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IT WAS EARLY IN THE morning when Brendan and more MacClurgs found Neil and joined up. The new women pleased the MacClurg men and they did a lot of smiling. Gelson took his place, rode next to his laird and beamed. “‘Tis good to see you are well.”
Neil wanted to strangle the man, but now was not the time for a showdown. Besides, he liked Gelson. Hopefully he was wrong about the betrayal and there would be an acceptable explanation...hopefully. “‘Tis good to see you as well. How far are we from home?”
“Not that far. We must cross the land of the Haldane and then we are home. We did not expect you to continue and nearly missed finding you. Did the Swinton give you trouble?”
He carefully watched Gelson’s face. “The Swinton are afraid of Kadick’s mark.”
“I heard about that. Osgar said she cried. Her own mother tried to kill her when she was born, but William prevented it. Just when I think the world cannot be anymore cruel to Kadick, ‘tis.”
It was exactly the kind of thing he would have said himself, Neil thought. It made no sense for Gelson to care this deeply for Kadick and still not warn him about the MacClurg men who tried to kill her. Even now if he confessed it, Neil would think more highly of him. Yet he waited and Gelson did not confess.
*
THE HALDANE WERE A quiet and reserved clan whom Neil knew very little about, although they were the MacGreagors nearest neighbor to the south. Neil intentionally moved his people at a slower pace. Everyone was exhausted, home could not be that far away, and when he was not thinking of Glenna, he hoped moving slowly would assure the Haldane they intended no harm.
He was not disappointed.
The twenty or so Haldane simply watched from the top of their highest hill. They did not come down to talk, to threaten or even to bribe the ladies away—they just watched and it made Neil and his men very nervous indeed. Each time they crested a hill, they expected an attack and held their breaths.
The Haldane stayed away.
*
THE CLOSER THEY GOT to home, the more everyone relaxed and the mood of all the people began to turn merry. Neil motioned for Donnahail to fall back with Kadick and for Luag to come closer. “The Haldane must be watched. I fear a lad who will not come to kill me when I cross his land. He is up to something and I will know what.”
“The Haldane have not threatened us in all the months we have lived here.”
“True, but we had no abundance of lasses to tempt them before now. After you are rested, take two lads and see what you can learn.”
*
WHAT HE WANTED TO DO when they finally reached the glen of the MacGreagors was race his horse to the Keep, swing down and take his wife in his arms. Instead, Neil raised his hand at the outer rim of the village and stopped the people following him. He walked his horse forward a few steps and turned it around to face the people.
“Donnahail, you and Brendan will take the lasses home. Take Kadick to my wife and stay with her. Brendan, tell Walrick to keep only MacGreagors on guard and send all the rest of the lads to me.” He waited for their nods and then moved out of the way so the women could pass. Neil ignored the perplexed looks on the faces of the men and the confusion in the eyes of the women.
Glorie tried to speak, but Burk stuck his hand in front of her face and she kept quiet.
When the women were gone, Neil told the men to dismount. However, he stayed on his horse and as was his custom, he patted the neck of his magnificent stallion twice and in seconds, the horse stood perfectly still. At length, Neil bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Just as he hoped, the MacGreagor men took it as a sign something was wrong and became suddenly alert. They exchanged glances and realized it was a signal to them alone since the MacClurgs were not aware of his ability to sleep on his horse. Casually, they began to move to the outside and mentally prepare for battle.
It was not long however, until Walrick led the rest of the men to their laird and when he did, Neil opened his eyes, lifted his head and gave his horse the signal to relax. Then he nodded to Walrick, who nodded for the appointed MacGreagors to take all the horses away. When that was done, he abruptly ordered the rest of the MacGreagor’s to surround the MacClurgs.
It was enough to stop the hearts of many a good man, and the MacClurgs could not help but begin to draw their swords for fear they were all about to die.
Their movements made the MacGreagors react, but just in time, Walrick shouted. “Stay your weapons!” It took countless seconds to calm them, but each man followed Walrick’s command.
A thousand thoughts ran through Gelson’s mind, but when his heart stopped racing and he collected himself enough, he realized it was about Kadick—it had to be. He slumped and hung his head.
Neil kept his eyes on his third in command, slowly dismounted and drew his sword. Then he walked to Gelson and put the tip of his sword against the man’s chest. “I will see the look in your eyes.”
Slowly, Gelson lifted his head. “‘Tis true, I deserve to die.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“I was ashamed. We needed Walrick to rid us of Knox. Then we reasoned if we told Walrick, he would leave us to the mercy of some other evil. We were not strong enough to fight anyone off.”
“And when I came, did you not trust me enough to tell me?”
“By then, we had already lied for so long we saw no way of redeeming ourselves.”
Neil’s eyes were cold and his glare was severe. “For months we unknowingly lived with people who were willing to set Kadick’s cottage on fire. By so doing they risked the lives of the entire clan and you were worried about redeeming yourselves?”
He finally took his glare off of Gelson and looked at the faces of the other MacClurg men. “All of you knew and none of you thought it important to alert us?” The MacClurgs kept their gazes down and their heads bowed.
He finally took the tip of his sword away from Gelson’s chest and lowered it to the ground. “You gave me your promise to defend the clan, MacGreagors included. Do you so lightly give your pledge? How can I ever trust you again? How am I to have MacGreagors and MacClurgs fight next to each other when there is no trust? How do I even let my wife and children sleep in the same...”
He was so enraged, he had to turn away before he struck one of them down out of anger.
Walrick quickly drew his sword and moved to stand in front of Neil facing the MacClurgs. The ire was already evident in the eyes of the other MacGreagor men, who were beginning to realize how much danger their own wives and children had been in. He too turned to Gelson first. “Did you see who lit the fire?”
“I saw a torch pass by my window and in another moment, a lass screamed. I ran out, but only saw the backs of three lads and one lass as they ran away. I have tried to discover who they were, but I have failed.”
“Let the lads who did this evil confess it!” Walrick waited, but none of the men spoke up. However, when he glanced at Silus, he could see beads of sweat on his upper lip.
Cobb, the eldest MacClurg sunk to his knees. “I will take the blame.”
“Nay!” shouted Gelson. “You were with me that night. You did not start the fire; you helped me put it out.”
“Aye, but I advised against telling Walrick. I am an old and stupid lad who gave unfit counsel to my people. If any lad must die here today, let it be me.”
