Page 6 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander (Falling for Highland Villains #5)

CHAPTER 6

Ava watched in wonder as Brodrick approached. He was no longer wearing his torn and bloodied shirt. His skin wasn’t visible or glistening in the sun. His beard was gone, and his hair… his hair had been neatly combed. The faint scratches on his face had disappeared—or at least they had been well treated.

He was wearing a rather dashing brown shirt, a kilt, and a swordbelt. He looked different. Gentle. Charming.

And Ava hated the pull he had on her.

“I see ye packed yer bags,” Brodrick noted, stopping only a few feet from her.

“Well, I couldn’t let you abduct the girl now, could I?”

Brodrick sighed. “I told ye I am nae abductin’ her. How could I abduct me daughter?”

“How does anyone do anything, I wonder?”

“Look, all I want is to take me daughter home. That shouldnae be so much to ask for, should it?”

“It should not, if the child recognizes you?—”

Brodrick scoffed.

“And can attest to that fact. All we have are the colors of your eyes and birthmarks to go on,” Ava argued.

A part of her was enjoying this a little more than she liked to admit. Something about keeping him on his toes brought her joy.

“Must ye require the strongest forms of evidence for everythin’? I dinnae ken what else to tell ye, woman. That is me daughter.”

Ava opened her mouth to give another saucy remark when they both heard footsteps approach from behind. They both turned around at once.

Sarah approached them, holding a tiny box in one hand and Margaret’s hand in the other.

Brodrick hurried towards her, much to Ava’s surprise.

“Allow me,” he said, reaching for the box.

Sarah nodded and relinquished it to him. Ava watched him give her a slight smile before walking back to the carriage. He deposited the box into the carriage and returned to where he had stood moments ago.

Sarah stopped before Ava, who reached for Margaret.

“Greetings, young one,” Ava greeted.

Margaret let go of Sarah and wrapped her arms around Ava’s waist. Brodrick watched them silently, an unreadable expression on his face.

Ava crouched down before the girl. “Are you ready?”

Margaret nodded, but Ava could see the hesitation on her innocent face.

“Do not worry. I shall be with you the entire time. And if anyone tries to take you away, I shall kill them.”

Margaret smiled.

“Greetings, bairn.” It was Brodrick’s turn to crouch down. Margaret’s smile disappeared almost instantly, but it did not seem to deter him. “Do ye remember me? From yesterday?”

Margaret only stared at him, her lips pursed.

Brodrick smiled anyway and pushed himself back to his feet.

“It is a process,” Ava explained, noting the mild hurt that flashed in his hazel eyes. “It took her a while to warm up to me as well.”

Brodrick nodded. “Let us hope it doesnae take her that long to warm up to her own faither.”

Ava smiled, grateful for his optimism if anything.

Brodrick grabbed her box as well and helped her deposit it into the carriage.

“How chivalrous,” she scoffed. He only threw her a loaded look as she reached for Margaret one more time. “Come along, child.”

They both walked, their feet shuffling across the dirt, towards the carriage. Brodrick helped Margaret in first.

Ava noted the footman that accompanied him today. Just like Brodrick, the man looked rather sharp in his shirt and tartan. It was the same pattern at Brodrick’s and he barely acknowledged Ava or even gave her a glance. His eyes remained fully rested on the horses before him and the horses alone.

Before climbing in, Ava turned back to Sarah and Elizabeth, who were now standing close, watching her expectantly. “I shall write as soon as I can.”

“We shall try not to miss ye too much.”

Ava smiled again, before Brodrick helped her into the carriage. She settled in her seat, directly opposite Margaret, who continued to look hesitant about the whole thing.

Brodrick walked to the other side and climbed in beside her, drawing a rather surprised look from her.

“I thought you would follow with your horse?” Ava asked, her eyebrow raised.

Brodrick scoffed. “If ye think I am spendin’ another moment away from me daughter, ye are sorely mistaken.”

He leaned back in his seat, and soon the carriage began to move. Ava turned around and waved to Sarah and Elizabeth, who both remained standing as she drew farther and farther from them.

This was real. She really was leaving her cottage with a Highlander.

* * *

The farther from the cottage she got, the more Ava realized she had no choice but to face the reality she had been tossed into.

The carriage was silent, and the only thing that could be heard were the hooves of galloping horses. Ava wondered if complete and utter silence would’ve been better than whatever this was. Her eyes landed on Brodrick, who was sitting right beside her, staring straight at Margaret, whose eyes remained fixed on the dirt road and the trees they passed by.

“We shall reach a small market soon, should ye want anythin’,” Brodrick said, his voice soft.

Ava knew he was talking to Margaret, but Margaret was either ignoring him on purpose or was completely oblivious to the fact.

Ava felt her heart clench. She couldn’t bear this.

“Margie, do you want anything from the market? Berries or some bread and honey?” she asked.

Margaret twisted around, gave her a weak smile, and shook her head gently.

“Will she nae get hungry?” Brodrick asked, a worried look on his face as the carriage trundled along the road, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

“If it’s any consolation, I made sure she ate before we left the cottage. I am certain she will let us know when she is hungry.”

Brodrick nodded as if that made all the sense in the world. He turned his eyes back to the road, but Ava could sense the question lingering in his mind. Before he could lose his courage, he turned to her again.

“And what about ye? Are ye hungry? Is there anything ye want to get at the market? Fish? Bread?”

Ava felt a flush crawl up her face. She was rarely asked that question, especially by men. One look at her and they always assumed she had eaten something. Or that with her size, she could go for days without eating and she wouldn’t even know it.

