The Rock (12 page)

Jamie stood and came over to pull her up into his arms. He squeezed her tight. “Hell, I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your fault. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find him easily enough.”

Elizabeth felt the tears gathering behind her eyes as she stared up into her big brother’s handsome face. “Do you think so?”

He pressed a kiss to her brow. “I know so. I will lead the search party myself.”

Relieved, Elizabeth stood to the side and listened as he gave orders to his men. If Jamie said he would find him, he would. When it came to warfare, there was no one she trusted more.

Although under the circumstances, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to make doubly sure. She waited for him to finish and drew him aside for a private word. “Are any of the Phantoms here?”

His expression went tellingly blank. “What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes. “Really, Jamie, it’s not that hard to figure out. Although I don’t know why you didn’t join, since you are always fighting with them anyway.” She rattled off the names of the men most often in his company: Gregor MacGregor, Kenneth Sutherland, Magnus MacKay, Ewen Lamont, Eoin MacLean, and Robbie Boyd. She knew Alex Seton had been a member as well, but he’d recently switched allegiance to fight with the English.

“How the hell . . . ?” His eyes narrowed. “God damn it, Ella, you are too old to be listening at doors.” He gave her a hard look, meant to intimidate. Although impressive, it was thoroughly wasted on her.

He stormed off without confirming or denying anything, but she was relieved to see that when he rode out of the castle less than an hour later, four of the men she’d mentioned rode with him.

It would be all right. Her brother and Bruce’s Phantoms—or as they called themselves, the Highland Guard—would find Archie. She retreated to the room provided for her to bathe, eat something, and rest, confident that when she woke, she would be giving her young brother a scolding like he would not soon forget for scaring her so horribly.

Elizabeth tried not to be alarmed when her brother and the other men still had not returned by the evening meal. She’d hoped to have a chance to talk to Thommy, but he hadn’t been among the two hundred or so warriors who’d gathered in the Great Hall for the light repast.

She’d missed him the past few years, but hadn’t realized how terribly until she’d seen him. There had been a void in her life since Thom left, and now that she’d been given the chance, she was determined to put it right between them. They couldn’t go on like this. They’d been friends for too long.

When she’d inquired of Edward Bruce where she might find him, he told her he hadn’t seen MacGowan since the men had finished the work on the tower for the day a few hours earlier. He’d shrugged indifferently and suggested he might have gone into town with some of the others. He was a popular man in town. From how Carrick said it, she took it to mean with the women.

At that point, a man seated nearby interrupted. “He’s not in town, my lord.” He turned to her. “If you are looking for MacGowan, my lady, he was waiting to see the healer.”

“The
what
?” She didn’t realize she’d jumped to her feet until everyone turned to stare at her.

The man—who was really more of a lad at seven or eight and ten—blushed. She suspected he was one of the earl’s squires. “I didn’t mean to alarm you, my lady. It is nothing serious.” He frowned. “MacGowan wouldn’t have been able to swing a hammer all day if his shoulder were broken.”

Elizabeth didn’t need to hear anything more. “Where?” she demanded.

The lad—Henry—pointed her in the direction of the apothecary, which he said was located near the kitchens on the other side of the castle garden.

It was dark and cold out as she fled the warmth of the Hall, but she didn’t take time to fetch her cloak. The directions weren’t as easy to follow as she thought, so she was forced to stop and ask a few times, but eventually she found the right door and burst into the small building windblown, breathless, and half-frozen.

But none of that mattered when she caught sight of the man seated on the stool with his back to her. He had his shirt off again, but this time she didn’t notice the broad shoulders, narrow waist, and wide expanse of muscle. This time all she could see was the patch of horribly bruised and swollen skin that covered a large portion of his right shoulder.

A sharp cry strangled in her throat.

He turned at the sound, and their eyes met.

“You’re hurt!” she exclaimed accusingly.

