Amanda Scott (45 page)

She gasped. It was not Neil but Allan Breck, and realizing—only now—that it might have been anyone, a Campbell, even Black Duncan, made her tremble. She managed to say with a semblance of calm, “I don’t think anyone is watching. Bardie studied the yard for a time before he came in.”

“Good for Bardie.” He shut the door and barred it again, then put a hand on her shoulder to urge her toward the kitchen. Once they were in the light, she saw that he wore his blue regimental coat and red vest over dark trews.

“You cannot stay here, Allan,” she said. “It is too dangerous. Someone killed Gentle Ian today, murdered him in cold blood on the road near Inshaig.”

“I know,” he said, taking the poker from her and hanging it by the hearth. “The news is all over Appin, and the woods are alive with damned Campbells again. A man can scarcely move about without falling over one.”

“Then you must know we cannot hide you here,” Diana said. “They suspect that you were here after Red Colin’s death, and they are still looking for you.”

“That’s perfectly true,” Lady Maclean said sharply. “You endanger us all just by being here, Allan. What do you want?”

“Money, of course. I’m taking my leave of you again—returning to France until it’s safe to come back here—but James was to have sent the rent money when they returned my regimental clothes. I got the clothes all right but not the money.”

“They arrested James,” Diana said. “You must know that. Neil said—”

“Aye, I know. It was just cursed bad luck that he could not send the money before then. He did send some, but only a few guineas, and I need the rest to take to the lairds in France. My ship is waiting in the Firth, and the devil of it is that I ought to have got off long before now, but I don’t want to go empty-handed.” He looked around. “Where’s your whisky? My throat is dry.”

Without a word, Lady Maclean poured him a large glassful.

“Allan,” Diana said, aware that Bardie had not spoken a word since her cousin’s arrival, “you swore that you had naught to do with Red Colin’s murder, that it was not you or Neil, or James. Did you lie to me then?”

Downing a large slug of whisky, he took bread and meat from the table and put them together as he said, “Whoever did it performed a public service, my lass, or have you forgotten that? I am not here to chew old business, however, or for any reason other than to get money, a fresh shirt, and some powder.”

“Money? Good gracious, Allan, you can’t think we’ve got any money.”

“You must have some. If it’s not enough, jewels will do, and don’t tell me you’ve none of those, for I know you must. Sir Hector told me before Culloden that he’d left you well fixed for emergencies, and this is one, for I’ve no time left. I’d meant to reach my ship without fuss earlier today, but Ian spoiled that plan.”

Shocked, Diana said, “How can you blame poor Ian for dying?”

“I blame him for—” He broke off, finishing his whisky before he said, “Look, I don’t want to argue. Fetch me powder and shot, and be quick about it. You won’t pretend to have no arms in this house.”

Eyes narrowing, Bardie spoke at last. “Lost your powder horn, did you?”

“Threw it away weeks ago,” Allan said curtly. “It was beyond repairing.”

“Neil said you used powder and water to make ink a day or two after Colin died,” Diana said. “He saw you write a note, using a wood pigeon’s feather.”

“Cracked then, was it, your powder horn?” Bardie’s eyes glittered. “A few pieces missing from it, perhaps?”

Diana gasped. “They said whoever killed Ian left a powder horn in his pocket, trying to make him look like Colin’s murderer, but it was your horn, wasn’t it? Yours was old, Neil said. I’ll wager it was cracked, then repaired with red sealing wax.” Her voice shook. “Allan, you killed Red Colin and Ian both.”

He shrugged. “I don’t say I did; but even if you happen to be right, what’s one Campbell more or less? Now, look lively, Diana. You, too, Mary. I daresay you’ve got a trinket or two we can sell in France.” When Mary did not even glance at him, he peered more closely at her. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Stop it, Allan,” Diana snapped. “Leave her be.”

He looked surprised. “Lord, did she really care about that Campbell daffodilly? Young Ian wasn’t worth a buckle from her shoe.”

Mary did not stir, but Diana suddenly sensed danger in the room. Where it came from, she could not have said, but it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She saw that Allan’s jaw was set.

Dully, she said, “You might as well go. We have nothing to give you.”

“Nonsense, where are your jewels?”

