He motioned for Stephen to open the doors.
“Was I right, Stephen?” he asked as they walked down the steps. “Was Percy waiting for a chance to speak with Gabrielle?”
“Aye, Baron. He was lurking by the side of the chapel, and he had his friends with him. I haven’t seen Baron Coswold yet.”
“Coswold traveled to Scotland. I’m sure of that. But God only knows what he’s up to.”
“Why would either one of them want to speak to me?” Gabrielle asked.
“I will explain what needs be told later,” her father said. “Go now and have your servants pack your things. You’ll be going back to England tomorrow morning. If it were not so late in the day, I would have you leave now.”
“But aren’t you going with me, Father?” Gabrielle asked.
“No, I must go to the king first. He has been told of Monroe’s death by now, and I will need to get his approval for our return to England. I will catch up with you in a few days.”
“Are Coswold and Percy the reason you’re so anxious to go home?” she asked.
“Yes, they are the reason,” he answered grimly.
They entered the commons, walking side by side, with Stephen and Faust trailing behind.
“I haven’t told you what I have learned about these two and their obscene competition, but it appears that whatever one baron wants, the other must also have. Everything becomes a game to them to see who will win and who will lose.”
He shook his head in disgust. “I thought you would be rid of them once you married Laird Monroe, and I cannot tell you how stunned I was to find that Percy had arrived here for the wedding and had set up camp outside the abbey. I expect Coswold will appear at any time.”
“Dead men can’t marry,” Faust remarked. “How fortuitous for them that Laird Monroe was murdered.”
Stephen nodded. “’Tis most convenient, isn’t it?”
Baron Geoffrey turned to him. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Are you suggesting…” she began.
“You have been sheltered from the evil in this world, and so you cannot imagine what men are capable of. Let me tell you what I encountered when I arrived at the Buchanans. Laird Buchanan and many of his soldiers were with their allies, the MacHughs, searching for Laird MacHugh’s brother.”
Her father didn’t spare the details when he explained what the monsters who had captured Liam had wanted to do.
“I was told there was blood on the rope they bound him with and a hole was dug to bury him.”
“Do they know who these men were, my lord?” Stephen asked.
“Nay, they do not. Brodick and Laird MacHugh found one of them on the ground near the hole, but no one recognized him. He didn’t wear the colors of any clan to identify him. Brodick returned home for a short while. I was waiting for him.”
“Did you search with him, Father?”
“Heavens no. He would never allow it, but as it turned out, MacHugh’s brother was found. As I was leaving Brodick’s land, out of the forest came a priest with joyful news. He asked me to tell Laird Buchanan that Liam MacHugh was here at the abbey.”
Her father smiled. “The poor priest couldn’t get away fast enough, and he wouldn’t answer my questions. I imagine the MacHugh clan will be overjoyed to hear that Liam is alive and safe. Has the abbot mentioned anything about this poor injured soul being here?”
Gabrielle cast a furtive glance over her father’s shoulder at Stephen before answering. “No, the abbot has told us nothing of him.”
“It’s just as well,” her father said. “The less of this brutality you see, the better.”
“I choose to believe that there is more good than evil in this world,” she said.
“You have your mother’s kind heart, Gabrielle.” Baron Geoffrey kissed her lightly on the cheek before he left her. “I must make haste and speak to my soldiers. There’s much to be done before I leave, but I will make certain to say farewell to the abbot.”
As soon as her father had turned the corner, she looked at Stephen. “I feel as though I have deceived my father by not telling him how we found Liam.”
“You protect the baron by not telling him. None of us could know the ramifications of killing one man and saving another. They are both strangers to us. Your father should not be put in the middle, and that could very well happen. It is best that we are going home.”
She agreed. “This has been a sad journey.”
GABRIELLE WAS ABOUT TO GO INTO HER ROOM WHEN Father Gelroy called to her.
“Milady, a word, please?”
He ran toward her, robes flapping against his ankles. His face was bright red, and he was frowning intently.
She didn’t think she could handle more bad news. Bracing herself, she walked toward him. “Yes, Father?”
“They’re here.” He was panting so rapidly, he could barely get the words out.
“Who’s here?” she asked.
“The MacHugh laird and the Buchanan laird. Both have their warriors with them. They’re at the top of the hill overlooking the abbey.”
“This is good news, isn’t it?”
“Oh, no, no. I mean yes,” he stuttered. “They’ve come for Liam, and that’s very good.”
“Then you should go and greet them, shouldn’t you? And take Laird MacHugh to his brother?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Gelroy answered.
“I don’t understand. Of course it’s necessary. Laird MacHugh has come all this way, and he should be taken to see his brother,” she insisted.
“Oh, he’ll see him. I’m sure of that,” Gelroy asserted. “But the laird won’t be taken to him.”
Gabrielle was more confused than ever. “Then how will he see him?”
“Liam’s waiting outside the gates,” the priest blurted.
Shocked, Gabrielle said, “That poor man hasn’t been able to rise from his bed since he got here. How could he possibly get outside the gates of the abbey?”
