Shattered Rainbows (51 page)

Catherine found that she could control her mount a little by pulling on its horns. She tugged the head back so that the animal's jaw lifted. It bellowed and slowed down, falling farther back in the herd. Dragging at the left horn caused the cow to angle left, moving her within shouting distance of Michael. She called over the sound of pounding hooves, "We're going to reach the coast soon. Should we stay with them when they turn, or dismount?"

"We should get off," he yelled back. "We walked this section of shore earlier. The bluffs aren't too steep and there are a series of beaches below. We can climb down to the water level. With luck, Haldoran will follow the herd and not know where we got off."

She nodded, then returned her concentration to the rough ride. The cow's thick, shaggy coat provided some cushion, but its bony spine was still miserably uncomfortable. Her arms and legs were strained from the effort of staying on. If years of campaigning hadn't made her an expert rider, she wouldn't have lasted for five seconds.

The coast was approaching rapidly, the sound of the surf audible over the drumming of hooves. The leading cattle sheared off to the left, running parallel to the bluffs. They were tiring fast. Some had already slowed to trotting speed.

She and Michael worked their mounts over to the right, the side nearest the bluff. When she was in position, she pulled the cow's head back as hard as she could. The beast complained, but slowed enough for Catherine to slide off its back. She lost her footing when she landed and fell into a patch of brilliant yellow gorse. Luckily the ground was soft and none of the cattle were directly behind her, so she was unhurt.

A moment later Michael joined her. As he helped her up, he said, "We have to go over the edge immediately.Haldoran and Doyle are cutting across to the shore. They're not more than a couple of hundred yards away."

She nodded and dashed the dozen steps to the edge of the bluff, wanting to be out of sight before they lost the screen of cattle. Then she saw the steepness of the incline. Her blood congealed with fear. "I can't go down that!"

"You can, and you
willl"
Michael snapped. "It's not much worse than the hill we climbed when we got here. Turn and go down with your face to the bluff. There are plenty of foot- and handholds. I'll go first, so if you slip I can catch you."

She stared at Michael. His chestnut hair was disheveled and his face smudged, but he had never looked more like an officer. And like the best officers, he made her feel she could do the impossible. Or perhaps it was that she would rather risk a fall than his wrath. She swallowed and nodded.

He turned and lowered himself over the edge. "Come along," he ordered. "It won't be as bad as you think."

She took a deep breath, then followed. Looking straight into the bluff rather than at the long drop did make it easier. Small bushes and tough clumps of grass offered adequate support.

They were halfway down when a foothold disintegrated under her. The grass clump she was holding tore out and she began sliding out of control. For a horrified instant she thought she would strike Michael and knock them both to their deaths.

Instead, Michael braced himself and caught her. An arm locked around her waist, stopping her descent. She grabbed for new holds, shaking convulsively.

They stayed like that for a moment, plastered to the bluff like flies, Michael's arm around her. Then he murmured in her ear, "To think I was afraid life would be dull after the army."

She almost laughed, though she was closer to hysteria than amusement. "I wouldn't mind a little tedium just now."

"With luck, it will be nicely dull on the beach below us. That overhang to the right should protect us from being seen. Are you ready to go on?"

She took a deep breath. "I'll make it."

He released her and resumed his descent, and she followed a moment later. Explore with one foot to find a hold.

Transfer weight gradually. Don't release the other holds until you know the new one is secure. Then again. And again. And
again
.

Finally one extended foot struck the rounded stones of the shingle beach. Intensely relieved to be on firm ground again, she followed Michael under the overhang. Once there, she sank down and leaned against the bluff, her limbs trembling with strain. "Did I ever mention that I'm not very fond of heights?"

"No, but I guessed." He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Well done."

She glanced up, absurdly pleased at his approval. His hard eyes radiated confidence. He was in his element now, using his physical mastery to defeat impossible odds. A warrior. While she was merely a cowardly female who brought disaster on everyone around her. "How long do you think it will take for them to deduce that we came down here?"

"Half an hour at most, perhaps less. We'll need to move on in a few minutes." He squatted beside her, his gaze sweeping the bluffs above. "That cave the laird told you about—did he say if it was entirely underwater at high tide? Or is some of it above the water line?"

Catherine tried to remember her grandfather's words. "He warned against getting trapped inside, so part of it must be above water."

"The next question is, where is the cave, and can we get there from here?" He frowned at the darkening sky. "We're going to need a refuge from the storm tonight."

Catherine agreed. Even though it was almost summer, the sea air was chilly. A night of exposure to a storm would be hard on both of them, especially her. Michael, she suspected, had the resilience of old leather.

They sat for a few minutes, gathering strength, as Michael continued his vigil. Suddenly he muttered an oath. "Damnation, he figured it out already. They're starting down the cliff, not far from where we came down. We'll have to get out of here fast and hope they're too busy climbing to see us."

Lips a thin line, she got to her feet. It was midafternoon, and she felt as if they had been running forever. With the hunters approaching on the right, she turned to the left, keeping to the cliff face and moving as fast as possible on the rounded stones. Michael followed, again taking the position of greatest danger. Gallantry was so much a part of his nature that he would not understand if she thanked him for it.

