Chapter 7

Idalia raised her hand and knocked on the door. She had never approached a stranger's house in the middle of the night. She was nervous, scared of capture, and more than a little confused as to why she felt the need to go completely against her instincts of self-preservation to help a man who had kidnapped her to begin with. I may have very well gone mad. The sound of shuffling feet from behind the door brought her thoughts back to the present moment. The door opened and a bleary-eyed man stuck his head out.

"Who is there?" he grumbled, his beady eyes peering up at her. His breath was rancid, smelling of alcohol and tobacco.

"Please forgive the intrusion, but I am in need of immediate assistance," Idalia answered him, taking a small step back to escape the stench.

"Oh, aye?" he peered down at her, attempting to focus on her face in the dim light of the candle in his hand. "Ye are nae from around here are ye, lassie?"

Idalia sighed. She was used to such observations by now, but it was still annoying to have it be the first thing that people noticed about her. She was beginning to understand why Esmerelda spoke the local dialect with a regional accent. "I am not. Please, I am in need of assistance. Is there someone within who might be able to deliver an urgent message to Strathnaver? It is very important. It is a matter of life and death."

"Strathnaver?" The man thought for a moment. "Aye, for a fee." His eyes glittered with greed.

"I will be happy to pay."

"Lad!" the man yelled into the house over his shoulder. "Come tae me!"

A brief moment later a gangly young lad appeared in the doorway. "Da?" he asked, eyeing Idalia with interest while scratching his backside. His hair stood on end in every direction. He made a most amusing sight. If Idalia had not been so terrified for her own life, she would have laughed aloud at the sight the father and son made. The family resemblance was undeniable.

"This here lassie, needs ye tae deliver a message tae Strathnaver."

The lad's brows rose in surprise. "At this hour?"

"Aye, she says it is a matter o' life and death. She says she will pay."

The lad's face lit up at the reference to coin. "Oh, aye?"

Idalia fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Indeed," she answered in confirmation. "Do you have something to write a letter with?"

"Aye," the man nodded slowly. "Lad go and retrieve what the lass needs and bring it tae the table." The man stepped back and allowed her to enter the house.

Idalia hesitated for a brief moment, uncertain as to whether it was wise. In the end, she knew she must enter to finish the transaction. Fighting the urge to look over her shoulder to where Bran was hiding in the trees, she stepped over the threshold. The house was dark but for the candle the man had lit to answer the door. The space was small but habitable. He led her over to the table, and the boy brought her over a sheet of paper, a quill, and an inkwell. Idalia sat down at the table and prepared the quill before carefully wording the message she was to send.

As they had walked looking for a village, she and Bran had worked out what to say. They had decided one letter would be enough as Tor could send a message to Dunn if he had returned to Orkney by the time the letter arrived. Idalia kept the letter brief but conveyed the urgency of their situation.

Tor,

Bran MacLeod is alive. His daughter Mahala is being held hostage by the Romani leader August Raymond. To save his daughter's life, Bran took me hostage and attempted to deliver me to Raymond. I have escaped but am being pursued by Raymond's men. Bran and I need your help to save his daughter and safely return home to Orkney. Please send help immediately! Our lives are in grave peril. Tell Andrew his brother lives.

Idalia Buckland

Idalia included a brief description of the location of Raymond's encampment as per Bran's instructions. Then she folded the letter, using the melted wax from the candle to make a seal. To prove it was truly her sending the letter, she pressed her ring into the wax, leaving the impression of the letters I.B. in the seal. The ring had been a present from her father and was her most cherished possession. Katarina would recognize it immediately. On the outside of the letter, she wrote Tor's full name and his place of residence at Strathnaver. She turned and handed the letter to the young lad.

"Please see that this letter is delivered into the hands of the Laird Tor Leòideach of Strathnaver or his brother the Laird Dunn Leòideach of Orkney."

"The Viking beasts o' Orkney?" the boy breathed in awe, and some fear.

"Tell them Idalia Buckland sent you. They will treat you well and will pay you for the delivery of the letter."

The boy looked to his father, who nodded his consent. "Off with ye, lad."

"Aye, Da." The boy nodded, then took off for the barn with a lantern in hand.

Idalia stood in the small kitchen space of the cottage alone with the boy's father. Feeling uncomfortable, she stepped outside just in time to watch the boy ride away with her letter, on the back of a small but stocky equine. "God be with him," she breathed as his retreating back disappeared from view.

