Highland Burn (17 page)

“I dunno. Something is verra wrong here.” Marcus motioned for them to leave, for the stench was overpowering.

Abigale stepped back outside, breathing in the much-needed fresh air. The girls still stood where they were, watching them intently, yet never saying a word. Abigale’s heart broke for these girls. Undoubtedly they had been mistreated and left alone to fend for themselves. But for how long? How could someone do such a thing? Something wasn't right here, Abigale could feel it.

“Marcus, we need to take these girls back to Black Stone. They can no stay here.”

Marcus stood with his arms folded in front of him glaring at the girls as if he didn’t trust this situation. “My lady, I think it’s best we leave before someone shows up." He advised.

Abigale was shocked that he wanted to leave these poor defenseless girls here. Her dark brows furrowed in disbelief. “Ye dinnae mean to leave the girls here? We have to welcome them into our home until we figure oot what happened.”

“Ye don’t understand. If we take the girls, their parents may come looking for them. It could start a feud. Ye don’t want to be charged with kidnapping… do ye?” Marcus was trying to talk some sense into her, but knowing Abigale’s kind heart, he was losing the battle.

“I will no leave these girls.” Abigale put her hands on her slender hips, tipped her chin up, and stood her ground. “Either I stay here,” God, she hoped it didn’t come to that, “or I bring the girls back to Black Stone. As long as I’m married to the laird, we’ll take care of our people.”

Marcus ran his hand through his rugged light brown hair in aggravation. “Fine, but ye will have to answer to yer husband, no me.”

Abigale smiled in victory, but it was short-lived as the ground started to rumble and screams rang out. Full-on panic raced to life throughout the village as its people started to scatter and run for their lives. Abigale turned to Marcus. His hand already palmed the hilt of his sword ready to protect her. As if he knew what she was going to ask, he informed her of what was going on. “Village raid. We need to get ye out of here, now!” Marcus bellowed through the screams and pounding hooves.

An orange glow lit up the sky. Flames raged as ruthless knights upon charging warhorses torched homes and crops to the ground. Abigale couldn’t move. Everything was happening so fast as if she was dreaming. Marcus stood in front of her with his hands on her shoulders and gave her a shake to get her attention. “Lady Abigale, ye must leave. There’s no time to waste.” Something instinctual awakened and with much haste she picked the youngest girl up in her arms, while Marcus carried the eldest. Abigale followed him to a thick wooded area. Once they were deep inside the forest and away from the attack, Marcus put the girl down. She quickly ran to Abigale and found comfort in her skirts. “There’s no time to get back to the castle. Ye’ll have to hide in here until I come back for ye.” Marcus gave the order true and firm.

“Where are ye going?” Surely he wasn’t going to leave them here alone. Abigale couldn’t fight off an attacker. Was he daft?

“I’m going back to the village. I need to alert James. Find a place to hide. I’ll be back.” Marcus headed back to the village.

Oh dear Lord, what was she going to do? Her heart was racing so fast she could hear its beats pounding in her ears. What to do… What to do? Abigale turned around, looking in every direction, trying to find a place to hide. Everything was happening so fast, her head started to spin.

