Chapter Twenty-Seven
Georgina managed to find the cottage where Lachlan and the others were hiding before dark. She had some sense they would stay as close to Mal as they could, and there were only two unoccupied dwellings that far north on Arden land.
When she saw a faint light coming from the windows of one of the cottages, a spot of brightness in the gray day, she knew it was them.
Just as she had so many weeks ago, she crossed their threshold like a phantom. Lachlan and Ewan were sitting at the table, talking about the Oban gaol; Andrew was staring broodingly into the fire.
Even though they looked miserable, she felt a pang of fondness. And a pang of unease—would they welcome her, or would they turn her away? She’d left them in the dead of night, without even saying goodbye. She wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to see her.
“Good day,” she said, when there was a lull in the conversation and Lachlan took a breath to speak.
Ewan fell out of his chair. Andrew turned toward her swiftly. Lachlan glanced up.
“You’re still poor watchmen,” she noted.
“Cat!” Ewan scrambled off the floor. “I didn’t think we’d ever see you again.”
“I know,” she said. “But I’m here now.”
“It’s not Cat,” Lachlan said, and they all looked at him. Georgina’s spine stiffened. “Her name is Georgina.” He nodded to her. “It’s good to see you…even if you sound like a duchess now.”
She felt herself relax. A small smile curved her lips.
“Do we have to call you Lady Georgina?” Ewan asked, looking startled.
“No. I’m not a lady.”
Andrew frowned. “But your brother’s an earl.”
“Yes, but my father wasn’t an earl. My grandfather was, but the title was passed through the maternal line in lieu of any male heirs—which isn’t entirely uncommon with Scottish titles. Anyway, my father was only a physician, which means I don’t receive a courtesy title…” She trailed off when she realized they were looking more confused than ever.
“None of that makes any sense,” Lachlan said. “It’s like you’re speaking a different language.”
Georgina laughed suddenly. “You’re right. It really doesn’t make any sense at all, does it?”
Lachlan’s mouth twitched.
“I do hope you’re planning a gaol break.”
“And why is that?” Lachlan asked.
“Because I want to help.”
…
The gaol in Oban was a tiny stone structure. They reached it after nightfall and saw one gaoler standing guard outside a wooden door. The only opening in the door was near the top, no more than six inches wide or long, and covered with metal bars. Faint torchlight shone on the guard, but none of it would reach the inside of the cell.
Mal would be sitting in the dark in that tiny, cramped space.
Cold fury filled Georgina’s chest.
“Can you pick the lock?” she whispered to Lachlan.
He frowned, peering through shadow. “It looks more intricate than what people have in their houses…I could try, but I’m not sure.”
“So, ideally, we need to steal the key before we distract the guard.”
“Andrew used to pick pockets,” Lachlan said.
“I’m a little rusty.”
“You’ll have to do your best,” Georgina said.
“Aye, lass.”
“And Ewan can be our lookout. Don’t get distracted,” she told him.
He nodded. She could barely see him, but she caught the motion of his head.
“All right, do we all know what to do?”
She waited as, one by one, they answered, “Aye,” and then, blood surging, heart pounding a fierce, heady rhythm, she pushed to her feet. “Let’s go, then.”
Lachlan waited in a nearby alley, while Andrew and Georgina walked straight toward the gaol. Andrew had his arm slung over Georgina’s shoulder, and he leaned on her, walking with a loose, stumbling gait.
He made a show of tripping and falling when they’d almost reached the gaoler. Georgina grimaced and knelt down to try and help him up.
“You’re too heavy!” she exclaimed. “We’ll never get home like this.” She infused her voice with as much teary distress as she possibly could, and she must have succeeded, because the gaoler stepped toward them.
“Everything all right, miss?”
“My brother…” She put on a Highland accent. “My ma told me to bring him home tonight, but he’s drunk off his feet.”
The gaoler nodded sympathetically. “There’s a well at the end of the lane. Some cold water from that should do the trick.” He leaned down to take Andrew’s arm. “Here, up you go.”