"If ye need a place tae rest, I recommend auld Mave's place. She is a widow who lives on her own in the village," the man recommended. "I cannae let ye stay here as the wife is away. It would nae do tae have people talk."

Idalia nodded in agreement. The last thing that she wanted was to spend the night with a strange man who reeked of spirits. "I thank you for your aid. You have quite possibly saved more than one life this night."

The man's chest puffed up with self-importance and he smiled, rocking back on his heels. "I think I will treat myself tae another drink. Would ye care tae join me?"

Idalia shook her head. "I thank you, but I must keep going."

"As ye say," the man nodded, waved a farewell, then reentered his house, shutting the door behind himself.

Darkness reclaimed the land with the loss of the candle's light, and it took a moment for Idalia's eyes to readjust. She moved to where she had left Bran at the edge of the woods. "Bran?" she whispered his name into the trees.

"I am here, lass." He stepped forward to stand in front of her. "I saw the lad leave. I assume he carries our letter."

"He does." Idalia nodded.

"Ye should have gone with him," Bran chastised gently.

"I know," she murmured, but left it at that.

They turned together back toward the Romani encampment. Bran led them through the darkness with skill. Idalia was impressed with how easily he moved through the night. Even his horse moved silently. They kept a wary eye out for the other men who would be searching for Idalia. They had agreed that if they were discovered, Bran was to pretend he had found her in the nearby village and had extracted her quickly and quietly, with the intent to turn her over to August.

In truth, Idalia was no more willing to be turned over to August Raymond than she had been before. In preparation for such an event, Bran had gone over some basic self-defense maneuvers that would allow her to sink a blade into Raymond before the villainous cur could rape or kill her. If she were caught, August Raymond would not live long enough to lay a hand on her.

* * *

Idalia was not certain how long they had walked before they came to the edge of August Raymond's encampment, but she was so tired she felt as if she might drop at Bran's feet. She felt as though she had been dragged back and forth across the expanse of Scotland without a moment's rest. "Where is Mahala being held?" Idalia asked softly as they scanned the encampment from the safety of the trees.

Bran pointed to a tent with several guards stationed around it. "She is in there."

Idalia recognized the men standing around the tent. They were August's own personal guards. He had chosen them when his father had died under questionable circumstances. They were large men, well-trained in the art of combat. She clutched Bran's sleeve. "You cannot go near there. The moment they see you those men will kill you."

"I am aware," Bran informed her. "Why do ye think I have nae rescued her before now? I am nae a fool."

Idalia could read Bran's body language. It was clear that he intended to do the very thing she had warned against in spite of his words to the contrary. "Love makes fools of us all."

"Now a letter has been sent tae our people, if anything happens tae me, my brother Andrew will pick up where I left off. If I cannae free Mahala from August's grasp, then Andrew will."

"I understand that your daughter is important to you, as family should always be, but you cannot throw your life away in a foolish battle there is no way to win. She would not want that. If August was going to harm her, he would have done so long before now. Has it occurred to you that the reason August waited this long to use your daughter against you is that he needed you to form an attachment to her, so that he might manipulate you into doing his bidding. He has had the child's entire life to do something, but he has not. Instead of getting rid of her, he kept her long before he knew he could use her against you."

Bran stared down at her frowning. "What are ye saying?"

"I am saying that I do not believe August actually means your daughter any harm. When you were a part of the encampment, what did she look like? Was she strong and well cared for or weak and filthy?"

Bran quirked his brow. "She was well fed, clean, cared for."

"Did you ever witness August raising his hand or voice to her?"

Bran shook his head. "I did nae."

"Did he treat her the way that he treated you, or as if she were his family?"

"In word to me, he claims that she is his shame, but tae her face, I have never heard him say anything against her."

"As evil as August Raymond is, do his actions speak of a man who intends his niece harm?"

"I cannae take that risk. I have seen the things he is capable of. I cannae risk that he will nae do as he says regarding me daughter. She is only half his sister's blood. The other half is mine."

Idalia had hoped to keep him from doing something that would get them both killed. Just as Bran was about to step out into the encampment, the men who had been following them stepped into the clearing.

And to Idalia's horror, they had within their clutches the young lad who was meant to deliver their message to Tor.