Page 40 of The Highlander's Inconvenient Wife
He was nearly at the gates when a carriage came racing up to the castle at breakneck speed, causing the men to scatter in all manner of directions. Several soldiers dove into the bushes in an attempt to avoid being crushed by the wheels. Frowning, he looked back to see the castle gates opening and his mother come running out with her dress pulled up over her boots.
“Jasper!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she ran toward him. “I cannae find Joan anywhere; ye have to help me find her!” she cried out in a panic before even reaching his side. “She’s nae in the castle; something terrible has happened.”
Holding out his arm, Jasper held her back as the carriage came to a sudden and abrupt halt a few feet away. The doors burst open, revealing a large man with striking black hair. The scowl on his face let Jasper know that he meant business.
“Where is Joan Moore?” he yelled angrily as he stepped from the carriage and advanced, allowing a blonde woman to follow suit. She was far smaller in stature, yet her eyes held the same fierceness as his.
“Who is asking?” Jasper barked angrily as he ignored the confused way his mother was looking from the newcomers to him. Everything had happened so quickly that there was no time to explain what was going on at present. Even if he could, which wasn’t the case, he was just as confused as his mother. The whole of Scotland seemed to be looking for Joan Moore.
“Laird MacKinnon,” the man called back as the woman came to his side, protectively looping her arm through his. “I demand that ye release the English lass that ye have taken captive. I dinnae wish to fight, but I will if I have to.”
“We only wish to get her back safely,” the woman spoke in an English accent that was very similar to Joan’s. “She’s a friend of ours.”
Martha raised her hands to her mouth in shock as she suddenly realized who they were. Hurrying past her son despite his protests and attempts to hold her back, she addressed both of them. “Ye must be Avery and Darragh; Joan has said so much about ye,” she looked from one to the other. “Please forgive us for nae realizing this sooner; we have just had an unexpected attack on the castle.”
Darragh and Avery exchanged confused glances as they looked at Martha and Jasper. The air seemed to be filled with confusion on either side of the situation.
The man atop the carriage suddenly scurried from his seat and pointed an accusing finger at Jasper. “Don’t try and deny it; it was your men that took her captive when we took a wrong turn! You have her!” he cried in a croaky voice that was all but gone. The man looked as if he hadn’t slept in days.
Deciding that things were escalating far too quickly for his liking, Jasper came forward and introduced himself. “I am Laird MacShaw; it is true that Joan was here, but she isnae here anymore,” he cut to the chase in an attempt to save time. He needed to pursue Joan’s captors as soon as he could, and the only way he was going to be able to achieve that was if everyone agreed not to fight.
“He’s lying!” the dishevelled and red-faced coachman cried out, nearly falling to his knees from exhaustion before gripping Darragh’s arm and hanging on for dear life. “He’s keeping the young Miss!”
“Why don’t you go and sit in the carriage while we handle things from here,” Avery said kindly as she led the man away by his arm. He muttered incoherently through his sobs as he allowed himself to be led away.
“Did her letter nae arrive?” Jasper asked with a frown; he couldn’t understand why things had gotten so out of hands when she’d written to them, unless their castle was clean on the other side of Scotland which he doubted very much.
“What letter?” Darragh clenched his jaw as he narrowed his eyes. The man didn’t seem to trust very easily, not that Jasper blamed him for that; it was better not to trust anyone than to end up in positions that would only cause harm.
“We only received one letter from Joan,” Avery said as she shut the carriage door and hurried back to the conversation. “She said she was coming to the castle, but she never arrived. She didn’t mention anything else about stopping along the way or why she was running.”
Things were becoming increasingly more confusing as no-one could understand what the other party was saying.
“We waited and waited for her, but she never came; it wasn’t until a few hours ago that her betrothed showed up looking for her,” Avery said with a frown.
“Aye,” Darragh confirmed what his wife was saying. “He just left when her coachman came to say that she had been taken captive by yer men.”
Jasper clenched his jaw at the mention of betrothed. The scoundrel had obviously taken advantage of everyone’s ignorance and showed up at the castle in an attempt to take Joan away with him.
“It’s true that she had been mistakenly taken as a prisoner.” He decided he had to be upfront if they were going to get anywhere. “She wasn’t in the dungeon for very long until we cleared the matter. She wrote ye a letter to explain; it must have gotten lost in the mail. As for her betrothed, she doesnae have one. The man is a liar that tried to trap her into marriage.”
“Oh no,” Avery raised her hand to her throat. “We were right not to trust him.” She looked at Darragh. “I knew there was something strange about the man; Joan would never have agreed to marry him.” She looked at the ground as she tried to think. “I wonder if he didn’t perhaps intercept the letter so that we wouldn’t know that’s she was here.”
“It isnae likely,” Darragh added. “He would have had to ken that Joan would be here, an’ by the coachman’s account, they had taken a wrong turn. She didnae even ken that she would end up here.”
“I’m afraid that I am at fault here,” Martha suddenly spoke up with a sigh and stepped forward. She had been standing silently by while everyone spoke, her eyes downcast and her hand in the pocket of her apron.
“Maither?” Jasper turned to her and folded his arms over his chest before cocking his head to the side.
“I took the letter from the study a’fore it could be posted,” she admitted sheepishly as she shook her head. “I can see now that I caused far more trouble than was necessary with me actions.” She removed the letter from her apron pocket and handed it to Avery. “I’ve been keepin’ it on me person until I was ready to send it off.”
“Why on earth would ye do that?” Jasper felt exasperated at her sudden admission of guilt. He knew his mother sometimes did things that made no sense to him, but this was beyond even his understanding.
“Ye were gettin’ along so well with the beautiful lass.” She lifted her eyes and spoke with conviction. “I wanted to give ye a chance to get to ken her before she went on to her friends. I thought perhaps…” her voice trailed off as they all looked at her.
“Perhaps what?” Jasper asked her, and she shut her eyes and sighed.
“That ye would fall in love an’ realize that ye are more than just yer scar,” she said honestly as she looked into his eye. “Joan is a beautiful soul; I would love to have her around on a permanent basis. Ye smiled for the first time in years on the day she came, even if it was just a small one.”