Get it together Abigale Bruce, these girls are depending on ye. They need yer strength, not weakness,
she scolded herself. Taking a deep breath she decided to head deeper into the forest. They came across an old yew tree with its trunk hollowed out. A perfect place to hide. Still carrying the wee girl in her arms, Abigale was beginning to feel fatigued. Finally they reached the huge tree trunk just before she thought her arms would give out beneath the heavy weight she carried. “We’ll be safe here,” she reassured the girls. The two girls clung tightly to one another as they sat toward the back of the hollowed yew. With haste Abigale removed her dirk and sat with the children. “Marcus will come back. I promise.” She told herself this several times until she believed it. She put her arms around the girls, squeezing them tight. She kissed their heads, making sure they knew she wasn’t going to leave them.

~~~~~

A massacre symphony played on with gut-wrenching cries of men and women being burned and slaughtered as the English garrison continued their raid with fierce determination on clan Douglas. Marcus dodged a man’s claymore, then stuck the filth in the gut with the pointy end of his blade, as he made his way toward his horse. Abruptly a knight perched high upon his warhorse stopped Marcus with his sword pointed at Marcus’s throat. Marcus swallowed against the cold steel and felt its prick. Long black feathers protruded from the top of the knight’s helm and flowed down past his shoulders, whipped in the wind. Through the slit of his visor, his cold stare chilled Marcus bone deep. “Where’s the princess, Highlander?” The knight shoved the blade deeper into Marcus’s throat, just enough to prove his point.

Marcus studied the man for a while as if he was considering how he was going to answer. Or mayhap he was questioning his own motives.

The warhorse, foaming at the mouth and chomping at the bit, pawed the earth in irritation. “Well, are ye going to tell me or will I have to gut ye?” The knight seethed.

Marcus looked toward the woods where he’d left Abigale and the girls, then back at the impatient knight.

The Douglas war cry broke their stance as both men readied for battle. A cruel twisted smile reached across the knight’s lips as he turned and faced the Black Douglas and two hundred of his clansmen.

~~~~~

Abigale was trying desperately to be brave, but if the truth be told she was just as scared as the girls. Time seemed to stand still. In the distance she could hear the blood-curdling cries of villagers, and the tiniest forest sounds seemed louder than they really were. Abigale grew restless. They couldn’t stay hidden in here forever. What if something happened to Marcus? What if those raiders came searching for them? Nay, she couldn’t stay here. She needed to find out what was going on.

“Girls, I’m going to take a look outside. I need for ye to be brave and stay here until I return,” Abigale insisted. Both girls, with dirt-stained tears streaming from their faces, clung to one another, and the youngest shook her head no. Abigale wiped away the wee girl’s tears. “I promise I won’t be long, little lamb."

Before Abigale got up to leave, she looked down at her dirk. She couldn’t leave the girls unprotected, she thought. Pushing her skirts up, she unsheathed her dirk and handed it to the eldest girl. “Here take this and dinnae be afraid to use it." She quit the yew tree hideaway.

Abigale reached the tree line, peeking through a thicket of blackthorn overlooking the village, and cringed. The sound of swords clanking together echoed through the screams as blood was being shed. Even though clan Douglas was fighting for their lives, there had been too many lives lost. Her heart told her she needed to help the wounded and tend to their wounds, but common sense told her to stay hidden and get back to the girls.

As she looked toward the castle gauging how far away it was, she noticed about two hundred clansmen on horseback riding toward the village. Thank God help was on the way! But where was Marcus? Dear God, please let him be alive.

She was retreating into the forest to her secret hideaway, when suddenly a strong rough hand grabbed her braid and yanked her into a hard ridged chest. “Aren’t ye a pretty one?” A snarl came from the man as he snaked his arm around Abigale’s waist and covered her mouth with his free hand. The repulsive man smelled like a dung heap and ale lingered on his breath. A raider indeed, Abigale thought. She planted her feet and tried to wriggle free. Not wanting to frighten the girls, Abigale held back her screams as panic pricked up her spine. What was this man going to do to her, better yet what was she going to do? She should have never left the safety of the yew tree.

As if by some kind of survival instinctual reaction, Abigale hauled-off and kicked at the man’s shins and bit down hard on his hand until she tasted the tang of blood. If the man was going to have his way with her, she’d fight him until the end. "Ye bitch!” the raider yelled out in pain and released her. As he held his hand, shock spread across his scarred, unshaven face. The wench had the ballocks to fight him. An evil grin crept across his lips like he was ready and willing for the chase. “Ye better run little lamb before I catch ye,” he sneered with hatred.

Not wanting to lead the foul man straight to the girls, Abigale turned and ran in the opposite direction from the yew tree. She pumped her legs through the unforgiving material of her dress that only seemed to slow her down. She glanced over her shoulder to find that the rogue was hot on her heels. An inconvenient stump and a misstep sent Abigale tumbling to the ground. Not a good predicament to be in. Quickly she turned over and frantically scooted backwards away from the raider. This was it, she thought.

