Page 8 of Stolen Highland Dreams (The Highlanders #9)

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A lad of about sixteen unexpectedly rode into the inner bailey on horseback while Dashiell and some of his men practiced sword fighting. Everyone stopped fighting as Dashiell turned to see who the newcomer was. The boy had a black eye and bloodied knuckles.

Dashiell sheathed his sword and approached the messenger, Fallon quickly joining him in case of trouble.

The lad dismounted. “I’m kin of the MacNeills, Geoffrey, and I’ve brought word that James, his brother Angus, and their cousin Niall are coming to see you. They bought bulls in Stirling market.”

Dashiell smiled. He needed good news.

“Um, they’re intrigued by what is happening in the forest.”

Dashiell frowned.

“I was meant to come earlier but ran into trouble on the way here.”

“Oh? What trouble?” Dashiell would punish whoever harmed anyone in his territory. “Is that why you have a black eye and bloodied knuckles?”

“Aye. Two men asked me if I was a member of the MacTavish clan. I said no. I was with the MacNeill clan. They wanted to know if I knew about Ella of the Caledonian Forest. I said no, though my brethren and I have heard of her. They didna believe me and beat me up. But I beat them up as well.”

“Two men against one lad?”

“I ken. They should have sent more against me.”

Dashiell chuckled. He sounded like a MacNeill all right. “Come, we’ll get you some ale.”

But then James MacNeill, one of his brothers, Angus, and their cousin Niall headed for the gates with three Highland bulls in tow on their way back to the Highlands. He hadn’t seen them for about three years. He was glad to welcome his friends back.

James, Angus, and Niall gave Dashiell hugs. The ten men with them smiled and greeted him. James frowned at Geoffrey. “What happened to you?”

“I was set upon by two men.”

James glanced at Dashiell. “I’m sending out a force to look for them.”

“They look worse than me,” Geoffrey insisted.

Dashiell said to Fallon, “I want you to take a dozen men and search for anyone who might have beat up the lad.”

“Aye.” Fallon took off across the bailey, calling out names of men to join him as he quickly gathered a force.

“I see you have good-looking bulls that you’re gifting me,” Dashiell said to James.

They laughed. “You should have gone to market with us. We’re starting our breeding stock and hope to have a good head of cattle with these,” James said.

“As long as no one steals them.” Dashiell knew they’d had problems with that in the past.

“We resolved that issue a while back and have no’ had any difficulty since then,” James said.

“I’m glad to hear it. Come, join us for the nooning meal. You’ll stay for a few days, aye?”

“Aye, we were hoping you would offer. As long as the bulls can stay in the outer bailey,” James said.

Dashiell laughed. “Aye. Will they be in your outer bailey when you return home?”

“Nay, too much of a mess to clean up. We’ve heard there are strange goings ons in the Caledonian Forest, and we dinna want to lose them to…uh, strange and mysterious forces,” James said.

How had his friends, who lived so far away, known about that when Dashiell hadn’t?

“Strange and mysterious forces?” Dashiell wanted to know just what they had heard.

“The Nymph of the Forest?” James asked. “We should be asking you what you know of her.”

They looked at Geoffrey and frowned. “What exactly happened to you? Did you encounter thieves?” James asked.

“I ran into two men who wanted to know if I knew of the lady of the forest,” Geoffrey said. “Truly, I look better than they do.”

“Who were they?” James asked.

“I dinna ken. They didna say their names.”

“Fallon and the others will hopefully catch them,” Dashiell said, wondering who would have done such a thing to Geoffrey without provocation. They would pay for it.

Dashiell brought them into the great hall, and the MacNeills sat with him at the head table. Dashiell’s aunt moved over to sit with his advisor and his wife, happy to do so. He loved her for always being so accommodating when he had important guests visiting.

“We’ve seen her on the hunts across the stream when we’re in the woods,” Dashiell said.

“A fey woman,” Angus said as the servers began bringing venison to the table.

“I dinna believe in things of a mystical nature.” Though the woman was sure making Dashiell wonder about her.

The MacNeills laughed.

“Then you wouldna mind if we joined you on the hunt to see this woman,” James said.

“All who see her—” Dashiell began to say that they would dream of her, but he thought it would sound like he believed in it.

His friends were hanging on his every word and when he paused, James said, “Aye?”