“Good God, Allan,” Lady Maclean snapped, “do you think I would have let trees be cut on Maclean land if I’d still had jewelry to sell? Six years have passed since Culloden. Only a fool could think we still have jewelry. I suppose we should be grateful you did not need it before now. I dislike having to disappoint you—”

“I don’t,” Diana said grimly. She looked at him and knew she was seeing him clearly for the first time. “You killed them both, didn’t you?”

“What if I did? I don’t say I did, mind you—”

“Say it! Or are you just too pigeon-livered to admit what you have done? How could you harm someone as gentle as Ian?”

“I didn’t mean to! I told you I could scarcely move without falling over Campbells. I walked bang into him. I was sure he would shout for the others, and I only meant to knock him down and get away, but the young fool hit me back.”

“So you beat him to death.”

“I’d have sworn I left him alive,” Allan said, pouring himself more whisky. “I heard someone coming, so I knocked him down again and ran, that’s all.”

“You killed him to protect yourself,” Diana said bitterly. From the corner of her eye, she caught a furtive motion as Bardie, who had left the table when Allan approached it, inched toward the parlor door, keeping a wary eye on her cousin.

Holding Allan’s gaze with her own, Diana said coldly, “You had nothing to fear from Ian. He would not have hurt anyone, for he was kind and loving, not angry like so many others. You had no need to kill him, Allan.”

“How little you know!” Abruptly he put down his glass and began opening boxes and cupboards, peering into them. Snatching a leather pouch from a box, he tossed it to Lady Maclean. “Put up some food for me, and when they let you speak to James, tell him to send the money to Ardsheal in France if he has to hire his own courier to get it there. He knows where, and you tell him it’s as much as his life is worth if we don’t have it by Lammas. That money is crucial to our cause.”

“Are you truly leaving now?” Diana asked scornfully.

“Don’t look so cheerful, my lass. I’ll think you want to see the last of me. Mind now, I am counting on you to mislead them when they come looking for me. If you deny you’ve seen me, they’ll be off about their business.” He was still searching for food as he talked, adding things to the pile on the table and glancing at Lady Maclean now and again, to see that she bestowed all the items for him.

She worked silently, not looking at him, her lips pressed tightly together as if she feared she would say more than she ought if she said anything at all.

“Fetch me that powder now, Diana, and any good weapons you’ve got at hand,” Allan said. “You must have some. Everyone does.”

“I won’t do it,” she said, hands on her hips. “I won’t be party to it anymore, Allan, and don’t say I’m being disloyal to my father’s cause. I do believe the wrong king is on the throne, but I no longer believe we can do anything about it.”

“We can do plenty more. We’ve got plans that you know nothing about.”

“So I’ve heard, but every day more of us turn from the cause, fearing to lose even more than we have. You say we should be willing to starve. Many people
are
starving, Allan. Many more have lost all they own. They can do no more.”

“They are traitors then.”

“No, they are not. Nor am I. Even when all seemed lost, I continued working with you when you were here, and without you when you were safe in France. We rescued you from Castle Stalker when the enemy captured you. I think it is that, above all, that hurts me the most tonight. Though she has never liked you much, Mary helped plan your rescue. In return you killed the man she loved.”

“I should have known better than to expect any woman to understand our position, but by God, Diana, I thought you did. This is not just a difference of opinion. This is the future of Scotland. Do you want us all to kneel to German George and the damned English, and just give up our heritage altogether?”

“I never—”

“That’s what you are saying! And don’t forget that Glenure was about to put all of you out of this house.”

“We could have stopped him. We had—”

“Don’t be daft. You’d
never
have stopped him.”

“Then we shan’t be able stop the man who takes his place, either.”

“Oh, aye, his successor will likely try to evict you, but you have a respite, thanks to Colin’s killer, and you show no gratitude. You stand there, argle-bargling about the life of some soft Campbell babe-in-arms who would have given me away without a thought. You say he was kind and loving. I say he was a Campbell, and that is all that mattered, because I could not risk his telling them I was there.” He glared at her, adding grimly, “For that matter, unless—Look here, Diana, will you give me your word that you’ll not tell them I have been here?”

Lady Maclean exclaimed, “Allan, how dare you! Diana is a Maclean.”

