Page 84 of Highlander's Wild Lass
“Very true, ye have raised yer brother and sister well since yer dear maither passed. Ye’ve raised them into kind young people, though the twins do get a bit mischievous now and then.”
“Aye.” Celestia laughed. “I daenae see them growin’ out of that.” Behind her, over the castle wall, she heard Auralia’s melodious laughter. “They seem happy here.”
“I think so too, lass. It was a big adjustment and ye have all been through a lot, but I think ye managed it well,” Mrs. Duncan told her, wringing out her cloth and wiping the next few leaves. “And that tutor of theirs has really livened things up in the servants quarter.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “What do ye mean?”
“He’s keen on some of the maids, but that’s nothin’ new. But he’s—” Mrs. Duncan looked past Celestia, toward the forest. “Who is that there?”
Celestia turned and saw two men riding through the woods. The size and the build of one man were unmistakably that of Ryder Koll. “Oh my god,” she muttered, dropping the pail and running out of the garden.
“Celestia—do nae go runnin’—ye are—”
But Celestia didn’t hear the rest of what Mrs. Duncan was saying, all her senses were turned toward the scene before her.
Koll hopped from his horse and grabbed Auralia who had just strayed into the sparse canopy of the woods. She dropped her basket and screamed.
Celestia continued running.
Chester and Hugo sprinted to Auralia, pushing Ryder again and trying to pull Auralia from his hands.
“Auralia!” Celestia screamed. She was too far away, she knew it.
The twins were thrashing him with their fists and kicking him wherever they could without hurting Auralia. Koll passed Auralia off to the second man, who—as Celestia ran closer—looked an awful lot like the delivery driver she fired.
She wasn’t running fast enough.
Koll turned back to the twins, grabbing hold of Chester, and kicking his legs out from under him. He pushed Hugo away and kicked Chester in the stomach while he was trying to get up.
Her lungs were burning, her legs screaming, and she was sure she was going too fast to keep her balance down the small hill to the woods. “Stop!” she cried out. “Stop it!”
Koll landed a punch on Hugo’s face and Celestia was close enough to see blood coming from his nose. Chester was still on the ground, clutching his stomach. With the boys subdued, Koll said something to the boys, grabbed Auralia from his accomplice’s hands, mounted his horse, and rode away.
When she reached the boys, Koll and Auralia were already small in the distance. “Chester!” she said, falling to her knees beside him. “Can ye get up?”
“Aye,” he groaned, “he knocked the wind out of me. Check on Hugo.”
“Here,” Celestia said as she rushed to Hugo, gathering up her skirt to try to help. The blood was rushing from his nose, pooling in his hand as he tried to get it to stop.
“He took Auralia,” Chester said as he stood, clutching his stomach.
“Did he say anythin’ to ye?” Celestia said in a rush. “Why would he take her? We havenae had any trouble with him since Da died.”
“He wants the customer list, Cellie,” Hugo told her, using his sleeve to staunch the blood flow. “He said we can have Auralia back when we turn over the customer list.”
“But,” Chester said, his breath still wheezy, “he kens about the other list as well, he wants that too. Robbie must have told him—that’s who was with him.”
She grabbed Chester and Hugo by their arms and walked them back toward the castle. “I was sure we were careful with it around him.”
“It doesnae help to lay blame anywhere, what are we goin’ to do?”
“We get her back.”
Mrs. Duncan must have alerted Anthony because he met them near the gardens. He eyed the blood now dripping from Hugo’s nose. Anthony look horrified. “Koll?”
Celestia nodded. “He took Auralia too.”
“What!”
