Page 91 of The Defiance of a Scottish Heart
“That’s why I’m here. Roger disappeared from Mull.”
“I think he was just here,” Broc said, looking around him and back at Taskill. “Wasn’t he?”
“Aye,” Taskill said just as the thought occurred to him. “Shite.”
“What?” Tristan asked.
“He came in for cloth and rope.” Taskill took off on a dead run toward the archery field, Broc and Tristan behind him.
The door in the gate was open, the lasses’ bows on the ground inside the wall. The men stepped outside and found something more frightening than anything.
Naught.
No sign of Merryn or Sheona and numerous horse hoofprints in the dirt.
Broc let out a wail that brought ten men toward him.
Taskill couldn’t believe it.
One thought of Sheona being gone, and he felt like vomiting all over the ground.
He was in love.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sheona
Sheona woke up in a dingy old cottage, her hands still tied behind her back, on her side on a bed. The disgusting cloth was out of her mouth, one small improvement with their predicament. She peeked around the chamber, rolling from one side to the other, happy to find a lump on the bed next to her. “Merryn,” she whispered. She was certain it was her friend.
No reply. She used her shoulder to push against the person’s back. “Merryn, wake up.”
A muffled sound told her this person was indeed Merryn and while she could be badly hurt, she wasn’t dead. Sheona could see the lass’s hands were tied behind her back as well.
The lump moved and rolled over to face her. Merryn’s confused face stared at her. “What happened?”
“Roger and Clyde. I saw them both with two other men. I don’t know where they are, but we’re in some small cottage.” She pulled and tugged against the bindings on her hands, but they didn’t budge.
But her feet were not bound. Thank the Lord above, she could climb off the bed.
She did, moving over to the door and leaning her ear against the worn wood. She heard voices but couldn’t make out anything. Merryn sat up, staring at her wide-eyed, so Sheona moved over next to her. “Don’t say anything. We don’t want them back in here.”
“What exactly happened?” Merryn whispered. “Tell me everything.”
“Roger hit me over the head. Clyde was there too. Threw us both on horses. I’m trying to listen to what they are saying so I know what they have planned for us. I have no idea where we are.”
The voices grew louder, more heated, so Sheona said, “Hush! I’ll go listen.”
The one she knew as Clyde said, “I’m going in to sample my wench. You do what you wish, but I’ve waited long enough.”
“The chief will make you pay. She’s merchandise now.”
“She was promised to me long ago.”
“That was one mean brother she had,” the second one said.
The door flew open and a voice she didn’t recognize said, “The ship has arrived. Bring them down now.”
Clyde said, “We’ll bring them in half the hour. They aren’t awake yet.”
