CHAPTER 10

C HAPTER 10

“Blast it, Gelfrid! You nearly crushed my hand!”

“I thought you were finished spreading the mortar,” apologized Gelfrid sheepishly.

“You might have taken the time to ask me before you dropped that bloody stone on it!” Ninian complained. “I’ll be lucky if it isn’t broken!”

“Try to move your fingers,” suggested Gelfrid helpfully.

“Just get away from me!” Ninian snapped, cradling his hand against his chest. “I’ve had enough of your clumsiness for one day!”

Gelfrid’s face grew crimson with insult. “Clumsy, is it? Very well—let’s see how quickly you build that merlon by yourself!”

“It may take longer,” Ninian allowed, “but at least I’ll do it without crushing any bloody bones !”

“Here, now, what’s all this commotion about?” asked Magnus.

“Gelfrid nearly broke my hand,” reported Ninian furiously.

“ ’Twould never have happened if you weren’t so bloody slow!” Gelfrid snapped.

“Come, now, lads,” interjected Magnus, “we’ve got to work together if we’re going to fix this damage.”

“What difference does it make if we fix it or not?” Mungo demanded sourly. “The MacTiers are just likely to come back and destroy something else.”

“Roarke said we must make our repairs immediately,” said Lewis hesitantly, afraid of being barked at yet again. So far his gentle attempts to organize the men had failed miserably.

“And that is exactly what we should do,” added Melantha, looking up from the arrow she was fletching. “Otherwise it is clear to everyone that we are vulnerable.” She added the finished shaft to the pile of arrows she had already completed.

“We weren’t so vulnerable when we sent those bloody MacTiers scampering home with their tails between their legs, by God,” swore Thor, who was sitting on a chair lovingly polishing his pipes. “Now, there’s a tale you pups will be able to tell your bairns!”

“Your pardon, Thor, but if memory serves I do believe ’twas Roarke and his men who in fact helped us to win the day,” pointed out Laird MacKillon. “As you may recall, he told our men to put dirks to their throats and pretend we were going to kill them.”

Thor blinked in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘pretend’?”

“Look out below!” Hagar peered over the battlements to watch one of the timbers from the crumbling hoarding hurtle toward the ground, barely missing Colin. “Are you all right, son?”

“Yes,” said Colin tautly, wincing at the pain the sudden movement had cost his heavily stitched back. “Do you want me to come up there and help you?”

“No need,” Hagar informed him cheerily. “Everything is under control. You just stay down there and rest like your mother told you.”

“Fine,” muttered Colin, resuming his restless pacing of the courtyard.

“What are you lads doing up here?” asked Melantha as her three brothers appeared.

“We want to help,” Daniel informed her seriously.

“To repair the castle,” added Matthew.

“We’re not babies,” Patrick chirped, in case there was any misunderstanding on that point. “I helped Myles build one of the platforms.”

“You may help in another area of the castle,” Melantha informed them. “Not up here.”

“Nothing is going to happen, Melantha,” Daniel assured her, his voice edged with defiance. “We’ll be very careful.”

“I said no, Daniel,” Melantha repeated firmly. “If you really want to help, then go and ask Beatrice or Edwina if they need any assistance preparing dinner.”

Daniel snorted in disgust. “I don’t want to do kitchen work.”

“I do,” sang out Patrick.

“Isn’t there something else for us to do?” pleaded Matthew, who in fact wouldn’t have minded working in the kitchen, but wanted to ally with his older brother.

“Fine,” said Melantha, feeling totally exasperated. “Take these arrows and vanes and go ask Colin to show you how to fletch them,” she instructed, deciding that Colin needed a task to keep him occupied as well. “Once you’ve finished the lot to Colin’s satisfaction, place them in a neat pile by the arrow slit in the south tower.”

“That’s a good job, Daniel,” Matthew said, trying to assess his brother’s reaction. “We’ll be making weapons.”

Daniel scowled.

“Look at all these pretty feathers,” marveled Patrick, happily gathering a bouquet into his hands.

“Be careful not to break them,” said Melantha. She helped to pile the shafts into Daniel and Matthew’s arms, then watched as they went off to find Colin. Then she began to restlessly walk along the wall head, wondering what to do next.

“I’m thinking it’s been a while since we went hunting,” said Magnus offhandedly. “For meat,” he added, lest she think he was suggesting a robbery.

A burst of renewed energy coursed through her.

Matthew tossed his feather into the air and watched as it drifted toward the ground. “You’re sure Melantha won’t be mad?”

