Tess and the Highlander (17 page)

Tess took a step closer to the couple. She looked
closely into the man’s face. There was a flicker of recollection.
“Horses. Somehow I see you where there are horses.”

“Aye, mistress. ’Twas I that taught you to
ride.”

Someone else called out another story from the
crowd. Another spoke out. Tess started to remember a sound, a name,
a face. More than ever before, something sweetly familiar wrapped a
blanket of warmth around her. The coldness that she had sensed
before among these people dissipated like a morning mist.

She felt a tug at her skirt and looked down into the
dirty face of a little girl beaming up at her. Tess opened her
hand, and the child took it, nestling against her legs.

The first tear escaped. Then another.

Everyone seemed to be speaking at once, and Tess
looked about her, realizing that no longer was she confronting a
crowd. She had become a part of them.

An ancient woman hobbled toward her and clutched
Tess’s hand and brought it to her lips.

“I’m Bella. I was Elsie’s mother. Your nursemaid was
one of the castle folk who took you away the night of the attack. I
know now that she was lost at sea with the rest of them.”

With that, Tess broke down and cried as Bella
wrapped her in a warm embrace.

At one point Tess looked across the throng of people
and could no longer see Colin. Anxious, she searched the crowds
again and found him this time speaking with some of the Lindsays.
James was beside him too and some of the other Macphersons. All had
dismounted and joined in the crowd. It was like some happy
gathering of clans, and she relished the thought.

Tess felt the tug on her hand by the young child
still standing with her. The girl pointed toward the castle.

A sudden change came over the demeanor of the
villagers. Some folk quickly separated from the others and hurried
back toward their huts. Others simply backed away until Tess caught
sight of a rider and a half dozen armed men on foot who were
approaching the market square on the road coming down from the
castle. None wore the Highlander’s kilt, dressed instead in Lowland
breeches and chain shirts. Even from a distance, she could see that
all were heavily armed.

“’Tis Flannan,” the child murmured, half hiding
behind Tess’s skirt.

Tess turned to Bella, who was still standing near
her. “Is he someone who knows me?”

The old woman shook her head. “He is the steward of
Ravenie. Yer mother sent him from the Lowlands, lassie. He runs the
castle and manages the land, and collects rents from the crofters
in yer name. He has been here near ten years…maybe more.”

The severe looks Tess had received on her arrival
were nothing compared to the hostility that charged the air
now.

“Is he a just steward?”

Bella’s back was bent with age, but the woman still
managed to raise her gray eyes to Tess’s. “Maybe in the eyes of
whoever he collects the rents for in the Lowlands. He doesn’t give
a rush about any of the folk here. He takes what he says we owe,
and turns out those who cannot pay. We are here to serve him and
his mistress, he says. We are to work and not complain. ‘Tis the
way of the world, he says. ‘Tis the way of things here, to be sure,
since the laird’s death.”

“Could you do nothing?”

“We chose leaders over the years to speak for the
clan, but it made no difference.”

Anger like none she’d ever experienced burned in
Tess. In her name, in her mother’s name, these people had been
treated unjustly for ten years. She handed the little girl to Bella
and approached the men.

The crowd continued to back away, forming a large
circle as Flannan and his men reached the open area around the
market cross. Tess didn’t have to turn to know Colin had moved
behind her. To her right and left, she saw Macpherson men keeping a
watchful eye.

Flannan was approaching middle-age, bald with an
enormous belly that sagged over the thick belt he wore over a
greasy doublet and breeches. Tess noted the swagger of the armed
men with him. Bullies, one and all, she thought angrily as they
drew their swords and leaned on the hilts, the points buried in the
dirt.

Tess was not deterred though, and she continued to
approach. The steward’s small eyes focused for a moment on Tess,
but he made no move to get down from his horse or acknowledge
her.

“Are you Flannan the steward?” She came to a stop a
few steps away.

He looked over Tess’s head, at whom she could only
guess was Colin. “My men brought me news of some travelers passing
through the village. Macphersons, they said.” He gestured to the
armed men to his right and left. “We are much better prepared to
receive company at the castle. These lazy bastards need to be
planting the fields.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Tess called,
taking a step closer. If he knew about the Macphersons being here,
he must have been told about her, too. Perhaps, she considered, he
hadn’t heard, though. Deciding to give him the benefit of the
doubt, she introduced herself. “I am Teresa Catherine Lindsay. I
believe ‘tis in my name that you are steward of this
holding...”

“What are you looking at, you filthy curs?” the
steward shouted at the crowd. “Back to the fields.”

A few people shuffled nervously, but no one
retreated.

“Are you just going to ignore me?” she shot at him,
growing livid at his insulting behavior.

The steward turned the head of his horse away and
murmured some orders to the man nearest to him. Tess was too angry
to think through any consequences. She started toward the man, only
to stop in shock as everything exploded with activity around
her.

Colin shot past her and had a grip on the back of
the steward’s belt in an instant. With one quick jerk, the fat
steward was off the horse and on his hands and knees in the
dirt.

There was a brief and short-lived scuffle between
the Macphersons and Flannan’s armed men, but the Lowlanders were no
match for Colin, James, and the others…including the Lindsays who
had joined them. In just a few moments of struggle, the Lowlanders
had been overpowered.

Tess was not naïve enough, though, to think the
battle was done. She was certain Flannan had more men at the
castle.

“Would you care to answer your mistress’s questions
now?” Colin was standing behind the steward. The man had pushed
himself off his hands, but still was on his knees. He cast a quick
look at his subdued cohorts before scowling at Tess.