Dashiell shook his head.

“You ken we’ll learn the truth,” James said. “Everyone in a castle talks.”

“‘Tis said that if you see her, you will dream about her from then on.” Dashiell drank some of his ale.

His friends smiled and drank their ale and ate their venison. They didn’t believe it.

“You have seen her?” Niall asked.

Dashiell knew what was coming next. “Aye.”

“Do you dream of her?” Niall asked.

Dashiell didn’t want to tell them he did, but he knew his friends would know the truth before long with the way his people gossiped. “Aye.”

All three of the MacNeills sat back.

James considered Dashiell for a long time. “The others who go with you on the hunt also?”

“Aye.”

James smiled. “I’m glad we stopped in on you to see this fascinating woman. We have heard tell she is uncommonly beautiful and for the most part blends into the forest.”

“Like a fey woman,” Niall said.

“She may no’ appear for you. She doesna always show herself,” Dashiell said.

“Then we may have to stay longer to ensure that we finally do see her,” James said.

As strong-willed as James was, Dashiell knew there was no deterring him from his mission unless he had trouble back home and had to leave.

“As you wish. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, except your men have to clean up after your bulls.”

The brothers and their cousin laughed.

“We were surprised that you had bartered for the castle here. Why did MacAfee agree to give it away?” James asked.

“I was surprised as well, but I was delighted to be given the opportunity to barter for it. I got the bargain in the deal. We’d been drinking at a pub when he and his men arrived and I knew he wanted some of my land, which I wouldna sell to him. He looked haggard like he hadn’t been sleeping for days.”

James frowned.

“All his men did, and I wondered if he’d been in a battle with another clan, but I didna pry. He joined me at my table and said he had a proposition. I didna believe he truly wanted to barter his castle and lands, but he said he was serious, and I agreed.”

James shook his head.

“I still assumed he would sleep on it and change his mind, that mayhap too much ale had addled his mind, but his men seemed just as eager to move out of the castle.”

“I’ve never met the chief. But I did meet one of his men shortly after you took over the castle. I asked him why his chief bartered away his castle. He said it was time to move on. We keep our castles to pass down to our kin for centuries unless another clan takes us over.”

“Aye, that’s just what I thought,” Dashiell said.

“I canna imagine MacAfee wanting to give up his castle for your land, as valuable as it was,” James said. “It still isna as valuable as the castle and the land and forest surrounding it.”

“Aye. So he didna specify any other reason?” Dashiell asked.

“Nay.”

“Mayhap the Nymph of the Forest was scaring off his deer and had spooked his people,” Niall said. “Or?—”

“They had nightmares about the nymph.” James didn’t sound serious in the least. “Since your people dream of her after seeing her, maybe no’ everyone dreams good things.”

Smiling, Dashiell shook his head. He remembered all the good times they had had over the years when they’d been able to get together. Even James’s brother Malcolm, Dougald, and their good friend, Gunnolf, who had been raised alongside them, were his best friends.

“Aye.” Niall nodded as if he truly believed it.

Dashiell wasn’t sure if he was jesting or not.

“That’s why he and his men looked so haggard,” Niall said.

Angus laughed and slapped Niall on the back. “You would make a great storyteller.”

Dashiell and James agreed.

With the time that had passed, Mina finally agreed that Ella needed to forage for food. “Be vigilant. Return here immediately if you see any sign of MacAfee or his men.”

Ella nodded, eager to leave the hut and do her chores.

They hadn’t heard from her brother for the three days he’d been gone, and she had worried about him. Amelda wanted to go with her to do their chores, probably tired of being confined to the hut like Ella was, but she shook her head and wrote in the dirt: Not this time. If I find the men have left the forest, you can. But we canna risk it right now.

She’d been so worried about Amelda when they had heard MacAfee and his men so close to where they’d been hiding that she didn’t want to put her in danger again.

Ella left the hut to do her chores as they desperately needed food and water, and Mina could not do the work. Ella was cautious, ensuring she heard no one in the forest searching for her.

Even though she gathered wild garlic, elderflower, honeysuckle, wild cherries, blueberries, sloes, wild mint, wood sorrel, Scots pine needles, and rowan berries, she kept thinking she had to tell Dashiell that MacAfee had been hunting on his lands—for her.

Still, she was concerned that Dashiell might think she would try to claim the castle was hers next. Or he might not even believe her.

