The Arrow: A Highland Guard Novel (The Highland Guard) (50 page)

Gregor shot the dog a glare. “He’s a nuisance, that’s what he is.”

Cate bent down and scratched the little terrier’s head. “Don’t listen to him, Berry—he loves you.”

Berry was the name Pip had given the tiny pup all those years ago, when he heard about the botched attack at Berwick Castle from Hawk. Not surprisingly, as they shared the same sense of humor, Pip and the seafarer had become fast friends. Much to Gregor’s annoyance over the years. Indeed it was Pip who’d come up with her name—Crush—for what she’d done to women’s hearts and men’s pride (namely Hawk’s, after he landed on his backside again on their rematch).

Gregor grinned wickedly. “It’s a good thing the blasted beast did wait. I need another son.”

Cate wasn’t so out of practice that she couldn’t flip him on his backside when she needed to, so he wisely moved
out of her reach. She didn’t spend as much time on the practice field these days, but when the girls needed her she would be there. Even at four and ten, Maddy could defend herself if necessary. The pretty young girl might look like a porcelain poppet on the outside, but she was tough. She had to be with all these
men
about.

“Don’t you even jest about it—I just finished weaning your last son. I swear, Gregor, if you don’t give me a daughter, I’m going to put a lock on our door! Maddy and I would have had to move out long ago without Beth and Jeannie.” The two little girls—sisters—had come to live with them two years ago after the death of both their parents from a fever. “Living with all these lads is like living with a bunch of noisy pigs. How is it that every one of them has been born with the inability to pick up clothes off the floor?”

He shrugged, not bothering to hide his amusement. “Life is a never-ending mystery.”

“Never-ending mystery my—” She stopped before the word fell from her lips. “If I’m sick the entire way to Scone it will be your fault!”

He sobered. “Ah hell, Cate. I didn’t think about that. I wish you didn’t suffer so every time.”

She hadn’t meant to upset him. “I was jesting. It’s not so bad. It only lasts a few months. Besides, in the end it is worth it.” Her eyes filled with tears as the memory of her mother swept over her. It didn’t seem fair that her mother had struggled for so long to have another child, yet all Gregor had to do was look at her and Cate found herself with her head in a basin. But she knew how happy her mother would have been for her to be surrounded by so much love.

She had more family than she’d ever dreamed of, including a new, much anticipated half-brother who was the reason for their journey. After ten years as the undisputed
King of Scotland and the release of his queen from captivity, Robert Bruce finally had his legitimate son. David had arrived in March, and the king and queen were planning a celebration unlike any that had taken place in Scotland for years. The country—and the throne, with the birth of David—was stronger than it had been since the death of King Alexander III.

They were taking the entire family, even baby John. For the first time in years, they would all be together. As had Pip before him, Ruadh (she’d given up that Eddie battle years ago) was being fostered with Arthur Campbell, and Pip had been a knight in her father’s army for almost five years now. Who would have believed that the skinny, funny-looking urchin could have grown up to rival his father in good looks? A foot of height, a few stone of muscle, and a face that grew into the nose had made Pip a heartbreaker. It didn’t hurt that he was one of the best horsemen in Scotland and highly skilled with a throwing spear, thanks to his foster father.

He also had a wicked sense of humor—for which Gregor blamed Hawk. One of his favorite things was to introduce his mother to the young women who couldn’t seem to leave him alone. Cate had to admit it was fun to watch their faces as they looked back and forth between them, trying not to show their shock. As Pip grew older, they looked even less than their six years apart.

Gregor must have known what she was thinking. He gazed at her tenderly, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead. “I’m sure they are as anxious to see you as you are to see them.”

“I can’t wait. It will be good to see all the Phantoms again, and their families. I think Arthur and Anna’s eldest daughter has her eyes on Pip. Not that he seems to notice.”

Gregor frowned. “The lass is only …”

“Fifteen, and he’s seven and twenty.” She lifted her brow, daring him to say anything. “Sound familiar?”

He laughed, shook he head, and pulled her into his arms. “He won’t go down easy.”

“They never do.”

But when they did, they fell forever. Cate ought to know.

I
t’s hard to believe this is my fifteenth book with Ballantine. Since December of 2005, when I signed my first contract, I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with some incredible people. After so many books I’ve named them all many times, but a huge thanks again to everyone in editorial, production, art, and sales and marketing who have worked on my books and turned a raw manuscript into a published book on a shelf at your favorite retailer.

I do need to give one more shout-out and thanks, however, to Scott Shannon, who took that initial “water cooler” pitch for the MacLeod trilogy from my agent Andrea Cirillo (it might not have been an actual water cooler, but you get the idea), Gina Wachtel, who has been a source of such incredible support for my books over the years, Lynn Andreozzi and the art department for an unbroken record of fifteen(!) exceptional covers (and for beating down the door of every muscular model in the business), and my fabulous former editors Charlotte Herscher and Kate Collins, as well as my current one Junessa Viloria. Junessa, I don’t think editorial letters are supposed to be fun to receive, but somehow you’ve made it that way!

From day one, I’ve had the ladies at Jane Rotrosen taking care of the business side of things so I can concentrate on the important thing: writing. Thanks to Andrea Cirillo and Annelise Robey for always having my back, for the long talks about “the business,” and for bringing out the pompoms when needed. One of these days, I’m going to buy you guys cheerleader costumes for Halloween!

And finally, a huge thanks to Jami Alden who has been my “alpha” (not beta, of course!) reader for every book I’ve ever written, and who helps me talk through story or character issues when they arise, you are the best. I’d insert the “you can never quit me” line from
Brokeback
, but our husbands might have some questions.

