Page 54 of Taming the Highland Misfits

Isla had stared at it for a long moment, then decided that it was dangerous to stay any longer. She put the weapon back in its place, feeling guilty for having touched it; it was a dangerous thing, but it told her something else about her father. He was scared sometimes.

She had tiptoed out, taking one last look around to make sure that she had left everything the way she had found it. She had only been into the room a handful of times since, always in her father’s presence.

Isla picked up the dagger, and the deeds as well as a quill and a bottle of ink, then left the room as quickly as she could. The dagger felt reassuringly heavy in her hands, especially when she passed the two guards who were still standing outside the door of the room where her uncle was. She passed inside unchallenged and locked the door behind her.

* * *

Isla was not trained in legal matters, but she looked at the deed document and wrote something similar to the effect that her father was signing the ownership of the house over to Campbell McMillan. Finley witnessed it, thanking the heavens that Isla had taught him how to sign his name.

He smiled at the thought, and looked over to find that she was grinning at him. They were both thinking the same thing, he realised, and it brought home to him how close they had become. Then a wave of sadness washed over him as he realised that their time together would be very short. He was a criminal, he would have to face his punishment at some time, and that time was not far away.

After the deed had been signed, Isla blew on the ink to dry it, then looked at Robert Thomson with an air of satisfaction. “Thank you, Father,” she said smugly. “Now that my future is assured, we can take care of yours.”

Robert looked at his daughter murderously. “You are just like your mother,” he said, glowering at her under his brows. “Always thinking you know best.”

“Just like Mother?” Isla smiled at him. “Thank you, Father. My mother was the best woman I ever knew.”

Robert muttered something unintelligible then. Isla had no idea what it was, but by the tone of his voice, it was not complimentary!

At last, they were ready. Finley put his hands on Isla’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Ready, Isla?” he asked.

“More than ready, Finley,” she answered firmly.

He turned away and proceeded to tie Robert Thomson’s hands tightly behind his back, then followed with his ankles.

“You will not live to see the sunset,” Thomson growled. “My men will see to that.”

Finley threw his head back and laughed loudly. “If I had a shillin’ for every time I have heard that I would be a very rich man!” He wiped an imaginary tear of mirth from his eye, then glared at his enemy menacingly. “I have been threatened hundreds o’ times by much better men than you an’ I am still standin’! How many guards dae ye have? Ten? How much fightin’ have they done? If those are military men then I am the king. Pfft!” Finley flapped his hand at Thomson then turned away.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked in a quavering voice.

“You will see when we get there,” Finley replied grimly. Abruptly, he lifted Thomson up and slung him over his shoulder, seemingly with little effort. Isla looked at him with amazement, but Thomson was outraged at the indignity of his situation.

“Put me down!” he yelled, thumping Finley’s back with his fists.

“Make me,” Finley drawled. “An’ stop thumpin’ my back. Your backside is just in the right place for me tae skelp it, an’ believe me, Thomson, ye dinnae want that!” He was grinning wickedly and Isla giggled.

“If I didn’t know better,” she remarked, “I would think you were enjoying this!”

Finley laughed. “You know me so well, Isla.”

He walked out to their horses, then draped Thomson sideways over his mount so that his head was hanging down over one side and his feet the other. It was an incredibly uncomfortable position, which was why Finley had chosen it.

“Don’t leave me like this!” Thomson begged. “Please!” For the first time, Thomson sounded as if he was panicking.

“It’s only a little way to Laird Mullen’s castle,” Isla said soothingly. “I am sure you will survive. We will ride slowly unless you make trouble, so I would advise you to be quiet.”

Thomson made no answer. He was too scared to speak.

23

Roscolm Castle sat on top of a cone-shaped hill that looked over the valley on which Inverleith lay. It was not a big structure, but it was imposing. Its strong walls were twenty feet high, with crenellations on top through which archers had fired their bows in the days when many battles had been fought against rival clans.

As they drew near the sturdy gates, they could see that Laird Mullen took the matter of his security very seriously. There was no moat around the castle, but the gate was made of wood that looked to be about two feet thick, and a trellis of thick iron bars criss-crossed it, each one ending in an arrow-shaped pointed tip.

Guards stood at attention in a fortified structure on either side of the gate, and Isla could see many more inside. It made the security of her father’s house look rather pathetic, since she could count at least fifteen men, with no doubt many more inside. Lochview had ten, although granted, it was a much smaller place, but these men had once been serious soldiers. They were strapping, fit, and fierce, and each had a look in his eye that warned any possible adversary that they should not dare to approach without being challenged.

She looked at the horse bearing her father, and despite herself, Isla felt rather sorry for him. It had taken half an hour to travel from Lochview House to Roscolm Castle, but for him, the journey must have felt endless. She knew he did not deserve her pity, especially since he had shown no remorse for the two lives he had taken, but she had her mother’s softness of heart, and she felt his pain.