The Highlander’s Rescued Maiden by Anna Campbell

Chapter 17

They were nearly out of the bay when Will heard shouting from the top of the hill behind them. Ellen, who was flinging water out of the boat with the determined concentration she leveled at most things, lifted her head. “They’ve arrived.”

“And they’ve discovered you’re missing, by the sound of it.”

“It’s a good thing ye came up with a convincing argument to get me off the island, or we’d still be on the beach.”

He and Ellen had only just got away in time, thank God. She must be thinking the same thing, because she cast him a bright-eyed glance as she went back to bailing. In the choppy seas, the little boat bobbed up and down, but he was impressed with how well she kept her balance.

Will redoubled his efforts on the rowing, feeling the pull across his shoulders. As luck had it, the tide was running out, so the current lent him some help. “I’ll have to remember that telling you I love ye can win me any fight.”

She stopped with the bailer hanging slack from her hand and sent him an adoring look that made him want to kiss her. He reminded himself that right now kissing wasn’t a priority. Getting his darling out of her father’s clutches was.

“Ye can certainly try that. Often.”

He gave a short laugh. Which was all the breath that rowing allowed. “It’s a promise. Now keep bailing.”

“Aye-aye, captain.”

“Now, that’s what a man likes to hear.”

He’d always loved the sauce in her. He remembered back to his idiot cousin’s infatuation with the legend of Fair Ellen. The woman Dougal had described had been a beautiful nonentity, frail and wispy and passive. Will was so glad that the real Ellen turned out to be a complicated creature of fire and determination and cleverness. His parents would love her. His mother was another woman who paid no heed to received opinions about masculine superiority.

“Dinnae get used to it.”

No, he’d better not. Unthinking obedience wasn’t Ellen’s style. Which would make for an interesting life. Will couldn’t wait. He could hardly believe that she’d consented to come with him. Right up to the last minute, he hadn’t been sure she would, although he’d been sure she loved him. The connection between them had always been too profound to pass for mere attraction.

Ellen bent to scoop up more water. Over her shoulder, he watched half a dozen men scrambling down to the beach.

She was doing a braw job of emptying out the bilge. The elegant little boat became more responsive with every minute. Well was this swift craft named for the dolphins that leaped along the channel between Achnasheen and Skye.

A volley of cracks revealed that the guards were armed. Of course they were. They protected a great treasure.

As she looked back, Ellen’s face went pale. “Will, they’re shooting at us.”

“We’re out of range. Dinnae fash yourself,” he said, even as he put extra might into his rowing. A flintlock was accurate up to about a hundred yards. The Leumadair was well beyond that now.

“If we’d delayed another few minutes, we mightn’t have been.” She paused. “I’m no’ even sure they’re aiming at us.”

He took a closer look and realized she was right. “They willnae want to take the chance of hitting the laird’s daughter.”

More gunshots and shouting, although the men must be as aware as Will was that they wasted their ammunition. The Leumadair came up past the point and the last of the skerries sheltering Bortha from this side. He’d soon be able to put up the sail.

“They’ll come after us.”

“A Mackinnon of Achnasheen cannae be outsailed.”

To his surprise, she sent him a mocking grin. “Always so arrogant.”

“Aye. But it’s true, all the same.”

Ellen responded with a snort before she went back to bailing. Her boots must be soaked through. He wished he’d thought to pick up some shoes for her when he’d gone back to the tower.

“They’ll need time to relaunch the boat, then they have to get around the island,” she said. “It’s surrounded with reefs, so that should hold them up even longer.”

“We’ll be well away by then.”

She looked up. “Well away to where? Are we going to Achnasheen?”

He’d put some thought into this. “No’ straightaway. It’s too far. My cousin and his wife are on Askaval to the south. That makes more sense as our destination. You’re no’ dressed for a long journey.”

Dougal Drummond and his sparkling, unconventional wife Kirsty lived an unpretentious life on a beautiful island, south of Islay. Will had a suspicion that Ellen would find their company much less daunting than arriving at Achnasheen which was packed with his family. Not to mention that his home was a castle.

