Page 110 of Stealing Sophie
Chapter 30
“Go after them!” Sir Henry shouted. “What is the matter with you! Not that way—the other way! Idiots,” he muttered.
Sophie hurried along beside him, while a few guards prodded Rob and Neill ahead at a faster pace. A sudden commotion had erupted in the last few minutes, and she leaned as she walked, stretching her neck, trying to see what it was.Runners,a soldier shouted.Rebels,called another.
Now she saw two men, swift shadows in the darkness, running alongside the narrow river. The magistrate and the soldiers saw them as rebels, as a threat. Could it be Connor and another with him? Rob turned then and caught her eye. He thought so too.
“Go after them!” Sir Henry bellowed again, nearly apoplectic, waving his pistol about, shouting commands to the guards. Some of the soldiers had gone in pursuit, calling to the runners to stop, cease, or they would shoot.
Following the guards and prisoners, Campbell pulled her hard over the meadowland, heading for the bridge that spanned the water. The structure was unfinished, she saw, lacking a layer of cobbled stone and a complete parapet. But it looked stout enough for crossing.
She realized, then, that they had come to the west end of Glen Carran. Kinnoull House sat atop a hill, just there, twilight colors flashing in its glass windows. Campbell would take them there—that made sense. First, they would need to cross the new bridge.
Reaching the stone apron, they walked up the slight rise of bridge’s arch, Campbell shoving her along. From here, she could see the winding course of the river and the long span of the glen in both directions. To the west, soldiers were chasing the two men running hell for leather toward Kinnoull’s hill.
Campbell was mightily distracted, and Sophie was able to edge toward the stone parapet on the east side to look down. She wondered if Connor was running out there, or if he lingered somewhere along the bank. She thought he had been heading for the water earlier. Leaning out a bit, she glanced down.
Movement below—an arm, a shoulder in the darkness along the bridge plinth. She was certain now. Straightening, she turned to Campbell.
“Sir Henry, I must sit and rest!” She spoke loudly, hoping to be heard by the man below the bridge. “Where are we going?”
“That way,” Campbell growled. “Come ahead.”
“My ankle hurts,” she said. “I must have twisted it. Let me rest for a moment.”
Campbell snarled something, but released her and turned away to talk to the guards. Casually, she sat, picked up a bit of loose stone, and leaning slightly over, dropped it into the water. It splashed. She peered down.
Someone was there, under the stone pier, out of sight of all but her because of the angle of her view. She glimpsed a shoulder, an arm, soon gone.
“Look! Have the guards caught those men?” she asked, and Campbell and the others looked that way, as she had hoped they would. She dropped another small stone into the water and leaned forward as far as she dared.
Connor looked up at her and motioned sharply.Go,he mouthed.Go!
She shook her head slightly. He mouthed a word, pointed fiercely.Now!
Calmly she turned away. For some reason, her husband wanted them to leave the bridge. Then she recalled the night she had ridden this way after leaving Kinnoull House—men tumbling into the water, followed by her abduction. Connor and the others had collapsed the bridges that evening. With a start, she realized he intended to destroy the new bridge, where she and the others stood now.
Campbell came toward her. She stood, blocking his view. “Ready?” he asked.
“Could we hurry off this bridge now? I feel ill. Perhaps it is the height.”
“Jesu,” Campbell growled. “Women.”
“Leave my sister be,” Rob called. “One of the guards can take her back to Duncrieff from here. You have no quarrel with her.”
“Oh, but I do,” Campbell answered.
“I want to get off the bridge.” She wished she could look down. “May we go?”
“She cuckolded me with another, but she is still my betrothed,” Campbell told Rob, while he stared at Sophie. “But I am willing to forgive. Hold where you are, Duncrieff, do not move from there.” He pointed his pistol as Rob strained forward.
“You have Kinnoull House. You took it from the MacPhersons. Do you intend to do the same with the MacCarrans?” Rob asked.
“I saw a rare opportunity to lead the clan, I admit. But your father died, and you filled his shoes sooner than I thought. And you are even more a rebel than your father. Too many Highlanders are flocking to the Stuart cause, and the MacCarrans are solidly among them. They have some influence among their Highland peers. I mean to guide them toward better wisdom.”
“That is madness,” Rob said. “You would never influence my clan.”
“Truly, we must go!” Sophie pushed Campbell, who sent her a furious glare.
