Page 6 of The Wild Rose of Kilgannon (Kilgannon #2)

TWO

B erta, our capable housekeeper, welcomed every one inside with whisky and food.

I sat on a bench with the boys and Ellen while the greetings continued around us.

I comforted them as best I could, stilling the questions that flooded my mind.

I had thought Thomas and I would talk quietly while he told me the news, but the men were full of stories and I sat with the others and listened.

“Well,” one of the men said, answering a question, “I dinna think much of our James Stewart the now, not after he left us to fend for ourselves.” At the outcry he looked around the room.

“Have ye no’ heard? James Stewart and his special friends stole away to France in the middle of the night.

I canna believe the word has no’ come to ye yet. ”

“Aye, it’s true.” Thomas spoke quietly from behind me and heads swiveled toward him.

He moved to the fireplace and sank down on a bench while the people gathered around.

“We never saw the king after the first few days, and then we retreated once more, this time to Montrose. Alex had us take Gannon’s Lady there or we wouldna be home the now.

” Thomas shook his head. “We waited in Montrose while most of the Highlanders walked to Aberdeen. Alex told us no’ to leave with the others.

He and Angus attended meetings that lasted half the night, and he was more angry every day.

And then early one morning, in the wee hours, I heard all sorts o’ noise from downstairs in the house we were staying in. ”

He leaned forward. “When I went down the stairs, there was the MacDonald himself and the Maclean brothers, filling the room, and Angus and Alex looking like murder. Mar had sent everyone on to Aberdeen and then he and the Stewart were about to sneak away to France. Someone told the MacDonald and Macleans and Alex, and they all went to see for themselves. I’m told that the MacDonald got on his knees and begged James Stewart to stay.

But the Stewart wouldna stay. So off they went, James Stewart and Mar, in the dark of night.

Sailed away, leaving us there. James Stewart sent a letter to be read to everyone waiting in Aberdeen: ‘Goodbye, lads, fend for yerselves. I’m off to save my own skin. Thanks for the war.’

“Well, ye ken our Alex. He wouldna leave with the Stewart, though I would be surprised if Mar asked him, they were no’ favorites of each other, especially after Alex all but called him a coward.

Angus says he thought the two of them would end in blows and the king was just sitting in the corner, watching with a long face.

Well, anyway, there we were, in that old house in the middle of the night, the MacDonald white-faced and furious and the Macleans screaming murderous things and Angus looking like he’d split someone.

Then the MacDonald and Macleans took themselves off and Alex started waking our men, telling them to get ready.

Alex thought he’d ride on to Aberdeen and warn those still on the road, and Angus thought he’d keep him company.

They told us to leave and come home to be with ye here.

And he was a mite forceful in his suggestions too.

” He smiled ruefully and laughed with the other men, who nodded.

“He packed us off to Gannon’s Lady and here we are.

Argyll was moving into Montrose as we were leaving.

We got out by a breath is all and I’m assuming the others got out as well.

” He took a long drink of his whisky. “The MacDonald’s going to France, I’m told, and the Macleans took to the heather.

Alex and Angus and the others are somewhere near Aberdeen, and the Clonmor men are with them. The land is full of English soldiers.”

“How will they get home?” Ian’s voice was loud in the pause.

Thomas’s eyes met mine, then looked at Ian. “Yer da will find a way, laddie. He’s a bonnie leader. He’ll find a way.”

“But you said the English soldiers are everywhere.”

“Aye, so I did,” Thomas said. “But what are a few English soldiers to a Gael who kens his homeland? Yer da kens the land there. He’ll ken ways to get home that the English dinna.

Never ye fear, Ian, yer da will be here soon.

” Ian nodded, his face expressionless as he looked at me.

Jamie followed his gaze. I tried to smile, but I could only see the harsh winter and a handful of men, dressed in red plaids, running from soldiers in the snow.

Our waiting was full of work. We were preparing Kilgannon for a siege and we toiled constantly.

All the stores we could find were brought into the keep, and the tunnel was readied in case we should need it.

The Katrine was anchored in the outer loch, and the outlying areas were warned.

Most of the men had gone to their homes, but they patrolled the perimeter of Kilgannon lands and runners kept us informed of what each village was doing.

