4. Berries and Blood

4

BERRIES AND BLOOD

“ T aryn!”

“Taryn! Where are ye?”

“Taryn!”

Shout after shout, the Kincaid clan moved in a line, searching the forest for Taryn. Sorcha couldn’t seem to fend off the gnawing panic in her gut. Something was horribly wrong. Taryn was too careful for it not to be. She was always too careful to disappear like this.

“Taryn,” Sorcha called, adding her voice to the chorus.

The trees seemed so densely packed, their limbs ominous and foreboding. In all the hours Sorcha had spent out here patrolling, she had never been spooked or nervous. Not like she was now.

It had been hours since Sorcha had first discovered Taryn was missing. Too many hours for her to still be in the woods. Sorcha stopped her yelling and turned her attention to the forest floor, looking for any sign of where her friend had been. She traced the patrol route, her eyes glued to the forest floor. Fresh snow laid on the ground, erasing any trace of footsteps, but she knew there had to be something. Taryn was too keen not to leave some indication of what had happened. Minutes passed, though it felt like hours, before she found what she was looking for.

“Aila! Over here!”

Sorcha was already crouched beside the bramble bush when Aila made it to her side.

“What did ye find?”

Reaching under the thorny branches, Sorcha pulled out a jeweled pin that had been in Taryn’s hair from the wedding. She had been so anxious to get outside that Taryn hadn’t bothered to undo her hair. Pulling the pin out, Sorcha held it up for Aila to see.

“Some of the branches are broken. Look,” Lachlan pointed over head to a few snapped limbs.

“This is where she was taken,” Sorcha told them decidedly.

“She must have been collecting berries for the children,” Aila added, crouching beside Sorcha. “Some of these bushes have been picked over.”

A thick stream of guilt coursed through Sorcha. This was all her fault. Aila and Lachlan shouldn’t be out, traipsing through the woods the morning after their wedding. They should be cozy, locked in their room together. Taryn should never have gone on patrol—not alone and not at night. Sorcha had made a mess of things.

Rising from the ground, Sorcha gripped the pin as she started to study the trees. It took only a moment for her to make out the path the kidnappers had gone.

“They’re headed south. If we leave now, we can catch up to them before they do anything to her.”

“We cannae let the bounty hunters take her to the baron,” Aila added, just as concerned.

Sorcha was marching towards her horse, ready to swing up and take off, when a large hand rested on her shoulder, pulling her back. Anger flooded her and Sorcha jerked, ready to swing.

“Think about what ye are doing,” Lachlan urged softly.

She knew that gentle tone worked wonders on Aila, but it only made Sorcha narrow her eyes in suspicion.

“I am going after my friend before she is made to suffer too greatly. What do ye think I am doing?”

“I ken that ye are worried about her. I am too,” he told both of the women. “But this is a dangerous situation that can go wrong in numerous ways. We cannae risk being reckless, rushing in without thinking things through first.”

Sorcha huffed, the air creating a cold cloud in front of her mouth.

“What are ye saying?” Aila challenged her husband, her hands on her hips.

“I am saying that ye are both assuming ye ken what happened here. Ye think it was a bounty hunter who took her, but ye dinnae ken that for sure. What if it was the English Guard trying to lure us out so they can attack the castle? What if it was someone from her past? What if it was many men that will outnumber ye, should ye go after them?” He shook his head and ran a worried hand through his hair. “We must think through our plan. We cannae rush into this.”

As if to prove his point, snow began to fall, slowly at first and then rapidly turning into thick sheets. Even if Sorcha wanted to go, and she desperately did, the weather wasn’t going to let her.

“We should return to the castle and wait out the snow. By the time the weather clears, we will have a clear plan of what to do next.”

Sorcha hated Lachlan’s reasonable thinking, but relented all the same. At the very least, returning to the castle meant she would be able to pack better for the long journey Sorcha knew awaited her.