“Why would she be mad?” asked Daniel, trudging ahead of him. “She just said we couldn’t go up to the wall head—she never said anything about going into the woods.”

“But we’re not allowed to play with a bow and arrows.”

“We’re not playing,” Daniel assured him. “We’re hunting.”

Matthew looked doubtful. “I don’t think we’re allowed to go hunting, either.”

“Why not? Melantha always used to talk about how Da would take her hunting from the time she was scarcely more than a baby. I’m thirteen and you’re almost eleven—that’s more than old enough.”

“But what if something happens?” fretted Matthew. He stooped to pick up his feather. “Then Melantha will be angry with us.”

“The only thing that’s going to happen is we’re going to shoot some nice, fat rabbits and bring them home and have everyone crowd around us and tell us what fine hunters we are,” predicted Daniel. “And Beatrice will take them to the kitchen and prepare them for supper, and everyone will cheer us for helping to feed the clan.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Then Melantha will see that we’re practically men, and she’ll tell us we can always go hunting with her from now on.”

Matthew’s eyes shone with pleasure as he considered this possibility. He tossed his feather high into the air and watched again as it gently landed on the pine-strewn earth.

And then the feather began to tremble.

The acrid scent stung Melantha’s nostrils long before she and her men burst from the woods.

Thick plumes of black smoke were rising from a half dozen cottages upon the hill, and a series of blazes dotted the dry, scrubby grasses of the fields. Her people were racing in every direction; frantically tossing buckets of water and shovelfuls of sand and earth at the flames in a desperate effort to contain the grass fires and perhaps salvage some part of their homes. Melantha galloped toward the castle, her chest tight with fear. She had to find her brothers. She had to see that they were safe, had to kneel down and wrap her arms around them and feel their lean bodies shift restlessly within her embrace.

Then, and only then, could she focus on what had happened.

She thundered through the gate with Magnus, Lewis, and Finlay following close behind her. Throwing herself off her horse, she flew through the door and into the great hall.

Laird MacKillon, Thor, and Hagar were seated at a table, while Colin paced anxiously before them. On seeing Melantha their expressions, already grave, crumpled.

And she knew something terrible had happened to one of her brothers.

“Tell me,” she pleaded, the words small and choked.

“It’s Daniel and Matthew,” said Colin. “The MacTiers have taken them.”

A sickening dizziness swept over her, making her feel hot and cold all at once. No, she thought, struggling to make sense of what Colin had just said. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, fighting the shifting and turning of the hall. Please God, no—

“ ’Tis all right, lass,” said Magnus, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her tight against him. “Just lean against me and take a breath. There ye are. ’Tis no time for panic, do ye understand?” he demanded sternly.

She did not speak but leaned against Magnus, taking comfort in the strong, solid feel of him as he held her steady.

“We’re going to get them back, Melantha,” Colin vowed fiercely. “I promise you that.”

“Aye,” agreed Finlay, moving protectively to her other side. “Even if we have to kill every last bloody MacTier to do so.”

Lewis also moved closer, saying nothing, but closing the comforting circle of strength and determination around her.

Melantha inhaled a shallow breath, fighting the terror that was pulling her toward hysteria. She could not give in to it, for if she began to rant and weep she would lose precious moments.

“What happened?” she asked, forcing herself to push her emotions aside.

“Daniel and Matthew had gone off to play in the woods,” explained Colin. “The MacTiers captured them before we even knew they were near.” His gaze was agonized, as if he felt he should have been able to prevent it. “I’m sorry, Melantha.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Colin.” It is my fault, she reflected in anguish. My fault for bringing Roarke and his men here and daring to ransom them. My fault for raising the ire of the MacTiers.

“After they took the lads, the MacTiers set fire to the cottages and fields,” continued Laird MacKillon.

“Was anyone hurt?” asked Magnus.

Hagar shook his head. “Everyone is fine. The MacTiers never even tried to breach the wall. They just thundered about terrorizing everyone and setting things ablaze.”

“Filthy, depraved demons!” stormed Thor. “If only I’d had my sword, I’d have chopped them up for stewing meat!”

A terrible question uncoiled in Melantha’s mind. Her voice was hollow as she asked, “Were Roarke and his men among them?”

“Dear me, no,” said Laird MacKillon, sounding shocked by the possibility. “Absolutely not. Roarke and his men would never behave in such a cowardly manner.”

