My Notorious Highlander (Highland Adventure 5) (22 page)

"Nay!" Isobel tried to get past the guard. "Let me pass!"

"Nay, m'lady. With all due respect, you must go inside. Chief Dirk will have all our heads if you're injured."

"Haldane, that bastard," Jessie said. "Come, ladies, we can see what's happening from the ramparts."

The other ladies followed her into the great hall and up the turnpike stairs to the area she'd been watching from earlier.

A large force of men, all wearing similar plaids rushed the beach.

"Oh, saints," Jessie hissed, dread kicking her in the stomach. "Haldane didn't have that many men." Although she saw Haldane among them. "Who are they?" And then she saw
Gregor
. "MacBain, you bastard!" she yelled.

"Who is he and why are they attacking?" Seona asked, anguish in her voice.

"He is the man I was in the trial marriage with. He returned a few weeks ago, trying to force me to marry him. He even tried to kidnap me. Torrin MacLeod rescued me and had him escorted off MacKay land. He's returned with his army." She watched as MacBain engaged Torrin in a sword battle not too far from the castle. "This is my fault."

"Nay, 'tis not. Please, God, protect them," Isobel prayed.

Closer to the water, Dirk was engaged in a sword dual with McMurdo. All the men were involved in hand-to-hand combat. Wind blew the kicked up sand from the beach, creating dust clouds.

"Is Dirk well enough to fight?" Jessie asked. "We'd heard he was shot with an arrow."

"He is better but still limping," Isobel said, her face white. "Kill him, Dirk," she growled low.

Three of the
MacBains
had already fallen and another of Haldane's men, thank the saints.

When Jessie's frantic gaze shifted back to Torrin, she saw that blood had saturated his white shirt. But he still battled MacBain.

One of
MacBain's
men slipped up behind Torrin.

"Torrin! Behind you!" Jessie shouted, unsure if he could hear her with all the wind and noise of battle.

The bastard knocked him on the head with his sword hilt and Torrin fell. MacBain stabbed his sword toward
Torrin's
stomach.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Jessie rushed down the steps, tears blurring her vision.

"Jessie! You can't go out there!" Isobel yelled after her. But she had no time to answer. She was determined to pull Torrin to safety.
Please don't let him be dead.

She checked that her Highland dirk was in the sheath on her belt.

If Torrin is dead, so help me…
MacBain would die by her hand this day.

She ran outside into the bailey, to the closed portcullis. "Let me out!" she ordered the young guard left in charge of the gates. Apparently, all the seasoned guards had joined in the battle.

"Nay, I cannot m'lady. The other guards would string me up."

Jessie pretended to head back inside the castle, but when the guard turned his attention elsewhere, she dashed along the side of the castle toward the small back postern gate. With shaking hands, she opened it with her key and locked it back. Taking out her foot-long dirk, she hurried along the outside of the curtain wall, trying to stay low and hidden behind the grasses and bushes, her stomach aching more with each step. What would she find when she reached Torrin? Would he be dead from some horrid sword wound? Wiping the tears from her eyes, she approached the place she'd seen him fall. The rest of the fighting had moved to the beach.

Torrin was pushing himself up on his elbow. Saints, his shirt and doublet were drenched in blood.

"Torrin, thanks be to God you're alive! I have to get you inside the walls."

"What the hell are you doing out here?" he growled. His face contorted in pain, he glanced about.

"Helping you, you daft sheep. The faster you come with me, the faster we'll get behind the gate."

Grimacing, he pushed himself to his feet, his sword still in his right hand. She gently placed an arm around his waist, careful to avoid his injuries, and helped him. Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone nearby. She helped him closer to the portcullis. Almost there.

Someone shoved them both from behind, and they crashed to their knees.

Mo
chreach
!

She tried to get her dirk turned to stab their attackers.

"Grab her! Come on!" That was Haldane's voice.

"Bastard!" Jessie yelled. She would gut him if she could get her blade in the right position.

She was still on her stomach when someone dragged her by the feet, away from Torrin.

"Release her!" Torrin shouted.

"Kill him," Haldane growled.

"Nay! Leave him be and I'll go with you." Shoving the hair out of her eyes, Jessie saw 'twas McMurdo that Haldane was ordering about.

Loud clashes and curses echoed as Torrin fended off McMurdo's blade.

She sat up, intending to stab Haldane's leg. But he kicked the knife from her hand and yanked her to her feet. She thrust her fist toward his face. He ducked and slapped her hard across the cheek. Pain lanced through her face and neck, and she swayed.

The earth spun as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she ordered, beating her fists against his back.

"Shut your gob," he said, breaking into a run.

Dizzy, she watched the ground speed by underneath her. Haldane's solid shoulder slammed painfully into her stomach with each step he took across the hard-packed sand, near knocking the breath from her. Coming to her senses, she kneed and elbowed him. If only she could get to one of the knives strapped to her calf or thigh, but 'twas impossible to reach them now.

"Are you mad, Haldane? Release me!"

Haldane merely laughed as they headed away from the battle on the beach and through the massive sand dunes.

