The Campbell Trilogy (119 page)

Even Adam, the captain of the Gordon guardsmen, who’d been initially reluctant to cede his authority in any way to Duncan, had been won over. Mostly because Duncan gave the credit for the changes to him, though everyone knew who was responsible.

Jeannie smiled as she exited the keep into the yard, despite the bone-chilling blast of wind and the dark clouds hanging overhead. For the first time since Francis had died she felt safe. Safe. She hadn’t realized how oppressive it was being locked behind the walls of the castle like a princess in a tower until the weight was gone.

And she had Duncan to thank. It was hard not to admire the man he had become, just as it was hard not to imagine what might have been.

She wrapped her plaid around her shoulders and trudged across the courtyard, misty wind pelting her face with needles of ice.

Another week or two and she might even be able to resume her morning rides. Duncan would take her now, but he’d been so busy she hadn’t wanted to ask him.

After the meeting with the Marchioness he’d removed himself from the keep and joined the other guardsmen in the barracks. She knew it was the right thing to do, but …

But what? She missed him?
No.

Then why did she find herself waiting for opportunities to catch a glimpse of him? Like now, timing her trip to the garden to select the vegetables for the evening
meal, right around the time he was expected back from the morning hunt.

If the dark skies were any indication, this might be one of the last hunting excursions. She inhaled deeply. The promise of an early snowstorm hung in the air.

She treaded carefully along the damp path, frowning as she passed the group of women gathered round the well. Apparently she wasn’t the only one with thoughtful timing. Turning the corner, she entered the small vegetable and herb garden located on the west side of the old chapel.

Not surprisingly, it was crowded with young, unmarried women, and a few married ones as well. She
was
surprised, however, to see Beth. Jeannie glanced around, but didn’t see her daughter.

“Where’s Ella?” she asked the nursemaid.

Beth gave her an odd look. “I thought she was with you. She left about an hour ago to join the other children for their lessons.”

The hair at the back of Jeannie’s neck stood on end and gooseflesh ran along her skin, but she forced herself to stay calm. “She begged off her lessons, telling me that you were taking her to see Mary’s new baby.”

Jeannie saw her own rising panic reflected in the young nursemaid’s face. Beth’s eyes widened and she shook her head.

There’s no reason to panic, Jeannie told herself. Oh God. Her heart raced in her chest but she wouldn’t allow herself to think until they searched the keep.

A quarter of an hour later, however, she knew there was no mistake. Ella was gone.

“Where could she have gone?” the distraught nursemaid asked, her face white and tears barely repressed.

The possibilities ran through Jeannie’s mind and stopped on one.

Duncan and his men had gone hunting in the forests near the Grampian Mountains and Ella must have followed him. She thought Ella had forgotten. In the security of Duncan’s taking control of the castle, Jeannie had forgotten her daughter’s stubbornness—and her resourcefulness. During the day it wouldn’t be difficult for her to slip away. People passed through the gates all day and the guardsmen were more concerned with who was coming in than going. She would be on foot, unless—

“One of the ponies is missing, my lady,” Adam informed her on cue, his face somber. “She must have taken it when they were grazing outside the gates.”

Now panic set in. Ice-cold panic that chilled her blood and penetrated her bones. Panic that made her unable to think. She felt as if she were spinning in a whirlpool trying to claw her way out.

Think …

“How could you let this happen?”

Jeannie turned at the sound of her mother-in-law’s voice. The Marchioness had been roused from her embroidery to join Jeannie in the yard when the hue and cry had been raised to search the castle for the missing child. “I warned you that something like this could happen. Helen has been allowed to run wild—”

“Not now!” Jeannie snapped, for once heedless of offending the older woman. “You may chastise me to your heart’s content when we find Ella, but right now you are only wasting precious time.”

To say the Marchioness was taken aback would be an understatement. Profound shock was more apt. But she took Jeannie’s set down with surprising grace. They might have their difficulties, but in their love for her children they were united.

“What can I do to help?”

Jeannie would remember to be shocked by her capitulation later. “We need to organize search parties.”

Adam, the captain, stepped forward. “ ’Tis done, my lady. I started the moment I heard the child was missing.”

Too terrified to feel anything other than a breath of relief, Jeannie thanked him. “She’ll have gone after them. Do you know where they’ve gone?”

“Aye. The Muir of Dinnet.”

Minutes later most of the remaining guardsmen who had not accompanied Duncan on the hunt rode out through the gate.

Duncan.
Where was he? She wanted—nay, needed—him desperately and was too terrified to allow pride to stop her from admitting it.

Adam was one of the last to go. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her, my lady. She couldn’t have gone far.”

But they both knew she could. Ella was an excellent rider. Jeannie nodded mutely, trying not to think about all the horrible scenarios that could harm a seven-year-old child alone in the mountains and forests. What if she took a wrong turn and got lost? The paths were fraught with danger and if she veered off she could fall down a ravine, off a mountainside, or even into the River Dee if she wasn’t careful. Only the knowledge that Duncan had cleared the land prevented her from thinking about brigands.

As Adam and the last group of men galloped away, Jeannie ran up to the battlements to watch them go.

She wanted to go. To do something. Anything other than this horrible waiting.

But as a woman waiting was what was expected of her. Adam would never have allowed her to go—she would have only slowed them down.

And Duncan …

She shuddered. He would be furious at the mere suggestion.

This was what it meant to be a woman. Forced to sit and wait while your life played out beyond your control.