“I would have answered her to begin with if I
thought the lass was telling the truth. She is no daughter of Lady
Evelyn’s.” The steward pushed himself to his feet and spoke to the
Lindsays that had once again surged forward to watch the spectacle
before them. “This creature is nothing more than an imposter paid
for by the Macphersons. See for yourselves! She was brought here to
trick you fools.” He turned and pointed an accusing finger at
Colin. “Leave it to these pirates to think of a way to steal what
is yours.”

“She will hate me. She will think me the most
horrible of mothers.” Lady Evelyn continued to pace back and forth
across her bedchamber. “And what happens if she decides that she
does not wish to see me? What should I do if she remains in the
Highlands with the Macphersons and the rest of those animals?”

“If she is truly who she says she is, then she will
understand.” David Burnett reached for the willowy woman’s hand and
forced her to stop. “If this young woman is
truly
Theresa
Catherine, then she will come to you.”

“’Tis she. I just know ‘tis Theresa. For a long
time, I have known that she would come back.” The mother’s fair
features were flushed. She tugged her hand free and walked to the
narrow window overlooking the courtyard. “Everything makes
sense—where she was found to what age she claims to be. I’ve known
this was coming for a long time.”

Burnett’s strong arm encircled Evelyn’s waist, and
he pulled her against his chest. His voice was soothing and
reassuring in her ear. “We have done everything that we can, right
now. You have answered her letter. I have sent a group of my most
trusted men to Benmore Castle to escort her back. There is no
reason to fret over this until she arrives at our gate.”

Evelyn turned in the warrior’s arm. Her hazel eyes
glistened with tears. “Are you certain about this? About everything
we are doing?”

“Aye, my dove,” David assured her. “Just leave
everything to me, and all will be well.”

Nothing that Flannan said affected Tess in the
slightest…except to make her want to correct the problems here even
more. She turned to her clan.

“I find this man lacks the spirit and the good
intentions my father had for our people while he was alive. I find
this steward grievously at fault for his treatment of you over
these past ten years. Now…who will help us restrain him and his
men? Who will help us take back Ravenie Castle?”

A deafening cheer filled the market square as the
entire village stepped forward. The steward, having realized his
mistake, scrambled to take shelter behind the Macphersons, the same
people he’d accused only moments ago.

In moments, Colin had divided the villagers into
groups. Some were sent with James and handful of Macpherson
warriors up to the castle. Others were assigned to see to Flannan
and his henchmen in the village. There were many, though, who
approached Tess on their own. Young and old, men and women—the
noose around their spirits finally loosened—all were excited to
talk to her and to make suggestions. All wished to know if she
planned to stay.

Tess wanted to, but she had other things that
demanded her attention before she could think about that.

Those remaining at Ravenie Castle who were loyal to
the steward gave way to the combined force of Lindsays and
Macphersons without a struggle. Most that James and the others
encountered in the castle were from the village, anyway. To be
sure, all of the Lindsays were fed up with the steward’s treatment
of their people.

All that Flannan’s men asked for was permission to
leave.

“I believe we should let all of them go,” Tess told
Colin with conviction. “Flannan included. My family is the most
responsible for the hardship and the damage that has been done
here. Though she has been absent all these years, my mother should
have had someone checking on the steward. But she didn’t.”

She shook her head and watched the celebration that
had been going on since midday.

“Don’t torment yourself about the past,” Colin said
firmly. “None of that was your doing. You shall make these people
forget their hardships. Anyone can tell that your arrival has
already given new life to the Lindsay clan.”

Tess looked up and their gazes locked. “You make me
believe in myself.”

“As you should.” He gave her a smile that warmed her
blood and sent tingles through her body. “Everyone here sees how
special you are. ‘Tis time you started believing it, too.”

Tess beamed at him. “You are…you are a true
friend.”

A few days ago the words Tess had just spoken would
have been enough for Colin. He would have been quite content to be
considered her friend. But now, as he heard the words tumble from
her lips, he knew it was not enough.

He had seen her courage in action today. While he
fought back his own fears for her safety, she had walked into the
midst of a mob that looked like a pack of hungry wolves. She hadn’t
known it, but his hand had never left the hilt of his sword until
he’d seen the first sign of acceptance by the Lindsays.

“I believe I’ve found my home,” Tess told him.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this is where I belong.”

He nodded, working hard to hide his own feelings at
this important moment in her life. He gestured to where Flannan and
some of his people were being held. “I’ll make sure an escort of
Lindsays and Macphersons convey these curs to the southern borders
of your land. I do not believe you will hear from them again.”

She looked around. “Having seen your village at
Benmore Castle, I know there is a great deal to be done here.”

Colin followed the direction of her gaze. “Aye, but
this is good land. And James tells me that only a section of the
castle was burned. The rest is solid and livable. You should
probably take a ride up there and see it for yourself.”

She turned toward the celebrating crowds. “I wonder
what it would be like to live here, in the village. ‘Twould be only
right to find some use for this tower house.”

“Nothing is impossible. Perhaps with a few good
masons, and…”

“Will you stay with me here? Will you help me to
start again?”

Colin abruptly stopped and looked at her. Tess’s
beautiful face was flushed. Her eyes were dark pools, so clear that
he could see his own reflection in them.

For the first time in his life he had come to the
realization that no other plans, no other dreams, no grand
adventures in the world meant a thing to him if he couldn’t have
Tess. But at the same time, the uncertainty of his position as the
third son, and
her
position as the sole heir to Ravenie
Castle was suddenly gnawing at him.

“Tess, there is a great deal that…that…”

“I mean…temporarily,” she said, dropping her hand in
embarrassment. Her face was even redder than before. She hurriedly
looked away when the first tears slipped down her cheeks. “I never
intended to interfere with…with your plans. I just thought that if
you have few days to spare, you might perhaps like to come back
with me and…and…help me get started.”

“Wait, Tess.” He took her arm before she could walk
away. “There is a great deal that you and I need to—”