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“Oh, good, ye’r home,” Teagan said to Lachlan as he walked through the door carrying a small basket. “What have we here?”
“Eggs. Mrs. Nagle stopped me on my way home from work and offered them tae us.” He placed the small basket on the round wooden table. “My mouth’s been watering for them the entire walk here.”
“Ah’ll make us eggs in the morning.”
“Why nae dinner?” Lachlan said, not bothering to hide his excitement about the eggs. “‘Tis been ages since we had them.”
“Ah made stew for dinner.”
“Again?”
Teagan swung around, hands on hips and faced him. “What else would ye have me make? That and eggs is about all ah ken how. Dinnae forget we grew up with cooks. If it wasnae for my curiosity when ah was younger and spending hours watching the cook in the kitchen, ah wouldnae even ken how tae do this.”
***
Seeing his sister’s frustration had Lachlan rethinking the eggs for dinner. “Ah’m sorry. Ye are right. Ye are doing the best ye can under the circumstances. We both are.” It was true they were. But, bloody hell, he was tired from restless sleepless nights and watching over his shoulder every minute of every day. He could not be caught unawares.
If anything happened to him, what would become of Teagan? He would give his life to keep her safe, but if he did, she would be much worse off than she was now.
“How is yer patient today?” Did his eyes deceive him or did she just blush and advert her gaze.
“He tried tae get out of bed. Actually he succeeded, only tae call for help. Fortunately ah was able tae assist him back tae bed without any damage done.”
“Hmmm.” Lachlan studied her face once again and found the color even pinker. What had happened while he was gone? It wasn’t proper for her to be with this man all day while he worked, but what choice did they have?
“Was he nae naked?”
More color suffused her cheeks. “Aye, and that reminds me, do ye have extra clothing for him? I cannae verra weel be expected tae take care of an unclothed mon. Ye should have seen...” Her voice abruptly stopped, her hand covered her mouth, and her eyes widened in shock.
“Seen what exactly?” He knew he was embarrassing her more by his question.
“Ye verra weel ken what and ah’ll nae be saying it,” she huffed. “Please at least give him some trews tae wear so ah can help him without closing my eyes.”
He chuckled. He couldn’t help himself.
“Ye think this funny?” She exhaled loudly.
“Nae at all. Ah should be scandalized letting my young, unmarried, chaste sister take care of a virile mon of English gentry alone.” He waved his arm around. “What choice do ah have, ah must work tae appear tae the townsfolk that we are one of them. That even if Paw’s mon find their way tae this remote village, the good folks here will stand behind us.”
“Ah must apologize brother. Ah grow wearier as each day passes. Ah wish they would find us and get our fate done with.”
Lachlan gasped. “How can ye say that? Nae with that giant of a mon Paw has given ye tae. Ah mon ah’m quite convinced will beat ye until ye submit tae him in all things. Beat ye until ye no longer resemble the woman ye are.”
“Dinnae ye think ah ken this?” She spun around and paced the small room. “Living as we are gives us our freedom, but what else?”
“Teagan, lower yer voice.” Lachlan nodded his head towards the fabric, the only barrier between them and him.
“Several times today ah almost called ye by yer true name. One of these times ah’m afraid ah will.”
“Shhhh.” Lachlan put his finger to his lips. “Ah heard something. Is he awake?”
“He wasnae the last time ah checked,” she replied as she moved silently to the curtain and moved it aside just enough to peer inside. She jumped back and gasped.
“What is it,” Lachlan asked as he joined her at the partition to the rooms. “Weel, weel, have ye been listening?”
Lachlan wasn’t surprised to find Sebastian standing at the opening, one side of his body leaning heavily on the make-shift wooden crutch. What did surprise him was that three days after the man was beaten and left for dead, he was standing, albeit wincing in pain, but standing with an injured leg and broken arm. The other thing that pleased him was he had wrapped a sheet around his waist. Good man.
“My most sincere apologies for overhearing. I needed to get up and stretch my cramped muscles. I’m not used to such idleness. I was going crazy.”
“Would ye care tae sit by the fire?” Teagan asked as she gestured to a small wooden chair.
“I would, but it might be difficult getting there.”
