Page 45 of The Shadow of a Laird
“Please don’t worry—I explained it myself. She has left the village and I doubt you will ever see her again.” She paused, then asked: “Gavin, am I so repulsive? Is the prospect of being my husband so repellant to you that you have to reject me for another woman?”
Gavin stood looking at her, unable to explain that his heart only had space for Maura. So he just looked at Elspeth with steely resolve in his eyes. He had to think of his people.
“I will be the best wife for you,” she replied, “but do not think I will forgive you a second time, Gavin.”
19
Maura had left Ardneuk and began the long trek back to Carmalcolm, travelling through another freezing night. She had stayed in Ardneuk for an extra day precisely to avoid this extra journey, but it seemed that fate was telling her again and again that she and Gavin must stay away from each other.
She sighed yet again as she jumped over a narrow burn, almost drenching her feet in the process, but by some miracle Maura managed to keep them out of the water. Every time she started to think about Gavin, she resolutely put him out of her mind; she needed to put him behind her and think of the future now.
Perhaps there would be a farmer, or a stonemason, or a butcher, or any ordinary young working man out there who would marry her and make her happy. There might even be children, and she smiled at the thought. She had always wanted children, and she was not too old, even though most girls her age were married.
Yes, she thought,I will be happy.
Somewhere out there was a steady man ready to look after her. She would not look for a great love affair, just fondness and friendship.
Having made her resolution, Maura carried on walking determinedly onwards. She knew that it would be a long journey, but she was strong. The thought gave her a little cheer; she would not allow herself to succumb to sadness and self-pity. She was better than that.
Gavin was sitting tenselyon his stallion, gazing at the forbidding towers of Duncairn Castle with a cauldron of anger simmering inside him. He wished with all his heart that he could have laid his hands on the man who had started the uprising that had upturned not only his life, but that of the villagers under his care. He would make him sorry he had ever been born!
A treaty with both Lairds’ signatures on it had been signed, and they had sealed it with a blood oath, and now the Jamieson garrison was sitting around him. However, although they were all devoted to him, there were precious few of them, and despite his arrangement with Laird Jamieson, Gavin knew he could not expect the same level of loyalty from troops who were not his own.
Members of the garrison had been keeping the castle under surveillance for some days, and they knew when the shifts changed, when the lights were lit, who routinely went in and out at what times.
A picture had emerged of all the comings and goings there, and the watchers now had the knowledge to attack when the castle was most sparsely defended. Gavin had known the old way things were done, of course, but the new residents had imposedtheir own routines, ones which made no sense at all to him. He reflected that his father must be turning in his grave.
Nevertheless, the Jamieson garrison had one thing that was massively in their favour—the element of surprise. When the guards at Duncairn were attacked, they literally would not know what had hit them. Gavin relished the thought of looking into their eyes as he punished each one, and he growled savagely, gritting his teeth at the thought.
A small group of guards had already sneaked downhill, using the few trees for cover, to take a closer look at the castle and report back. They told Gavin that the Duncairn Guard was standing by ready for action, and were more numerous than the Ardneuk soldiers of Laird Jamieson.
“Obviously, the rebels have recruited more men,” Gavin remarked. “I have only a small number of guards with me. This could be a problem.”
Laird Jamieson nodded in agreement. “We have surprise on our side, but that will not last long, and neither will it be a weapon against superior forces,” he observed. “We will have to think of something else to augment the strength of our attack.”
They both thought for a while, and as Gavin looked at the structure of the big building, he began to visualise a route through the maze of corridors and rooms on the inside. He knew every inch of Duncairn Castle inside out, no one knew it as well as he did.
As he was mentally going over his route around the castle, using all his concentration as he stared at the distantbuilding, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see a most welcome face.
“Archie,” he cried, laughing in delight as he hugged his friend. “I am so glad to see you! Where did you come from?”
“I’ve been hidin’ with a friend o’ my family, daein’ work on his farm in exchange for my keep,” he replied, grinning. “An’ inmy free time I have been keepin’ an eye on the castle. When I saw the Jamieson scouts, I knew you’d be close.”
“You are a marvel”, Gavin hugged him again, then introduced him to Laird Jamieson. “My Laird, meet Archie Carmichael, my close friend, faithful Captain of the Guard, and one of the best men I know. He saved me that fateful night.”
Archie saluted Laird Jamieson, who nodded to him and smiled. “I have heard a lot about you, Captain,” he remarked. “It’s good to finally meet you. I hope you can help us.”
“It is my duty, M’Laird,” the captain said stoutly.
Laird Jamieson looked impressed at the other man’s staunchly loyal attitude, and said, “Good man,” before turning away to speak to some of his own men.
Gavin turned to Archie. “I think you have made a friend,” he observed.
“I wouldnae like tae make an enemy o’ that man,” Archie said, frowning. Then he became brisk. “Have ye made a plan, M’Laird?”
Gavin tutted. “Have I not told you to call me Gavin?”
Archie frowned, then laughed. “Well,Gavin,” he said, “What are ye thinkin’ about? Stormin’ the castle? Doesnae look like a good idea tae me.”