He might have done his best to talk his beloved out of her fears of facing curious strangers, but that didn’t mean he lacked sympathy for her. Especially as through force of circumstance, she viewed her lameness and people’s reaction to it through her father’s eyes.

Will was convinced she wouldn’t find life off Bortha as inhospitable as she dreaded, but he also hoped to ease her into her new world.

Ellen frowned, even as she kept bailing. “Is this the cousin who set out to find me?”

“Aye, that’s Dougal.” Will watched the men on the island, tiny now in the distance, scatter back over the crest. “You’ve never met a more dedicated romantic. I swear in his heart, he’s still living in the age of chivalry. Now he’s someone who really did tumble headlong into believing that soppy myth of Fair Ellen pining away in her tower.”

“He never found me.”

“No, fate took a hand and delivered him to Kirsty’s isle instead. Kirsty is a much more practical creature than he is. You’ll like her. She doesnae put up with any nonsense.”

Ellen stared at him, neglecting her bailing, although now only an inch or so of water sloshed around in the keel. “Ye sound very fond of them.”

He shrugged and finally stowed the oars. The muscles in his arms and back were on fire. Already he could feel the breeze tousling his hair. Once the sail was up, Brendan MacNeill’s graceful boat would fly like a falcon on the wind. No tub from Bortha had a chance of catching her.

“Of course I’m fond of them, even if as a lad, I wanted to pound some good common sense into Dougal’s head. Since he wed Kirsty, he’s much more down-to-earth.”

“He’s given up all thoughts of Fair Ellen?”

“Aye. Which can only benefit cousinly relations.”

She didn’t laugh at his wry remark. “I dinnae want to cause trouble.”

“Och, we’re a close-knit bunch. I love all my family. I think ye will, too.”

“I hope so.”

The doubt in her voice made his heart crack. “You’ve been unlucky with your kinfolk, mo chridhe. I’m offering ye a much nicer selection.”

“And they willnae mind that I’m lame?”

The crack in his heart widened. Her swine of a father had done so much damage. Will wasn’t a fool. He knew years of harm took years of healing, but he swore then and there that before he was done, he’d mend every rip in Ellen’s soul.

“If they do, they’re no’ invited to our Christmas ceilidh.”

She smiled without conviction as he stood and fetched the sail from where it was stowed. With luck and a good wind, they’d be on Askaval by tonight.

***

Ellen’s apprehension mounted as Will’s boat glided into the small harbor at what he told her was Askaval. Around them, the summer night descended on the sea. Escaping Bortha had proven easier than she’d expected. Will’s claim to be a skillful sailor turned out to be more than idle boasting.

The wind had set fair for the south, and the little boat had raced across the water. They’d gone so fast that she hadn’t even seen her father’s men in pursuit. She couldn’t help feeling that if freedom always felt like this, it would be sweet indeed.

It was a pleasure to watch Will move about the Leumadair. Before this, she hadn’t realized how he was at home on the water, but the wind and the waves turned out to be his element. She had so much more to discover about the man to whom she’d entrusted her future.

“Dinnae be afraid,” he murmured, tightening his embrace. “The Drummonds will be pleased to see us.”

She’d spent most of the trip curled up beside Will, while he steered the boat from the seat at the stern. Thank goodness the day was warm so she could take off her waterlogged half boots. They now sat in front of her in the sunlight, but she had an awful feeling that they were ruined forever.

She’d spent a lot of the voyage thinking about Will’s family and how they’d react to him showing up with a penniless ragamuffin of a girl at his side. A penniless ragamuffin of a girl with one leg shorter than the other. Now she couldn’t help wondering how it felt to anticipate a warm welcome whenever and however one arrived.

Unconditional love had never been part of her life. Although she began to hope that the warmth she saw in Will’s eyes when they rested on her might turn out to be just that. “They’ll be pleased to see ye.”

Will chuckled. “Och, more than that. Dougal will be beside himself to find out that he was right and I was wrong, and that Fair Ellen of the Isles does in fact exist. No’ only that, but she’s as bonny as rumor paints her. I’m ashamed to admit that I called him a pudding-brained nincompoop when he set out to rescue ye.”

