’m coming with you.”

  “We don’t have enough supplies.”

  “I have some money. Frances gave me all she had, and that was everything Madame Rebecca left her with. I can get us supplies.”

  Connell stared at the determined man and nodded. “Fine then. Let’s get some rest and tomorrow we go after the Miss.”

  Benjie nodded and sniffed, wiping the snot from his nose. Connell frowned. “Are ye feeling well?”

  “I-I think I mighta caught something going through the swamp.”

  Connell nodded in understanding. “Let’s get you to bed then.”

  “That was a lucky break, running into the boy like that,” Boyd said as they took their luggage to their rooms.

  “Yes, it is most definitely lucky.” Connell said putting down his bag and then heading straight to Benjie’s room, “The kid needs a bit of help right now so I’m going to give it to him.”

  Benjie's fever spiked during the night and Connell spent the entire time wiping him down while the innkeeper brought milk and soup and whisky. They poured it down his throat and like as not, he would vomit it back up.

  It took two days for him to be coherent enough to feed himself and a third day before he could keep food down.

  “We should go now. We've wasted enough time,” he rasped at Connell.

  “Can you ride? Or maybe you should stay here.”

  Benjie shook his head stubbornly. “No, I’m coming with you. I can ride.”

  “Well, we’ll use some of that money you have to get you a second jacket and some whisky to keep you going.”

  Benjie nodded. “Yes alright. Let us prepare to go.”

  Since the men and the horses were well rested, and fed, they made good time to Gretna Green. They went around the town asking each priest they found if they had seen a short, brunette blue-eyed woman with a taller auburn haired, hazel-eyed man. They didn’t have to look far because an innkeeper remembered them just fine.

  “Yes he came in with her. She was sleeping in his arms like a babe. He said they were here to elope.”

  “Then what happened?” Connell asked grinding his jaw.

  “Well they was married the next day and they took off south.”

  “South? Do you have any idea where they went?”

  The innkeeper laughed in amusement.

  “What?” Boyd asked.

  “Well, they turnt out poor Mrs. Winchester what lives over by the turnstile. I think that’s where they consummated. Don't know where they went after that.”

  The men looked at each other in shock.

  “Turned her out? You mean...are they still there?”

  The innkeeper shrugged, still grinning. “Don’t think so.”

  “Could you please give us directions?” Benjie asked.

  “Uh...sure.” the innkeeper looked uncertain for the first time, “Is there anything wrong?”

  “No. Everything is well. We just need to find them as fast as possible.” Connell said.

  “Oh...alright. Ye go down the road and then turn left at the turnstile.”

  “Thank ye sir.” Connell tipped his hat at the innkeeper and they all turned to leave. They rode slowly, silently, down to the turnstile, all afraid of what they would find.

  “We’re too late, aren’t we?” Benjie was the first to say it.

  “Too late for what? To save her virtue, very likely. To save her life? There is still time.” Connell replied.

  “H-How? Wh-what...?” Benjie didn’t even know what to ask.

  “Let’s get to her first. The best person to guide us on what to do next, is Miss Rebecca.” Connell stated firmly.

  Benjie nodded his understanding. The rest of his men avoided his eyes.

  They arrived at the turnstile at noon and found the woman of the house feeding the solitary sheep. “Excuse me ma’am, we are in search of a woman and man. We are told ye might have seen them?” Connell said.

  “Wh-what woman?” She straightened
up, dropping her sack of grain to look at Connell with trepidation.

  “She is about this tall,” Connell demonstrated with his hand, “she has brunette hair and blue eyes. She is fiery. The man she is with is taller than her, has auburn locks down to his shoulders. His eyes are hazel.”

  The woman nodded. “I seen them.”

  “When exactly? And d’ye ken where they went?”

  The woman nodded her head slowly and pointed down the road. “They rode off that way.”

  “Was the woman...alright?” Connell asked.

  “Yes sir. She gave me a pouch of coins.” the woman said anxiously.

  Connell nodded. “Yes, that sounds like her. And ye’re sure she was fine?”

  “As far as I could see sir.”

  “Good.” Connell spurred his horse forward. Benjie hesitated, digging into his pouch to find a few coins which he handed to her.

  “It’s what she would have done.” he said to Connell in explanation.

  Connell nodded, swallowing hard. “We need to get her back.”

  “Where do you think they’re headed?” Benjie asked.

  “They might be headed for Dun Alba, or elsewhere. In any case, we cannot delay any longer. We must tell MacTavish what has befallen his sister.” Connell looked down the road bleakly. “He will need to ken.”

  Benjie nodded. “So, we go to Eddingfield Hall and bring him the news?”

  Connell sighed. “Aye.”

  “There is an inn not far from here. We should stop there for the night.”

  Rebecca turned her head slightly to look Chris in the face. “Are ye asking me or telling me?”

  “Are you tired? Do you want to rest? Or are you fine to ride all night?”

  Rebecca took a deep breath. “Are ye giving me a choice?”

  “Of course, you’re my wife!”