She noticed someone chasing along behind them.
McMurdo.
Nay! Had he killed Torrin?

Please, God, let him live.

Torrin pushed himself to his feet, hot pain lancing his side and abdomen from the two sword wounds. Blinking and trying to wipe the sand from his eyes, he saw his archer some thirty or forty feet away, an arrow aimed at one of the
MacBains
.

"
Sim
!" Torrin yelled.

When he turned, his eyes widened and he came running. "I'll get you inside the gates, Chief."

"Nay!" he growled. "Give me your bow and arrows." He could stop Haldane from a distance with those. And he damned well intended to slaughter him.

"I'll carry them. Where are you going?"

"Haldane got Lady Jessie! I'm going to kill the bastard." If Haldane killed her… God, he couldn't think of it. He had to get her back. Sheathing his sword, he gritted his teeth and took off running across the upper part of the beach, toward the sand dunes where Haldane had disappeared with Jessie over his shoulder. Considering the pain slicing through Torrin, 'twas more like he limped forward. Still, he moved as fast as he could.

"You're bleeding badly,
m'laird
!"
Sim
chased after him.

"Do you think I care?"

"We'll find her. Struan!
Luag
!" he yelled back to the other
MacLeods
. "Come!"

Moments later, Iain was running alongside Torrin. "Saints, man! Where are you going? You've lost a lot of blood. We must get you inside the gates!"

"Haldane ran off with Lady Jessie. We're going to get her back," he ground out, trying to ignore the pain lashing through him with every step and the blackness teasing the edges of his vision.

"I'll go. Let them take you back," Iain said.

"Nay! I'm going to kill that whoreson myself." If he didn't pass out first. Saints, he couldn't. He had to save Jessie. If she died, he didn't want to live.

"Hang on, Chief." Struan got under one of
Torrin's
arms, and
Luag
the other. They practically carried him through the massive sand dunes as they moved overland.

"Follow the tracks," he said, his vision blacking out for a moment. Nay, he had to stay awake for Jessie. Her damnable brother was a monster and he'd kill her with not a care in the world.

Torrin grew dizzy, and it appeared the sand was turning to grass. Indeed it was.

"There they are,"
Sim
said, pointing with his bow.

In the fading light of sunset that glowed beneath the rose-colored clouds, Jessie's hair was a bright red flag against the green beach grasses as Haldane ran with her over his shoulder. Torrin loved her fiery hair. And he loved the way she pounded her fists against her despicable brother's back. Thank the saints she was still alive and fighting.

"We must catch them," he said through clenched teeth, willing the pain away. He still had time to rescue her.

"Why the devil is he bringing her out here?" Iain asked.

Torrin shook his head hard, trying to think more clearly and keep himself alert. His gaze scanning the undulating landscape leading out to the rugged headland, he figured it out. "Damnation! He's taking her toward the cliffs. When Dirk was a lad, he was almost killed out here when McMurdo shoved him down a cliff."

And McMurdo was with Haldane now, his gray hair and beard resembling dirty wool in the waning light. His clothes were bloody, for Torrin had gotten in a few good strikes before the coward had fled. The archer, Gil, accompanied them.

"I'll kill every last one of them," Torrin swore through his teeth.

"I'll help you," Iain said.

They were all winded when they neared a jagged ravine that cut deep into the headland, high above the sea. His men released him and he forced himself to stand, his knees threatening to buckle. Cold sweat drenched
Torrin's
clothes, and his side burned like the fires of hell where McMurdo had stabbed him and MacBain had gotten in a deep slice. The two must have missed the vital organs, thank the saints, or else Torrin would be passed out or dead by now.

"We have to get to them on the other side of the ravine," Torrin said.

"Stop right there!" Haldane ordered.

On the opposite side of the deadly narrow gorge, fifty feet away, Gil nocked an arrow and aimed at Torrin. Haldane lowered Jessie to her feet, then stood behind her and held a dagger to her throat. Her skin was deathly pale when her eyes met his. His chest tightened painfully, for he'd not felt such excruciating fear since he'd found his severely injured sister eight years ago in that dark wood.

"Don't move, MacLeod! And keep your men where they are!" Haldane yelled to be heard over the ocean wind. "If anyone comes around this ravine, you'll find your lady on the rocks below."

Torrin glanced around, seeing that Iain stood close behind him but to his left, and
Sim
kept his bow hidden behind his back and leg.

"What do you want?" Torrin demanded, trying desperately to think clearly. He needed a plan, but everything was going fuzzy.

"We'll have to wait until that Dirk imposter shows up, won't we?" Haldane asked.

What the devil?
Torrin frowned.

"He must be wanting to trade her for Dirk," Iain muttered.

"Does Dirk know you're out here?" Torrin yelled.

"Aye. He saw." Haldane grinned.

Rage burned through Torrin that Haldane would find this amusing. "You harm one hair on her head and you're a dead man, Dirk or no Dirk."

