Page 20 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Bride

CHAPTER 20

As James and Maisie left the kitchen through the back stairs and came out into the open courtyard, they both turned at the sound of a hail from the gate.

Harris was running toward them, a letter in his hand.

“Abingdon has agreed to meet ye to discuss the Campbell issue,” Harris said breathlessly, the urgency evident in his tone. “We may nae get another chance before they kill each other.”

James took a step forward but just at the last moment he turned to Maisie. Her heart leaped.

“I have to see to me clan, but I dinnae wish to leave ye without explainin’ why.”

“Ye have explained,” she said sincerely. “Will ye ask Abingdon about the lands and whether the Campbells can be moved?”

James’s gaze flicked to Harris ruefully. “We have a negotiator on our hands it would seem.”

Harris smiled. “It’s a good idea.”

“I ken, that’s what I want to ask him today. You’re all right with me goin’?” he asked Maisie.

“Of course. As I said, I dinnae wish to stop ye from seein’ yer clan, I just want to see ye on me own time too.”

“Whatever for?” Harris asked. “The man’s a menace.”

Maisie found herself laughing as James gave Harris a withering look, then he turned to her and kissed her briefly. Leaning back and brushing his fingers under her chin.

“I will be back tonight, lass.”

Maisie watched them depart and couldn’t help but feel useless in the wake of their trouble.

Has anyone tried to speak with the families in the day? She wondered. Surely, they could be reasoned with?

If James was speaking to Abingdon about the land boundary alterations, perhaps she could visit the MacCarthys and see if she could make any sense of their situation. James had been adamant that the feud had only reignited in recent weeks. Perhaps there was a simple explanation for it all.

If I can help him with this, maybe he willnae shut me out so much. I am sure I can help with clan matters, and perhaps that will allow us to work together on such things in the future.

Having made up her mind, Maisie waited until James and Harris were out of sight before she headed to the stables. There were a variety of horses to choose from, but she decided upon a white mare with a beautiful white mane that was the most docile of the group.

She waited for her mount to be saddled, reconciling herself to the fact that she may be on a fool’s errand. She would not attempt anything too drastic, but she would speak with the head of the family and ask what had ignited the fighting.

Soon, she was on her way, watching the two black shadows on the horizon of James and Harris, and she followed in their wake. After a short ride, Abingdon Castle was already in view, and from the direction they had traveled, she knew she could not be too far away.

On closer inspection, however, she realized that the lands around her were vast, and she had no idea where the Campbell and MacCarthy farms were located. She glanced about her, noticing another man on horseback someway behind her, and decided that it might be best for her to ask him directions.

The sun was lowering in the sky as she turned her beautiful horse about and trotted toward him. He was a stocky fellow, and although she could not see his face clearly there was a long scar down his left cheek. She raised an arm to hail him, and he stopped.

She trotted on, about to call and ask her route, but something made her pause. The horse shied a little, her hooves backing away as they came level with the man, and Maisie frowned. As she looked up at him, her stomach dropped.

There was a crossbow in the man’s hand, the arrow pointed squarely at her chest.

Thinking that she must be in the path of a deer that he might be shooting at, she half turned in her saddle as the horse snorted loudly. As she turned back, she saw the man aim and fire .

It was as though time stood still as she watched the bow release the arrow and she had seconds with which to act. She tugged violently on the horse’s reins as she felt the arrowhead slice through her upper thigh.

“Come on, girl,” she screamed at the horse.

She saw the man latching another arrow to his bow as she galloped away, striking the horse’s flanks again and again, no clue as to where she was headed, except to escape!

“I believe I could agree to these terms,” Abingdon said.

He was a thickly set man with a square jaw and a large bulbous nose. His cheeks were reddened from too much wine, and his eyes were small and pig-like. James knew Abingdon was desperate to have the Campbells off his land. They had been a nuisance since his father’s time, and his offer was more than fair.

Harris stood stoically by the doors of the great hall of Abingdon Castle, watching the proceedings, one hand on his sword.

“Ye will only lose thirty hectares of land between us with the change, and the Campbells will regain their status as MacLennan tenants.”

“Very well,” Abingdon said, raising a hand as James shook it. “Ye’re a fool to take them on, but I’ll happily relinquish them.”

James nodded, as they both stood.

Turning away, James met Harris at the door. As they made their way back to their horses and left the castle, they both exchanged a look.

“Will it work, dae ye think?” Harris asked.

James shrugged. “I dinnae ken, but it’s worth a try. The sons have been gettin’ along until now. If they can bury their disagreement once and for all and we can welcome them into our clan, it should allow everythin’ to simmer down.”

“It was a good idea.”

“It was Maisie’s,” James replied evasively, and Harris chuckled.

“I kent she would be the makin’ of ye.”

“Ye hold yer tongue,” James replied with a wry grin, but Harris’s words stirred something inside him.

Perhaps he’s right.