When Alex first left I had gathered all the things that he had told me to take with me, and the bags still stood in the library.

The boys and I had packed our clothes. And Alex’s.

And I had packed Alex’s box of sketches.

We were ready to flee, at once if necessary. And then we waited.

The winter crept slowly on, cold and wet, and we worked until we dropped.

The boys were very brave but they were afraid, and I spent much of my time cheering them on or leading them in their lessons.

I kept my fears to myself. During the daylight hours I held them at bay, but at day’s end they would reappear and the nights stretched interminably.

I still roamed the house in the dark hours, pausing each night to look at the portraits that lined the stairs, asking Alex’s image where he was.

I was in the hall at daybreak the morning the news came that a ship was in the loch, and said a silent prayer as I waited.

My spirits sank when the word came that the ship was not ours, but they rose again with the news that it was a MacDonald ship, with Sir Donald himself on deck. But Alex was not aboard.

I waited on the dock with Thomas and Dougall as the ship approached, and waved in return when the MacDonald signaled to us.

He climbed stiffly from the boat, his movements those of a man much older, then nodded at me and walked up the hill without a word.

I followed the man who had enticed Alex to war, the leader of the MacDonalds.

I had once been very fond of him, admiring not only his looks, still arresting though he was twenty years older than Alex, but also his wit and intelligence.

Inside the hall Sir Donald settled himself slowly at a table and silently accepted the whisky I poured for him.

Dougall and Thomas sat to my right, their expressions carefully blank.

I kept my hand on the stone bottle, cool under my grip, and felt my heart as cold.

But for you , I thought as I watched him, Alex would be here with me now .

He had difficulty meeting my eyes, but I felt no remorse for the chilliness with which I met his.

“Dinna look so baleful, Mary MacGannon,” he said at last. “I dinna mean to lead him to this.” He glanced around the hall, avoiding the gaze of the Kilgannon men standing at a respectful distance but within reach if I needed them.

“I tried to convince him to come with me, Mary. I am here now to ask ye to come to France with us.” I watched him as he leaned forward, his tone earnest. “Mary, lassie, listen to me, when I left yer husband on the dock at Montrose, he was going to get his men home and then join ye here. I dinna ken what happened next.” He sighed and rubbed his chin.

“I did try to convince him, Mary. I swear before God, I did try. I wanted him to come with me. And that is why I’m here.

Most of my family has gone to France. I’m here for the last of them.

Come with us and bring the lads. Come, Mary, and Alex will come after and ye’ll all be safe.

” I said nothing. He sighed again and looked at his glass.

When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“I tried, Mary,” he said in a choked voice.

“And Alex tried. He was fair amazing. But Mar would not listen and the others listened to Mar.” He took a deep drink of the whisky.

“It broke my heart when James Stewart left. It broke my heart. He kent what it would mean and still he left.” He stared into the distance and I felt myself thawing.

“Come with us, Mary. Ye ken Angus’s mother Deirdre and his sisters are there?

And yer sister-in-law Sibeal. Ye’ll not be with strangers. ”

“Sibeal? Sibeal is there? And Malcolm?”

His gaze was level. “No. Hers is no’ a happy marriage.”

“I see,” I said and studied my hands for a moment, then looked up at him. “You realize that Alex would not have gone if you had not persuaded him. He resisted Murdoch and the others.”

“Aye, I ken that. I kent that day that he would come with us.” We sat again and then he sighed. “Ye’ll never forgive me for this, will ye?”

I met his eyes. Whatever I thought of this man, I had to admit he was courageous and honest. I answered him truthfully. “No.”

He nodded to himself. “It was to the Gael in him that I appealed, Mary, and it was the Gael in him that answered. We would have won if more had heard the call and answered as well.”

“Those who did not answer the call are safe at home, Sir Donald. And where are you?”

His fierce gaze met mine. “Free. Free, Mary. I am free.”

“Not here, Sir Donald. If you stay here you will not be free. Perhaps in France you will be. But what about all the others? And Alex? He listened to you and you are off to France to protect yourself. And where is my husband?”

He looked at me for a long moment. “I asked him to come and I ask you now. If ye do no’ join us, it is yer own choice.”