Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

R aven picked a bit of straw out of her mouth and asked Arne, "How much further now, d'ye think?" They were riding in the back of a farm wagon loaded with sacks of grain, but straw from previous loads seemed to be everywhere, in their hair, clothes, and mouths.

"The farmer reckons we should get tae Clanach in the early evening. How far is it from there tae yer braither's castle?" Arne asked in reply.

"Only about five miles," she told him.

"Good, then we can make that on foot in under two hours. With luck, ye'll be reunited with yer braithers before dinner time," Arne said as they were jolted along the uneven track.

Raven was thrilled. "The thought of bein' just a few hours away from seein' Everard and Maxell again after so long is amazin'," she murmured, unable to stop smiling despite her travel weariness and longing for a hot bath. "All that's happened will be worth it tae see their faces again."

"I hope ye dinnae expect them tae look the same as they did six years ago," Arne warned her gently. "That may seem a short time in the grand scheme of things, but people can change a lot in that time."

"Aye, I ken, but they'll still be me braithers, however much they've changed," she said, clutching his arm as the wagon suddenly bumped violently over a rut in the lane.

The wagon trundled onwards, while a weak sun overhead arched through a bright sky dotted with white clouds above them. Squashed between the sacks of grain, she leaned against Arne's warm, solid arm. She would have liked to cuddle up to him, but since she was still in her boy's disguise, she thought it best not to.

She was so tired, it was hard to keep her eye open, and she soon nodded off, with a jumble of confusing images passing for dreams. Arne's soft voice in her ear woke her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, squinting at their surroundings, realizing from the long shadows that it must be late afternoon. There was something very familiar about the village they were traveling through, but she could not put her finger on exactly what.

"Where are we?" she asked Arne, who was looking down at her, a tender look in his eyes. She smiled up at him, her heart full of love. The last four days of travel after leaving the safety of the cave had been grueling, but he had been her guiding star the whole way, and she thought she was falling more in love with him every day.

"On the outskirts of Clachan," he replied. "'Tis nearly time fer us tae get out and walk the rest of the way."

"Och, so near?" she exclaimed softly, her excitement at the prospect of seeing Everard and Maxwell rising once more. She and Arne looked around them as the wagon rumbled down the broad, flattened roadway lined with cottages and business that took them into the village center, the market square.

The wagon halted by a carved stone market cross, and the farmer driving it turned to them.

"Here ye are," he called, "this is as far as I'm goin'. But the castle is along that way." He pointed ahead along the road to where it wound away into the distance across moorland and a rocky escarpment. "Ye cannae miss it," he added with a laugh. "Stick tae the road, and ye'll be there in just over an hour."

With a sudden jolt, Raven recognized where they were. "I ken the way," she told the farmer, adding, "Thank ye kindly fer the lift." Arne slung their small bag of belongings over his shoulder, jumped to the ground, and then lifted her down too.

"Aye, thank ye fer yer trouble," Arne seconded her words, saluting the farmer, who was now climbing from his perch. They stood for a moment in the road, brushing each other off to rid themselves of the lingering bits of straw that clung to their clothing.

"Come on, the sooner we get there, the better," she said, heading the way out of the village in the direction the farmer had indicated.

Arne went along, but he frowned as he said, "I'm nae happy about takin' the main road, however busy it is. We have tae assume MacDonald's men are around here somewhere, lookin' out fer ye."

"Aye, I ken that, but we're nae takin' the main road," she told him with a smile. "We're taking a short cut across the moors."

He chuckled. "I should have kent ye'd have somethin' up yer sleeve," he said admiringly. He kept close to her as they walked along the road out of the village, to the start of the moorland.

"This way," she said, taking a right hand turn along a narrow, rutted farm track lined with gorse and bramble bushes. A glowing carpet of golden gorse and early purple heather speared out on either side of them as they trudged along, but the bushes gave them shelter from prying eyes as well.

"We used tae come this way tae go shoppin' in the village. It takes half the time of goin' over the top," she explained, gesturing with a hand to the escarpment, which was now on their left and gradually growing smaller as they progressed along the lane.

"What about when we get tae the castle? It could be dangerous tae be out in the open by the main gate in case MacDonald's men are watchin'," Arne said as they continued along the lane.

"Aye, that's another good thing about goin' this way. It comes out at the edge of some woods a few hundred yards from the castle walls right where there's a secret entrance tae some tunnels that run under the castle."

"Good plan," he told her with a nod of approval, making her laugh as he risked a kiss on her cheek, since he felt confident they were unobserved. They walked on, and after a while, the stone towers of her childhood home came into view above the tops of the surrounding trees.

A whirl of emotions flooded through her at the sight. "Look, Arne," she cried, pointing at the castle excitedly, her heart suddenly full, and tears pressing at the backs of her eyes. "We're here!"

