Page 8 of The Wild Rose of Kilgannon (Kilgannon #2)

“Dougall told us about Sheriffmuir and Thomas told us that James Stewart and Mar left for France secretly and that the rest of you had to fend for yourselves. And the MacDonald told me that you were going to Aberdeen and then trying to get home. Some of you got here. What happened? Where’s Alex?”

“The MacDonald was here?”

I nodded.

“Why?”

I told him of the visit and my response and he nodded.

“Good.”

“Angus, where is Alex?”

“Somewhere east of Loch Linnhe the last time I saw him.” He took a sip of the whisky and met my eyes.

“And my son went to be with him.” His gaze returned to the fire.

“We were in Montrose and James Stewart met with the chieftains. Alex was there; I was outside with Duncan Maclean. When Alex came to us, ye wouldna have known him. I’ve never seen him so angry.

Now, mind ye”—he looked at me from under his bushy eyebrows, his eyes a steely blue—“many of the clans had been sent north to Aberdeen. We were only still in Perth because of our ties to the MacDonald, else we would ha’ been north with the others.

” He shifted in the chair. “Where was I? Oh, aye. It seems the chiefs argued with the Stewart but he was set on leaving. And he left, leaving us on our own.”

“And the MacDonald left too.”

“Aye, after a bit. He asked us to come with him. He damn near begged. I’ve never seen the man so broken.”

“Why did you not go with him?”

“Ah, well, Mary, there was not room for twenty-four more men, only four or five at best. I told Alex to go with them, but he wouldna leave us on our own. Or the Clonmor men. And we’d had word Clonmor was besieged.

So there we stood, in the middle of an icy night, and we watched King James sail away from his country and leave us to our own devices. ” He shook his head.

“We headed north, telling those still on the road what had happened. Then we turned west and went to Clonmor.” He sighed.

“But we were too late. The house had been burnt and many were dead. We did what we could for them and the Clonmor men who had been with us said they’d be aright on their own, so we headed home.

We thought we could get west by way of Inverness, but the troops were everywhere and the snow was astonishing, so we went south, staying high.

But every time we went down into the glens we met more soldiers.

” He shook his head, remembering. “We had our share of skirmishes and we lost Finlay and Gabhan in one. We built cairns over their graves and moved on. I dinna think we’d make it through the snow.

It was so bad that we couldna see four feet and even with the best we could do, we were making little distance each day, sleeping in caves, or a kind soul’s barn or kitchen. ”

He gripped his glass. “There was one day when I thought we’d all die on the spot.

Alex was in the rear, I was at the head.

It was hard to see, what with the snow blowing so hard, and we looked like ghosts.

It was hard to shout too, ye ken how yer mouth doesna work well when yer cold, so I turned to wave at Alex.

I watched him stand there and he just faded away.

I could see everyone else, lass, but Alex just faded away.

And then he was gone.” He gulped the whisky before meeting my eyes.

“We searched for him until we could not go on, then found a cave and waited out the storm. If I’d been a different man I would have sworn the wee folk took him.

He was there and then he was gone.” He shook himself as if throwing off the memory.

“We found him the next morning. He said he’d spent the night in an empty shieling, but he was as shaken as I.

” His eyes met mine. “He said he could see only me and then I just faded away. It was a warning, Mary, and we dinna heed it.”

I wrapped my shawl around me as he continued.

Hampered by the heavy snows and packs of English troops, they moved south and east, out of the mountains.

By talking to those sympathetic to the Jacobites in the countryside, they learned that the north was solidly held by the Loyalists and that Inverness, held by the Frasers, would have been no haven even if they could have reached it.

So they moved even further south and then west, avoiding the troops, who were everywhere.

They headed for the Margaret where she was anchored in Loch Linnhe.

Somewhere west of Stirling they became aware that they were being followed by a particular band of English soldiers.

They moved even more cautiously then, leaving a man or two behind to see how quickly they were pursued, and going as fast as possible when weather permitted, choosing their way carefully through Flander’s Moss, the bog-infested land of the MacGregors.

And then they reached the lands of their cousin Lachlan, the one who had written to Angus months ago.

They were planning to spend the night in his barn when a letter arrived, delivered by a young boy who said he’d been paid to come to Lachlan’s and give the message to Kilgannon.

“We were in Lachlan’s house,” said Angus, “drinking a wee bit with him, feeling safe for a moment. Lachlan told us that the soldiers had not been by for a while. Ye can imagine what we thought when the letter came. At the first it mystified us, lass.” He sipped the last of the whisky in his glass and I moved to refill it.

“We dinna ken where we’d be that night, so how could the English ken we’d be in that barn?

It had rained all day and Alex and I were the ones watching to see how closely we’d been followed.

We kent no one had seen us approach, and unless Lachlan had become a different man and sent a runner, which he swore he hadna, how would they have known?

We’d gone by a roundabout way and were heading east when we arrived.

None of us had left the group, so we dinna believe we had a traitor amongst us.

We were very worried.” Angus sighed and closed his eyes.

“When Alex took the note and read it he turned pale and he folded it up and put it in his plaid. He wouldna tell us what it said at first, just told all the men to pack up, we were leaving.” He opened his eyes and looked at the fire grimly.

“Then I asked him again what it said and he gave it to me.” He swallowed a gulp of whisky.

“What did it say?” I asked, still standing in front of him. His eyes met mine and I was shocked at the rage in them.

“It said our route and where we would probably stop, what caves and what kinsmen were on the route.

And where a ship would be most likely to be harbored to be waiting for us.

It said that if Alex were to surrender himself to the English, the rest of us would be released unharmed and Kilgannon untouched.

And you would be escorted to safety in England.

If he dinna surrender, it said, we would be pursued until we were found and made prisoner.

And if we were not found, you would be taken and held.

Then Kilgannon would be torched and the people killed. All of them.

“And it was signed by Robert Campbell.”