The snow muffled their retreat to Kincaid Castle, giving the world a false sense of peace and calm. Sorcha knew better. She knew that outside the stone walls and the forest, past the lake the castle sat next too was a world of danger, ready to eat Taryn alive.

“I ken ye probably hate me right now,” Lachlan said to both Sorcha and Aila once they were inside his study, sitting by the warm fire. “But I truly believe that this is the best plan of action.”

It felt unfair for Sorcha to be warming her fingers and toes indoors with a steaming cup of tea while Taryn was stuck outside with strangers.

“I ken things have been quiet these past few months, but with the spring quickly approaching, I cannae put it past the English to be sending more men here in the north. If ye were to rush south, ye might be caught by their army with nay one to help ye. I cannae risk that. Taryn would nae want ye to risk that.”

“And if we were to take some of the men with us, that would leave the castle vulnerable,” Aila said as if she were already defeated.

“What does vulnerable mean?”

Elsie’s curious question was the only signal the adults had that the child had been listening in on their conversation. Sorcha twisted in her chair, already dreading what she knew was coming. Aila paused and thought about how best to answer the girl, but it was Lachlan who spoke.

“It means open or undefended. It is nae always a bad thing. It can be good to be vulnerable with yer friends or family when ye need to have someone else to rely on. But in this case, we are talking about the castle and that would nae be good.”

Elsie nodded, thinking through the explanation as though she were trying to settle it in her mind. Sorcha watched as the girl’s expression shifted from thoughtfulness back to open curiosity.

“Where is Taryn? She promised me berries at breakfast this morning if I went to bed without complaint. I did, ye can ask Mary!”

“Have ye seen Taryn? We cannae—” Christopher stopped mid-sentence once he took in the pensive expression of the adults. “What is it? What has happened?”

“What do ye mean?” Arran asked, rushing into the room last. “Has something happened?”

Sorcha sighed, knowing there was no avoiding what was next. She was responsible for the mess, having allowed Taryn to go on a patrol alone. She needed to be the one to tell them what had happened.

“I think ye all should sit down,” she answered slowly.

Aila and Lachlan exchanged a glance, and then he silently gestured to do the talking, but Sorcha shook her head. She would own her mistake. The children settled onto the deep green sofa, none of their legs quite reaching the floor, though Christopher’s were the closest.

“There is nay easy way to say this, so I am going to talk to ye, as if ye were all grown. Do ye think ye can handle that?”

The three nodded quickly, relishing the idea of being considered adults as only children can. They didn’t understand the full weight of maturity and Sorcha knew that what she was about to say would cut into their already tainted childhoods.

“It is Taryn. There are some verra bad men who have been after her for a long time. We think that last night, they somehow managed to catch her while she was out in the woods.”

Elsie immediately burst into tears. Christopher and Arran didn’t look too far behind her.

“This is all my fault,” the girl cried.

“How could this be yer fault?” Aila asked with a gentle chide as she knelt by Elsie’s feet.

Elsie hiccuped, too overcome with emotion to answer for a moment. When she finally caught her breath, the answer she gave struck the adults to their core.

“I asked for some more berries. Taryn told me that there were none in the kitchen, but I begged. She promised that she would get me some if I went to bed without complaint. They caught her because of me; because I wanted the berries.”

“Och, nay,” Aila told her, scooping the girl up and placing her on her lap with a hug. “This is nae yer fault. We cannae control the ways people try to hurt us. The only person to blame for this is those who took her from us.”

Elsie looked as if she believed Aila’s words as much as Sorcha did. And the longer that Sorcha watched Aila, the more she knew that Aila didn’t believe herself.

Taryn was a sister to them both, a mother figure for these three orphans. She was dear to everyone she knew. Her disappearance made Sorcha feel as if the entire world were out of rhythm, tilted and off kilter. Before Sorcha knew what was happening, she felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks, her chest tight and heaving. That was all it took to send the boys over the edge, both of them giving into tears of their own. Sorcha knelt on the floor in front of them and wrapped one arm around them each.