At least she had stored up enough acorns and chestnuts from last winter to eat, especially since Mina seemed to be eating less and less, so Ella didn’t need to fish for a few days. And Finnegan wasn’t eating here any longer. At least they had mutton and cabbage to make a pottage for the evening meal. They needed firewood also.

She spent all morning gathering the food, spying a pine marten scurrying off, and then returned to the hut to leave the bags with Mina and Amelda.

“No sign of anyone, I take it?” Mina took the bags from her. She peered into them and smiled.

Ella shook her head. She wrote in the dirt: Firewood . She was always glad when she had gathered enough food to make Mina smile.

“Aye. And water.”

“Can I go with you, Ella?” Amelda implored.

Ella nodded because she hadn’t seen anyone in the woods and knew her cousin needed to leave the hut for fresh air. They headed out to gather firewood this time.

She usually had to go farther into the woods, but they found more firewood closer to the hut since she hadn’t gathered wood and kindling in a while. They couldn’t leave it stacked up outside the hut either, or it could be discovered, and someone could watch to see who came for it.

Amelda quickly gathered an armload of twigs, and Ella pointed in the direction of the hut, telling Amelda to return with it now. Amelda hurried off with it, and once she entered the hut, Ella gathered more firewood.

She heard nothing but the birds in the trees twittering away with each other. She saw a red deer but no sign of any men. A hawk flew overhead, catching her attention. She carried more twigs and a couple of branches into the hut and grabbed two buckets.

Mina and Amelda began sorting through all the food Ella had gathered. Ella wondered if Mina was ever tired of talking to Ella when she couldn’t converse with her.

“Be careful,” Mina said.

This was the most dangerous of missions. Ella would be exposed when she went to the stream if MacAfee or his men were about. If she saw Dashiell or his men, she could write a message in the dirt on the shore where they had gone before. If only they would remain on their side. She was afraid if Dashiell or the others saw her, they would cross the stream.

When she got there, she waited in the cover of the bracken and woods, watching and listening for any sign of anyone. She was certain no one was around and quickly gathered her water in the buckets and decided she needed to return them to the hut first.

If she didn’t, and they saw her, they would chase her, and she would have to leave the water behind. After she took the water to the hut, she would return to the bank and write the message.

She was afraid Mina would not want her to leave again once she dropped off the water-filled buckets, but when she arrived, Mina had left the hut. Amelda was preparing a meal. “Mina had to…you ken.”

Ella nodded and set the buckets of water inside. She wrote: Be back soon.

Then she hurried off to the stream again to write her message in the soil, hoping someone in Dashiell’s party could read. When Ella reached the stream, she saw Dashiell and his men and decided to take the chance to leave the message. She also noticed new men were riding with him.

They were seated on their horses next to him in a place of honor and friendship, all three men dark-haired and dark-eyed. Brothers? She didn’t believe they were MacAfee’s men. She prayed they weren’t.

They were all staring at her.

“I am Dashiell MacLeod of Cairn Castle, lass. Who are you, and where do you come from?” Dashiell sighed. “We are having a fine feast in the keep this eve. I wish for you to join us.”

Frowning, Ella shook her head, then stepped out of the shadows of the trees and walked with a cautious step toward the bank with a stick in hand, hoping he didn’t try to rush her.

Just stay on your side, she silently told him. Yet, Mina’s words came to her, niggling at her. “Go with him. He and his people can protect you.”

But Ella couldn’t leave Mina behind. And she wasn’t sure that Dashiell would want to take her cousin in either.

When Dashiell saw Ella, he was certain he could not draw close to her before she took flight like a frightened bird. His MacNeill friends were quiet, curious, and rivetted like he was. A breeze caught her gown and tugged at it, the same with the veil on her hair, showing off some long red curls.

Dashiell nudged his horse to walk halfway to the stream, then paused. His heart nearly stopped when he saw her advance toward the stream. She was so close yet so far away.

She watched him as he waited, observing her, wanting to prove she had nothing to fear from him. She stood at the water’s edge, parted her lips as if to say something, then crouched down and drew in the dirt. It took the greatest fortitude to hold back and not dash across the water, seize her, and take her back to Cairn Castle to learn who she was.

