Page 31 of Keeping Kate
Now she knew him. MacDonald had been in the London court, too, as Fraser’s opponent in the swordsmanship demonstration. Her thoughts whirled. This was trouble indeed. Both men could place her in the royal court, increasing the threat of treason if Fraser also identified her as the girl in his tent who attempted to steal documents. That would spell Jacobite intrigue for certain.
She looked around, increasingly desperate, and saw a tangle of trees and underbrush edging a track that led between a pathway of slopes. Glancing up, she saw black mountains, feathered in mist, thrusting into the night sky. She recognized the profile of those hills: they bordered Perthshire from the north.
Home—Glen Carran and Duncrieff Castle—lay west of those peaks and was approachable from here. A day’s walk between a gap in the range of hills would bring her to the glen. Her brother, Robert MacCarran, chief of their clan, would be at Duncrieff even now. Her sister, Sophie, would be nearby, having recently married Connor MacPherson of Kinnoull, whose Highland property was not far from Duncrieff. Anywhere in that long, narrow, beautiful glen, she would find kin and clansmen willing to hide and protect her.
If she could reach them, she would be safe. And she had to bring word to them that she had seen Ian Cameron, who was on his way to trial and perhaps execution. He had left a message with her about the hiddle cache of weaponry, and she must get that word to her kinsmen.
Overwhelmed by a strong need to go home, Kate sighed and tried to pull away.
“What is it?” MacDonald asked in Gaelic.
“Nothing,” she replied. “I am only weary.”
He squeezed her shoulder but kept her tightly against him, a strong bond she could not easily break. Just moments later, Fraser emerged from the trees. Her heart leaped inexplicably to see him, tall and handsome in moonlight and shadows; in the dark tartan and regimental red, he exuded wildness and authority together.
But any hint of the romantic warrior dissolved when he went straight to the chaise, opened the door, and retrieved the manacles and chains. He dumped them into a canvas satchel that he pulled out of the luggage catchall at the back of the chaise and came toward them.
“How many were in pursuit, did you see?” he asked MacDonald. Kate stood glaring at Fraser, thinking about those chains, but he barely glanced at her.
“Six or eight. We lost them coming down here. They rode past.”
“They will be back. But that was well done, Jack.”
“Well done?” Kate said. “You could have killed us all, Jack MacDonald!”
“I did what I had to do,” Jack said in English. “We needed to lose the soldiers.”
“I thought they were our escort,” she said.
“Not exactly. Did you want to go with them?” Fraser took her arm as he spoke. “Jack, go on ahead with the chaise. We will walk from here.”
“I am not walking to Edinburgh,” Kate snapped. “Tell me what is going on here.”
“Later,” Fraser said curtly.
Kate punched him in the arm—a petulant, futile, impulsive gesture, but she felt helpless, tired, and annoyed. Fraser sent her an irritated glance and put a hand on the canvas satchel. Realizing what he indicated, she backed away. Jack caught her as she turned to run.
“Huh! A walk with this lass would be a stroll with a wild cat,” Jack grunted. “You take the chaise, Alec. I can take charge of her.”
“You would enjoy it too much. She would convince you to run off somewhere and I would never find either of you again. We are due in Edinburgh soon, and we will go.”
“Ach, the lad does love his rules,” MacDonald whispered loudly to Kate. “He likes his army commission, he does. But he has a wildness, too, that he will not rely on.”
Kate blinked at Jack, then Fraser. “Wild? I do not see it.”
“Nor I. But it is there.”
“If you two will stop chatting,” the captain drawled, “we will leave now. I will meet you at MacLennan’s, not far from here. If they see you on the road, they will stop you, and best we are not in the carriage.”
Kate looked up. “Is MacLennan another wicked regimental officer?”
“MacLennan’s Change-house. An inn,” Fraser said. “It has good stables and is owned by friends.”
“Yours or mine?” she asked. Jack laughed.
“Take the chaise and go,” Fraser said. “Lead the soldiers as far away as you can.”
“I will lose them in the hills and meet you tonight.”
“Be careful, lad.”
“Tell my bonny Jeanie MacLennan I will see her soon.”
“You had best keep your promise to her this time,” Fraser said ominously. Jack grinned and went back to the chaise and waiting horses.
Guiding Kate with him, Fraser headed toward the pass between the hills. He seemed calm and cool, but his hand was tight on her arm. She felt urgency there, his grip taut and tense. Behind them, Jack clucked softly to the horses as he turned them, and the vehicle began its way up the earthen track and back to the road.
