Tess and the Highlander (25 page)

Tess went wild in his arms, kicking and
punching with the fury of a tiger. “I’ll kill you with my bare
hands if you go close to him. By St. Adrian’s blood, I’ll cut you
into pieces and use you for fish bait if you so much as touch
him.”

He tried to hold her with his mutilated hand
while reaching for his dagger with the other. Tess bit hard on his
thumb, and he roared in pain. Angry, he slapped her hard across the
face, knocking her backward. Stunned by the force of the blow, Tess
fell against a tree, striking her head hard on the knobby
trunk.

A million lights exploded in her head,
nearly blinding her momentarily, and she felt herself sinking to
the ground. The woods whirled crazily. Tess watched helplessly
through the haze as the murderer pulled the dagger out of its
sheath and took a step toward her.

And suddenly, there were torches coming
through the trees.

“They were not there, m’lord!”

“Empty rolls of straw and blanket!”

“Not one filthy Highlander anywhere.”

The urgent shouts of his men running into
sight pulled Burnett’s attention away.

“What do you mean, no one there?”

“Their horses were still tethered to the
trees,” the first one answered.

“Don’t make a sound.” The whisper was so low
that Tess thought she had imagined it. As Burnett started shouting
orders to his men, she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and
drag her slowly backward. She looked over her shoulder and felt her
heart soar when she realized it was Colin.

Burnett turned at that instant, and his
angry roar echoed through the woods. “Stop him! Kill him!”

The Lowlanders raced toward them with their
swords raised.

Tess watched in amazement as Colin’s men
came out of the shadows of the trees like men possessed. The first
volley of arrows cut down the first line of Lowlanders, and the
rest soon felt the cutting edge of Macpherson steel.

Colin, with a quick glance at Tess, turned
murderous eyes on the large man who was moving toward them.

“He is the one,” she managed to whisper,
pushing herself upright. “He…killed my father.” She fought the fog
blurring her vision and tried to focus on Colin as his sword
clashed with the murderer’s. Sparks flew into the night as the two
men fought ferociously.

Leaning her weight on the tree, Tess forced
herself to her feet.
Don’t let him get hurt. Please, God. Don’t
let any harm come to him.

Blow after blow, the ringing sound of steel
filled the glade, but then in horror she saw Colin trip. With his
sword flashing upward in the torchlight, the Lowlander stepped
forward to deliver the final blow. With all her strength, Tess
pushed away from the tree and threw her weight against Burnett’s
side. He stumbled forward and fell across Colin.

Tess watched the Lowlander’s body twist
sharply when he hit the ground, and then lay still.

She blinked and looked over at Colin, who
was on one knee and covered with blood.

And then the world went black.

From the magnificent view out the high window, Tess
admired the lush and fertile farm lands, the broad expanses of
forest, the rocky upland moors surrounding the Border stronghold.
She was in Roxburgh Castle, scarcely a two hour ride from Ninestane
and a place where Colin knew she would be safe. Roxburgh belonged
to Ambrose Macpherson, his uncle, Colin told her. She looked up at
the clear blue sky and breathed in the fresh spring air.

“Are ye ready to take yer meal now?”

Tess turned and smiled at the housekeeper
who was ushering a servant with a tray of food into the room.

“Ina, you don’t need to be serving me like
this. I am well enough to come and take my meals with everyone else
in the Great Hall.”

“Well, Master Colin’s orders were for ye to
follow the abbot’s advice and stay in bed this week.” The
housekeeper started arranging the food on a table near the window.
“I let ye out of bed, but ye are weak and need to get yer strength
back before he returns.”

Before he returns
.

She loved the sound of those words. In her
mind she saw him, returning from Stichel where he’d taken Lady
Evelyn.

Tess stared at the distant hill. David
Burnett was dead. He had died when he’d fallen on Colin’s dagger.
The same night, Ninestane Castle had come under siege by Colin and
the company of Macphersons that he’d gathered from Roxburgh Castle.
With their leader dead, there had been little resistance. But
dealing with Evelyn had been more difficult. Tess’s mother had
become wild upon hearing the news. Crazed with grief, she would
have jumped from the tower to her death if Colin hadn’t physically
restrained her.