“This is my fault,” Sorcha whispered. “I am so sorry. I promise I will find her and bring her back.”

“This is nay yer fault,” Lachlan said firmly. “I need everyone to take a deep breath and listen to me.”

Gone was the understanding, easy going new husband that had been out in the woods looking for his wife’s friend. In his place stood a formidable Laird whose orders were not to be argued with. Sorcha sniffed, as did the other children. She wiped at her eyes, clearing them just in time to see that Aila was doing the same thing. When everyone’s tears had stopped and the room had calmed with a blanket of grief, Lachlan spoke again.

“The Kincaid Clan is nae one to be messed with. Whoever is behind this has crossed a serious line. Nay one comes onto my land and harms one of my people. I guarantee that the whole of the Kincaid Clan and all our allies will gather to see that Taryn is brought back safely. We simply must be wise in the way we do this.”

He looked first to Aila and Sorcha before waiting for a nod from each of the children.

“Now, everyone has a verra important role to play. We must nae give into our emotions, nae when Taryn is counting on us. Can ye do that?”

Again, he waited to get nods from everyone in the room before continuing.

“Good. Now, Arran, I need ye to take Christopher and Elsie to Taryn’s room. Find something that smells the most like her. When ye are finished, go to Mary and ask her to pack a bag of anything someone might need for a long journey. When that is done, I need ye to find another bag that will carry a week’s worth of food. Can ye do that?”

“Aye, we can do that, Uncle Loch,” Arran answered for them all.

“I thought so. Now, the most important thing is that ye dinnae tell anyone what ye are doing or why. We dinnae want the entire castle to panic. If anyone asks, say ye are on a treasure hunt for me. Tell Mary that ye are following my direct orders, and she will nae question ye anymore. Understand?”

“Aye,” they all three said at once.

“Nae a word to anyone. Now, go.”

Scampering off the couch, Sorcha and Aila watched them go. Sorcha momentarily wished she could be so easily distracted.

“Up with ye both,” Lachlan demanded, clearly not finished dolling out orders.

He reached first to help Aila off the couch and then reached out a hand for Sorcha. When she took it, he surprised her with a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

“I think we could all use something a wee bit stronger than tea,” he told them, herding them both towards the kitchen.

Aila clutched Lachlan’s hand like it was her only lifeline, an anchor in the worry that threatened to overtake her at any moment. Sorcha had to make do with worrying her bottom lip between her two teeth. Though her red hair and brown eyes seemed to be the opposite of Aila’s brown hair and green eyes, they both wore such similar expressions that they looked like sisters.

“Here,” Lachlan said, pushing two small glasses filled with whiskey towards them both.

While Aila only sipped at hers, Sorcha poured the entire glass down her throat, savoring the burn as it traveled to her stomach.

“I was nae lying when I spoke to the children,” he assured them. “I will do everything I can to see that Taryn is brought back safe. Whoever has taken her will pay for his crimes.”

“How are ye going to do that?” Sorcha pushed, the bitter taste of the whiskey still on her tongue. “We dinnae ken where she has gone or who has taken her. Any tracks that might have been left will be covered by now. And every second we spend standing around arguing about what to do is another second Taryn gets further away. Ye have seen what the Baron does for revenge. He wiped out nearly an entire clan. What do ye think he will do to a single woman?”

Lachlan looked away at her sharp recollection of his clan’s history, but Sorcha refused to feel guilty over it. They all needed to come to terms with just how serious of a situation they were in.

“That is exactly where we start,” Aila said, rubbing a soothing hand on Lachlan’s shoulder. “We must figure out what these kidnappers are planning to do with Taryn. They could have been sent by her uncle and given orders to bring her back to her own clan.”

“Or,” Sorcha added, always the one to point out the negatives. “She is being dragged to the Baron’s lands for him to do with her as he pleases.”

“The bounty hunters will ken,” Lachlan told them. “They always have a finger on the pulse of anything like this happening. I can send a small band of men to the Fraser villages to make inquiries. They should be able to tell us if anyone was sent with orders to collect her.”

