Forget Me Not, My Scottish Love by Allie Palomino
Chapter Thirty-Seven
They rode quickly. Every one of the men wanted this part of their lives to come to an end.
Cameron raised his fist in the air. They halted. He turned to Keith and Aidan and communicated silently. Cameron’s eyes searched for Rory, and waived two fingers in front of his eyes and pointed. Rory nodded and dismounted his horse, disappearing into the trees. They waited there mere moments before they saw his return. Cameron dismounted to speak to him. Aidan and Keith followed suit.
“I count twenty Englishmen.”
“Soldiers?”
“Aye, Laird.”
“What are they doing journeying to Scotland?”
Cameron was silent for a moment. “I doona know, Keith.”
“Are they dispersed over the terrain or in a group for a respite?”
“Nay, Laird. They’re moving on horseback in one large group, seeming as if they’re protective of something. They are vigilant and moving quickly.”
The brothers shared a look.
“This is what we will do. Keith, take one hundred men, and surround them on the eastern side. Make a wide path around them so they do not hear ye. The same goes for ye, Aidan, only on the west.” He paused and looked at Rory. “Ye, my friend, stay behind the English.”
Surprise lit Rory’s eyes at the honor Cameron was bestowing on him.
“Aye. Ye’ve been a great warrior, Rory. Lead one hundred behind them. I will take the remaining men, and ride at a neck-breaking pace to bypass them and meet them at the front. I doona know what brings them into Scotland, but it cannot be anything good.”
The men nodded and broke the warriors up accordingly. Cameron moved his contingency forward and rode like birds soaring in the sky.
“Halt!”
The English leader was the one who spoke. The small group stopped and looked around as the trees seemed to move, giving way to hundreds of Scottish warriors.
“Damn it.” English leader swore.
“Ye’re surrounded. State yer purpose before we retaliate.”
The leader looked at Cameron. “We seek passage through the land to Laird MacPerson.”
“What purpose d’ye have to seek me?”
The leader’s eyes widened, and he squinted in an effort to see Cameron better.
“We’ve something of yers,” he stammered.
At their leader’s nod, the soldiers parted. In the middle of them were three women on horseback. Cameron’s eyes identified Diane immediately. Next to her was another woman, whose hair was in disarray. She gripped what look like a poppet in one hand. On the other side of the woman, was an older woman whose appearance was neat and tidy.
Cameron dismounted and approached Diane as if the enemy hadn’t been paces away.
“Diane. I am relieved ye are alive.” His smile reflected true warmth. It was difficult to look at her, for Abby had born a striking and uncanny resemblance to her mother.
The woman in the middle shook her head. Diane spoke soft words to her. She then smiled at Cameron as if she had wanted nothing more than to see him. Even though she remained atop the horse, they were at eye level.
“Laird?”
He patted his beard and smiled sheepishly. “I vowed to nay shave my beard until I was reunited with my wife.”
Diane breathed a sigh of relief that had Cameron widening his eyes. Though he had a beard, looked bronzer, and was larger than she remembered, it was in fact the MacPherson laird her daughter had married- Cameron.
“We were on our way to ye.”
Cameron’s eyes assessed the group. “I am relieved that ye have many soldiers to assist and protect ye in this journey. I regret that I must tell ye, although I doona regret my actions, that yer husband is dead.”
She half-smiled, and her eyes reflected the mixed emotions. “He was not the man I married long ago. Greed and power became his obsession at the expense of my daughters. I am relieved that ye survived that day months ago, Laird.”
“Ye may address me as Cameron, Diane. At the verra least call me so since we were once tied together by our love for Abigail.”
Cameron kept noticing the middle woman’s head cock to the side when he spoke.
“Once?”
Cameron’s eyebrows furled as he took note of her question.
“Ye knew I survived that day? Yer husband knew not.”
“Allow me to explain, Laird.” The English leader spoke. “My loyalty to Haynsworth knew no bounds until his zeal for power and manipulation turned onto my wife, as did his fists.”