"All right, but let's take it slow and careful. We dinnae want tae get caught out," he cautioned as they entered a wood. Raven led the way along a path she had not used for six years yet felt comfortingly familiar. The band of trees proved to be no more than a few hundred yards wide, and they soon emerged on the tree line, with the mighty curtain wall of the castle looming over them.

They stopped. "See that buttress there, the second one along," Raven asked him, pointing.

"Aye," Arne replied with a nod.

"Just tae the left of the base is flat stone set in the earth. Ye lift it up, and underneath is a grille. It opens on hinges and leads tae the tunnels below. Ye can go pretty much anywhere ye want from there."

"All right. Let's go," Arne said, and they left the cover of the trees, moving stealthily forwards through the low, scrubby undergrowth towards the castle. But suddenly, Arne inhaled sharply and grabbed Raven's arm, pulling her down and flattening himself against the ground.

"What is it?" she hissed, not understanding his actions.

"Guards," he whispered, pointing with his eyes at the two-armed men who had appeared from around the corner to their left and were now walking along the base of the wall in their direction. Alarmed, for they were now quite exposed, Raven squashed herself against the ground as low as she could go.

She tried not to breathe as the men passed slowly in front of them. They had already agreed that it would be best to get into the castle before announcing their presence to her brothers. That way, they figured MacDonald's spies would have no idea of their arrival, which would buy them time.

Fortunately, the guards seemed intent on their own conversation and did not so much as glance in their direction before they vanished around the side of a tower at the end of the wall.

Arne rose but stayed in a crouch. "Come on, ‘tis safe now," he said, helping her up, "but stay low." Raven's heart was in her throat, expecting the guards to reappear at any moment as she and Arne crept forward and then threw themselves behind the buttress.

"Here it is," she whispered, brushing her hands across the mossy stone at the base. She tried to lift it herself, but it was too heavy, so Arne helped her.

"Seems like this entrance has nae been used fer quite some time," he said as they grappled with it and eventually managed to shift it, to reveal the iron grille which Raven had described beneath. Raven cringed as its hinges squealed horribly as they lifted it. The top of a rickety ladder was visible at the top.

"How will we see where we're goin'" Arne asked.

Raven opened her mouth to speak when a hard, masculine voice from behind them said, "Ye neednae worry about that fer ye're nae goin' down there. Ye're comin' with us instead. Get up, and let me see yer faces, the both of ye, now!"

Raven heart sank as she exchanged a glance with Arne. It was not the end of the world that they had been caught by her brother's patrol, but it might make concealing their presence at the castle that little bit harder. They stood up and turned around as instructed.

It was the two guards from before. They stood pointing swords at Arne and Raven; their expressions grim. "MacDonald spies, I've nae doubt," the elder of the two men said, giving them a flinty look from beneath his helmet. "Thought ye could sneak in a dae some mischief, did ye?"

"We're nae spies," Raven spoke up boldly, pulling off her cap so that her long hair cascaded down her back. "Dae I look like a spy tae ye?"

"Silence!" the older guard snapped. He eyed Arne's weapons. "I'll have that sword and dirk off ye. Unbuckle yer belt and throw it down there." He gestured to the ground by his colleague's feet. "And be quick about it."

Arne did as he was told, and the younger man picked up his belt and slung it over his shoulder, with the scabbard dangling.

"I asked ye a question," Raven said. "Dae I look like a spy?" The guards hesitated as they looked at her with doubt mixed with suspicion. Already frustrated by the failure of their plan to enter the castle undetected, she put on her most imperious voice as she said, "I'm Lady Raven MacNeil MacDonald, and I'm the sister of yer laird. This is me partner, Arne MacLeod, braither tae Haldor MacLeod, Viking Laird of Harris."

"How d'ye dae, lads?" Arne said, giving the guards a friendly nod.

"We've come a long way and braved many dangers tae see me braithers, and I demand that ye take us tae them at once."

The older guard spat on the ground. "Is that why ye were tryin' tae sneak intae the place? And why ye're disguised as a lad, I suppose? What a load of nonsense! Ye think ye can fool us by spinnin' us some yarn about ye bein' the laird's sister? I'm nae a babe in arms, ye ken? Ye're spies fer that dog MacDonald, as sure as eggs is eggs. Ye're comin' with us tae the dungeons. Ye can think up some more lies while ye're waitin' fer the laird tae come and question ye," the guard told them angrily.

"Well, that went well," Arne said short while later as he looked up at Raven from his seat on a bed of rotten straw. She was standing on tiptoes, hanging onto the iron bars of the grille set high up in the door of the locked cell, yelling repeatedly, "I'm tellin' ye, I'm the laird's sister. Now will ye go and tell him I'm here?!" and variations on that theme. She had been trying to convince the guards she was telling the truth the entire time they had marched her and Arne down to the dungeons, shoved them roughly into the stinking cell, and locked them in.

To no avail.