B
Y
M
ONICA
M
C
C
ARTY

The Arrow
The Raider
The Hunter
The Recruit
The Saint
The Viper
The Ranger
The Hawk
The Chief

Highland Warrior
Highland Outlaw
Highland Scoundrel

Highlander Untamed
Highlander Unmasked
Highlander Unchained

AUTHOR’S NOTE
 

The character of Gregor MacGregor is fictional. I wanted to base him on a real person, but I was ultimately defeated by the lack of primary source material, and the inconsistencies and gaps in the genealogical charts and clan histories of the time.

The first accepted Chief of Clan Gregor is “Gregor of the Golden Bridles,” who appears on the scene sometime in the mid-fourteenth century. However, there do appear to be “MacGregors” (possibly referred to as MacAlpin at that time) in the traditional three “MacGregor Glens” of Gelnstrae, Glenorchy, and Glenlochy in the thirteenth century, and there is a reference to a John of Glenurchy (Glenorchy), who fought on the patriot side with Wallace and the Lord of Lorn at Dunbar in 1296. John of Glenurchy was taken prisoner after the disastrous Scot defeat, ordered to fight for King Edward in France, and died there, leaving only a young heiress, Margaret (Mariota).

This is where the record becomes very confusing. Margaret, who would have had to be born before 1296/7, was supposedly given in wardship to Neil Campbell (one of Bruce’s staunchest supporters and the brother of Arthur “The Ranger”) and was eventually (again supposedly) married to Neil’s son with Mary Bruce (the king’s sister), Iain/John Campbell, who gained with the marriage the lands of Glenorchy and possibly the barony of Loch Awe—in other words, the MacGregor lands. (Other sources suggest that
the barony was given to Sir Neil and then passed to his first son [by a Crawford wife], Sir Colin.) This will be the first claim by the Campbells to MacGregor lands, which in later centuries will spawn a vicious feud and serve as the subject of my Campbell Trilogy.

Neil Campbell and Mary Bruce weren’t married until after her release from imprisonment (she was one of the women hung in the cages by King Edward), which means John couldn’t have been born until c. 1314. This John Campbell was named the Earl of Atholl by the king after the defection of David Strathbogie (Mary’s son in
The Recruit
), and most records have him married to Joan Menteith (with no reference to Margaret). If John was married to Margaret before Joan when he was very young, she must have died before he married Joan. John Campbell died at the Battle of Halidon in 1333, without issue from either wife, and it seems at this point the lands returned to the MacGregors. In 1390, another John MacGregor of Glenorchy was back on record as the owner of the property at his death.

So what were the MacGregors doing between the death of John of Glenurchy c. 1297 and the appearance of Gregor of the Golden Bridles in the mid-fourteenth century?

The short answer is that it’s hard to say. Clan histories, historical sources, and genealogical sources are all over the place.

A couple of the sources suggest that the MacGregors were not happy about the Campbell claim to their lands through the heiress Margaret and elected a nephew of John of Glenurchy’s named Gregor as chief. At this point, the MacGregors held the glens by “right of sword,” but they were eventually pushed off their land until they were mostly limited to the area of Glenstrae.

Still other sources, including the great historical fiction novelist Nigel Tranter, assert that there was a chief named Malcolm at the time of Bruce who came to the king’s rescue
on his white steed when fleeing the kingdom in 1306, fought at Bannockburn carrying the relics of St. Fillan, and was gravely injured in 1318 at the battle in Ireland when Edward Bruce died. He was possibly the father of Gregor of the Golden Bridles. This Malcolm “the lame lord” is said to have died at an advanced age in 1364.

There are a couple of big problems with this. Aside from clan histories, the evidence of these MacGregors is a mention of Malcolm and Patrick of Glendochart in Ragman Rolls of 1296 (“Malcolum de Glendeghrad” is how the name actually appears). An early nineteenth-century Scottish historian, Donald Gregory, believed they were MacGregors—and apparently many later historians jumped on this—but my go-to historian for the period, Barrows, suggests they were MacNabs.

There are two questions I can’t answer. Even assuming that this hero Malcolm was a MacGregor, how was he related to John of Glenurchy (the chief who was taken prisoner at Dunbar and later died in France)? Was the Glendochart family a different branch, or was Malcolm the son or brother of John of Glenurchy, as some suggest? A son seems very unlikely, given Margaret as the heiress, so a brother makes more sense.

The more difficult question, and why it doesn’t make sense to me that “Malcolm MacGregor” could have been tied so closely to Bruce, is that if he had been, why weren’t the MacGregors rewarded for his support and loyalty like everyone else? It’s clear that the MacGregors (like the Lords of Lorn and MacNabs, with whom they were associated) lost their lands and standing after the Wars of Independence, with Glenorchy going to to the Campbells, at least for a while, and Glendochart going to the Menzies. The really frustrating thing is that many historians write about Malcolm MacGregor as a loyal Bruce adherent, and then in practically the same sentence talk about how the
clan’s fortunes changed after Bannockburn without explanation.

Ultimately, I decided to steer clear of the whole thing by making my Gregor the chieftain of a cadet branch of the family—Malcolm’s nephew—and leaving out references to Chief Malcolm’s alleged heroics. I did, however, get a little inspiration from a possible grandson of Gregor of the Golden Bridles named (surprise!) Gregor—his sobriquet was Gregor Aulin, meaning “perfectly handsome.” How about that! Gregor Aulin was the progenitor of the MacGregors of Roro (“Ruath Shruth,” meaning red stream) in Glenlyon, so that’s where I put my Gregor.

The Dunlyon tower house in the story is fictional, as I couldn’t find any references to early MacGregor strongholds in the area.

The character of Cate is loosely based on Christian of Carrick, one of Robert the Bruce’s six (at least) natural children by various mistresses. Little other than her name is known—making her perfect for my purposes—except that she was receiving a pension in 1329.