Chapter 12 - 2

"Ah, but you will. It needs only the right man to pave the way to it." He turned and walked toward the door. "I'll return to Kilgranne and leave you to think about the matter, Robert. But don't ponder too long. I'm very angry with your kinsman, and I believe you'll be able to guess what task will be occupying me while I wait for your answer."

"I don't trade in human beings," Robert said.

"Let me clarify my position. If you don't give me the woman, Gavin will die, I'll return to Edinburgh and tell James the truth, and the woman will also die. It would not be my choice, but it would serve to increase my influence with him." He turned to Kate and said coaxingly, "Tell him to release you. Don't be frightened. Let me guide you, care for you. You're young and comely, and those are the only qualities I'll demand of you. I'll do the rest. You don't know what power awaits you. I'll make you ruler of both England and Scotland. You could be the most powerful queen the world has ever known. Why would you want to stay here with such a future on the horizon?"

Kate stared at the door as it closed behind him, too stunned to move.

Robert whirled on Jock. "Dammit, I told you to keep Gavin safe."

"I did what I could," Jock said. "We both knew there was a chance it wouldn't be enough. It's hard to hide a man like Gavin. He's rarely discreet."

No, discreet was not a word to describe Gavin, Kate thought dimly. Others suited him far better: rueful, funny, gentle, and loveable.…

"Alec will teach him discretion," Robert said. "You heard him, the bastard will be—" He broke off and drew a long breath. "Talk will do no good. We have to get Gavin away from Kilgranne."

"Alec will be expecting a move. He'll have a full complement of men at the castle."

"Then we'll have to send a large enough force to overcome them. Send out a call to every man on the island. I'll go to the mainland and see Robbie MacBrennon and Jamie Grant and try to persuade them to call their clans to ride with us. Meet me at sundown at Kilfirth Glen tomorrow with our own people, and we'll lay plans."

Plans for war, Kate thought, battle and blood and death. Her fault. All her fault.

Jock nodded and strode out of the room.

Robert turned back to Kate. "I'll leave a guard on the island in case this is one of Malcolm's tricks. Don't worry, you'll be safe here."

Safe. She would be safe, but Gavin and Robert and how many others might die? "No!" She jumped to her feet. "It will be too late. He'll kill Gavin. Let me go along. Maybe I can—"

"God's blood!" He whirled on her savagely. "Can't you see that's what he wants? He'd like nothing better than to lure you away from Craighdhu so that he can pluck you like a ripe plum."

"Then let him do it," she answered just as fiercely. "Gavin wouldn't be a prisoner except for me."

"No, he'd be dead. Alec would have no reason not to make Jean a widow unless he wanted something."

"It doesn't change the fact that Malcolm will—"

"Shut up!" His eyes were blazing down at her. "Didn't you hear what I told that bastard? I won't trade you for Gavin or anyone else."

He strode out of the room, and she followed him. "Listen to me, I couldn't bear to—"

The front door slammed behind him.

Fear and sickness made her dizzy, and she reached out a hand to steady herself against the wall. Robert had told her this might happen. Why had she not believed him when he told her she could destroy Craighdhu? She knew the answer. She had not wanted to believe it because it would rob her of both Robert and Craighdhu.

Her fault. All of it her fault. Perhaps Robert was right that Gavin's actions had been partially to blame this time, but what of next time? Even if they laid siege to Kilgranne and rescued Gavin, Malcolm would still crave the power she represented. It would go on forever. Craighdhu could be taken, men would die.

Robert might die.

Panic soared through her at the thought. Just like her mother. Everything Sebastian had called her had come true. She was a destroyer, just like her mother.

No! She would not be a destroyer. She would not be made into a mirror of her mother.

She would fight.

···

When Jock Candaron opened the door to his lodgings, he could not hide the flicker of surprise that crossed his usually impassive face. "You have need of me, my lady? I fear I have little time at the moment." He gestured to the two men standing behind him at the table on which a map was spread. "As you can see, I'm making—"

"I, too, have little time." She stepped around him into the room and pushed back the hood of her cloak. She nodded politely at the two men. The younger clansman she recognized as Jock's lieutenant, Ian Mactavish, but the other was unknown to her. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us?"

Jock's lips tightened with annoyance as he turned to his men. "Wait for me in the other room. I'm sure my lady will only be a moment."