She lifted her stick as if she was done, then glanced at him to see that he had edged closer to the stream on his horse. She shook her head at him, causing her hair to toss from side to side with the motion, then turned and ran into the forest.

“Nay! Dinna go!” he shouted, his voice a mixture of pleading and command, his blood pulsing in his veins. He galloped his horse across the water.

His men and friends soon caught up with him to aid him in searching the surrounding area for signs of where the lady had disappeared. When he finally paused, he saw his advisor smiling at him. “What?”

“You invited her to eat with us? What would everyone have thought?” Quinn asked.

“I am sure she would have been the topic of conversation.” Dashiell was furious beyond measure that the woman would continue to elude him.

“She is of the fey,” Niall said as if he knew the truth.

“She is most unusual,” Angus said.

“Worthy of investigating further,” James said.

“From her reaction to your invitation, I would venture to say the lass doesna like the idea of visiting the castle,” Quinn said.

“Perhaps she worked for MacAfee’s staff before your people took over, and she was let go,” James said.

“She seems skittish toward any who try to get close to her,” his advisor said.

“Mayhap she has heard I am too serious.” Dashiell looked about for more clues of the woman’s whereabouts. “When did you say people started noticing the lass in the woods? How long ago was this?”

“For the old lady, they say she is as old as some of the trees in the forest…seventy, eighty-years old at least. As for the girl, she has been seen here for several months. Accounts varied. A blacksmith said he had seen her as long as five years ago, but nearly everyone else has said she has only been around this past year.”

“How odd. Well, do any of you see clues as to where she disappeared?”

“I see deer trails all over,” Fallon said. “She must use them to travel wherever she goes when she leaves the stream.”

“All right then, we will split our forces and check where the deer trails lead. Perhaps we will get lucky. Meet back at the stream before dark. If any find the lass…hold her at the stream so I may speak with her.”

Dashiell, his advisor, his MacNeill friends, and three of his men took one of the trails while the others split off into different groups and headed down some other paths. Dashiell’s trail finally came into the meadow, where the path led down to the loch. He stared at the grasses that flowed with the breeze.

“Do you think she could hide in the grasses since they are so tall this time of year, Quinn?”

“Possibly.”

His heart thundering, Dashiell stared at a figure standing by the loch. “Is that her, do you think?”

“Nay,” his advisor said. “She isna wearing the same green gown, is smaller in stature, and her hair appears too dark to be the same lass.”

Niall shook his head. “She isna the same woman.”

“Come, let us see her anyway.”

When Dashiell and his men approached the girl, she curtsied to him. “Do you know of Ella of the Forest, miss?”

“Of course.”

“Have you seen her then?”

“Aye, here in the meadow, twice.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

The girl shook her head. “She didna see me, and I was afraid of her. I only watched her as she went to the loch and bathed, then returned to the forest. The other time, she gathered flowers and returned to the forest.”

“Why were you afraid of her? Did she do anything threatening?”

“Oh, nay. Do you no’ think it odd that she lives alone in the forest the way she does? The villagers say she is a wild woman raised by a pack of wolves. Some say she is one of the fey kind. A woodland fey. They call her Ella.”

Niall cleared his throat. “I told you.”

“They do, do they?” Dashiell ignored Niall. “Thank you, miss.” He turned his horse back toward the forest. “Imagine that…a woman raised by wolves who protects the deer in my forest, then turns into an owl at night, and she’s one of the fey. This I have got to see.”

The MacNeills agreed.

James said, “This will be a tale worth telling.”

“If she is of the fey, no’ just a lass living in the forest you should be careful,” Angus cautioned.

Fallon suddenly joined them. “I didna believe the lass was doing anything but drawing in the dirt with her stick, but she wrote something.”

They all headed back that way. “What, pray tell, did she write?” Dashiell asked.

“She wrote—MacAfee.”

Dashiell studied Fallon. “How could the lass even know how to write?” Then he frowned. “Is that all she wrote?”

“Aye. If she had meant to write anything else, you might have scared her away before she could,” Fallon said.

“I thought the same,” James said.

Dashiell was sorely vexed with himself over that. “MacAfee? What is the significance of her writing it here?” Here, Dashiell thought he would catch her and learn all about her, but now he had a new mystery.

How did she know MacAfee? How did she know how to read and write if she was a wild woman? Was she telling him that MacAfee still owned the forest? That Dashiell didn’t belong there?