“My brother will assist ye.” She tilted her head and smiled at Lachlan, no doubt willing him to argue with her. Well, he would not. Instead, he wrapped his arm under the man’s shoulder of his uninjured arm and helped him move the several paces to the chair. After settling him on the edge of the seat he stepped back, arms across his chest, and stared down. “So tell me what ye heard?”
Lachlan thought better of the man because he actually blushed and looked uncomfortable. “I know you gave me false names, but I don’t have a clue as to why?”
Lachlan sensed Teagan was going to speak. He placed his hand on her arm to stop her. “Let me.”
“Ye cannae be serious in planning to trust him?” Teagan said. Suddenly the room seemed to close in around her and she couldn’t get air into her lungs. Doubt assaulted her from all angles and she actually felt sorry for the stranger and guilty at her thoughts. “We dinnae ken for sure...”
“We can trust him. I believe it in here.” Lachlan hit his chest with his fist.
“Since when?”
“Since now.” Lachlan paced the room, every nerve in his body screaming. Could they trust this man? Yes, they saved his life, but that didn’t mean money or something else could sway him to betray them if he had the chance. Their father could be very convincing. He was also not opposed to torture to get his way. Could he put this man’s life in jeopardy by confiding in him?
Feeling as though he had no choice in the matter, he told the whole sordid tale of how and why they came to be in England. Teagan added her side of the story when necessary.
Now Lachlan waited as Sebastian, as he preferred to be called, digested the information and said something, anything, to break the silence and tension plaguing the small room.
“I thought my father was a bastard but not compared to yours. And I want you to know my family is not without scandal. So I’m not shocked by your words. In fact, I’m quite certain you shall get the help you seek from the prince.” He paused and used his good hand to rub the knee of his injured leg. “Have you sent word yet?”
That was the problem. Lachlan didn’t trust it not to fall into the wrong hands. Who could he trust to get his letter safely to the prince? For all he knew his father had men watching them now.
***
“I would gladly deliver it myself if I could.” Sebastian would as soon as he healed, but it could take another sennight before he could ride a horse, or even longer. Perhaps he could still convince them to send a missive to London. God knew how long they would be safe here so close to the Scottish border.
As he contemplated their dire situation, his eyes sought out Maggie...Teagan. He much preferred Teagan. Maggie had never seemed right and now he knew why.
She stood in front of the fire, stirring the stew while using her free hand to hold a shawl across her shoulders in hopes of modesty. He did not know why she dressed only in a chemise, which did little, even with the shawl, to hide what lay beneath. Her body was thinner than most of the ladies in London, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have curves where curves were wanted. He’d felt them first hand when she lay on top of him. In fact, he’d felt every muscle, bone, and cushion in her body.
Bloody hell, if Lachlan looked at him now he’d likely throw his sorry arse out into the cold—injured and all. He’d never had trouble controlling his baser needs around women, even Marissa. What was it about Teagan?
Marissa never caused his blood to boil and his member to twitch like Teagan did. What did that say about him? Lachlan should be wary. Not for the reasons he explained but for very serious ones pertaining to his lust for his sister. Not that he planned on acting on that lust. At least he would try not to.
If he was not mistaken, Teagan experienced lust herself for him as well. He’d witnessed it in her compelling green eyes while their bodies were connected. Swore, he’d caught a whiff of her arousal as well.
Was this what it was like to ache for someone and not know if you’d ever have her? Ever hold her close to your heart? If so, he’d like to pass on the whole emotional experience.
As far as Lachlan explained, Teagan was promised to some brute of a man by the name of MacPherson who tried to rape and beat her. Christ, what kind of father allowed that?
Now he had two women he wanted to save. His half-sister and this near stranger who called to his heart, body, and soul. Teagan Murray—Lady Teagan Murray. If they had met under normal circumstances, would they have been drawn to each other? Waltzed at a ball and made small talk over tea. He hoped so.
“Do you have an escape plan when and if they find you?” He prayed they did.
“Aye and nay,” Teagan answered as she pulled the shawl together, and he forced his eyes on her face instead of the indented curve of her slim waist illuminated by the firelight.
“We have hidden a change of clothing, provisions and coin safely in the forest. Honestly, we should have left here weeks ago.”
“Aye, we should have, but then who would have saved Sebastian’s life,” Lachlan said, continuing to walk the small room. “Things happen for a reason. We were meant tae save ye.”