"Don't threaten me, MacLeod! I have what you want. You can kiss my
arse
." Haldane moved Jessie even closer to the edge of the cliff, only a foot remained between her and the drop-off. Waves crashed onto the rocks two hundred feet below.

Blackness and oblivion teasing at the edge of
Torrin's
vision again, he wavered, but prayed he wouldn't pass out before he could get Jessie safely out of Haldane's clutches.

"If I pass out…" he said to Iain, "or die, promise me you'll rescue her."

"Of course, man. But you're not going to die."

"I hope you're right." Torrin gauged the mad look in Haldane's eyes. Then he turned and glanced behind them, not seeing Dirk or anyone approaching from the dunes. He had his doubts that Dirk even knew they were out here.

A scream sounded, drawing Torrin back around in alarm. Loose dirt and stones slid from beneath Jessie's feet and dropped into the abyss.

"Pull her back from the edge!" Torrin yelled.

Haldane grinned and appeared to be chuckling. God's teeth! He truly was a madman. Torrin itched to end the bastard's life.

Haldane held Jessie by one arm, while she grasped both hands onto Haldane's plaid as her feet scrambled for purchase on the crumbling edge.

"Pull her back, you bastard!" Torrin ordered, his heart thudding in his ears so loudly he could hardly hear anything else.

Haldane shook his head slowly, looking mightily entertained.

Placing his hands behind his back, Torrin motioned with his fingers. "Give me your bow," he murmured low to
Sim
, hoping he was close enough to hear above the wind.

Moments later, the smooth yew wood slipped into his hand, along with an arrow.

"You, there! Stand back where I can see you!" Haldane shouted.

Keeping the bow hidden behind him, Torrin glanced aside and noticed
Sim
had moved back and to his right.

McMurdo murmured something to Haldane, who looked frantic for a moment as his gaze darted back and forth over Torrin and his men. "Put the bow down, MacLeod!" he ordered.

"Pull Jessie back from the edge and release her, and I will." With no further need to hide the weapons, Torrin held the bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, down at his sides. He could
nock
the arrow and let it fly in a second if he had to.

The coward kept Jessie in front of him, like a shield, less than a foot from the ravine. If only she was a safe distance back, he'd skewer Haldane with an arrow.

Jessie slowly lifted her right leg toward her hand, dug beneath her skirt, and took something from her calf. A knife.
Nay!
'Twas
too dangerous. What the devil was she planning?

Torrin's
hands clutched the bow and arrow tightly. He had to be ready to shoot quickly.

Jessie carefully moved the
sgian
dubh
into position, then stabbed backward into Haldane's belly. He howled and shoved her to the ground beside him. Torrin swiftly nocked and released the arrow. It shot across the ravine and jabbed into Haldane's throat. He gasped and tried to pull it out while blood spurted from the wound.

Jessie attempted to crawl away from him and the cliff's edge, but Gil kicked at her, blocking her path.

"Bastard," Torrin growled. "Give me another arrow,
Sim
!"

In a trice, he had one in hand and nocked. He let it fly toward Gil, but the lad dove to the ground at the last second, and it missed.

"Damnation! Another," he demanded.

He shot this arrow at Haldane, hitting him in the side, hoping he'd die before he could harm Jessie.

Haldane dropped to his knees at the edge of the drop-off, his bloody hands grabbing onto Jessie's skirts. She kicked at him as he started sliding off the cliff.

"Turn her loose!" Torrin yelled, his heart seizing and dizziness crashing in on him again. He couldn't get around the deep ravine in time to pull her back.
Sim
and
Luag
took off at a sprint in that direction.

Jessie slid down the cliff face onto a lower rock that jutted out. Using the knife, she cut at her skirts. The material ripped off under Haldane's weight and he fell. She dropped her knife and grabbed onto the rock with both hands, most of her body dangling over the edge.

"Help her back up!" Torrin ordered the two men left standing, McMurdo armed with a sword and
targe
, Gil with a bow and arrows.

Gil launched an arrow in their direction, and Torrin leapt out of the way. It drove into the ground a foot from him. Gil took off at a fast sprint away from them.

"What the hell is going on out here?" a deep voice yelled behind them.

Torrin turned to find Dirk approaching, limping, a sword in his hand, his red hair windblown, his blue eyes wild and his clothes bloody. Several men accompanied him.

"Tell that bastard to help her back up!" Torrin said, hanging onto consciousness by a thread. Iain grasped
Torrin's
shoulder. Had he swayed?

Dirk stepped forward, eying Jessie clutching the rocky outcropping with both hands. "Pull her up, McMurdo!"

"Promise me, upon your life and your wife's life," McMurdo said, "that you will give me the tomb in the church your father promised me, and I will."

"Aye. Of course! The tomb in the church is yours!" Dirk yelled. "And I'll be glad to put you in it," he growled low.

Hurry, you bastard!
Torrin wanted to shout. The lower half of Jessie's body was dangling off the cliff.

"And you'll all let me go free," McMurdo said.

"Aye. You can go free," Dirk said. "Just help her up now or you'll be a dead man buried at sea!"