Page 33 of Taming the Highland Misfits
“As if it was yesterday,” she replied, laughing. “I was so angry with you!” Then her face grew serious again. “You are right, Finley. I will not be left out, I do not want to be useless. Tell me what I can do.”
Finley nodded. “Your intended is a very bad man, Isla,” he began. “I have heard that he can be very brutal wi’ women, an’ he has harmed some o’ the women so badly they have moved tae other villages. He might even have committed a few rapes, an’ I am sure that if he marries ye your life will be a misery. Both father an’ son are evil through an’ through.”
“I never thought of Iain Crawford as evil until you began to talk about him,” Isla admitted. “I have heard he is repulsive, and the thought of him makes my flesh creep, but at times I actually felt sorry for him because he was apparently so ugly.”
“Ugly on the outside,” Finley growled, “but even uglier on the inside. They have got tae be stopped, Isla.” He stood up and went to put another log on the fire. “As well as that, we have tae get ye out o’ your engagement. You dinnae want tae marry Iain Crawford, an’ I will dae everythin’ I can tae make sure ye dinnae have tae.”
“I would be very grateful for that.” Isla sighed, then asked: “what is your plan? Are you just going to kill him?”
“No,” Finley sat down beside her and looked into her eyes steadily. “I need ye tae help me, an’ for that I need ye tae be close tae Iain for a while. But Isla, if ye feel ye cannae dae it then tell me an’ we can think o’ somethin’ else.
Isla contemplated the idea of being close to Iain Crawford. She had never been close to him, so she had only a vague idea of what he looked like, but even from a distance he had repelled her. “How close do I have to be to him?” she asked cautiously. “I cannot bear the thought of being near the man, but I will do whatever I must to be free of him forever.” Her voice was gritty with determination.
“We will have tae go tae the village first,” Finley told her. “An’ then, Isla, ye will have tae get close tae Iain Crawford an’ get him tae tell ye where his father’s money is. I am sorry, but that is the only way I can think o’ tae dae it, but as I said, we can try tae think o’ some other plan if ye really cannae stomach the thought o’ bein’ near him.”
“I will see it through, Finley.” Isla raised her chin in a gesture of determination. “If that is what it takes to be rid of him forever I will do it.”
“I will be watchin’ ye every minute I can, Isla,” Finley assured her. “I willnae pretend tae ye that there is nae danger, but.” Again he looked at her doubtfully.
“I am ready for it,” Isla assured him with a grim smile.
“I think ye are such a brave woman tae help me out in this way.” His eyes glowed with admiration for her, and if Isla had not loved him already, she would have fallen in love with him at that moment.
“Don’t thank me too much,” she replied wryly. “I am not just doing it for you.”
Finley reached out his arms and hugged her again, and for a moment Isla thought it might lead to a kiss, but he let her go quickly and turned away, leaving her feeling slightly bereft.
Finley sat down again, then he thoroughly explained his plan. “As ye know, the local Laird, Laird Mullen, is not only the landlord, but our magistrate, an’ it is he who will decide the fate o’ these two an’ the gang. That is goin’ tae be a problem as well; I am one o’ them, an’ although I have changed my ways, I am still a criminal, even though naebody knows.
“I do,” Isla reminded him. “But I will not be telling anyone.”
“I know.” He smiled at her, then his face took on another troubled frown. “But I will know, Isla.”
“You are a good man, Finley,” Isla told him, taking his hands in hers. “I know that. But so is Laird Mullen. He has had some dealings with my father—strictly on business matters—and I have come to know him a little. I always wished he was my father, and I will beg him on my hands and knees to save your life if I have to. I will not let you hang.”
Finley nodded, but he still looked grim. Then he jerked his attention back to the matter at hand, although the question of his guilt lingered at the back of his mind for a long time afterwards. “We need tae get ye close tae Iain Crawford again, hen,” he said determinedly. “But as I said, I will always be as close as I can. Then ye can find out where he keeps his money, if ye can stomach his presence for as long as that. Are ye absolutely sure ye can dae this, Isla?”
Isla nodded firmly. “I will do whatever I can to help, as I told you before, Finley.” She put up a hand to touch his cheek. “I will allow him to kiss me, but nothing more. He is a big man, but he is not as strong as you. I have watched soldiers at the Laird’s castle in training, since my father wanted me to make friends with the Laird’s daughter, so I know all your weak spots, and I imagine he has more of them than most. Yes, for the hundredth time, Finley, I can do this.”
“Ye are the bravest woman I know,” he murmured. “But I think I can teach ye a few more things that will bring him down without too much tryin’ on your part. Come outside.”
Finley took Isla’s hand, then, for the rest of the long evening, he proceeded to show her some self-defence moves that were both sneaky and did not require too much physical strength.
Isla was amazed. She had just been shown how to bend one of Finley’s fingers back in such a way that it caused him the most pain with the least effort on her part. Once more, she was astounded that he knew so much, and had taught her yet another skill.
“This is astonishing!” she marvelled. “These tricks are so simple, yet so effective.” She looked up at him in admiration. “You never cease to amaze me, Finley McGill.” She felt suddenly as if she was in a partnership with him, part of a little team who would go forth and set the world to rights.
He laughed, his blue eyes shining as he looked at her. Finley was finding it harder and harder to resist Isla, and the emotions she stirred up in him were not gentle. He was not just fond of her: he was completely, utterly and madly in love with her.
He was so close to her that it was natural for him to pull her towards him and kiss her. It was not a passionate kiss, just a sweet touch and caress of lips, but it stirred both of their passions. Finley broke it first, a little shocked that his body had taken control of his mind for a moment; sometimes he found Isla irresistible. Somehow he summoned up a reason for the kiss. “Now we have sealed our pact,” he said firmly.
A declaration of his feelings was out of the question, however. Isla deserved much better than a bandit, even if he had turned his back on that life forever. No, she was far too good for the likes of him.
As he watched her walking into the cottage, his body reacted in the way a man’s should when seeing the object of his desire, and his spirits dropped; she would never be his.
15
After breakfast, they saddled up their horses and Finley looked around to make sure that the house was securely locked up, and everything that could be stolen was locked away. For the first time he showed Isla a small underground storage space he had dug underneath the stables where he kept some of the treasures he had stolen in his heyday as a bandit.
