“What just happened?” asked Reed, walking back to the pot hanging over the fire. He picked up the spoon and brought some soup to his mouth. Shaw watched in amazement when Reed swallowed it down without even flinching. Then he licked his lips and nodded as if he really liked it. Reed grabbed a wooden bowl off the table and filled it to the brim with soup.
“I finally found my daughter after all these years and now she wants nothin’ to do with me?” asked Ross, limping over to a stool, favoring his leg that had been permanently damaged the night of Burnt Candlemas. He sank atop the stool wearily. “How can I ever tell Annalyse? She was so heartbroken when Spring went missin’.” He shook his head in denial. “Nay, this would kill her to discover I found Spring and that she wants nothin’ to do with us. I ken it would just devastate her.”
“Dinna fash yerself about it,” said Shaw. “I’ll go after my wife and talk to her. I’m sure she is just verra confused right now.”
“I dinna ken why she dinna say anythin’ to me earlier about this situation,” said Reed, bringing the full bowl to the table, walking in tiny steps with his eyes fastened to the liquid threatening to splash over the top. “Unless she’s blind, she could see Ross’ name etched right into the bottom of the pawn. She didna want us to ken it was her.”
“I think it’s more than that,” said Shaw, picking up the pawn from the table and looking at the name carved into the wood. Why hadn’t he paid more attention to this earlier? If he had, he would have known the truth before now.
“What more could it be?” Reed ran a finger over the head of his hawk and then brought the bowl of soup to his mouth and drank it down, not bothering with a spoon. The man had to have a gut made of steel.
“She’ll hate me now for no’ findin’ her when she was stolen as a baby,” said Ross, feeling sorry for himself. “I need to tell her I never stopped lookin’ for her. Even after everyone thought she was dead, I would go out by myself for days at a time and just keep searchin’.”
“Give her time to think about all this,” said Shaw. “Hopefully, she’ll realize that Cromwell is a horrible man and is no’ her real faither.”
“Shaw, why do ye think she didna say anythin’?” Reed asked again.
“It wasna that she was keepin’ it from us,” said Shaw, looking at the recipe on the table and thinking about the soup. “I dinna believe she kens how to read and is just too proud to admit it.”
Spring ran to her bedchamber and retrieved her bow and arrows. Then she headed back out of the room and for the stable. Once there, she got atop a horse, not taking the time to saddle it. She needed to leave Edinvale Castle and she needed to do it now.
“Have somewhere to go in such a hurry?” Nairnie stepped out of the shadows, blocking the door so Spring couldn’t leave.
“Get outta my way,” Spring warned her.
“Runnin’ isna the answer,” said the old woman. “Ye need to face yer fears.”
“I have no fears,” she spat. “I’m goin’ back to my faither.”
“I heard what happened in the kitchen. It seems to me yer faither is right here, so there is no reason to leave.”
“Ross Douglas is no’ my faither!” she cried, feeling emotion swelling in her chest. She didn’t want to believe this stranger was her birth father and that her life had been naught but a lie. She wouldn’t accept it. “I’m talkin’ about Cromwell from Clan Gunn, my real faither,” she said, turning the horse slightly to try to get around the woman. “This is no concern of yers, old woman, so I willna tell ye again – step aside.”
“Mayhap it isna my place to interfere,” said Nairnie. “But before ye leave, I feel I need to tell ye another vision I’ve had just this mornin’.”
“I’m no’ interested in yer visions. Now move or I’ll run ye over.” She made her way past the woman and directed the horse out of the stable.
“Ye need to be careful – for the bairn’s sake.”
Pulling back on the reins, she stopped the horse. Then she turned around.
“What bairn?”
“The one ye and Shaw have created.”
“I’m no’ bairned,” she said.
“So sure are ye?”
Spring’s heart jumped into her throat and her hand went to her stomach. Could it be true? Could she be carrying Shaw’s baby so soon after the wedding? “I’m no’ sure about anythin’ in my life right now.” She turned the horse and headed over the drawbridge to return to her home with Clan Gunn.
* * *
A haze shrouded Spring’s mind and suddenly nothing seemed clear. All her memories of the past seemed to be dark shadowy fingers of doubt reaching out to get her. Confusion filled her mind, making her wonder if going back to the Gunn Clan was the right thing to do. She had one man back at Edinvale Castle claiming to be her father and another one at the Gunn Clan doing the same.
She felt foolish that she hadn’t known Ross’ name was on the bottom of the wooden pawn all these years. Now that Shaw probably figured out she couldn’t read, he might not want her as his wife and she couldn’t blame him. It didn’t matter, she told herself. She had bigger problems to deal with at the moment. What should she do? Should she go back to Ross or should she stay with Cromwell? Or, perhaps, she could go back to Shaw and altogether ignore the two men both claiming to be her father.