A far from gentle hint that he would like to be rid of her as quickly as possible. She crossed to the window and looked down at the street below as Jock conversed with the men in a low voice. Then she heard the door close.

"You should not be here, you know," Jock said. "It's hardly proper for the laird's lady to—"

"Do you think I care!" She whirled to face him. "I wish you to take me to Kilgranne and trade me for Gavin."

He went still. "Indeed? I don't believe Robert will approve of such action."

"But you would," she said bitterly. "It would please you, wouldn't it? You and Craighdhu would be done with me."

"Not if Robert decided to ride after you." His eyes were glacier cool as he added, "We both know he's quite mad about you."

"Yes," she whispered. Mad enough to take the chance of losing Craighdhu. She had fostered and reinforced that sensual madness with every wile at her command. Of late, she had begun to think his hunger for her was not only of the flesh, that he was beginning to love her as she did him. Well, that was all gone. She would never know now. "We'll face that problem when we get Gavin safely away from Kilgranne. If Robert does decide to lay siege to Kilgranne to free me, at least Malcolm won't be holding a hostage he'd be willing to kill. How long will it take us to get there?"

"After we reach the mainland, it's a half day's ride to Kilgranne."

"That means, if we leave at once, we could be there by dawn?"

"Aye, but I'll not be the one to take you. Like Robert, I don't trade in human beings."

"Would you rather see Gavin tortured to death? Malcolm will not harm me—he wants only to use me. If you exchange me for Gavin, he will live, and so will I."

"As long as Alec deems you have value to him," he conceded. "But if he decides otherwise, he'll derive great pleasure in depriving Robert of you in the most painful way possible."

She motioned impatiently. "We're wasting time. If you don't take me, I'll go by myself. You're so fond of performing your precious duty. Do it now. In one stroke you can save Gavin and buy time for an attack on Kilgranne that will be of your choice, not Malcolm's. You know my plan is sound."

He studied her. "Aye, the plan has merit."

She whirled and strode toward the door. "Then let's go. Rachel is tied outside, and I've packed my satchel in readiness."

"You were so sure I'd take you?"

"I knew you'd welcome any chance to rid Craighdhu of my presence." She opened the door. "I'm aware you've always disliked me."

"I've never disliked you," he said quietly.

She looked at him in surprise.

"In truth, you have a boldness and honesty that I find pleasing. It's the threat you present I dislike." He turned and picked up his cloak. "Give me a moment to give instructions to Ian, and I'll join you downstairs."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jock ride out of the gates of Kilgranne and gallop up the hill where she waited.

"Gavin?"

"Malcolm assures me he's still alive, but the bastard won't let me see him."

"He agreed to the exchange?"

He nodded. "He wants you to come for Gavin yourself."

"Is that wise? If he's as treacherous as you say—"

"It isn't and he is."

"Then what other course is left open to us?"

"We could make a stand and wait and see if he's bluffing."

"No." She nibbled on her lower lip. Jock was supposed to meet Robert at sundown, and she did not want Robert here at Kilgranne. "I'll go." She nudged Rachel into a trot. "There's no use for you to go back. Stay here and wait for word."

Jock was immediately beside her, his horse's pace matching her own.

"I told you to stay here."

He didn't answer.

"Your duty is to Robert, not to me."

"True," he said calmly. "But Gavin is one of ours; therefore, if you commit this folly for his sake, it's my duty to support you in it."

"You define your duty on a very broad scale."

"It's only right to let a man interpret the light that guides his life as he sees fit." He did not look at her. "Alec is a clever man. I've seen him twist men's minds as well as their bodies. It's possible he wants to test your mettle for weaknesses."

"To see how easily the pawn can be fashioned for his purpose?"

"Perhaps." He smiled faintly. "He has seen little of you. He may think you're only what you seem."

Through the open gates she could see Alec Malcolm waiting in the courtyard and involuntarily tensed. "And what is that?" she asked.

"Robert's lady, good only for bed and childbearing."

A little of her tension ebbed as a smile tugged at her lips. "I hope Robert would vouch for the first, and I've been valiantly striving for the second." But that was over, she realized bleakly, even the brief amusement fading. No babe, no Robert, no Craighdhu lay in her future, only this task that must be performed to right the wrong she had done. "I won't let Malcolm twist my mind. The question is, how can I twist his?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "A man who cares only for his own well-being has few weaknesses. Your one method of defense is not to let him see yours."