“I am most grateful that you did. But now that I’m well enough, you two should travel to my brother in Dover. He will see you sheltered and safely to London and Whitehall for an audience with the prince.” He took a deep breath and rubbed the constant cramp in his good leg. Damn but it was awkward sitting with his other leg bandaged and unable to bend. “When you arrive, if you do before my letter, have him send a carriage for me.”
Teagan gasped. “Ah will nae leave ye. Ye are nae strong enough. Besides, how will ye eat? Ye cannae even make it ten feet without assistance.”
“As much as ah am anxious tae leave and be on the road, ah agree with the lass. We cannae leave ye behind.”
“Are you positive your father sent his men after you?”
“Nae completely,” Lachlan said as he stopped in front of the fireplace and smelled the stew. “But ah ken him, and besides MacPherson would have. The lass did a number on him, and it would be a matter of pride and wounded monhood, so he would. And ah dinnae believe for a moment, he means tae spare her life. He will marry her and kill her on the same night.”
Tremors ran through Sebastian’s body at the thought of beautiful, innocent Teagan dead at the hands of the man meant to protect and care for her. Images of her battered and broken body had him gasping for air. “We cannot let that happen. Lachlan, you cannot let it happen. You must leave tonight. Do not worry about me. You need to protect your sister at all costs. My body is healing more every day and getting stronger. You must leave and not worry about me.”
***
If Teagan had any doubts about Sebastian and the truth to his story, after his speech, she no longer did. He was all that was good and noble.
“Ah...we will nae leave ye here. Besides, Lachlan and ah are going out tonight scouting for the highwaymen who did this tae you.”
“You are what?” Sebastian said with a shocked expression, which then turned to worry.
“Teagan and ah have been hunting them, trying tae get the townsfolk tae trust us. If our paw comes looking for us, we need the good people here tae think of us as one of them. Likewise, the highwaymen have been wreaking havoc and stealing from folks who can hardly afford tae lose a shilling, never mind a week’s or month’s wages.”
“But surely you will not risk the life of your sister? Cannot some of the menfolk around here go out with you?”
“Aye and nay. Ah won’t risk another’s life if ah come upon my paw’s mon while hunting the bandits.” Lachlan looked from Sebastian to Teagan and back with a grin. “Trust me, she can handle herself quite weel. As soon as the sun sets we will be going.”
Teagan didn’t want to express to her brother her insides were aquiver with worry that something would go wrong this evening.
When the sun set and they had Sebastian settled into bed, they rode out on borrowed mounts from the blacksmith, with Teagan dressed in Lachlan’s clothing and her fiery red hair tucked into a hat. They decided long ago that she needed the disguise not only from their father’s men, but from the highwaymen as well. Teagan’s insides shook at the thought of her female identity becoming known.
For several hours they traveled the dirt roads and ducked into the forest, hoping to come upon the highwaymen’s camp. Once again they were stumped as to where the men were. It was as though they didn’t exist except when they went on the attack. How could that be? They had to be somewhere close by. They had to have shelter somewhere near.
Lachlan led the way home at a slow pace. Teagan didn’t mind as her body was bone weary. And her horse equally so. As they approached their small cabin, her horse shied away as did Lachlan’s.
“What is it?” she asked in a whisper?
“I dinnae ken. Follow me,” he mouthed as he backed his horse up into the cover of the woods. “Something is verra wrong. Stay here while ah go and see.”
Teagan didn’t want to wait, but she did. She dismounted and held the reins to both horses as Lachlan slithered into the night.
***
Lachlan, having been good at sneaking out of his home as a child and then as an adult to get away from his father, used those skills now to creep up to the cabin silently. He flattened himself against the wall, then crouched down low and peeked into the bedroom window, hoping to find Sebastian well and safe.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered under his breath. Sebastian was gone. And then he heard voices coming from the main room. He made his way silently to the other side of the cabin and peered into the only other window, and his heart stopped.
Sebastian was tied up to a wooden chair and being questioned by Ian. What the bloody hell was his brother doing here? As if he didn’t know?
“Where are they?” asked Ian right before he backhanded Sebastian across the face, nearly knocking the man and chair over.
“I don’t know who you mean. I was attacked by highwaymen and sought shelter at this abandoned shack a sennight ago. There is no one here but me. The people you seek must have left.”