Now that Nairnie told her she was pregnant with Shaw’s baby, all her decisions would have to change. But she needed time to think. She couldn’t go back to Shaw or Ross. Then again, she couldn’t stay with the Gunn Clan either. If Cromwell knew she was pregnant with his enemy’s baby, he’d either use it to his advantage or use it against her. Either way, she felt doomed.
The only thing she could do was first to tell Egil and Bodil what she’d discovered. If she truly had been stolen as a baby, then mayhap the same thing had happened to them. Wouldn’t they want to find their parents? Perhaps not. After all, her birth father had found her and all it made her want to do was run away.
She rode hard, wanting nothing more than to clear her head. But when she neared the Gunn camp, she was greeted by the clan in full battle attire with weapons ready. They were heading for Edinvale Castle, she was sure of it.
“Bodil, Egil,” she said, spotting her brothers. Most the clan was on foot, but they were on horses. They rode to her side.
“Sister, it’s about time ye returned,” said Egil. “Faither was tired of waitin’ and decided we’d seize Edinvale Castle with or without yer help.”
“Nay!” she said. “Dinna do it.”
“Ye willna change his mind,” said Bodil. “He has been waitin’ for word from ye since yer marriage on when to attack.”
“Dinna attack at all. I beg ye. Talk the others into turnin’ around and goin’ back to camp.”
“We dinna want to anger Faither,” said Bodil.
“He’s no’ our faither,” she blurted out.
“Spring, dinna start up with yer cockamamie story again.” Egil shook his head.
“It’s true!” said Spring. “There is a man named Ross Douglas at the castle right now. He says he is my faither. I was stolen as a baby.”
“Dinna believe it,” said Bodil. “Now turn around and come with us on the raid.”
They kept riding, and she turned her horse and caught up with them. “Egil, Bodil, ye canna attack the castle.”
“Why no’?” asked Bodil.
“Aye, why no’?” Cromwell came riding up on a horse next to them. “Spring, I am no’ happy with yer behavior. Ye havena done yer job.”
“My job is no longer servin’ ye and yer murderous ways.”
“Now, now,” said Cromwell with a frown on his face. “Ye are no’ actin’ like the warrior I’ve raised ye to be.”
“Did ye steal me as a baby from Ross Douglas?” She asked him directly what was on her mind.
Cromwell’s spine stiffened. Then his eyes became very dark. “Shaw Gordon has been fillin’ yer head with nonsense again. But I’ll take care of that. Boys, when we seize the castle, Gordon is all mine.”
“Aye, Da,” said Bodil.
“He’s no’ yer faither any more than he is mine,” she tried to convince her brothers.
“Ye have no proof,” said her father, continuing to ride, staring straight ahead.
“Ross’ name was on the bottom of that wooden pawn I’ve had since I was a baby,” she told them.
“It was?” That angered Cromwell even more. “I told yer mathair that she shouldna let ye keep that! I wanted to burn it the moment I saw ye clutchin’ it in yer little hand.”
“Then it’s true!” Her breath caught in her throat. “Ye did kidnap me as a baby.”
“I didna want a girl. I only wanted boys like Egil and Bodil. I thought ye were a lad since ye were dressed like one at the time. If I had kent the truth, I woulda left ye behind. Ye always were nothin’ but trouble.”
“Then ye – ye stole Bodil and me as babies, also?” asked Egil.
Cromwell motioned to his loyal men to surround them. “So, what if I did?” he growled. “Ye are my children now and ye ken it.”
“Who were our real parents?” asked Bodil.
“I dinna ken and dinna care. I needed warriors. Since my own wife wasna givin’ me bairns, I found a better way to get some fast.”
“Ye despicable man,” said Bodil. “I should kill ye where ye stand for ruinin’ our lives.”
“Gawl! Men! Take their weapons,” Cromwell shouted. Gawl and the others approached and reached up to pull the boys off their horses. Bodil kicked Gawl in the face and Egil swiped his sword at Dearg.
“Ye boys will work with us to take the castle or ye’re against us,” said Cromwell. “Ye are either part of the clan or ye’re our enemies. Which will it be?”
Egil and Bodil looked at each other. They discussed it amongst themselves, then answered Cromwell.
“All right. We’ll work with ye,” said Bodil with a nod.
“What?” asked Spring, furious that her brothers were giving in so easily. “How could ye?”
“We dinna ken any other family but the Gunns,” Egil told her.
“We’re sorry, Spring,” said Bodil. “But this is the only family we’ve ever kent.”
“What about ye, Spring?” asked Cromwell. “Are ye goin’ to turn yer back against yer family?”
“Ye are no’ my family,” said Spring, raising her bow and nocking an arrow, aiming it right at Cromwell’s heart.