Though she knew she would be wise to hold her tongue, Diana said, “I won’t protect him, Mam, not after what he’s done. Clan loyalty is important, but I won’t be party to the murder of innocents. Even Red Colin did not deserve killing, for he was only doing his duty, but I can understand that his unfair actions stirred the hatred people felt toward him. However, if Allan killed Ian as well, he is just a common murderer. I will
not
help him avoid the punishment he deserves.”

In a sharp tone, Allan said, “Where the devil is Bardie?”

Bardie had vanished.

While Allan dashed into the parlor, Diana snatched the poker off its hook and concealed it again between folds of her skirt. Lady Maclean saw her do it, but Diana had no fear that she would warn Allan. Stewart or no Stewart, if it came to a question of Diana’s safety or Allen’s, she would never betray her daughter.

Allan came back quickly, saying, “He’s gone out the front. I’ve got to get out of here straightaway, for that damned dwarf don’t like me a bit.”

“If he does not,” Diana said evenly, “you have only yourself to blame. He also helped in your escape, you know, yet you treat him quite shabbily.”

“He’s a freak,” Allan said with a shrug. “Even God treated him shabbily.”

“How horrid you are,” she exclaimed. “Why did I never see that before? Go on, now. Get out while you still can!”

“I’m going, my dear, but you are going with me.” He stepped toward her.

Instantly, she raised the poker. “Touch me and I swear I’ll break your arm, Allan Breck. Stand back.”

He smiled, reached down to his boot and pulled a dirk from the top. Then, as if it were a thing he did every day, he stepped behind Lady Maclean and held the dirk to her throat. “Do you think I won’t harm her, Diana? Put that down.”

Knowing now that he had no compunction about killing, Diana obeyed, leaning the poker against the stone fireplace. With a sigh, she said, “Go, then. Bardie can’t move fast enough to bring harm to you.” It occurred to her only then that no one had mentioned Neil, so Allan did not know how near he was. Perhaps, if she could keep him talking, Neil and Bardie between them could do something.

“What is it?” he demanded. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

“I doubt that, but we won’t stand here discussing it. You’ll come with me.”

“I won’t.”

“Your choice is to come with me quietly, or watch your mother die.”

She swallowed, but even as she was trying to convince herself that he would not dare kill Lady Maclean, she saw the edge of the blade draw blood. “I’ll go,” she said hastily. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“Where is your cloak?”

“Upstairs,” she said instantly.

“Then you must do without it. Take that shawl thing Mary’s got round her. She won’t need it as much as you will.”

Gently, knowing she needed some sort of wrap to keep her warm, Diana took the shawl from Mary and put it around herself.

Allan caught her arm in a bruising grip and said to the others, “If you want to see her alive again, stay right here and don’t breathe a word of this to a soul. If I see anyone following us, I’ll kill her straightaway. Don’t think I won’t.”

With commendable calm under the circumstances, Lady Maclean said, “And if you do get away?”

“Why, I’ll set her free, of course,” he said, adding carelessly, “Perhaps not right there in the streets of Oban, but once I’m safe aboard ship, we’ll put her ashore somewhere or other, and she can make her way back to you. That will happen, however, only if you don’t speak a word about this. Come, Diana.”

She had hoped he would put the dirk back in his boot, but he did not, keeping it in hand while he hustled her through the scullery to the yard door.

“Lift the bar,” he growled, “and don’t make a sound if you want to live. I don’t ever regret killing traitors.”

She believed him, and found herself hoping that neither Neil nor Bardie would be fool enough to challenge him. However, if Bardie had reached Neil, there was no sign of it. The yard was dark, for there was no moon yet, and filmy clouds blurred the stars overhead. The wind had grown even wilder, hiding any noise they made, and she doubted that anyone could see, let alone follow, them.

He knew the yard as well as she did, and he guided her straight toward the loch. She did not dare cry out or stumble, knowing she was good to him only as a hostage if someone confronted him, and to dissuade the others from following. If she proved too much a nuisance, she feared he would just kill her and run off.

They reached the water’s edge without incident, and as he pushed her along the shore path, she wondered where he had tied his horse. Oban lay miles to the south, and the quickest, safest way to get there on such a wild night as this was to ride. She could see better now, for her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the pounding waves of the loch reflected starlight from overhead.