Page 49 of The Burden of a Scottish Chieftain
“Who was that?” Alasdair asked. “I couldn’t hear him.”
Connor said, “I don’t think I wish to hear your answer, Logan.”
“I believe that was Meg’s betrothed. Looking for a lass who was taken captive. Said she was the baron’s betrothed. I hope they don’t travel to Mull,” Logan said, watching the group as they took their leave.
Connor said, “Naught like a score of Englishmen to convince MacVey to stake his claim.” He grinned, and Logan snorted.
“Could be good if he went to Mull. I think we all know that MacVey will never let her go.”
Alasdair said, “The baron’s men are on the move. We need to make it back to Mull before they decide to head there. Let MacVey know he’s coming for her. And let Meg know too. I wouldn’t let her go with him. Arrogant bastard didn’t even have the bollocks to speak himself. Made his second speak for him. I knew it was him hiding behind the others.”
“Da would never have done so,” Connor said. “He believed in leading his men wherever they went.”
“That’s why your sire has the reputation he has, and that fat arse couldn’t even move his mount forward to speak with us.” Logan spit off to the side. “Do you think he has anything to do with the bairns?”
Connor and Alasdair answered in unison. “Nay.”
Connor continued, “He’s only got one thing on his mind, and it’s getting Meg with child. We have to warn Meg. Move along, Logan. Finish what we came for, then we’ll deal with the baron and his men. If I need to send the rest of my guards after him, I’ll do it before we cross the firth again.”
The group headed northeast of Oban and found the cave without any problem.
Logan said, “It’s exactly where MacVey told me it would be. I see evidence of bairns in the area, grass trampled in clumps. Bairns always move close together.” Once they left, he added,“Remember, they were on foot. We should be there by the end of the day as long as we don’t take many wrong turns.”
“Agreed,” Connor said.
They followed just off the main path, Logan tracking for heavily trampled grass and small broken branches about the height of the bairns. There hadn’t been much rain since then, only drizzle, so he could still see where they’d traveled.
Just after high sun, the odor of a dead body reached them. Logan pointed to an area behind a group of trees. “There. The bastard is in there.”
Connor dismounted and headed in that direction. Logan said, “I’ll stay mounted. Check him up close to make sure he looks like Hairy.”
Connor led the way, his nephew behind him, but neither were prepared for what they found. Connor hadn’t seen anything like it before, the axe sticking straight up from the dead man’s forehead. “Damn, but that lass can shoot an axe.”
“She left it too,” Alasdair said.
Connor snorted. “I couldn’t hit a man like that if I practiced for two moons. What the hell? I’m impressed.”
Alasdair chuckled. “MacVey better make her his soon. If he doesn’t, someone else will be looking to take her as a wife. Any Highlander would steal a feisty lass like Meg for a bride. He better not let Broc get to know her.”
They headed back to Logan, Alasdair explaining the best he could. “Axe planted right in the middle of a forehead, with long hair sticking up, down, and everywhere. And aye, I checked the ears. I’m quite sure he’s Hairy Herbert.”
Logan grinned. “Then we’re headed in the right direction.”
Connor took the reins of Logan’s horse and led him to the right spot. “You have to see it for yourself. The lass has deadly aim.”
Logan whistled when he saw the body. “She must have had another axe. MacVey said she nearly hit him with one.”
Alasdair joined them. “MacVey got hit with a different kind, an arrow straight to his heart. My guess is he wants to make her his, but she’s too unsettled to accept him. Emmalin was the same after all she’d been through.”
Logan turned his horse and headed back toward the path. “I think MacVey will get exactly what he wants. My guess is he’s been waiting for her. You both know how chieftains are. Won’t settle for just a pretty face. Lasses would never guess that the way they fire an axe will get a husband faster than a pretty dress.”
“Or how fast they can fire five arrows.”
“Or the fact that they dare to stand toe to toe with a man and are not easily intimidated. Being as sickly as she was and still holding up the axe is a sign of a powerful constitution. Reminds me of Sela.” Connor smiled at the memory of his wife when they’d first met in Inverness.
“And Emmalin.”
“My Gwynie.” Logan smiled. “When you find a lass with that kind of internal strength, you cannot let her go.”