Several of his men drew their swords, but Cromwell stopped them from going after Spring by lifting his hand in the air.
“Let us take her,” begged Gawl.
“If she so much as hits me with that arrow, make sure to kill Bodil and Egil as soon as she does,” snarled Cromwell.
Spring held the tension tight on the bow, wanting to kill Cromwell, not caring that he was the man she’d considered her father her entire life. However, she would not do it at the expense of her brothers’ lives.
“Ye lied to me!” she yelled, tears filling her eyes. Her anger mixed with a new vengeance was flowing through her. “Ye never cared for me at all. Ye only used me, as well as ye used Bodil and Egil.” A lone tear ran a crooked course down her cheek as she tried her best to bury her emotions. She needed to stay strong to stand against Cromwell. She couldn’t act weak or vulnerable at such a crucial moment.
“What? Ye’re cryin’?” asked Cromwell, glaring at her with a mixture of laughter and disgust. “Stop it, Spring! Ye are a warrior and a descendant of Vikings. We dinna cry. It makes us weak. Have I taught ye nothin’?”
“I’m no’ a descendant of Vikings. And I canna help cryin’ because I am bairned and emotional.”
“Bairned?” A shadow crossed Cromwell’s face. “How the hell did that happen?”
“I’m married!” she spat.
“Ye werena supposed to get pregnant. Ye were only there to find a way to get us into the castle.”
“Mayhap ye should have thought of that before ye traded me like a side of meat, just as a means to get what ye wanted.”
“She actually seems to like Gordon,” said Dearg. “If she were my daughter, I’d put her in her place, Cromwell.”
“Nay, ye wouldna,” said Spring. “Because yer daughter, Vika, is in love with Shaw’s son, Donel, just like I’m in love with the boy’s faither.” She kept the arrow aimed at Cromwell’s heart.
“That’s a lie!” shouted Dearg. “Vika doesna even ken the lad.”
“It’s no lie and she kens him better than ye think. She is bairned as well,” said Spring. “Our clans need to align for real and we’ve already got the means to do it.”
“We’ll never align with the Gordons,” said Gawl. “What are ye thinkin’?”
“Spring, put down the bow,” warned Cromwell.
“No’ until I put this arrow through yer heart.”
“Ye’re too weak to do it, but if ye think ye can release that arrow, then go ahead and try,” Cromwell taunted. Deep inside, she felt her fury rising. All she needed to do was release the arrow and the horrible man would be dead.
“Nay! Wait,” said Bodil. “Let us talk to her, Da.”
“We’ll talk sense into her,” said Egil, heading his horse toward Spring.
“Ye’ll never change my mind,” said Spring, her hand loosening a little on the bowstring.
“Spring, let us talk with ye.” Bodil rode his horse up to her with Egil at her side.
“Listen to us,” whispered Egil. “We believe ye.”
“We’re goin’ to pretend to do what Cromwell wants, but we’ll try to talk the rest of the clan into turnin’ against him,” Bodil whispered.
“Now, go,” said Egil, “before he catches on to our plan.”
“Ye canna do it,” laughed Cromwell, goading her to be the hardened warrior he turned her into even if it had never felt right in her heart.
He was right. She had changed since she’d married Shaw. As much as Spring hated Cromwell right now, something in her would not let her kill him. She felt weak and vulnerable and defeated. Tears ran down her face at a good pace now and she cursed inwardly for letting the clan see how weak she’d become.
“Come with me and save yerselves,” whispered Spring to her brothers.
“We’ll be all right. Just get back to the castle and warn Shaw that we’re comin’.” Egil spoke with his back to the others.
Totally deflated, she loosened the tension on the bowstring with a sigh.
“I kent ye’d come around to yer senses,” said Cromwell, looking pleased by her action.
“After we seize the castle, I’ll take Spring and even the whelp she’s carryin’,” said Gawl. “It’s the least ye can give me after all I’ve done for ye, Cromwell. Mayhap, it’ll help make up for the loss of my brathair, thanks to her.”
“Fine, take her,” said Cromwell, “I dinna care. She’ll need someone strong to keep her in her place. But I want the whelp to raise as my own.”
“No one is takin’ me and no one is takin’ my bairn.” Spring pulled back the bowstring again and, in one fluid motion, shot her arrow straight through Gawl’s heart. He dropped dead to the ground on contact.
“Get outta here, now,” Bodil said under his breath.
“Come with me,” Spring begged her brothers, one last time.
“Let’s do it, Bodil,” said Egil. “There’s nothin’ here for us anymore.”
Spring shot a few more arrows randomly into the air to hold back the men. Cromwell dismounted his horse and fell to his knees to check on his good friend, Gawl.
Quickly, Spring and her brothers turned and rode like the devil back to Edinvale Castle with the rest of the Gunn Clan right behind them.