Once before she’d felt this way—this horrible helplessness. She recalled standing at the window in the tower chamber, eyes glued to the countryside, waiting for news of Glenlivet. And that’s what she did now, standing at the battlements, scouring the countryside for any sign of riders. Her mother-in-law and the other women had gone inside, but she could not. Inside she would go crazy. She needed to be outside where the walls could not close in around her.

Her skirts whipped around her ankles as a great gust of wind tore across the
barmkin.
Cold from fear, Jeannie barely noticed the wintry weather, until the first snow-flake landed on her cheek.

It couldn’t be snowing. It was too early …

As if to taunt her thoughts, the flakes came down harder.

Now Ella was at the mercy not only of the harsh terrain, but the elements as well. If they didn’t find her soon she would freeze to death. She closed her eyes, praying, but it did not prevent the tears from leaching out and running down her cheeks.

How long had it been? Five minutes? Ten? An hour? Jeannie lost all sense of time. She looked at the sky—dark with storm clouds, but it still looked as if there were a few hours of light left.

They should be back by now.

The Muir of Dinnet was not that far. Francis used to take Ella there to see the stone circle and standing stones. Ella loved the ancient stones that dotted the Deeside, convinced that they were imbued with faerie magic.

Could she have gone there instead?

Her heart started to beat a little faster. It felt right. If Ella had been unable to find Duncan, the stone circle would be the first place she would think of. Jeannie had to do something. Standing here doing nothing had become unbearable.

The guards tried to stop her, but Jeannie could not be swayed. Eventually, with two of the remaining guardsmen to accompany her—two more than could be spared—Jeannie put her head down low against her mare’s neck and kicked her heels, racing into the storm.

The hunt had taken longer than Duncan planned. But then again he hadn’t counted on his wee stowaway.

He had to hand it to her, Ella had done a fine job of tracking them. About an hour after Duncan and his men had left the castle, they’d tied their horses and fanned out in the woods stalking their prey: deer, the rare boar, or anything else that might add to the winter stores. And if the cold, heavy wind was any indication, winter would be here soon enough.

One of his men had caught sight of a movement. A hint of brown in between the trees and sea of green foliage. The warrior raised his bow, taking steady aim.

Duncan’s neck tingled. The hair on his arms stood on end. Something was …

“Stop!” Duncan jerked the man’s arm down so hard he almost broke it. “It’s not a deer.” Panic had spiked inside him so hard, his voice actually shook.

The scrap of brown started to run at the sound of his voice, but it didn’t take long for Duncan to overtake her.

Aye,
her.
Because, despite the brown cap, trews, and short coat, Duncan knew exactly who had followed them. The glint of one red curl peaking our from under the cap had given her away—and saved her life.

He circled his arms around her from behind and lifted her off the ground. She kicked and tried to wrestle free, but realizing the futility, gave over to the punishment.

He hadn’t meant to be so harsh, but she’d just about
taken ten years off his life and his fear had lashed out like a whip in a brutal tongue lashing.

The tears had been his undoing.

Somehow, in between the chokes and sobs, the tiny, pale face streaked with tears, the apologies, and the knowledge of how badly she missed her father, Duncan agreed to allow her to accompany them.

He suspected he’d been rather handily maneuvered, but in truth he would have done just about anything to make her stop looking at him like that. When this was over he was going to make a vow to stay away from beautiful lasses with creamy skin, big blue—or green for that matter—eyes, and red hair.

Knowing Ella would soon be missed—if she hadn’t been already—and that Jeannie would be in a panic, he sent one of his men back to the castle with a message that the lass was safe and they would return soon.

But hampered by the need to ride slower—even with Ella wrapped snuggly in his plaid before him—and then the storm, it was nearly two hours later that they rode back through the gate to discover that his messenger had just arrived. The man’s horse had gone lame and he’d been forced to lead the beast the whole way back. He’d run into Adam and the party of guardsmen looking for Ella and they’d called off the search.

Duncan knew something was wrong when he looked around the
barmkin
and didn’t see her. The crowd that had gathered to see the lass’s safe return didn’t include Jeannie. His heart took a sudden jump.

The Marchioness of Huntly met him at the bottom of the forestairs. “You found her!”

Actually Ella had found them, but the lass would be in enough trouble without him making note of her skill. “Aye.”

Ella had also noticed her mother’s absence. She
looked around as he handed her down to her grandmother and asked before he could, “Where’s mother?”

“Looking for you,” the Marchioness quipped, her voice severe.

Ella bit her lip, gazing up at her with wide, guilt-filled eyes.

While the lass attempted to appease her grandmother, Duncan turned to Adam. “I thought you said all the search parties had been told to return.” His voice gave no hint to the sudden disquiet that had settled over him.

“Aye, they have,” Adam said. “I know nothing of this.”

The Marchioness’s mouth pursed with disapproval. “Jean left after the others with a couple of guardsmen when it started to snow. She mentioned a stone circle. Someplace Ella used to go with her father.”

Ella brightened. “Near the loch! I was going to go there if I couldn’t find you.”

Duncan swore. A couple of guardsmen? Loch Kinord and the nearby stone circle were on the edge of Farquharson territory. It explained why they hadn’t come across Jeannie on their ride back—she would have taken the road north of the Dee. “How long ago did she leave?”

“About an hour.”

Duncan didn’t need to say anything. One grim look at Conall and Leif and they were off, joined by a half dozen Gordon guardsmen.

The thunder of hooves couldn’t drown out the pounding in his chest. He hated this feeling—this vulnerability he still felt when it came to her. The thought of Jeannie in danger penetrated his hard-wrought reserve like nothing else. Only his complete focus on the task at hand kept fear at bay.

But when he caught up with her … he didn’t know
whether he was going to throttle her or kiss her until the half-crazed feeling inside him let go.