Gelroy couldn’t look her in the eye when he answered. “Father Franklin and I carried him.”
“And you just left him there?” She couldn’t believe what the priest was telling her.
“You don’t understand. Laird MacHugh is a mighty warrior. Everyone has heard of his amazing strength…and his amazing temper.”
Suddenly the situation became clear to her. “You’re afraid of him.”
“Only a fool is unafraid of Laird MacHugh.”
“But just abandoning the poor man—” she began.
“Come with me,” Gelroy said. “I think you’ll understand when you see for yourself. Don’t worry. They won’t be able to see you. We’ll climb the wall and peek out. I’ll show you the way.”
The priest led Gabrielle outside and up the narrow steps to an opening carved out of the thick stone wall.
Gelroy pointed to the hill. “Can you see them?”
Her sharply indrawn breath answered his question. The sight of the warriors had rendered her speechless, and she could only summon a quick nod.
She didn’t have any trouble locating the lairds. The two men were in front of their followers, each atop a magnificent horse, one black, the other gray. Both men looked as though they’d been fashioned by a god of ancient times. She knew that Zeus never actually existed, but when she looked at these giants, she couldn’t help but think that maybe…
“The one on the right is Laird MacHugh,” Gelroy said.
Was he real? She closed her eyes, opened them again, and he was still there.
“He’s quite…large, isn’t he? They both are actually,” she said, glancing from MacHugh to Buchanan.
The priest laughed. “They’re Highlanders,” he said, as though that explained everything. “They are not as civilized as the rest of us.”
“They have come here for one of their own, which tells me they are capable of brotherly love. They are human, Father,” she said with a hint of disapproval at the priest’s negative judgment.
?
??There’s Liam,” he whispered, even though he surely knew they couldn’t possibly hear him.
“We’ll get to see their joyful reunion,” she said. “Is it wrong of us to intrude?”
“I don’t believe so. Besides, they’ll never know.”
They watched another minute or two, and then she whispered, “Liam’s having trouble walking. Do you see how he’s trying not to limp? He’s favoring his right foot, isn’t he? He’s slowing down, too. How will he ever climb the hill?”
“Pride will get him there.”
“But pride is a sin.”
“Not to a Highlander.”
Gabrielle stared at Laird MacHugh. His expression was rigid. There was no trace of feeling in his eyes as he watched his brother struggle to move forward.
Barbarian, she decided. MacHugh was a barbarian. Had he no feelings for his own brother? He’d come this far for him. Why wouldn’t he help him now? Why wouldn’t any of them help poor Liam?
They were all barbarians, she decided. Every last one of them.
Liam tried to stand erect, but when he moved his foot forward to take a step, he swayed and stumbled backward. Laird MacHugh immediately swung down from his horse and handed the reins to Laird Buchanan.
“My faith has been restored,” she said. “I was wrong to think ill of the laird. He’s going to help Liam after all.” Gabrielle smiled as she added, “’Tis brotherly love.”
She watched in anticipation as the laird strode toward the weakened man. He didn’t stop to speak to him; he didn’t smile at him, and he certainly didn’t embrace him.
What he did do was give his brother the full force of his fist.
BRODICK COULDN’T BELIEVE HE WAS THE VOICE OF REASON. He was usually the hot-tempered one. But not today.
Today his duty was clear: to keep Colm from doing anything reckless, and that was no easy task. It had taken a great deal of talking for Brodick to convince him not to storm into the abbey and tear it apart room by room in order to find out what had happened to his brother.
Colm had been resistant, but managed to control his anger on the ride to the abbey. Then he saw Liam leaning against the abbey gate, and he began to burn with fury.
“Good God,” Brodick whispered when he saw Liam. He took a breath, remembered he had to be the rational one, and added, “He’s alive.”
Colm didn’t respond. He could only watch Liam’s faltering attempts to walk for one agonizing minute before he swung down from his mount and headed to fetch him. With one blow to his jaw, Liam teetered and collapsed across his brother’s waiting shoulder.
Once Colm had situated his brother on the back of a horse, he motioned for two riders to flank his sides and sent them ahead.
“Someone knows what happened to my brother, Brodick. Whoever brought him to the abbey had to have witnessed something. There’s no way in hell that Liam got up and walked away from that field. He had to be carried. Look at him, Brodick.” The MacHugh nodded to the abbey and added, “Liam didn’t get there on his own. He had help.”
“He could have been left at the gate.”
“Or he could have been taken inside. If someone in the abbey knows what happened, I’ll find him, and I’ll make him tell me what he knows, no matter how much force I have to use.”
Brodick motioned to the tents set up outside the walls. “With all of these people around, you need to use your head. You can’t just force your way inside the abbey. It’s sacred, for God’s sake. You can’t even carry your sword or any other weapon with you when you walk through those gates.”
Colm didn’t appreciate being told what he could and could not do. He glanced at Brodick. “Since when do you pay attention to rules? Marriage has made you weak.”
“My wife would not be married to a weak man.”
