Chapter Fourteen

 

 

Beth couldn’t take any more. She’d been accused of burning down half a village. She’d been slapped. She’d been locked in a tower. She’d been almost killed in that loch. She’d seen people die. She’d been lied to so many times she’d lost count and somehow she hadn’t learned her lesson. Now she was bound to a tree because she was too trusting.

Derek had told her she would be safe with Rufus, that he would guide her back to the old hall and protect her while she made her way home. What happened instead? Tied up with no way of escaping.

She tried once more to break free from the ropes holding her to the tree. He would be back soon. This might be her only chance.

At first the walk from the castle seemed fine. Her companion said nothing as they headed out along the road to Pluscarden but she hadn’t minded that. Some of the servants were verbose, others saying nothing unless spoken to. He was obviously one of the latter type.

Then they reached the turn by the wood. He saw something he didn’t like ahead of them. Without pausing, he grabbed her by the arm. “Hurry,” he said. Bandits intent on bloodshed.”

She trusted him. She had no reason not to. She caught a glimpse of horses on the road in the distance as they ran to the wood, soon hidden from view. That was when he’d revealed his face. “I know you,” she said as he slid the hood backward.

“Aye, lassie. I ken you do.”

She saw him laid on the ground by the loch. Had he just feigned death? “You tried to kill Andrew.”

“And now I’m supposed to kill you but I’m not going to.”

“You’re not?” As she spoke she backed slowly away from him but he noticed within seconds, lunging for her and grabbing her wrist.

She fought to free herself but to no avail. Clawing at him did nothing. He just laughed as he pulled out a knife and pointed it toward her. “Sit yourself down there and dinnae move or I’ll have to take out one of those pretty eyes of yours.”

She considered running, then remembered how far they’d come from the castle. How many people had she seen? No more than half a dozen and all far away in the fields. The knife looked wickedly sharp and it was inches from her face. She didn’t run.

Within a minute she was tied to the tree, sitting on the soaking wet earth, cold spreading through her, feeling once again that this world was not meant for her. What was happening just convinced her all the more that she needed to get home. It was too dangerous.

If she could just get out of the ropes, she could sneak away from him, hide deeper in the wood, wait until dark and then find her way to the old hall on her own.

The rain continued to drip on her through the foliage above, soaking the ropes. She tugged as hard as she could but he had tied her too tightly. Why hadn’t she run? She thought of the knife, how easily it might cut into her and how no one would know.

No one knew where she was, not even Derek. He’d just sent her along the road. Did he know who his servant really was? A thought flashed through her mind. Had he done this as revenge for her slapping him when they first met?

Her captor had said he was going to check on the horses going past. Would they be close enough to hear her shout? Was it worth trying? She heard a twig snap and then he was back, knife still in his hand. “Good lass,” he said, a cruel grin spreading across his face. “They’ve all gone by so time for us to be moving on.”

“Where to?” she asked, not liking the way he was looking at her.

“You can come back to my camp with me, keep me company there. All we need is a horse to ease the journey and I’ll have one stolen in two minutes. Don’t go anywhere, will you?”

He laughed at his joke before he left her again, disappearing out of the trees, leaving her to continue her struggle with the bonds holding her in place.

Why had she let him tie her up? She should have run. It was better than the alternative, being taken to his camp and trapped with him.

There was a movement in front of her, something coming through the trees. Was he back already? Then a figure stepped out and Beth felt a huge wave of relief wash over her, warming her frozen bones. “Andrew!” she said. “Is it really you?”

“Aye, lassie,” he replied, striding across to her. “Where is he?”

“He went that way, said he was going to steal a horse.”

She looked up at him as he pulled out a knife. Before she had time to ask what he planned to do he was kneeling down and cutting through the ropes that tied her to the tree.

“Look out!” she cried, seeing past him as her captor returned, his dirk held high over his head.

He swung the blade down toward Andrew’s unprotected neck but all it sliced was thin air. The laird rolled neatly to the right, flicking out his foot as he went, catching his attacker on the ankle and sending him sprawling into the wet mud.

Andrew roared, diving onto the outlaw, landing one punch after another. The two of them rolled together in the mud.

Beth tugged the last of the ropes away and got to her feet, unsure of what to do.

“Do you yield,” Andrew asked, fist clenched above the other man’s head.

The man nodded frantically, spitting out a blackened tooth. “Aye. Just dinnae hurt me no more.”

Andrew stood up slowly, looking down at the stricken figure. “On your feet.”

The man got up slowly but as he did so, he suddenly lunged forward, the dirk still in his hand. Beth went to shout a warning but Andrew had already reacted, leaping to one side and again sticking out a foot.

The man tripped over it, stumbling and falling onto his own blade. He landed heavily, gurgling as he did so. He writhed in place, rolling onto his back, the dirk sticking out of his chest.

“Who sent you?” Andrew asked, grabbing him by the neck. “Tell me who sent you and I’ll stop the bleeding.

“Dirk,” the man said, his fingers wrapping around the handle of the blade, trying to pull it out. “Dirk.” It was the last thing he said, his eyes glazing over a second later.

Beth couldn’t help it. Tears began to fall from her eyes. She’d seen too much death recently. It was more than she could take.

“Did he mention the MacLeishes?” Andrew asked, standing up and looking at her. “Why the sobbing, lassie? You’re safe enough now.”

“You think that’s what matters? He’s dead. You know before coming here I’d never seen a single dead body. It’s all too much. I’m going home.”

“Is that what you were doing out here? Were you trying to get back to the old hall?”

She nodded. “I couldn’t even do that without someone else dying.”

“You want to go back to your own time, don’t you?”

She nodded before frowning. “Wait, are you saying you believe me?”

“Aye, lassie. I do.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“You and your clothes and your knowledge of building techniques no one else has heard of. A stone vault for the hall, camber for the roads, all the rest at the castle. There’s no other story that fits than the one you told from the start. Only…” His voice faded into nothing and he looked down at the ground between them.

“Only what?”

He looked up, straight into her eyes. He held out both his hands, swallowing hers. “I dinnae want you to go back.”

She looked back at him, feeling his rough fingers on her own. “What? Why?”

“I want you to stay with me.”

“But why? I don’t understand why it matters so much to you.”

“Because I love you.”

Beth felt like she’d been punched in the stomach and lifted into the air at the same time. She was shocked beyond belief to hear those words. Sure, they’d shared a kiss but had he given any sign before that he loved her?

She realized something in that moment, something she’d always known when she looked deep inside herself, the reason why it had been so hard to go. “I love you too.” At once a pang of guilt struck her. Her mother needed her.

“So you’ll stay?”

Beth paused, thinking hard before answering. She looked down at the body on the ground next to them, knowing that staying might mean seeing many more like him. “I’ll stay.”

“I’m so glad you said that.”

“But only until the building work is finished, then I must find my mother.”

He nodded, his smile fading. “I understand.”

He took her hand, leading her out of the wood to the fields beyond. The rain was slowing and in the distance a flash of blue sky appeared between the fast moving clouds. He stopped, planted his feet apart and grabbed her. “I dinnae know what sent you to me but I’m glad you came.” Then he kissed her.

Beth felt a warmth spreading through her as they embraced but it was accompanied by a poignancy. How many more kisses would they get to share before she had to leave him forever?