Are Ye Deaf?
Ewan and Walter halted at the foot of the tower where a small crowd had gathered, everyone craning their necks to see the boy dangling helplessly from the top. Many gasped, covering their mouths as Mungo reached for the rope with both hands and set Robbie swinging.
Women hurried to console Heather when she arrived, Shona not far behind.
“Be brave, son,” Walter yelled.
Robbie looked down and nodded, but didn’t cry out.
“Canny lad,” Ewan remarked, wracking his brain for a strategy that would save the bairn’s life. “Mungo’s got both hands free. He must have the rope tied to something.”
“And looped around my son’s chest,” Walter replied through gritted teeth. “But he’ll slash it if we rush him.”
“Nay, nay,” Heather sobbed.
Walter embraced his wife. “Robbie’s smart. I’ve told him often enough to always keep his wits about him, and he will.”
He regained his place beside Ewan when Fynn and David arrived, laden with blankets. “We can make a softer landing if he drops,” Fynn suggested. “We’ll need men with two good hands,” he added with a wry grin.
Several volunteers eagerly sorted the biggest and best, and stretched it out below the dangling boy.
Mungo pointed his dagger at Robbie. “I’ll cut his throat if I dinna see my brother’s body right soon.”
The men holding the blanket looked to Ewan for instruction. He waved them to stand to the side as an idea struck him. He cupped a hand behind his ear. “What did ye say?” he said to Mungo in a normal voice.
A man behind him started to speak. “He said…”
Ewan swung round and glared. “I ken what he said. I want him to think I didna hear him.”
Folk nodded as the plan dawned on them.
He turned back to the tower. “I canna hear ye,” he mouthed, careful to make no sound.
“Are ye deaf? I want Ailig’s body,” Morley bellowed.
Keeping his eyes on Mungo, Ewan spoke to the crowd. “Shrug as if ye canna make out what he’s saying.”
“They’re playing their parts well,” Walter told him a few seconds later.
Ewan cupped his hands to his mouth. “Ye’re too high up,” he said softly.
Mungo copied his gesture. “I canna hear a word,” he yelled.
“He’s losing his temper,” Shona warned, coming to stand by Ewan.
“I want his attention off Robbie,” he explained. “I need to convince him to let me get up there to parlay.”
Tears welled. She didn’t want him to go, but the resignation in her eyes told him she knew he must.
He turned to Walter. “Is yer lad strong enough to climb up the rope?”
A glimmer of understanding flickered in Gilbertson’s eyes. “Aye.”
Ewan shrugged and pointed to himself, then skyward. “Hopefully he’ll allow me to the top.”
“Nay,” Mungo bellowed, pressing the blade to the rope. “Ye’re not coming up unless ye bring what I want.”
Shona leaned close to Ewan’s ear. “On the one hand he’s not as daft as we think. On the other, how does he plan to escape with a corpse if ye take it up into the tower?”
He slapped his palm against his forehead. “He hasna thought that far ahead, but ye’ve given me an idea. We need a body.”
*
Shona wasn’t the only one who at first didn’t understand what Ewan meant, but David stepped forward right away. “I…I…I’ll do it.”
Moira gasped and leaned into her mistress. “Has he nay done enough already?” she murmured with a sniffle. “We’re newly wed this day.”
Conflicting emotions swirled in Shona’s heart. Her maid deserved happiness, but Robbie…
Fynn came to the rescue. “Better a one-handed man play the role, lest he demand proof. I came to Creag pretending to be a laird, surely I can be a convincing corpse.”
Even Walter smiled at the grim humor.
Ewan took charge. “Go get yerself shrouded then, laddie.”
Fynn, David and a few others hurried away to the keep.
Shona worried. “He’s a mite bigger than Ailig.”
Ewan put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “We have to hope the idiot willna notice.”
He looked up at Robbie again then turned to the men holding the rescue blanket. “Keep a wary eye on the boy. Ye might have to get into position quickly if the rope gives way. I dinna trust Mungo to have secured it properly.”
Time dragged as they waited. Shona wandered over to Heather. “The sound of yer voice might keep Robbie’s spirits up,” she suggested.
The woman walked closer to the wall but the vacant look in her eyes was disconcerting. “It’s like she’s in a trance,” Shona whispered to Ewan.
As if sensing his wife’s distress, Walter stood behind her and put his hands on her waist. “Talk to him.”
She nodded and finally looked up. “Dinna worry, Robert.”
Walter nuzzled her nape. “Louder,” he urged.
Heather clenched her fists. “They’ve gone to fetch Ailig and then Mungo will let ye go. Ye’ve always been a good bairn and God willna let aught bad happen to ye.”
She slumped backwards into her husband’s arms, a forced smile on her face.
Robbie made no reply but Shona could have sworn Mungo wiped away a tear as he peered over the wall. “He’s like a child,” she murmured to Ewan.
He smiled grimly as he gathered her into his embrace. “Aye, but a dangerous one.”
*
While they waited, Ewan thought back over the tumultuous events that had taken place since his arrival. “It’s possible none of this would have happened if we hadna come,” he whispered to Shona.
“Nay,” she replied. “Ailig was a snake lying hidden in the grass, waiting to strike. The news ye were coming might have prompted him to act against Kendric sooner, but it’s evident he and his brother have been plotting to usurp the lairdship for a long while. They murdered my father before our betrothal was settled.”
He hoped she was right. “Some of yer clan willna see it that way, especially if we fail to save the bairn.”
“Ye willna fail,” she reassured him.
He inhaled deeply, wondering how he had come to deserve the loyalty and trust of such a woman. “Just having ye close makes me stronger,” he whispered, wishing he could crush her body to his and simply soak up her love. “But here comes the corpse.”
She kissed his cheek then moved away and watched with him as David and another man approached the tower. They bore a litter on which lay a shrouded body.
Ewan beckoned them to bring it closer. The notion his grizzled kinsman lay beneath the shroud suddenly struck him as comical, especially if he still wore the cook’s apron. “’Tis hard to believe ye’re dead, Fynn Macintyre,” he lamented.
“Dinna make him laugh,” Shona cautioned.
Swallowing the nervous laughter bubbling in his throat, Ewan gestured to the litter and looked up. “Here’s yer brother,” he shouted. “What do ye want us to do with him?”
Walter glared angrily. “Ye’ll get him riled up if he believes ye’re making fun of him.”
Evidently he’d failed to hide his inexplicable amusement. “Sorry. I dinna ken why it seems so hilarious.”
He sobered when Fynn sauntered into the courtyard. “Naught funny about my demise,” his kinsman rasped with a sly grin.
Puzzled, Ewan looked again at the corpse on the litter. It was impossible they’d dug up Ailig’s body, but the whole situation suddenly seemed even more comical. He feigned a coughing fit while he controlled his hysterical need to laugh out loud. Shona slapped him on the back.
Mungo’s high-pitched voice made it worse. “How do I ken it’s Ailig?” he asked.
Ewan clenched his jaw. “How many dead men do ye reckon we have lying around here? Come down and see for yerself.”
“I’m nay that daft.”
Ewan avoided Shona’s gaze, sensing she was also close to losing her composure.
“Show me the hand,” Mungo demanded.
Ewan wiggled his eyebrows. “The moment of truth is at hand,” he quipped under his breath.
David winked as he fished about in the folds of the shroud and pulled out the severed limb.
It was a gory mess.
Folk in the crowd gasped in horror.
Ewan peered more closely. The bloodied end of a deer’s leg bone protruded from a ragged sleeve.
“We squa…squashed ju…ju…juniper berries over it, for good measure,” David explained.
Ewan composed his features, then looked up. “Satisfied?”