She didn't want to defend but to attack. "That's not enough."

"No?" He smiled curiously. "It would be, for most women."

They were riding through the gate, and she braced herself. No weakness.

"Ah, I can't say how delighted I was when my friend Jock told me you were joining me." Alec Malcolm stepped forward and lifted her from the saddle. "I could see at once that you were an intelligent woman, but now I see you have a great heart. How kind to sacrifice yourself for that sweet lad Gavin."

"Where is he?"

"Right this way." He cast a glance at Jock. "You, too, my friend; I know that you can't wait to see your clansman." He led them across the courtyard toward the tower. "Jock tells me that Robert is not aware of your decision. How fortunate for Gavin that your heart is not as hard as your husband's." He nodded at the guard standing before the heavy door, and the man unlocked and opened it. "I regret making you go to him, but he's not able to come to you."

She felt a sudden sickness at his words and was glad that he was in front of her, negotiating the steep, curving stone steps leading down into the dungeon. No weakness.

She heard Jock following behind her.

Alec opened a door at the foot of the stairs and threw it wide. "My lady." He stepped aside to let her go first.

The foul smell of mold, decay, and feces assaulted her from the darkness.

"Be careful," Jock murmured in her ear.

He meant that whatever she saw, she was not to show that it affected her. She knew that, she thought impatiently. She had spent most of her life hiding pain from the enemy. She kept her face expressionless, but could not stifle a gasp of horror.

Gavin was hanging by his wrists four feet from the floor of the dungeon, his head slumped on his chest, his eyes closed in a faint. His ragged clothing hung in strips from his strained body, his legs looked limp and oddly crooked, and his face…Dear God, there was not an inch that was not bruised or bleeding.

"Was this necessary?" she asked unsteadily.

"Aye, I told him to speak," Alec said, "but he wouldn't obey. Obedience is very important to me."

This was why he had brought her here, she realized. It was to lesson her in her role in the future. She was to be intimidated and cowed at the result of disobedience to him.

"Cut him down." The whisper came from the darkness in the corner. "Please cut him down.… Pain…"

It was Jean, but a Jean Kate had never seen. She was huddled against the wall, her clothing as ragged as her husband's, her eyes haunted as she gazed at Gavin's hanging body.

"You'll have to forgive my daughter's dishevelment," Alec said. "Nothing would do her but that she stay with her beloved husband."

"Cut him down," Jean whispered.

"Yes, cut him down," Kate said briskly. "And send one of the guards for a wagon. You should have told us he would be unable to travel. This is most inconvenient."

She could see that her coolness had surprised him, but not to the extent of discomposure. "Not yet." He smiled. "I haven't decided what to do with him yet."

"Jock is going to take him to Craighdhu," she said firmly. "It's far the best move." She turned to Jock. "Cut him down, Jock."

Jock drew his sword and stepped toward Gavin.

"You forget where you are," Malcolm said softly. "I command here."

"He does not look well," Kate said coldly. "If you kill him, that will enrage Robert, and he will attack Kilgranne. That's not what we want now."

"No?" He looked intrigued. "And what do we want?"

"What you promised me. The crown. Why else do you think I'm here?" She met his gaze. She was acting purely on instinct. Was she striking the right note? "I don't deny I found the boy likable, but not enough to risk what I had at Craighdhu. You offered me something I wanted more, but don't mistake me. I'm no tender blossom to be nurtured and guided unless I so choose."

"You were contented enough at Craighdhu until I came."

"I wanted the island, but Robert will never give it to me. He even refused to marry me in any way but handfast." Her lips tightened scornfully. "He found me pleasant enough to bed but was afraid for his precious Craighdhu."

"You're very blunt."

"It's as well we understand each other at once. You wish to use me, and I wish to be used. You will find me a strong ally. Isn't that better than a weak puppet?"

"Landfield said you could be dangerous," he murmured.

"Not if we're striving for the same goal." She paused. "And we will not win the crown by dissipating our strength in battles over trifles." She nodded at Jock. "Take your man and get him out of here."

She held her breath, but this time Malcolm made no objection.