Something about the way Brodrick asked that question sent chills down her spine. The good kind. He looked earnest and sincere. It was blatantly obvious from the curious arch of his eyebrows and the intense look in his hazel eyes that he was being genuine.

“I am certain when the time comes, I shall decide,” she responded, resisting the urge to smile.

Brodrick turned and fixed his eyes back on the road. Silence fell over them again, and as they rode, Ava couldn’t help but wonder how many days they were going to spend in the carriage before they arrived at his castle.

She had heard of Laird MacDunn through whispers and rumors. She knew what he was capable of. It was just incredibly hard for her to believe that the same man who had been categorically described as a nightmare to her over the years was sitting beside her, asking what she wanted to eat.

Had finding his daughter softened him up, or had rumors about his escapades been greatly exaggerated?

* * *

Several thoughts were swirling in Brodrick’s head as he bobbed and swayed to the sometimes harsh movements of the carriage. What would his kinsmen say when he arrived at the castle with an English lass accompanying his daughter? Will they despise him for it or chalk it up to a father being desperate to do anything for his daughter? Margaret did not trust him, but she trusted her .

His eyes flicked to Margaret again, whose eyes remained fixed on the road, as if she was on the lookout for something and hadn’t found it yet.

He then glanced at Ava, whose eyes were on the road as well. He watched how she gently swayed to the movement of the carriage as well, how the red in her hair caught the bright rays of the morning sun. When she wasn’t being a thorn in his side, she looked rather peaceful and kind.

He knew better, but something about this moment made him want to discard his initial impression of her.

Ava was anything but peaceful.

The journey dragged on, and soon they rode past two villages, most of which had been completely burned and turned into rubble.

Brodrick swallowed. He did not regret anything he had to do to find his daughter. Not one single thing. Razing these villages led him to her, and if he had to do it all over again, he would not change a single thing. He noticed the discontented look on Ava’s face.

“Ye dinnae have to worry,” he said, meaning to alleviate whatever guilt she felt as she watched the ruins of the villages. “Most of them werenae so innocent.”

She turned to him, a puzzled look on her face. “Innocent or not, I wouldn’t wish for anyone to see their home destroyed before their very eyes.”

Brodrick nodded. He should have known better.

Before he could speak again, Ava pulled out a parchment, her eyes steady on Margaret. “Look at what I got for you, Margie.”

Brodrick scanned the parchment before Margaret took it. On it was a giant rectangle split into several boxes. In each box was the name of an animal.

“So we have gotten to the part of the country where we get to see several animals cross the road,” Ava continued as Margaret’s grip tightened on the parchment. She took a quill and inkpot out of her box and handed them to Margaret as well. “I want you to draw a line on any animal you see and tell me how many of them you see. Can you do that?”

A weak smile tugged at Margaret’s lips.

Ava nodded. “Good.”

They watched several animals pass by as they rode on, and every time Margaret saw an animal that corresponded to one on the parchment, she would grab her quill and draw a line over the box.

One time, four rats scurried across the dirt track as the carriage approached.

“Now, how many rats did we just see?” Ava asked immediately after the rats disappeared.

Margaret placed the parchment on her lap and raised her hand, displaying four fingers.

“That is correct,” Ava responded, and a smile crossed Margaret’s face.

After the girl had finished crossing all the names on the parchment, Ava started another game. This time, she would point at certain flowers as they rode and ask her to tell the number of leaves or petals on them. Margaret got them correctly every time. She would either count on one hand if the number was less than five or on both hands if the number was higher.

Brodrick studied Ava intently. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that this woman held a great love for his daughter. She was patient and kind to Margaret, and he couldn’t believe that such a woman existed.

As Ava waited for Margaret to finish counting, she turned to Brodrick and caught him staring. She could see his cheeks turn slightly red as he turned away at the very last minute.

“Apologies,” he muttered, his voice low and measured.

“It does not matter,” Ava responded.

Margaret raised seven fingers, and Ava nodded once again, clapping her hands.

“We are getting closer to MacDunn,” Brodrick suddenly announced, a hint of tension in his voice.

Ava didn’t know if she needed to prepare Margaret for anything out of the ordinary. She did not know the best way to ask Brodrick about that either without him getting offended. Instead, she turned to Margaret, a wide smile on her face, one she hoped came off greatly reassuring.

“Are you ready to see your new home?”

Margaret nodded, the weak smile returning to her face.

The rest of the ride was silent, almost in a way that seemed to anticipate something rather inevitable. Ava felt her skin prickle as they rode down the last lap of the journey.

What was she going to face at Castle MacDunn? Disagreeable family members? People who would think she was trying to steal Margaret? People who would make fun of her size?

The latter, she had gotten used to over the years, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but wonder if things would get worse.

* * *

The carriage finally rolled to a halt, its wheels digging into the wet soil with an air of finality.

Brodrick turned to Ava, a gentle expression on his face. Something about letting her see his castle stirred some kind of anticipation in his chest. The look on her face was no longer worried. He could see that she was genuinely terrified . He wondered what experience she’d had in the Highlands to warrant such fear from her.

“We are here,” he announced smoothly.

He stepped out of the carriage first and then reached out his hand. For a second, Ava stared at him and then at his hand, and Brodrick wondered if she was going to make this difficult as she had made everything else.

As his patience started running thin, she took his hand. He could see the emotion flitting across her face as her eyes darted over the fields that seemed to stretch around them for miles and the trees that rested perfectly on the horizon.

He could tell from the way her eyes narrowed that she knew she was no longer in her village. For some reason, he could perfectly understand what she was thinking at that moment. It was what he would have thought as well. She was in a stranger’s territory, and it seemed that something about it did not sit well with her.