Colm swung up on his horse, grabbed the reins, and started back up the hill.
“Perhaps she’s turned you into a weakling because she’s weak. Most women are.”
The insult amused Brodick. “You have met my wife, haven’t you?”
Colm shrugged. “Aye, we’ve met.” There was a hint of a smile in his voice when he added, “She’s a strong woman. A rarity, that.”
“That’s right, she is strong, and trying to antagonize me won’t work. I’m not going to help you wage war on a group of old men.”
“I have no intention of waging war on the priests. I’m simply going to find out what happened.”
“Before you do anything, perhaps you should talk to your brother.”
“That’s where I’m headed.”
“You probably shouldn’t have hit him so hard. How long do you think it will take him to wake up?”
“Some water on his face will bring him around.”
As the column of riders slowly made their way down the other side of the hill, Colm said, “Did you see what was done to him?”
“I saw,” Brodick answered quietly.
It would be a long time before Colm would be able to let go of the memory of his brother trying to walk toward him. It appeared that almost every inch of skin on his brother’s back and legs had been torn or ripped off of him.
No, he would not soon forget that godawful sight.
“Your men should take Liam to Kevin Drummond’s cottage. His wife has a way with healing.”
“Nay, they’re taking him home. He’ll get the care he needs there. I want you to understand, after I’ve questioned him, I’m going into the abbey.”
“I know,” he replied. “I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not. I’m already in your debt. Those bastards would have buried Liam if you and your men hadn’t shown up when you did. I never would have gotten to him in time.”
“The dead one near the hole with the arrow in his chest…that wasn’t done by one of ours,” Brodick reminded him.
“I still owe you a tremendous debt.”
Brodick smiled. “Aye, you do.”
They caught up with the others. Dylan, Brodick’s first in command, trailed behind MacHugh’s soldiers. He heard Brodick’s shrill whistle and stopped the procession.
There were a dozen from the MacHugh clan and almost as many Buchanans surrounding Liam.
Since they were so close to Duncan’s Bluffs, they decided to let Liam rest for a few minutes before continuing on. Colm’s brother was still groggy from the blow he took to the jaw. He refused assistance as he dismounted and nearly fell to his knees. Everyone saw that the bottoms of his feet were caked with blood, but no one rushed forward to help him. They waited for him to straighten himself and follow Colm to the flat rocks overlooking the valley.
Liam tried not to wince with each slow and painful step. When he finally reached the bluff, he dropped to the ground and leaned his shoulder against a smooth rock.
Colm’s greeting to his brother was blunt. “Who did this to you?” He stepped in front of Liam and folded his arms across his chest as he waited for him to answer.
“If I knew who did this, I would have killed them by now,” Liam answered.
It was an empty boast, and both of them knew it. His brother wasn’t in any condition to kill anyone. His face was so gray, Colm thought he might pass out again. But Liam’s pride was at issue, and for that reason Colm went along with his arrogant claim.
“Aye, you would have,” he agreed. “Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t remember much,” he said. “I was leaving Monroe’s holding, heading for home across the flats, but I stayed to the east by the water. I know I was still on Monroe’s land. Yes, I’m sure I was. Something struck me on the side of my head, and I think maybe I was hit again in the back. The blows stunned me, and when I came to my senses, my hands and feet were bound. There was a hood over my head.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to reclaim his memory. “There were at least four of them. I came to for a while, but I had to let them think I was still unconscious. I heard them talking before I passed out again. I’m certain there were four distinct voices??
?no, wait.” He sighed then, his frustration mounting. “There could have been more.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes again.
“Did any of them speak directly to you?” Braeden, Colm’s first in command, asked as he and some of the others circled.
“No, I don’t think so.” Liam’s voice grew hoarse and more difficult to understand with each answer he gave. “Why can’t I remember? It’s damned irritating.”
To Colm, it was obvious why Liam’s memory was so spotty. He’d taken several blows to the head.
“You said you heard them talking. What were they saying?” Brodick asked.
“That they hoped to kill as many MacHughs as they could.”
“If there were only four or so captors, how could they possibly kill seasoned MacHugh warriors?” Brodick asked.
Braeden handed Liam his leather water pouch. Liam took a long drink, nodded his appreciation to the commander, and then answered. “There were men hiding in the woods, waiting to attack. They’d been told to get as many MacHughs as they could. The more they killed, the higher the reward.”
He took another swallow before continuing. “Another one of them worried that there really weren’t troops waiting in the woods to help them, and they would be all alone to face Colm’s wrath. He wanted to kill me and be done with it, but the one in charge kept telling him they had to wait.”
“Wait for what?” Colm asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you hear any of their names?” Brodick asked.
“If I did, I don’t remember.”
Colm continued to question his brother, hoping for some clue as to who was behind this atrocity, but Liam wasn’t much help.
“Do you remember being taken to the abbey?” he asked.
“No, but I remember waking up there. I was in a little room. Two priests were with me. One was a healer, and the other wore his stole and prayed over me. I think he thought I was dying.”