“It’s nothing,” he replied, a hint of annoyance marring the overly polite tone. “I thank you for your concern, my lady, but you should return to the Hall.”

He didn’t wait for her response, turning his head and giving her his back. Apparently, she was supposed to leave. Well, she was about to disappoint him. Undaunted by the cold clip of his voice and undeniable air of unwelcomeness, she closed the door behind her and crossed the room.

Although Thommy was ignoring her, the healer was not. The young, very pretty healer, she suddenly realized. The red-haired, green-eyed, pixie-faced woman was looking at her with unabashed curiosity.

“Elizabeth Douglas,” she said by way of introduction. “The injury is my fault. Is it broken?”

“Ah,” the healer said with a smile. “You are James’s sister. I thought you looked familiar. We met a long time ago when the Highland Games were held at your uncle the Steward’s castle on the Isle of Bute. My father was the Earl of Sutherland. I’m Helen MacKay.”

MacKay
. It took Elizabeth a moment to make the connection. “Ang—” She started to say Angel, but stopped, realizing she wasn’t supposed to know that Lady Helen was the unofficial physician of the Phantoms. The woman’s eyes widened; she’d caught the slip. “You are Magnus MacKay’s wife,” Elizabeth said instead. “I’ve heard James speak of you.”

Thommy was in good hands indeed.

Helen’s mouth twisted. “It seems you have. But to answer your question, it is not broken. Although, as I was explaining to Thom here, he made it much worse by working all day after he was injured. I’m sure it must have hurt like the devil to swing a hammer or pick with this. If something hurts,” she explained, as if talking to a bairn, “that means you shouldn’t keep doing it.”

“It was fine,” Thommy said stubbornly.

Both women acted as if he hadn’t spoken. Men were so ridiculous when it came to admitting pain. Elizabeth didn’t need a physician to know that. She had three brothers.

“Now, he will need to keep it bound for at least a few days until the swelling goes down,” Lady Helen continued. “I’ve applied a soothing salve, which should be reapplied in the morning and evening before he goes to sleep. He’ll need someone to help him wrap it.”

“I can—”

“I will have one of the men in the barracks see to it,” Thommy said, cutting her off with a sharp glance. “You should go back to the Hall, Lady Elizabeth, you don’t belong here.”

If Helen was surprised by his rudeness, she did not show it.

“As it was my fault you were injured, I certainly do,” Elizabeth replied.

“I doubt your brother would agree. Should we go ask him?”

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at the threat. “You are welcome to when he returns.”

Helen’s head was going back and forth following the exchange, and she seemed to be fighting hard not to smile when Elizabeth finished.

“Would you show me how?” she asked the healer. “That way I can make sure it is done properly.”

“Damn it, I don’t want—”

“I’m sure Lady Helen has other patients who need help,” Elizabeth said, cutting off his protest. “Do you want to waste time arguing or will you let me do this? Good gracious, Thommy, it’s not as if I haven’t touched you before.”

Helen’s eyes shot up at that, and when she realized how it sounded, Elizabeth’s cheeks heated. But at least Thommy seemed to understand she would not be shooed away. He snapped his mouth closed, gave her a hard glare, and turned away from her to face the wall. From the way his jaw was clenched, she was surprised his teeth weren’t cracking.

If she didn’t know him better, she might think that he wasn’t just being stubborn but that he
really
didn’t want her here. But she did know him . . . didn’t she?

She had to admit this indifferent stranger attitude was slightly disconcerting. He wasn’t just acting like he didn’t know her, he was acting as if he didn’t
want
to know her.

Lady Helen handed her the strip of cloth and showed her how to wrap it around his shoulder and then around his ribs to secure it. Despite what she’d said about touching him before, Thommy wasn’t the only one who jumped when she pressed the strip of linen to his skin. She felt like she’d been buzzed with lightning.

“I’m sorry,” she said, recovering from the shock. “Did I hurt you?”