“I dinnae believe ye.” Ian paced the room, his features in a rage as he pointed to two of his father’s henchmen. “Go, search the woods. They must be hiding like the cowards they are.”
Lachlan took off at a dead run to reach Teagan. “Quick. We must be off. They are coming tae search the woods. We can hide at the blacksmith’s shop. They willnae think tae look there.”
Once they were safe inside the blacksmith’s shop with the horses as well, Lachlan breathed his first deep breath in forever.
“They have Sebastian tied tae a chair and when Ian doesnae like his answers, he beats him.”
“Our brother is here? Why him?”
“I dinnae rightly ken. Perhaps Paw thought it was his duty tae hunt us down and kill us.”
“Who is there?” a deep voice called out in the dark.
“George, it is ah, Brice. My sister and ah need yer help.”
Lachlan explained the situation to George, while apologizing for the untruths.
“That’s quite a story. I knew you were not who you said, but I knew you were a good man and that’s all I needed to know.”
“Can we stay here and rest a spell?”
“Stay as long as you like. I’ll send the misses down with some food.”
“Thank ye for yer kindness,” Teagan said to the nice man.
After a sleepless night in the blacksmith’s barn, Lachlan and Teagan decided to ride out to the small cottage and try to make a deal with Ian.
Just as they were leaving, George came into the barn to start his day. When he understood what they planned he said, “You cannot go. From what you explained last night, your brother will kill you on sight, Brice...I mean Lachlan. Then who will keep your sister safe? For surely you don’t think this Lord Sebastian is up to the task with his broken arm and injured leg.”
“Bloody hell,” Lachlan exclaimed. “Everything ye say is true. But how can ah stand back and let the Englishmon be beaten, protecting Teagan and myself?”
“Well, I believe your answer just arrive,” George said.
Lachlan’s jaw dropped when ten locals armed with swords and pistols entered the barn. The resident leading the pack was a Mr. David Johnson, the local barkeep. A burly man to be sure. His fist was the size of a ham and his head, Lachlan didn’t have the words to describe the size of the man’s head. Nor did he care. He was too touched that these folks were willing to risk their lives to help two Scottish strangers.
“Thank ye for coming here this morning. But before ye risk everything tae help my sister and ah, ye need tae ken the truth of what awaits.” Lachlan proceeded to explain the dire situation at the cottage and what transpired back in Scotland. These brave men deserved nothing less than the absolute truth. His father’s hatred of him made defending him risky. When describing his father, he said he was laird of Murray Castle. He left out the part of him being a duke.
“George explained it all and we are behind you and your sister. You may have only lived here a short time, but you have proven yourself with your pursuit of the highwaymen and helping to keep our small community safe,” Johnson said. “Nothing you say can keep us from helping.” He looked around the barn and grinned. “Besides, when do we get the chance to kick some Scottish arses?”
Loud roars assaulted Lachlan’s ears and he joined in with the hollering. He took no offense about the Scottish remark. Living on the border, these men probably had many reasons to hate the Scots. All that mattered was they didn’t hate Teagan and him. No, sir, they were defending them.
Shortly after that conversation they came up with a plan. Several of the men would approach the cottage, pretending upon a visit to Sebastian. They would try to convince Ian and his men to go outside by saying they just saw Lachlan and Teagan riding up the road towards the cottage.
Hopefully, when all the men were outside, the rest of the town’s folk, along with Lachlan, would attack them. Lachlan said he didn’t care who lived or died, with one exception, his brother was to be unharmed but detained with restraints.
Lachlan wanted answers. Answers his brother would supply.
“Teagan will ride with us, but stay hidden in the woods with a guard.”
“Why?” she queried.
“Because ah willnae have ye hurt or kidnapped and dragged back tae Scotland tae marry that brut Paw picked out for ye.”
“Ah can take care of myself,” she declared with her chin held up high.
“Teagan,” Lachlan began in a calm voice. “Ah ken ye can. But this is tae dangerous. Paw could have mon in the woods waiting tae attack us. If ah leave ye alone, God only kens what might happen. Between ye and the one guard, ah know if anyone has the unfortunate luck of happening upon ye, he’ll likely regret it for the rest of his life. Such as it will be with him maimed and all.”
“Fine.” Teagan re-tucked her long hair into the borrowed cap. “Ah hope our dear brother, Ian, prayed for his soul tae God today.”