  “Funny, I do not remember you asking for my hand in marriage. I remember you drugged me, abducted me and threatened me to get me to say my vows. Somehow that does not seem like something a husband would do.” the turmoil that Rebecca was feeling all came out as aggression. She did not even know if she meant what she was saying. She was fighting with him just to fight. And so she did not have to think about their time in the cottage.

  She had to maintain a clear head!

  Chris sighed. “I thought we had resolved that.”

  “Resolved it? Your man is still embedded with a vial of cohosh, waiting to relieve me of my nephew at a moment’s notice.”

  Chris bit his inner lip. “Actually Rebecca...”

  She turned in her seat to look him in the eye. “What? Did ye do it already? Have I lost my nephew?” she searched his eyes anxiously.

  “No! Calm down Rebecca. I meant just the opposite. There was never any threat. I lied.”

  Rebecca gaped at him and then grabbed the reins from him and brought the horse to a stop. She struggled off the horse, her feet bumping against him as she tried to alight from the horse, huffing and puffing the entire time. He slid off as well, to make it easier for her to get down.

  She rounded on him as soon as her feet touched the ground, her face flushed with anger. Her eyes glistened with rage and her clawed hands clutched at his coat.

  “Ye made me marry ye under fals’ pretense’?”

  “Would you rather my pretenses to hurt an innocent child were real?”

  “I’d rather no’ be in thi’ situation a’ tall.”

  “Yes well...hence my resorting to tricks.” Chris spread his arms as if presenting her with a fait accompli...which he was.

  She growled, grinding her teeth and pushed him away before throwing her head back and screaming to the stars. “Ye have no idea what ye’ve done tae my family. Wha’s my brother tae do when he finds out wha’s happened to me? Wha’ am I to do?”

  He took a step toward her and stretched his hand out to touch her. The glare she sent him stopped him in his tracks. “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do it all, I promise you.”

  “Ye promise me?” she screeched, “An’ wha’ are your promises worth tae me?”

  “They are worth both our lives.” Chris said solemnly. He reached out slowly and took her hand. “Trust that I did not marry you to end your life; just to ensure the survival of me and my men. There is no need why we cannot have a real marriage. The hard part is done.”

  “Ye expect me tae betray my brother in such a way?”

  “There is no betrayal. I simply mean to talk to your brother, strike a bargain with him.”

  “An’ if he refuses? I am yer leverage. Don’t ye sell me stones and call it diamonds.” she spat.

  “According to legend, your brother would never refuse to bargain when your welfare was on the line.”

  Rebecca growled.

  “However, all I mean to do is tie your welfare to mine, and so both of us can get what we want.”

  “Unless wha’ we want is opposite. In which case, I s’pose, yer welfare takes precedence, no?”

  Chris sighed and then shook his head. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “Ach. Well in that case, I s’pose we shan’t fight. It isna’ as if I can do anything aboot my situation. What's done is done.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Chris clapped, “What’s done is done and cannot be undone.”

  “However, if ye expect me tae make things easy for ye, ye better think again.”

  Chris smiled fondly, shaking his head at her. “Ah, you do indeed live up to your reputation. A firebrand indeed. I look forward to...crossing swords...with you again. But for now, we are both tired, I think. Will you not agree to stop at the inn with me?”

  “Fine. We’ll stop a’ the inn.”

  Chris beamed, although he could not discern what the expression on her face could mean.

  Chapter Nine

  In her two and twenty years of life, Rebecca had heard a lot said about a ‘woman’s place’. She knew that going head to head with a man would only hurt herself. But she was not ready to concede defeat. There were other ways a woman could fight and she intended to use them all. Chris might think he had won this round but he would soon know better.

  He walked breezily into the inn, announcing their presence and the fact that they were just married, encouraging everyone’s congratulations. She knew what he was doing. She knew he was making it impossible for anyone to deny their current status. This was not going to be swept under the rug if he had anything to say about it. So the first thing Rebecca had to do was to accept the situation as is. When that was done, she would find a way to change it.

  She wasn’t ruling out murder if that was what it took.

  She followed Chris into the inn, not bothering to smile or respond to the goodwill messages other patrons were giving. The inn was full and for a moment, Rebecca hoped that there was no room for them.

  No such luck.

  The innkeeper gave them the biggest room they had, exhorting them to enjoy their first days of being newlywed as he exchanged affectionate glances with his wife. Rebecca refrained from rolling her eyes, choosing instead to wait for her husband by the stairs and silently follow him up to their chambers. She stopped just inside the wooden room, seeing that the bed had an honest to goodness feather mattress and clean if old, sheets neatly folded over the blanket.

  Rebecca sighed as she took it all in.

  Chris turned to her, a smirk lurking about his lips.

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?” he had the nerve to say.

  “It’ll do for sleeping I suppose.” she replied dismissively as she crossed to the wash stand, picked up the pitcher and poured some water into the basin. Taking her time as she washed her face, she hoped Chris would get tired and leave her alone. Instead he took a seat on the bed and watched her in her ablutions.

  Inwardly shaking her head, she straightened to her full height of five foot four and turned to face him. “Now what?”

  He smiled. “I thought we might reacquaint ourselves with each other’s bodies.”

/>   “Why?”

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. “What do you mean ‘why’? Because we’re married!”