Scotland’s Council of Regents, in Berwick
for a meeting with English officials, had decided Evelyn’s fate
that same week. She was to be sent away where she could bring no
harm to anyone and live out the rest of her life in solitude.
Evelyn herself had chosen the convent at Stichel.

Tess had been recovering at Roxburgh through
all of this, and her mother refused to see her or talk to her. A
stranger seemed to have inhabited Evelyn’s body since Burnett’s
murder. She was a madwoman who claimed she’d never had either
husband or daughter. But she was at peace with the sentence she’d
been given. She planned to grieve her dead lover for the rest of
her life.

“Now, ye don’t want to get me in trouble
with that handsome lad now by falling ill again, do ye?”

Tess turned away from the window and smiled at the
housekeeper. “He is coming back today, isn’t he?”

“That is what I hear.” Ina started serving the
food.

“She is not giving you any trouble, is she?”

Colin’s voice made Tess cry out in joy. “You
are back!”

He opened his arms, and they met in the
middle of the room. He whirled her about and kissed her before she
had a chance to say another word. They had only seen each other in
fleeting moments this past week. And she couldn’t believe how much
she had missed him.

It was a long time before Tess pulled out of
his embrace. She looked around the room and found Ina had already
slipped out.

“Thank you…for everything.” She hugged him
again fiercely.

“Your mother seems comfortably settled in
the convent.”

“Thank you,” Tess whispered sadly. “This is one part
of my life that I would like to forget. I don’t want to think back
about my mother’s deceit…about her hatefulness. I don’t think I
ever want to come back to the Borders again.”

“I know this might surprise you, considering
I am a Highlander, but there is nothing wrong with the Borders.”
His hand caressed her face, and h
is blue eyes
sparkled with that roguish glint that made her heart sing.
“What you need is to replace the bad memories with good ones while
you are still here.”

She smiled remembering their visit to Ravenie Castle
and how he had enticed her through it. “Well, I already know you
are an expert at that. I don’t think I shall ever walk through the
gates at Ravenie and not remember…you.” She blushed at the thought
of the way he had kissed her there. He had been so patient and
supportive throughout that day.

“Perhaps we need to make a pact about this.
Whenever one of us is troubled, it shall be the other’s duty to
bring a smile back. Whenever one is ailing, it shall be the other’s
responsibility to nurture them back to health. We’ll make it our
calling in life to create those good memories and keep them alive
for each other.”

Tess’s heart began to beat so hard that she thought
her chest would burst. “I would like that.”

“Perhaps this pact should
continue…indefinitely?”

She nodded once, twice, and then smiled up
at him. A tear escaped, and then another. Suddenly, Tess was
overwhelmed by the emotions surging within her. She quickly dashed
away the tears on her face. “I love you, Colin. There is nothing
that would make me happier than making this pact with you.”

The Highlander lifted Tess in his arms and
spun her around. “And I love you, my own. Say that you’ll marry
me.”

“Aye, Colin. I will marry you,” she whispered as he
finally came to a stop. The laughter in her eyes, though, was
replaced with sharp awareness as their gazes locked. “But tell me
that I am not just dreaming this.”

“You are not dreaming.” Colin brushed his
lips against hers. “You and I. Together for life. For ever and a
day.”

Tess wrapped her arms around his neck and returned
his kisses. The happiness coursing through her was beyond anything
she could have imagined. A thought struck her and she drew back a
little.

“But what about your parents? Would they
mind having their youngest son—”

“They already know. I was ready to pour my heart
into your hands before we ever left the Highlands. But quite
wisely, they suggested I should wait until your mind was settled
about your mother.”