“Mills?”
“Aye, sir. I suppose you heard of me.”
“Aye. Ye defected and reported yer overlord to the Crown.”
He looked at the woman at the end who Cameron was unable to identify. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my wife. He overstepped his limits. But I wouldn’t call what I did as defecting.”
Cameron nodded in understanding. “He crossed many lines. But how did ye know I was alive, Diane, yet yer husband had no knowledge?”
“You see,” Mills said. “He was not privy to my actions. I remained at his side after, and despite, my confessions to the Crown. To clarify, Laird, I was not there the day he killed your father. I was loyal to him, but not blindly so.” He paused. “I feigned my loyalty after speaking to the Crown. When I discovered rumors that ye lived, I kept that information from him believing it would serve a future purpose. I only disclosed that information to my most trusted soldiers,” he said, and nodded to those around them. “And my instincts proved to be true. It had indeed provided a good advantage.”
Cameron nodded. “Aye. My thanks to ye, Mills.” His eyes turned sad and moved to Diane.
“I was told Abigail died that day on the battlefield, Diane. In my heart, I knew that she lived. It took me a great deal of time and effort to recover from my wounds that day. I journeyed here with the purpose of vengeance and to retrieve my wife, who my men thought dead.” He paused, and Diane sat up straighter at the look in his eyes.
The woman in the middle grabbed Diane’s hands. Her fingers looked dirty. It was the only part of her he could see, as she wore long sleeves.
“Tell me this. Did they…use her…after the battle?”
“Use her?”
Cameron swallowed, finding it difficult to ask whether his precious wife had been raped. “Haynsworth told me that his men made use of Abby.”
One look in his eyes and Diane understood what he was asking. She shook her head.
“Nay, Cameron. When she arrived, there was no indication that anything cruel had been done upon her body.”
Cameron exhaled in relief.
“I was told that Abigail threw herself from a window. Thus, ye can understand that after such a long period of denying that she’d died that night, and discovering today that I had only just missed the opportunity to rescue her…I am beside myself with grief.” His voice was gruff and he cleared it twice before he was able to continue. Cameron stopped and inhaled slowly, pursing his lips as he looked away. After a moment, his eyes returned to hers and she saw tears forming in his.
“‘Tis the truth, I wouldna still be alive were it not for our son awaiting my return. He is now the only purpose for which I breathe.”
Diane smiled and looked to Mills. “It was successful.”
Cameron’s eyes bounced back and forth between the two. “I am not understanding what cause there is for smiling, Diane.”
She nodded to Mills. “Allow me to show you.”
Mills dismounted and walked over to them. He helped Diane down, and then he and another man helped the middle woman down. Immediately she went to Diane and stayed by her side. She clutched the poppet to her chest.
“Come.”
She guided the woman towards Cameron.
“Diane, I doona understand what ye are about-”
His words fell away as the woman stood straighter. Cameron’s eyebrows furled in curiosity. He looked closely at the doll, which was in fact a boy doll with black threads for hair.
He stepped back with wide eyes when she spoke.
“Where is my son?” she asked. “Where is he? They’ve taken him,” she said, horrified. “Mama! Where is my son?” she screamed, bringing her left empty hand to her face.
Diane could only look over to her daughter and hug her. Her mournful eyes met Cameron’s widening ones.
Frustrated and angry that she received no response, Abby turned around to face her mother. She clasped both her hands to her chest. Gripping them fiercely, she shouted, “Where is he? They took him!”
She turned to Cameron again, and something registered in her eyes when she looked at him through her hair. She quickly moved closer to him, still clutching the doll to her chest. She stopped and whipped her head back to stare into his stunned silver eyes.
“Where is my son?” she pleaded, tears falling down her lovely face. “They took him! He looks like this,” she said holding up the doll.
Cameron jumped back, releasing a bellow of surprise. His eyes were wide and his breath was short.
Standing before him was the woman he thought gone forever from his cursed life, with green eyes that held her pure immortal soul.