Page 119 of Highlanders for the Holidays
Chapter 16
“Roderick!” Lily called his name as she flung her arms and legs out, desperate to stop her slide toward the edge of the cliff.
When something slammed into her side, she grabbed hold of it. She held on, hugging it to her chest, as rocks and dirt hit her, threatening to take her over the side. When everything stopped moving, her feet were dangling in the air. She spit the dirt out of her mouth, but she could not wipe the dirt from her eyes without letting go. Through the grit, she saw that what had saved her was a stubborn, stunted tree that grew out of the side of the rock face several feet below where the path had been.
The tree trunk she was clinging to was only four or five inches wide. If she could stand on it, she might be able to reach the top of the cliff. She tried to swing her legs up onto it, and gasped when the tree creaked and tilted farther out over the gaping emptiness below her. Her heart beat frantically. How long could she hold on?
Roderick, come find me. She knew he was at the castle and could not hear her, and yet she called his name over and over in her head.
As she hung there, bruised and bleeding and facing certain death, everything became clear to her. The men of her family were feckless. They had taught her the hard lesson that she could not rely on anyone but herself. But Roderick was nothing like them. If he knew she was here, he would save her. He would not hesitate to put her life before his.
The icy rain numbed her fingers, making it increasingly difficult to hold on. But she remembered how Roderick had somehow found her when she was near death on that hillside, and she began to hope.
As the long minutes passed, she thought about how she had prided herself on her strength, and yet had let fear rule her—fear that she would be used, disappointed, pathetic, and heartbroken. Despite what she had overheard outside the cottage, her heart told her that Roderick was worthy of her faith. Finding such a man was an unexpected gift.
A gift she had refused.
And yet she was certain now that he would come for her. Her arms ached from holding herself up, and she had begun to shake violently from the penetrating cold.
She did not have much time left.
* * *
With a heavy heart, Roderick climbed the treacherous steps cut into the side of the cliff in the dark and pouring rain, one more foolish act. He did not know what made him decide to sail back across the inlet as soon as he’d set his grandmother on the shore by the castle, but something compelled him to return. How many times did Lily need to tell him nay before he gave up?
It was after midnight, but she had left a candle in the window, a tiny beacon of light giving him hope on this dismal night. He hesitated outside the door. What more could he say to persuade her? He was out of words.
Apprehension, sudden and urgent, swept over him like a crashing wave. Without knocking, he flung the door open. One glance told him the cottage was empty. The candle had not burned down much, so Lily could not have been gone long.
Where was she? She was in trouble, he knew it.
Roderick.
He heard her voice in his head, pulling him as if a twine connected their hearts. He quickly found his grandmother’s old lantern and a rope and ran back outside. Icy rain pelted his face as he held the lantern high, trying to see into the blackness. On the sharp wind, he heard her call his name again. He had to find her.
Lily, where are ye?
Roderick had never had a vision in his life, but now he saw Lily with her arms wrapped around a small tree as clearly as if she were right in front of him. He sensed her growing weakness, and her deep cold was so real to him that a shiver went up his back. He must find her quickly.
He pushed back his rising panic and searched his memory. As a lad, he had scrambled all over this part of the island, and he knew every inch of the path along the cliff. He must recognize something from his vision that would tell him where she was. In his mind’s eye, he followed the path along the cliff. He remembered seeing a tree bent by the wind and growing sideways out of the rock with its roots clinging to the side of the cliff. That was it.
He knew exactly where she was, and it was not far. He took off at a run down the muddy path, which was quickly turning to ice with the increasing cold.
When he neared the part of the cliff where the tree was, he saw that the path had been washed out.
“Lily! Lily!” he called out as he leaned over the side of the cliff, holding the lantern out.
Amidst the browns and grays of the rocks, the lantern picked up the glint of Lily’s red hair.Jesu.His heart went to his throat when he saw the white surf of the waves crashing two hundred feet below her dangling feet.
“Hold on!” he shouted. “Hold on!”
He set the lantern on the ground close to the edge where it would shed some light on the side of the cliff. As Lily was bound to be too weak to hold a rope, he would have to go down for her. So near the slide, the ground would be unstable. It would be easy to set off another slide, so he would have to be careful and avoid the weakest area as much as he could.
After tying one end of the rope around a boulder and the other around his waist, he started down. He rappelled down the cliff until he was on a level with her, then inched sideways.
“Lily, stay awake!” he shouted when he saw that she had rested her head on the tree trunk.
She did not respond, and he feared she would lose her grip and fall before he could reach her. When he could almost touch her, she lifted her head.