Jock fetched a stool from across the dungeon, stood on it, and holding Gavin around the middle with one arm, he cut the ropes binding his wrists.

"Be careful." Jean struggled to her feet and ran forward out of the darkness. "His legs are broken."

Jean's face was as bruised as Gavin's, and pity and rage brought bile to Kate's stomach. Jock placed Gavin carefully on the ground and knelt beside him, his hands running exploringly over the younger man's body.

"The wagon," Kate prompted Malcolm.

His musing gaze had never left Kate's face. "You may just be right in this."

"I am right. I've thought the matter over very carefully." She saw him hesitate and said fiercely, "We mustn't make blunders now. All my life I've been without importance to anyone. Now, I have a chance to be a queen. I won't let you spoil my prospects."

He threw back his head and laughed. "You may be a more exceptional queen than I anticipated." He turned and sauntered toward the door. "Very well, Your Imperial Majesty, I'll tell the guard to fetch the wagon."

As soon as the door shut behind him, she flew to Gavin and fell to her knees. "How bad?" she asked Jock.

"Not good. Both arms out of the sockets, right leg broken in two places, left in three, his back is lashed to ribbons." He glanced down. "Three fingers broken on the right hand."

"Will he live?"

He nodded. "I think so. He may even come out of this without being a cripple, if I can set those bones right away."

"Can you do that yourself?"

"It's a battlefield skill I would have been foolish not to have learned." He frowned. "I only hope there's no damage that I can't see on the surface."

"That's all," Jean said dully. "The whip and then the rack." She looked at Kate. "He made me watch. I told him about the handfast. I would have told him anything to make him stop."

"By the saints, do you think I don't understand? I would have done the same." She looked down at Gavin's poor bruised face and felt tears rise to her eyes. "It will be all right. Once you leave here, you'll be able to care for him and get him well."

"If my father lets me go with him," Jean said.

Another problem, Kate thought wearily. Now she had to think of a plausible reason why Malcolm should send Jean along with Gavin.

"What a tender picture," Alec said from the doorway. "You look quite the ministering angel, my lady."

The hint of suspicion threading his voice must be instantly banished. "I hear my mother was splendid in that same role while she nursed her husband Lord Darnley." She met his gaze. "Before she went off one night to a party, and gunpowder blew his house to shambles. Naturally, she claimed she knew nothing about it."

The suspicion in Alec's face disappeared in a roar of laughter. "I had forgotten that story."

"I have not. I've studied every strength and every weakness she possessed." She stood up and brushed the dirt from the skirt of her gown. "Jock will need a board or stretcher and another guard to help carry Gavin."

"I'm surprised you don't wish me to do it," he said mockingly.

"You've done enough for the moment." She moved toward the door, then turned as if a thought had just occurred to her. "Oh, the girl is to go with him."

"No!" Malcolm said sharply.

"If we don't kill Gavin Gordon, then we have no use for her. They were married in the church, and you can no longer negotiate an advantageous marriage for her. She was formally accepted by the clan, so there's even a possibility of them trying to take her back if you don't release her."

"Then perhaps I should rethink killing the lad," he said softly.

"Why? You don't need her now, and you can do it without cost to us after we have the throne."

"Very reasonable." His gaze narrowed on her face. "Perhaps you're a little too reasonable."

She had gone as far as she could. If she ventured more aggressively, it might destroy everything she had accomplished. She shrugged casually. "Do what you like. It's nothing to me. I only thought to save us trouble." Perhaps it would be wise to show a bit of womanly weakness. She opened the door. "Now I must get out of here before I faint from this stench. I'll wait for you in the courtyard."

When she reached the courtyard, she drew a deep breath of cool morning air. Had she overplayed her hand? She did not think so, but she didn't really know Malcolm. She could only wait and see. She began to pace to release the stored-up tension of the last minutes. Why did they not come?

The dungeon door was thrown open, and Jock and one of Malcolm's guards carried a stretcher bearing Gavin into the courtyard.

Jean?

Jean walked into the courtyard a moment later, and Kate breathed a sigh of relief. As Malcolm came out of the dungeon, she turned away so that he wouldn't see her expression. "I'll be with you in a moment. I must give Jock a message for Robert."

She walked across the courtyard, watching as Gavin was carefully slid onto the bed of the wagon. Jock covered him with his cloak and then moved around to the front of the wagon.