She couldn’t hold back her laugh. “So does
this mean now that I get to meet the rest of the Clan Macpherson? I
have been hearing from Ina all about your aunts and uncles and
cousins—”

Colin’s arms remained wrapped around her.
“And friends and cousins of friends. And before our wedding, you
shall certainly be obliged to meet our neighbors and the neighbors’
cousins and friends of the neighbors’ cousins…”

“’Tis wonderful to have so many people who
love and care for you so much that they actually want to meet
me.”

“To be honest, they’ll all be coming to warn
you about the scoundrel that you are marrying.”

Tess placed a kiss on his chin. “I’m sure
your brothers will have more to say on that topic.”

“I have an idea.”

“What is it?” Tess asked.

“Before any of them arrive,” Colin said,
scooping her off the floor with a devilish smile. “Let’s
elope.”

We hope you enjoyed Tess and Colin’s story.
As always, we have tried to depict a place and a time in a way that
mingles the real and the imagined in an entertaining way. And
Scotland is such a special place. Roxburgh Castle and the Isle of
May and the ruins of St. Adrian Chapel are very real places. In
fact, while researching this novel, we found that St. Adrian’s
Chapel was recently discovered actually to be the chapel of an
earlier Christian evangelist named St. Ethernan, who died in AD 669
while working among the Picts, an ancient people of Scotland who
disappeared in the Middle Ages. His chapel, though, was a favorite
shrine for pilgrims, visited by peasants and kings alike who
traveled there hoping to be cured of all types of ailments. Today,
the Isle of May is a favorite spot for day-tripping
birdwatchers.

Several members of the Macpherson clan that
you met in this story were initially introduced in some of our
earlier adult historical romance novels. For those who are
interested in seeing a family tree (of sorts), we have outlined the
connections here.

We love to hear from our readers. You can
contact us at:

www.JanCoffey.com

e-mail:
[email protected]

Here's an excerpt from Jan Coffey & May
McGoldrick's latest YA Novel

AQUARIAN

No cell phone service. No cable TV. No mall.
No bars. No party scene. No Internet. No Facebook. No traffic to
throw yourself in front of.

“What,” Killian muttered, “am I getting
myself into?”

Looking around in every direction from the
small motor launch, she could see nothing.  Darkness covered
the Atlantic like the wing of some enormous black bird. No moon, no
stars, no welcoming ray from any lighthouse or passing ship. Only
an occasional lightning flash lit the invisible horizon before
being instantly snuffed out.

The damp wind was cold. Killian pulled her
Green Mountain Academy sweatshirt more tightly around her. She’d
graduated only two weeks ago, but it felt like forever. She stared
up at the silent old man at the wheel of the boat. In the darkness
he was little more than a hunched silhouette, a pipe clenched in
his teeth. 

“How long before we reach Cuttylea Island?”
she called out to him.

Thomas Eliot turned and looked back at her.
Killian couldn’t see his eyes, but saw his hand dip into his jacket
pocket. He stuffed something into the pipe. With practiced skill he
produced a lighter from somewhere. He lit the pipe again, revealing
the deep lines of his weathered face. 

“How long?” he replied finally. The end of
the pipe glowed as he puffed. The smell of the tobacco whipped by
her, mingling with the briny scent of the sea and fish and old
bait. “An hour. Tops.”

Everything that Killian feared was
conspiring against her tonight. Night. Water. The distant lightning
threatening ominously. She stared into the darkness to where ocean
and sky ground together, producing those muffled flashes of light.
The storm was approaching. She hated electrical storms at any time.
The thought of being caught in one—out on the open sea in this
ancient floating coffin—held
no
appeal for her.

She shivered. What disturbed her most were
the memories that went along with the storms. So many nights she’d
spent at her mother’s hospital bedside, looking out the sixth-floor
window at Boston’s city lights. Lightning had illuminated the
skyline the night Killian had been told nothing more could be done
for Ama's cancer. Rain from a thunderstorm had been pelting the
windows when she’d died a week later.

That was four years ago. She couldn’t change
the past. What she had to think about was now. This summer. Come
fall, she had no boarding school in Vermont to go back to. There
was no college waiting for her, either. She hadn’t applied to
any.