The gaoler didn’t notice as Andrew slipped the key ring from his waist, tossing it back so it landed in the dirt near Georgina’s feet. She stepped forward, hiding the keys from view.
The gaoler grunted when he straightened and Andrew’s full weight draped over him.
“Can you take him?” She widened her eyes, dug her teeth into her lower lip. Helpless and imploring were not states Georgina was very familiar with, but she did her best. “He’s just too heavy for me, and Ma will be so angry if he’s not back soon.”
The gaoler sighed but capitulated in the end. “Aye. Wait here.”
“Thank you!” she called after them.
She waited until they’d turned the corner, and then she picked up the keys and rushed to the door. Lachlan came up beside her, bearing the torch that lit the outer wall of the gaol. The lock unhitched with a satisfying click, and she flung the door open.
“Mal!”
The torchlight fell on him. He was alone. He’d been sleeping, half sitting, tucked into the corner of the cell. Now he blinked awake.
“Georgina?” His voice was raspy from sleep, and vulnerable, and hopeful, and her breath hitched.
“It’s me,” she said unnecessarily, stepping past the threshold. “We’re here to break you out.”
He looked past her. “Lachlan.”
“I’m sorry, Mal. You were right.”
Georgina held out her hand, but Mal didn’t take it.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” he said. “But I’m not going with you.”
Her hand froze in midair and then fell. “You have to come with us.”
“When I came home to find my family gone, I had this feeling that wouldn’t leave me. It was like I was standing on the shore at low tide, and I knew that if I stopped, if I stood in place for too long, the water would swallow me. So I found something to focus on and I kept moving. I told myself that I was helping people and taking my revenge at the same time. I told myself that I didn’t care if I died, if I did it my way. I didna have anything else to live for anyway.”
He laughed softly, a low, wry, broken sound. “It wasn’t true. All those times I tried to be honest with everyone else, and I was lying to myself. Now I wonder if I was just running headlong at something because I didn’t know what else to do. Because I didn’t know what to do with this pain in my heart.” He stopped, voice unsteady, but when he focused on her again, his eyes were clear, intent. “But my feet have been tired for a while now. And I think…I think I’d like to stand in one place.”
Oh, Mal.
“It doesn’t have to be here,” she whispered. “If you stay, you’ll go to trial.”
And he had to know how these things went. They could just as easily let him off with a minor punishment as make an example of him, a warning about what happened to unruly Highlanders.
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
But she didn’t know if it was a risk she was willing to take. She knew, if she left with him now, things would never be the same. She didn’t know when she would see her family again, and the thought threatened to smash her heart into pieces.
But the alternative wasn’t an option at all.
She would take a shattered heart over the absence of one.
“I’m going with you this time,” she said quietly. She could no longer bear the idea of living without him. She certainly couldn’t bear the thought of him confined here, waiting for men who knew nothing about him to determine his fate. They were different in some ways, but they were so similar in others, and their edges, both the broken ones and the whole ones, lined up perfectly somehow.
He was her match. Something in her soul had recognized Malcom Stewart, had claimed him, from the start.
Mal’s face softened. He looked at her for a long, long moment. “I’m not going to let you do that, lass. I should have never asked you to leave your home in the first place.”
“So you’ll sacrifice yourself, instead? Mal—”
He shook his head. “I’m doing what’s right.”
She could tell by his tone that he wasn’t going to budge. She pursed her lips. “You’re determined to see this through, then?”
“Aye—I’m not going to run anymore. My place is by your side, if you’ll have me, and your place is here.”
She nodded, coming to a decision. “All right.”
“All right?” His eyes narrowed. He seemed to have expected more of an argument from her.
She moved closer to him. Without looking back, she said, “Lachlan? Lock me in, too. And send word to my brother in the morning.”
Mal lunged forward. “Wait—”
But Lachlan had already shut the door, closing them in darkness.