Gavin gave a low groan and opened his eyes, startlingly blue in his swollen, livid face.

She stepped closer, glancing eagerly down at him. "How do you feel?" she whispered.

"Terrible…" He shook his head. "Sorry…Didn't mean…"

"Shh…Just get well."

"Broken…"

"Jock says he knows about setting bones. I'm sure your legs will be fine."

"Not my legs." He attempted to smile but could only flinch with pain. "Fingers…Tell him to fix my fingers."

She didn't understand. "I'm certain he'll set everything that needs fixing."

"Important…How else…will I play the…bagpipes?"

She blinked back the tears. Those blasted bagpipes. "I'm not sure anyone in the clan would thank him for that."

He shook his head. "Important…" He fainted again.

Jean crawled into the wagon and cradled Gavin's head on her lap. In the strong light of day she appeared even more haggard than she had in the dungeon. It was as if every artifice she had cultivated had been burned away, leaving only a pale husk of the enchanting woman who had come to Craighdhu. Her expression was hard as she looked at her father, standing across the courtyard watching them. Her lips barely moved as she said softly to Kate, "I want him dead, Kate."

Kate looked down at Gavin and felt the same rage she knew Jean was feeling. "He will be." She turned and walked to the wagon seat where Jock was now sitting. "Try to delay Robert from coming here as long as you can."

"Why?"

"Just do as I say." She moistened her lips and smiled recklessly. "And give him a message for me. Tell him he wouldn't give me Craighdhu, so I decided to take Scotland instead."

"And I'm supposed to make him believe it?"

"Why not? He knows I'm not without ambition. Turn him against me. It's the opportunity you've been wanting since I came to Craighdhu. Isn't that true?"

"Aye, it's true enough," he said slowly.

"Then seize the opportunity."

"What opportunity?" Alec Malcolm was approaching the wagon.

"The opportunity to save his life by leaving me and getting this wagon out of here. You must have heard how loyal he is to my husband. He doesn't wish to relinquish what he perceives to belong to Craighdhu." She stepped back and motioned for Jock to go. He gazed at her with his usual impassiveness and then snapped the reins to start the wagon rolling.

"Ah, he may be loyal, but it appears he's not a fool, my lady," Alec said.

Kate watched the wagon roll away from her and for an instant felt very much alone. She might never see any of them again and would certainly never see Craighdhu. Then she squared her shoulders and turned to Malcolm. "My lady? But why are you so formal?" She gave him a brilliant smile. "I wish you to call me Kathryn."

···

A single tent occupied Kilfirth Glen when there should have been at least twenty.

Robbie MacBrennan reined in beside Robert on the hill overlooking the glen. "What is this? You told me your lads would be gathered here."

"They're supposed to be. I told Jock I wanted him here by sunset," Robert said grimly. That was Jock's horse grazing nearby, but there were also two workhorses and a wagon drawn close to the tent. "I don't like this. Wait here until I signal you to come ahead." He spurred ahead down the hill toward the tent.

Jock Candaron came out of the tent. Both his linen shirt and his fair hair were darkened by sweat. He wiped beads of perspiration from his forehead on his sleeve as his gaze went beyond Robert to the men on the hill. "You must have been very persuasive. How many?"

"Three hundred strong. Jamie Grant and his men will join us in an hour or so." Robert jumped down from his horse. "Where the hell are our own forces?"

"I told Ian I'd send for them if they were needed."

"What the devil are you talking about? We do need them. Now."

"Perhaps not. You may even decide to send Grant and MacBrennan back home." He nodded at the tent. "I have Gavin."

"What!" His gaze went to the tent. "How is he?"

"In a faint. A state for which I'm sure he's fervently grateful. All day I've been setting broken bones and repairing the damage Alec inflicted. That little fluff of a wife he chose has more backbone than I thought," he added. "She was a great deal of help to me, and it wasn't easy for her to see him in agony."

"Jean is here too?"

"Aye, don't you think that's a brilliant coup?"

"How the hell did you do it?"

"I traded Kate."

The words tore like a sword thrust through Robert. For a moment he couldn't even speak, and then shock was followed by rage. "You son of a bitch. I'm going to cut your heart out."

"I thought that would be your response." He shrugged. "That was the chance I took. Your lady-wife gave me little choice. She said I would either make sure the trade took place or she would see to it herself. I thought if it was to be done, it should be done right."

