Page 46 of Claimed By the Heartless Highlander
“I didnae. But I was missin’ ye.” Ailis sighed and leaned back against the wall.
“What are we goin’ to do?”
Ailis smiled at the youngster leaning trustingly against her. “Well, Lily-love, there’s nae much to do until either the Laird comes, or until yer faither comes to find us. So, until then, we’ll have to entertain ourselves.”
“With stories?”
“Or fun thoughts.”
“Like what?” Lily looked up at her trustingly.
“Like…” Ailis racked her brain for a moment. “Puppy names. They’re almost old enough to be named, and in a few weeks, they’ll be weaned, and ye can ask yer faither to let ye have one.”
“I like thinkin’ of puppy names.” Lily smiled and began to list names.
Ailis let her chatter, interjecting here and there to show the child that she was still listening.
Her mind, however, was on far more concerning matters. She hadn’t recognized the tartan the guards were wearing. Nor was she certain when, or if, Duncan would know she’d been captured.
Surely, he would realize that Lily was missing, if he hadn’t already. And he would come for his child, whether he came for Ailis or not.
Ailis could only hope that he’d be able to rescue them. And that, after all the strife between them, he’d still want to reclaim her.
CHAPTER18
Duncan knewthe wisest course was to wait for the troops to assemble, but he couldn’t stand still for that long. He wanted to find Lily. He distracted himself for a time by tracking the horse she’d apparently been taken on.
The tracks led in the general direction of Fraser lands, and for a brief moment, he considered following them all the way to their destination. But he knew from experience that the rider wasn’t taking the most direct route. True, a single rider could make good time cutting across the Highlands if they knew the lands, but an armed force would make better time going a different way.
His best option would be to start on the road toward Clan MacDean, then follow a smaller path that broke away about a candlemark’s ride from the current castle.
He wasn’t sure how much of a headstart Lily’s abductor had, and he would need to use every advantage to bring his forces to bear as soon as possible.
Once he had a plan in mind, he buckled on his armor, left Jack to gather his men, and rode away from the castle with two of his best warriors at his side.
The irony of following the path his betrothed had taken only a few hours before wasn’t lost on him.
The first hour was quiet, leaving him with nothing to do save thinking of Ailis and his fears for Lily as he guided his horse down the track at a ground-eating trot.
He was nearing the fork he’d need to take when two riders emerged from the woods. For a moment, his heart leaped. Had Ailis somehow heard…?
As quickly as his hopes had risen, they were crushed. The man was wearing MacDean tartan, and the woman was dark-haired and far too tall to be Ailis. Still, he reined his horse in as a sudden thought struck him.
Lily was adept at escaping her minders when she wanted to. Even if she had been taken, there was a chance she might have realized something was wrong and run away. And if that was the case, even if she avoided people she didn’t know, she might have been seen.
It was also true that a man riding alone with a child might have caught the attention of any other travelers if her abductor had taken the main roads. And there was still the very slim possibility that Jack was right and she’d somehow convinced a guard to let her join Ailis. The pair riding toward him were on the right road, which meant that they should have encountered Ailis at some point.
He brought his horse to a halt, on guard as he noted the man’s scarred face. He was clearly an experienced warrior.
Duncan forced himself to be courteous as he addressed them. “Excuse me. Have ye seen a small child on the road? Alone or accompanied by a man on a horse or a woman?”
“We havenae.” The man shook his head. “And why would ye be askin’ such a thing, stranger?”
“I’m searchin’ for a child. She was under me care, and she’s gone missin’. I found a gate to the moors unlatched and her minder asleep.”
Without knowing who these two were, Duncan wasn’t about to reveal the full truth of the circumstances.
“Well, we’ve nae seen a child, but we’re in need of information ourselves,” the woman spoke. “This road, does it lead to the current residence of Laird Muir?”
