They could not afford to stop even as the sun was up and they had lost the cover of night. To compensate, they stayed in the forest for as much time as they could. He was tired and was suffering from malnutrition, but he was not going to let anything divert him from his goals.
Get to Scotland. Get home. Get my men. Get Adelaine.
Four definitive statements. He would make sure they all came true. They would only stop when they crossed from Northumberland into Scotland and even then, they had to be cautious. He did not know what the Earl planned to use to re-capture him with, but Caelan was sure he was going to try. He was the only scapegoat the man had for his son’s death.
They rode until midday and stopped briefly to give the horses a break and drink some water at a creek they had come across. Artur slipped something from his saddlebag and gave it to him. It turned out to be hunks of roasted hare meat. It was cold and unseasoned but he had been eating versions of cold and unappetizing meats all month long. He ate it.
“So…” Artur eyed him. “Ye and this Sassenach?”
“Aye,” Caelan replied while popping the last morsel into his mouth. “Me and the Sassenach. She gave me a purpose to live in the dungeon, Artur, and the way to me freedom, so aye, me and the Sassenach. I’m going to rescue her once I get me feet under me.”
“Well, Englishwomen arenae strange in Scotland but a Laird’s wife…is slightly toeing the line, innit?” Artur asked.
“Daenae care,” Caelan snorted. “When have our ancestors strayed from following where their hearts led them? If anythin’ I’m following in the footsteps of me forefathers than many would ken.”
“Make nay mistake, I’ll support ye but yer going to get backlash from the Clan’s elders,” Artur counseled.
“And they can go hop off the spit of Òrdag Dhè right into the depth of Loch Mahrais,” Caelan shrugged.
“Sending them to jump off the God’s thumb outcropping over the deepest part of our loch just to accommodate your lady friend is a bit of stretch, I’d ken,” Artur’s lips twitched.
“Again,” Caelan rolled his neck and winced at the pull of his muscles.
“I daenae care.”
The cold winter air was starting to chill his skin and he looked around. “We need to get back on the road. At most we’ll ride to Hawick to hunker down and then get to Penrith.”
“And what will ye dae when the Earl comes for ye?” Artur asked.
“He’ll be on our land and have to play by our rules,” Caelan declared with a slap to his second’s arm. “We’ll nae surrender. I’m innocent of this crime, Artur. I give ye me word.”
“I’ll hold ye to that,” Artur said then spun and called to his three men, “We’re moving off, now!”
The silence hanging in the air among the five men as they made camp just on the bare side of the Scottish borderlands was laden with exhaustion. It was not only the men but their animals too as they had ridden like the Devil himself was at their heels.
It was a miracle his legs still had strength inside them as he unrolled his horse’s blanket to lay on. Scotland was cold but he much preferred it to the Earl’s dungeon.
“Devil take it,” Donnan grunted. “This has been a hell of a ride.”
His brother, Gregor, slapped his arm, “Take heart, ye’ll be back in the arms of a tavern girl in a mere day or so.”
“I dinnae ken it’s her arms he wants to get into,” Rogan jibed, earning himself a slew of dirty looks from his brother. “What about ye, Laird, we can get ye a lovely buxom lass?”
“Nay,” Caelan said while shaking his wearied head. “Nay for me.”
A look passed between the three of them, but just as Gregor was about to say something, Artur glared at them. As they turned away to their own bedding, Caelan flopped on his. No woman could or would draw his attention from Adelaine. His time with tavern whores was long gone and he had no intention of revisiting them. The only woman he wanted by his side was the lovely English lass with soulful eyes and a lovely smile.
Adelaine was it for him. No matter what it would take to have her, he would do it. He drifted off to a dead rest but even so his instincts were primed to react to any disturbance around him. Luckily, he slept without any disruption and woke with the dawn.
Artur was missing from his makeshift bed and Rogan was sitting up while his brothers were still fast asleep. “W-where’s Artur?”
“Nay the faintest,” Caelan said as he scowled at the thick taste in his mouth. “But kenning him, he went to scout out the surroundings. I dinnae know how he found the strength to get up much less go scouting. Me legs feel like blocks of lead, me soldiering training be damned.”
“Yer getting soft, Me Laird,” Donnan hopped up from his cot.
“Remi
nd me to put ye on slop duty for a month,” Caelan grunted as he stood and stretched the kinks from his body. “And not the house slop, the soldier’s barracks and horse pen, slop.”