He mumbled nay, something that sounded like a curse, and gruffly told her to hurry up and finish.

Now,
that
sounded like Thommy. She muttered something back about rude, grumpy, overgrown little boys who were too proud and muleheaded to admit they were hurt.

With Helen’s help, it didn’t take long to wrap the linen around the injured shoulder. Satisfied, Helen told Thommy he could put on his shirt, which due to the loose cut, he was able to do on his own—despite not being able to lift his right arm more than a few inches. Elizabeth suspected that keeping him from lifting was the reason for the binding. Donning his leather surcoat was a bit more difficult, but he managed with Helen’s help.

Without looking at Elizabeth, he thanked Helen, grabbed his plaid and weapons, and started for the door.

Elizabeth exchanged a surprised glance with Helen and went after him. “Thommy, wait! I wanted to—”

Talk to you
. But her words were cut off by the sound of a door closing.

Elizabeth blinked, almost as if she couldn’t believe he’d just slammed the door on her.

After a hastily muttered apology to Helen (although why she was apologizing for his rudeness, she didn’t know), she went after him. Actually, as he was walking so fast, she had to run after him.

“Thommy!” Her voice grew louder. “Thommy, wait!”

There were a number of people milling about the yard who turned to look at her. Unfortunately, Thommy wasn’t one of them. He didn’t stop walking until she came up next to him, grabbed his arm, and forced him to acknowledge her. They were a few feet away from what she suspected was the barracks, and the torches near the door provided enough light to see his face. “Good gracious, Thommy, I asked you to wait. Did you not hear me?”

“I heard you fine—the English on the other side of the border probably heard you fine—but I did not hear a question.”

She frowned. “You did not give me a chance. I was going to ask to speak with you.”

“No, thank you,” he said in the same overly polite tone he’d used earlier. He started to move away.
Would
have moved away if she hadn’t stepped around to block him. Or tried to block him, but as soon as their bodies came into contact, she realized the futility of that. It was like running into a stone wall. Actually, it was like having a stone wall run into her. He was forced to catch her to prevent her from falling on her backside.

He set her on her feet and let her go about as quickly as a burning pot. “Bloody hell, Elizabeth, do you ever look before you step? I’ve never known someone to have such a difficult time staying upright.”

It sounded so much like something he would have said years ago that she grinned back at him. “I tie my boots together, remember?”

It was what he’d always teasingly accused her of doing to explain her frequent stumbles as a girl. She didn’t stumble so often anymore, although the last time she had, it was the first time he hadn’t been there to catch her. She’d ended up with a twisted ankle.

She’d always been able to lighten his moods with a silly jest or gentle tease, but it was clear that wasn’t the case anymore. His expression was not one of amusement. Ambivalent, mildly annoyed, and impatient was probably a more accurate description.

Darkly shadowed and strikingly handsome was another. She couldn’t seem to stop staring at the familiar features and wondering how it could be that he looked so
different
.

But it wasn’t just his appearance that had undergone changes in the past three years, she realized. The changes were deeper—far deeper. The grim, taciturn warrior with the merciless mouth and eyes as cold and sharp as steel was nothing like the reserved, if sometimes stoic, childhood companion she remembered. If she didn’t know him so well, she might think he looked intimidating. Maybe even
fierce
.

But it was clear that the past few years had been hard on him, and suddenly she wanted to hear everything about it. Everything about
him
. Just like it had been when they were young.

“What is it that you wanted, Elizabeth? Say what it is you have to say. I’m tired and want to get back to the barracks.”

She looked up at him, scanning his face for any vestiges of the man she remembered and wondering how she was going to break through this impenetrable shell he’d put up around him. She couldn’t let it go on like this. He was too important to her. He’d always been the one person she could count on, the one person who was always there for her—even when he wasn’t. The thought that she might never see him again—never talk to him again—was inconceivable. She needed him in her life. She just hadn’t realized how much until now.