“Looks like the big bad wolf caught ye wench. Ye’ll pay for wounding me fighting hand.” The man grabbed Abigale’s legs and slid her towards him as he yanked up her dress.

Abigale strained to shove the man off her, but he was too strong. She pounded her fist into his chest and clawed at his face, but the raider fed off her distress. She kicked and twisted and through tear-filled eyes she saw a raised meaty hand coming towards her face to strike. Pulling up her arms to block the blow, she closed her eyes tight and braced herself. The man’s hand came down and smacked her face causing stars to burst behind her eyes. Then another blow followed.

Coming to her senses wasn’t easy as Abigale felt the wretched raider straddle her and untie his dirt-stained trews. “Ah, what a fine piece of arse we have here.” He pushed his hips forward shoving his hardness against her stomach.

This couldn’t be happening to her, this had to be a terrible nightmare. Her head throbbed and her body ached.
Abigale for God’s sake, wake up!
A sharp prick poked at her chest as if she had been stung. The brooch that the woman from the village had given her. She had pinned it to her gown before she found the girls.

Oh my lady, watch oot for the pointy end. ‘Tis sharp.
T
he woman’s voice echoed through her head.
Indeed, ‘tis sharp
, Abigale mused. Quickly she reached for it and slipped it off her dress. With the pendant in the palm of her hand and the pointy end sticking straight up, she waited to make her move.

“Ye know wench, if ye just spread yer legs like a good little girl this would be over soon.” The sickening mocking laughter he belted out made the bile rise up in her throat.
Come on ye eejit, make yer move.

The foulness of his breath assaulted her senses as the raider bent down to roughly grab her breasts. Abigale pulled her arm back giving her just enough room to carry out the momentum she needed. She released her swing and plunged the sharp end of the brooch into the man’s neck.

Wide-eyed, the man looked at her in shock. His hand covering the wound was dripping with blood. He made an attempt to yell at her but blood poured from his mouth. Time seemed to have stilled as she watched the raider holding his neck, trying to breathe.

In no time at all the man was yanked from Abigale’s body by a massive man she recognized.
James
?

James stood behind the raider and grabbed him by his neck, snatching him off Abigale. He twisted the man around so that his body blocked Abigale’s view of the raider and what he was about to do to him. With one fluid motion and a loud crack, James snapped the raider's neck, letting his lifeless body fall to the ground.

James’s eyes darkened and his face turned sinister as he looked down at Abigale. So, this was what the Black Douglas looked like. If she could disappear into the forest floor right now she would. This man was undoubtedly livid with her, but nonetheless she was happy to see him.

James extended a hand to Abigale and helped her up off the wet forest floor. “He hit ye?” James cradled her face in his hands and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

Abigale was silent. She couldn’t believe that she just stabbed a man. Seeing the man lying in a lifeless heap, she said, “Is he dead?”

“Dinnae look, Abigale. Look at me.”

As soon as she looked up into his amber eyes, she began to crumble. She wrapped her arms around him and melted into his tight embrace as if he was the security she needed to help her forget about the blasted man and what he was going to do to her.

“Did he—“

Knowing what James was hinting at, Abigale shook her head. ”Nay, I stabbed him with the brooch before he had the chance to.”

They stood there for a while, holding on to one another. Abigale felt James’s chest exhale in relief, yet he wasn’t completely satisfied with the situation. By the way he flexed and worked his jaw, she knew James was angry. Once he knew she was alright no words had been spoken between them. Abigale stepped out from his embrace and began to brush the dirt from her dress.

“Are ye alright, lass?” James’s tone was deep. He was concerned, yet she could sense the tenseness he held toward her.

Still angry at him over his last shenanigans, Abigale brushed him off. “Nay, I’m just a little rattled.” She avoided eye contact, for she really didn't have the strength to fight with him. She needed to get back to the girls. “The girls.” Abigale ran towards the yew tree praying that the girls were untouched.