Aila rose to her toes and pressed a kiss to Lachlan’s cheek. He gave her a look that had Sorcha shifting her gaze, suddenly remembering that the couple should be focused solely on each other right now. She wasn’t ready to sit by and twiddle her thumbs, waiting for everyone else to solve her mistakes.

“I will go too,” she said, surprising herself.

“Dinnae be foolish and rash,” Aila disagreed. “Lachlan’s men can more than handle the task.”

“Aye, I ken that they can. I have another task in mind.”

Though Aila looked like she was ready to shake her head in opposition, Lachlan gestured for Sorcha to continue, clearly interested in what she was thinking.

“I ken that we cannae all leave the castle unguarded. And I agree that the bounty hunters will have heard of any word of someone being sent after Taryn. But that only helps us if it was her family who has come after her.”

“What are ye saying?” Aila asked, clearly anxious.

“I am saying that if Taryn is being taken to the Baron’s lands, someone needs to go there too. We cannae send an entire army without danger of leaving the castle undefended or rousing the wrath of the British army, but we can send one person.”

“That does nae have to be ye. We could send?—”

“It does have to be me,” Sorcha interrupted Aila.

Sorcha felt the same heart splitting pain that was written over Aila’s face at the prospect of their family of three being separated so quickly, with no promise of a reuniting. But Sorcha would never be able to live with herself if Taryn was sent to face the Baron alone.

“I said she could go on patrol alone. I did nae offer to go with her. I could have checked on her sooner. I simply did nae wish to brave the cold again. And it is that selfishness that has us in this mess. So I will go after her.”

“Are ye certain?”

The seriousness in Lachlan’s tone had Sorcha consider it all again, but she came up with the same answer.

“Aye. As a lass on my own, I will be able to sneak around much faster than anyone else. They will nae suspect me.”

“What if ye are caught? I will go with ye.”

“Ye cannae,” Sorcha shook her head. “Yer duty is here. The children will need someone to stay. Ye must protect yer clan. I will see to Taryn. Who kens? Perhaps this will be a wasted trip and ye will find her before I do. Ye two could be working to secure more allies throughout the Highlands. We will need them if the Baron does have her.”

“Ye are right,” Lachlan agreed.

He poured them all fresh glasses of whiskey and downed his quickly. Sorcha left hers untouched. She was going to need a clear head for the journey ahead. It was bound to be a long one, no matter what she told Aila.

“There is nothing for me to do here but wait and worry,” Sorcha continued. “And I have never been good at either. We all have a part to play in getting Taryn back home safe. This is my part. I am happy to play it.”

Between the deep crease in between her eyebrows and the way she had frayed the string on her gown, it was clear that Aila did not like Sorcha’s plan. But to Sorcha’s relief, Aila stopped protesting it.

“I will only allow this to happen,” Lachlan told her, once more using the tone of a practiced Laird. “If ye take these with ye.”

He reached for his belt and pulled off a leather pouch. Judging by its weight and the clicking it made when it moved, Sorcha guessed it was filled with coins. He slid it to her and then reached for the long dagger he carried on his other hip. In her hands, it looked more like a sword than a dagger. She nodded her thanks, grateful to have both, though she would have made the journey without either.

“I will say my goodbyes here. I must fetch some things from my room, and then I’ll see the children once more. I cannae afford to waste any more time.”

Aila darted from behind the table they had been standing around and wrapped Sorcha in a tight embrace. Sorcha returned it just as fiercely.

“Be careful,” Aila whispered tearfully. “I cannae loose ye too.”

“Ye have nae lost either of us. But I will be,” Sorcha promised. “I will be back just as soon as I have Taryn.”

When they separated, Lachlan swallowed her up in his large frame. His affection was that of a brother and just as valuable.

“Be safe. Come back to us.”

Lachlan’s words, given more like an order than the words of a worried loved one, echoed in her ears as Sorcha left the castle an hour later, alone and determined.