“They were led by that fair-haired chap who tried to collect them the other night,” Hagar added. “Derek, I heard his men calling him. And I must tell you, he was most unpleasant.”

“What did he say?” asked Lewis. “Was this our punishment for taking Roarke and his men prisoner?”

An uneasy silence fell over the hall.

“Come on, then, out with it,” Magnus urged impatiently. “If we’re to get the lads back, we need to know what the MacTiers want.”

Laird MacKillon sighed. “I’m afraid they wanted to know the identity of the Falcon.”

“Of course, everyone denied any knowledge of the Falcon,” Hagar quickly assured them. “But I don’t believe they were convinced.”

“Despicable, cowardly scum!” raged Thor. “In my day, we didn’t resort to using helpless lads in warfare!”

“They already know who the Falcon is,” Melantha decided, her mind roiling as she tried to make sense of what had happened. “Roarke and his men must have told MacTier—otherwise, why would they have taken Daniel and Matthew?”

“I don’t believe they do know, Melantha,” countered Colin. “They kept referring to the Falcon as a man, and they didn’t expect to find him here—they were trying to intimidate us into revealing his identity.”

“I think they took the lads because they were alone and easy to capture,” added Hagar. “That Derek chap never implied that he thought they were in any way related to the Falcon.”

“But ’twas clear he knew the Falcon has some relationship with this clan,” said Laird MacKillon. “That’s why he believed the Falcon would hear of what happened and want to do something about it.”

“So what did they tell ye to do?” asked Magnus.

Hagar regarded him worriedly. “They said if we wanted to see the lads alive again, we had best make sure the Falcon delivers himself and his men to Laird MacTier within four days. Then the lads will be brought back to us.”

Stay calm, Melantha ordered silently, struggling to gain control of her fear. If she permitted herself to panic, she would not be able to formulate a plan. Four days. It took three days to travel to the MacTier holding from here. Clearly Laird MacTier was counting on the MacKillons being able to relay his message to the Falcon quickly, but was giving them a day to find him. Her mind began to race as she considered the possibilities.

“Colin, has your back healed sufficiently that you are fit to ride?”

“Yes,” he assured her without hesitation.

“Surely you can’t be thinking of going there, Melantha,” objected Laird MacKillon, appalled by the possibility. “Once MacTier has you and your men, he’ll more than likely kill all of you as well as the lads. I cannot allow that.”

“I’ll slay the scoundrel before he has the chance!” Thor vowed. “I’ll dice him up so fine they’ll have to use a ladle to scoop him off the floor!”

“You’re going?” said Laird MacKillon, astonished.

“Of course.’ Tis time I taught these MacTier villains a lesson they’ll never forget!”

“Laird MacKillon is right, lass,” said Magnus, ignoring Thor. “Ye can’t be thinkin’ of just walkin’ in there and offering yerself in exchange for the lads—’tis certain he’ll slay the lot of us and be done with it.”

“He’ll only slay us if he finds out who we are,” pointed out Melantha.

“ ’Tis disguises, then, is it?” said Thor, his excitement mounting. He caught a glimpse of his snowy mane and frowned. “Perhaps I should add a hint of color to my hair.”

“You’re forgetting that Roarke and his men will be there, Melantha,” said Hagar. “Disguised or not, ’tis almost certain that if he sees you he will recognize you.”

“His duty to his clan will force him to reveal your true identity,” Laird MacKillon added soberly. “Even if he is loath to do it.”

“I don’t believe Roarke will be there,” countered Melantha, feigning more assurance than she actually felt. “He told me that his days of battle were over and that he planned to retire to a holding Laird MacTier had promised to give him as a reward for his many years of service. He seemed most anxious to depart for his new home.”

Thor was unable to conceal his disappointment. “Was he taking the Viking with him? I wanted to chop him up.”

“We had best hope that they are all gone,” Magnus reflected. “Otherwise things could get a wee bit tricky.”

“I’ll take care of any trickiness!” Thor promised.

“Your pardon, Thor, but I do believe it would be better for the clan if you remained here,” said Laird MacKillon, seeing Melantha’s concerned look. “After all, we need someone with your considerable fighting abilities to help protect the clan should we suffer another attack.”

Thor puffed up his chest, pleased by the compliment. “Well, of course, if you really need me—”

“Lewis, run and find Gillian and Beatrice and ask them to meet me in my chamber,” said Melantha. “Tell them to bring every gown they can find that isn’t worn or stained. I need something beautiful to wear.”

Everyone in the great hall stared at her in shock.