The sun was low in the sky over the heather all about them. The tufts of purple flowers were popping up everywhere as they cantered back toward Caste MacLennan.

James had always had good relations with Abingdon, and he had never been more grateful for that as they returned. It was easy to forget how close to his border his lands came and how many wars his father had fought to find peace.

As they trotted through the gates of the courtyard, bantering happily back and forth, there was a shout from the castle entrance.

Harris suddenly became alert and sat up in his saddle. James followed his gaze to see Jean running towards them in the gathering darkness.

“What is it, Jean?” Harris asked, forgetting himself enough to use her Christian name.

“It is Her Ladyship, m’laird,” Jean said as she looked up at James. “She is nowhere to be found.”

James tamped down the immediate bolt of panic and thought logically about where she could be.

“Have ye looked in the library, on every shelf because that woman is known to get lost in her books?”

Jean shook her head. “I’ve looked everywhere, m’laird, the stable hand said she took Lily out shortly after ye left.”

James looked at Harris, his concern not improved by the worry on his face.

“Ye’re sure?”

“Aye,” Jean said, pointing to a young boy with his back to them a little further along by the stables. “Lucas said she left and hasnae returned.”

James turned Kenzie around. “Send word immediately if she returns, and keep watch for her,” he said. “I’ll go to the town, maybe she went back to the bookshop.”

“Aye, m’laird!” Harris confirmed, and instantly jumped off his horse and ran into the castle to get to the highest point where he could scan the lands for any sign of her.

As James galloped out of the gates, he tried to think about where she might have gone. It was unlike her to leave without an explanation. Even when she had gone to the village she had told Harris where she would be.

He spurred Kenzie forward to the town. As he arrived he asked the first man he met if anyone had seen her, but there was no sign.

Frantic, he began to wonder if she might be in danger. He was a powerful man who had just got wed. There had been many senior families in the clan who he had snubbed with his choice of bride.

Could one of them have wanted to harm Maisie? The more he thought on it the more convinced he became, until he could think of little else.

After an hour of searching the towns and surrounding areas, scouring the horizon for any sign of her, his chest was tight with concern. He wasn’t sure whether he should go back to the castle to see if she had returned or keep searching.

In one last-ditch attempt, he decided to go to the waterfalls. There was a chance she remembered the path and had made her way there alone to swim. It was a weak hope, but he spurred Kenzie onward either way.

As they cantered through the undergrowth, he felt a burst of hope as he saw something white ahead of him in the trees.

Kenzie galloped onward until they reached the edge of the pool below the thundering falls.

To his horror, the white object he had seen through the trees, was Lily, the horse Maisie had taken. She was a beautiful white mare, but her flank was streaked in blood. It looked as though there was a high graze on her right leg and, although shallow, blood had spread over her hind quarters.

James dismounted, looking about wildly when finally, he saw her. On the far side of the pool, Maisie was lying on the ground propped against a rock. She did not look conscious.

“Maisie!” he cried, clambering over the many rocks to get to her. “Maisie!”

To his relief, she opened her eyes and reached for him.

“James.”

“What happened to ye, where have ye been?”

She tried to sit up, but the effort was too much. “I went to speak to the MacCarthys. I thought I could help, but I didn’t ken the way. I went to ask a man behind me for directions, and he shot an arrow at me.”

James felt his heart stutter in his chest. “Are ye hurt? Maisie! Are ye hurt?”

His hands went to her dress, trying to see any signs of blood but there was nothing.

“It is all right. It isnae too bad. It grazed me leg and cut the horse. I ran as fast as I could away from him. I intended to return to the castle but I cannae ride with me leg like this. I kent there was clean water here for the horse. She saved me life.”

James looked back at Lily, who was calm and peaceful behind them.

“She’s all right, lass, I need to tend to ye. Let me see.” He pulled her skirts up over her thigh, and she hissed. The cut looked about an inch deep. Not too bad, but not too good either.

“Did ye recognize him?” he asked but Maisie’s eyes were drooping already from exhaustion.

“Nae, he looked too big to be a laborer. Stocky, like a soldier with a long scar on his face.”

I’ll find him, and I’ll kill him for what he could have done to ye.

“Why would he try to kill me?” Maisie asked plaintively.

“I dinnae ken,” to get to me, “but I’ll find out. Come, lass. We’ll take Lily back with us. We’ll go slowly and we’ll get ye to a healer. Ye had me worried half to death.”

She laughed as though that idea was amusing. James cursed himself for how he had treated her. She didn’t believe that she mattered to him and that was his doing.

“We’ll make ye well. I’ll look after ye,” he said softly, brushing the hair from her face.

I have never felt fear like this before, he realized. Ne’er in me life have I been so terrified to lose somethin’.

He pushed his arms beneath her and lifted her, carrying her back to Kenzie as she swooned in his arms.

I will find whoever is responsible for this and I will destroy them .