Page 20 of Cottage in the Mist (Time After Time #3)

“I got lucky. There was a loud noise of some kind.” He stopped, his hands clenched as he remembered.

“I’ve no idea what it was. But as the men reacted, I took my chance.

” He paused again, this time regret coloring his face.

“I made a run for it. I’m no’ proud of the fact.

But in my heart—“ He pounded a fist to his chest, his gaze meeting Bram’s.

“—I knew that yer father would expect me to protect you above all else. And there was no way I could do that if I were dead.” He sighed.

“So I slipped away through the same gate as you.” His grizzled eyebrows rose as he shot a look across the table at Bram.

“I canna say it sits well to have run, but were I given the chance to do it over, I’d have done the same. ”

Iain sat forward, his mind clearly turning over the weight of Frazier’s story. “And so you followed him here? Bram, I mean?”

“Nay.” Frazier shook his head. “Too much time had passed. And there had been no time for plans to rendezvous.” He looked to Bram, who nodded in agreement.

“But I knew he wouldna go to Dunmaglass. Yer father never had any use for his uncle or his brothers. And I dinna think you’d see it differently. ”

“I do not,” Bram said in agreement. “But?—“

Frazier waved him quiet. “’Twas no’ a great leap to see that you’d come here. You’ve idolized yer cousins since you were a wee lad. Even now you talk of little else but the adventures the three of you have shared.”

“Aye, but he always liked me more than Iain,” Ranald said with an affable laugh.

“I dinna like either o’ you much at the moment,” Bram groused. “And Frazier exaggerates.”

“Ach, well, that doesna follow so well with my recollections of you always being underfoot where e’er Iain and I were to be found.” Ranald laughed, and Bram relaxed. He might still be youngest, but he was far from a lad. And there were bigger concerns afoot than his relationship with his cousins.

“Ranald’s right. We’ve always been close. So why not assume I’d go to Ranald’s holding?”

Frazier dipped his head, his bushy-eyed gaze shooting toward Ranald.

“Without meaning offense, Iain has the backing of Moy and I knew it would be the wiser move. Besides, ’twas no’ trick to learn that the two of you were only just returning from there.

And Duncreag is far closer than Tur nan Clach . ”

“I suppose it is,” Ranald grumbled. “But let it be known the wrath of the Macqueens is every bit as fearsome as that of the Mackintoshes.” Despite the teasing tone of his voice, there was a feral glint in Ranald’s eye.

“No one is claiming otherwise,” Iain assured his cousin. “And I agree that coming here was a logical move. But since you obviously had your ear to the ground, Frazier, why did you not go back when you learned that Malcolm had been given Dunbrae?”

“Loyalty,” the old man said simply. “They were saying that Bram was a traitor and I knew for certain that it was a lie. Better, I thought, to find Bram and help him first. Besides, as I say, there was no love lost between the brothers. My allegiance has always been with Seamus. Because o’ that, I canna know for certain that Malcolm would have welcomed me. ”

Iain nodded, his expression inscrutable. “Well, then I’d say you made the right decision. And now that you’ve found Bram, what would you have him do?”

There was no hesitation. The old man pushed to his feet, anger and grief cresting in his eyes. “Avenge his father’s death—and the others. Seamus canna rest until the Comyns have paid.”

“Then we are agreed,” Bram said, nodding toward the map on the table. “And to that end we’re already making plans. But apparently so are they. Last night, we were attacked.”

The man drew a sharp breath, his brows drawing together. “Comyns?”

“Aye, looks as though. The colors were true,” Iain said, quickly filling the older man in on the details of the attack. “But considering what you’ve told us about the fighting, I canna see how they got here so fast.”

“Can you no’ ask them?” Frazier frowned, his eyes narrowing.

Iain’s smile held a hard glint of steel as he casually shrugged. “There were no survivors.”

“Just as well,” the man said, clenching his fist, a nerve in his weathered jaw twitching. “For what they’ve done, they deserve to go straight to hell.”

“I canna argue with that,” Ranald agreed. “But it might have proved useful to have had a prisoner to question.”

“It is what it is.” Bram shrugged, impatience rising as his fingers closed around the pin on his plaid.

Frazier’s gaze followed the movement. “Seamus’s crest.” He frowned, his hand automatically closing on his dagger. “How came you by it, then? Yer father ne’re went anywhere without it.”

“The men who attacked Duncreag left it behind,” Bram said, swallowing bitter bile. “We found it in the aftermath. A message, I’m guessing.”

“Aye.” Frazier nodded, his face still flushed with anger as his eyes fell to the parchment on the table. “Proof that the bastards killed yer father. And that if you dinna stop them first, they’ll find a way to kill you, too.”

“Which is why we have to concentrate on our next move,” Bram said, his fingers still touching the cool metal of the crest. “You have the right of it, Frazier. Whatever path we choose, my father must be avenged.”

“Well, you canna come in this way and expect to meet with success.” He pointed to the west on the map, the place they’d marked for their approach. “There’s an outpost here. And Alec will certainly have made sure that it is fully manned.”

“But they’ll be expecting us to attack from Dunbrae.”

“Mayhap. And they’ll no doubt be watching that way as well. But they know that you’re no’ there. And that you’ve no support from that quarter. Yer uncle is no’ interested in retribution. Or in you. So they’ll be watching for other places as well.”

“But the rest of the valley is guarded by mountains. Best I remember, there’s no way through at all,” Bram argued.

“Aye.” Frazier smiled, his eyes narrowing in triumph. “So it would seem. But, ye forget, yer father and I grew up in these mountains. ’Tis my feeling we should come in here.” He pointed to an area in the northeast.

“But—“ Bram began in protest.

“You think it looks impassible, I know. But, that’s where yer wrong, lad.

” Frazier tapped a weathered finger on the map.

“There’s a passage of sorts here. A narrow twist of a path following alongside a burn.

Seamus and I used it when we were no older than you, Bram.

For reiving, ye ken. It’ll be the perfect approach. They’ll ne’er see it coming.”