The beach curved to a stony headland that thrust out into the sea. It was possible to scramble over the slanted surface, but the rocks were slippery with seaweed and waves smashed menacingly only a few feet below. With all her concentration on her footing, the roar of a rifle almost sent her skidding into the water. Again Michael steadied her with a hard hand on her back. The man had the balance of a mountain goat.

She resumed her precarious trek, not wasting time to look back. Another bullet, this one striking so close to her hand that stone chips struck her fingers. Frantically she slithered around the corner out of range. After wedging herself securely behind a boulder, she glanced back, inhaling sharply when she saw a bloody hole in the upper arm of Michael's jersey.

"Strictly a scratch," he said in answer to her unspoken alarm. "I was hit by the ricochet, I think. No harm done."

She hoped to heaven he was right, because little could be done if the wound was serious. Breathing ragged, she continued around the headland.

She turned the final corner, then halted, stunned by the shrieks of thousands of gulls. They had found a seabird colony. Every ledge in the cliff seemed to hold a nest and the sky above was full of wheeling, screaming birds. Swallow-tailed terns and crested shags and dagger-billed gannets nested in the rock, and comical puffins in the grassier slope on the far side, along with half a dozen other species she couldn't name.

Behind her, Michael said pragmatically, "Thank heaven there's a sliver of beach here, though it won't last much longer the way the tide is coming in."

He dropped to the coarse sand, then reached up to help her down. The beach was smooth enough for them to run, but slimy white droppings were everywhere and the stench was unbelievable.

They were three-quarters of the way around the cove when another blast of the rifle announced Haldoran's arrival.

"He'll regret that," Michael panted.

The roar of the gun drove the bird colony berserk. Whirling wings were everywhere and the shrieks numbed the ears. Catherine gave a quick glance back and saw that seabirds were darting about so thickly that the hunters were invisible. Hoping the pursuers got their eyes pecked out, she continued on, one arm raised above her face to protect her from possible attack.

The headland at the far end of the cove plunged straight into the water, utterly impassable. However, centuries of pounding waves had scoured an irregular hole through the stone. Since light was visible, she scrambled up to the opening and crawled through the short tunnel, bruising her knees unmercifully.

She halted at the other end to survey the next stretch of shore. This bay was larger than the last and surrounded by sheer, impassable cliffs. A narrow sandy beach was littered with boulders. On the opposite side the dark mouth of an opening showed in the cliff face. When Michael joined her, she said, "I think that might be our cave."

Michael frowned at the turbulent incoming waves. "We'll have to run to get there before the tide cuts it off. Soon this beach will be entirely underwater."

They climbed down to the beach and started for the cave. For Catherine, it was a nightmare journey. The tide was advancing with unbelievable speed. Waves splashed around their ankles and fell back, then returned to strike with greater force. With no exit at the far end of the bay, they would be drowned or smashed to pieces against the rocks if they didn't reach the cave in time.

A triumphant shout sounded behind them. As the first shot blasted, Michael snapped, "Weave back and forth! You'll be a more difficult target."

Wearily she commanded her exhausted body to comply. Bullets buzzed by as she zigzagged back and forth, dodging behind boulders when she could. Her cousin must be shooting from the vantage of the stone passage through the headland. With time to aim and a skilled reloader, his shots were increasingly accurate, and most of them seemed aimed at Michael.

Her path took her deeper into the water and a wave knocked her from her feet. She went headfirst into the sea, the swirling current sucking her under. She swallowed a mouthful of cold salty water and gagged helplessly.

Michael caught her arm and yanked her to her feet. "Only a little farther! You can do it."

With his powerful arm supporting her, she staggered toward the cave. The lower half of the entrance was already submerged with waves crashing into the stone archway. If this was the wrong cave, with no high ground inside, they were doomed. The water was thigh-high, and the currents so powerful she could not have kept her feet without Michael's aid.

A bullet ricocheted off the stone arch and splashed beside her just before she entered the cave. With her last strength, she ducked and stumbled into the stone tunnel, Michael right behind her. At least they would be safe from bullets. Numbly she wondered if they would drown instead. She almost didn't care.

Haldoran swore furiously as his quarries vanished into the mouth of the cave. "Bloody hell! We won't be able to get at them until the tide has crested and fallen again. It will be after midnight by then."

Doyle said nervously, "If we don't get away, my lord, we'll be trapped here ourselves."

"No danger of that. The slope at this end of the seabird colony can be climbed." Which meant crawling through those filthy puffins, he thought sourly. "If we return to the boat now, we can sail back to Skoal before the storm strikes. That will give me a chance to explain sorrowfully how I couldn't find hide nor hair of dear Cousin Catherine. Frantic with worry about her dear grandfather, she must have wandered off and fallen from a cliff. A tragedy."

Uninterested in his master's alibi, Doyle jerked a thumb toward the cave. "What about them?"

"We'll come back and continue the hunt when the storm blows over." Haldoran gave a last, smoldering glance at the place where his quarry had vanished. "I'll bring dogs. Even if they leave the cave at low tide, they won't get far."