"And you could get rid of a threat to Craighdhu."

"Aye, I admit that part appealed to me." He paused. "She gave me a message for you. She said to tell you not to come after her. She said since you wouldn't give her Craighdhu, she would take Scotland instead."

Robert rejected the words immediately. Kate had a fine mind and a taste for power, but cold calculation would never be her way. "And I suppose you believe her."

Jock hesitated and then said quietly, "I believe Alec was right in one thing. She would make an exceptional queen." He shrugged. "But I think she lied. If she gets the throne, it won't be through Alec Malcolm. She has a softness toward you and Gavin and wishes to save you both."

"By sacrificing herself?" Robert asked thickly.

"I doubt if she has that in mind." Jock's smile had a curious element of pride. "She was no pale, trembling martyr at Kilgranne. She intends to best Alec Malcolm."

"And she has as little chance of that as Gavin of besting you in battle. Alec has years of experience on his side."

"You did not see her as I did." He paused. "But if you have doubts, perhaps you'd better help her."

"Indeed?" Robert's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "May I ask why this change of heart?"

"You will obviously not be content until you rescue her from Alec's clutches." He smiled. "And I'm not sure that it wouldn't be safer for Craighdhu to have her safely under our eye at the island than on the throne of Scotland. At least we'd have a measure of control over her there."

"You didn't exercise much control over her in this matter. You should have kept her at home." He should not be blaming Jock when the fault lay with himself. He had known how upset Kate was when he had left, but he had been too filled with worry and rage to think about anything but getting Gavin away from Alec. Christ, but he hadn't expected her to—but he should have expected it. Kate was capable of anything, of confronting any hazard if it meant enough to her. Well, he could not stand here thinking about the danger to her. He would go mad if he did not take action. He turned toward the tent. "I'll go in and see Gavin. Mount up. We'll ride for Kilgranne at once."

"If you like, but I'm not sure she'll be there."

"You believe that Alec will have secreted her somewhere?"

He shook his head. "She asked me to delay you. She clearly didn't want you to lay siege and will see that you don't."

The rage, fear, and frustration within him were mounting more by the second. "For God's sake, she can't manipulate Alec to suit herself. She's only a woman, scarcely more than a child."

"No? I saw her in a different light. The coup at Kilgranne was entirely Kate's, not mine. I believe you may change your mind."

Duncan rode out of the castle toward their forces before they reached the gates.

He was alone.

"They're not here," he said as he reined in before Robert. "She said to tell you they had gone to Edinburgh to join with Mary's sympathizers." He flushed as he glanced uneasily at the clansmen surrounding Robert before adding, "She said that since she has left you, the marriage is over, and you would be without pride to pursue her when she no longer wants you."

"You see?" Jock murmured. "Another coup. A public rejection to sting your pride before she flits out of reach. It's one thing to rally the clans to avenge an abducted wife—it's quite another to chase down a reluctant spouse." He lowered his voice still more. "And you cannot tell anyone the real reason Alec wants her, if your purpose is to get her back before he announces her claim to the throne."

Robert knew that was true, and he swore beneath his breath. It was not enough he would have to battle Malcolm; he had the damn woman herself with whom to contend. "When did they leave?"

"Before noon," Duncan said. "But you can't hope to catch up with them. My father was in a great hurry, and he planned to set sail from the harbor at Jacklowe by sunset."

It was now close to midnight. With the winter storms over, the northern route around Scotland was both safe and speedy. They would have nearly a two-day head start before Robert could get back to Craighdhu, ready his own ship, and set sail.

"Craighdhu?" Jock asked.

Robert nodded. "It's the quickest way."

"Robert…I'm sorry…Gavin…" Duncan shrugged helplessly. "You know my father. I could not stop him. No one could stop him."

"Aye, I know him." A sickening chill went through him at the memory of Gavin's broken body. Kate thought she could manipulate that bastard to her own designs, but it would take only one false step for Alec to try to subjugate her as he did everyone around him. He could merely hope she did not make that false step until he reached Edinburgh and could deal with Alec himself.

He turned and rode back toward Robbie MacBrennan and Jamie Grant to explain why he had brought them here for naught and tell them to go home.

Damn and blast the woman.