“Then ye ended up rescuing me.”

He tipped her face up for a quick kiss. “I did indeed, sweetheart.”

Ellen blushed. She’d always had a difficult relationship with that stupid nickname, but how could she resent it, when the man she loved told her she was beautiful? Especially when she knew Will never lied. “You’ll turn my head with all this flattery, my fine laddie.”

“And such a pretty head to turn.” Finding his balance with enviable swiftness, he stood to haul down the sail and tie the boat up near some stone steps.

“You dinnae seem worried that my father might pursue us.”

He shrugged. “Your father has nae idea who stole you away or where to look for ye. If he does happen to track us down, you’re of age and out of his legal control. No’ to mention that you’re now under the protection of the Mackinnon clan. Let him come. If he tries to snatch ye back, he’ll find himself facing an army.”

Ellen stared at Will in surprise, even as his certainty bolstered her courage. “You’re no’ afraid?”

“Och, I’ll allow nae power on earth to take ye away from me, mo chridhe. You’re safe from your father. Never doubt it.” While she struggled to come to terms with his ardent declaration, he stepped onto the stone quay and held out his hand. “Come, my lady.”

Balancing with less grace, she rose. Although she hoped she hid her nerves, she was almost certain that she didn’t. Nonetheless she raised her chin. She’d chosen to leave her prison behind and go forth with this man. She refused to start her new life cowering away like a mouse.

“Do ye ken this is the first place I’ve set foot on other than Bortha in ten years?”

“I do.” His smile didn’t falter. “The first of many. I’m hoping to take ye to Edinburgh and London and Rome and Paris and Vienna. You’ve got a whole world to discover, my love. What a privilege for me that you’ll discover these places at my side.”

“Ye promise me an adventure,” she said with a tinge of wistfulness, curling her fingers around his and making a better job of getting out of the boat than she’d feared. Although it was a relief to feel good solid granite under her feet.

Her bare feet.

“Aye, and that’s what it will be.”

“I’ll need some shoes if we’re going too far.”

“I’ll buy ye a thousand pairs of shoes.”

“Right now, one pair would be enough.”

“You cannae put those boots on. They’re no’ fit for anything but a fish.” Gentle mockery warmed his laugh. “Ye ken, I rather like the idea of carrying away a barefoot bride.”

He made everything sound so easy. So much fun.

For so long, she’d felt life had bound her in chains. Every minute with Will loosened those chains. She sucked in a huge breath of fresh, salt-tinged air and turned to him with a smile. “Then kiss me, Will, and let’s see whether your cousin will feed us.”

It was hours since they’d finished the food she’d packed on Bortha. He, like she, must be starving.

“With pleasure.” Will drew her into his arms and kissed her until her knees threatened to buckle beneath her.

He raised his head to stare down at her. In the fading light, she read love in his eyes. A love that she realized with a shock had been there almost from the first. Perhaps the unknown Dougal Drummond wasn’t the only hopeless romantic in Will’s family.

“I think I could live on your kisses alone, my bonny.” His hands spanned her waist, while hers draped across his shoulders.

It was her turn for a mocking laugh. “Right now, delightful as your kisses are, I could definitely use a bannock or a morsel of cheese.”

“Och, I’m sure we can do better than that. I promised to look after ye, and so far I’m doing a gey poor job of it.”

She smiled at him, enchanted anew. “I wouldnae say that.”

He gave her another quick kiss. “Let’s go and raid my cousin’s larder.”

***

By the time Will knocked on the front door of the big gray stone house, he was carrying Ellen. Her bare feet had proven no match for the stones on the road from the quay.

“You cannae spend your life hauling me around,” she said, as they waited for the door to open.

“Whisht, lassie. Anyone who knows ye knows you have no trouble standing on your own two feet.”

“But your cousins dinnae know me.”

“Did ye want to meet them with your feet cut to ribbons?”

No, she didn’t. But nor did she want to meet them, windswept from a day on the sea and wearing a simple blouse and kirtle like the poorest crofter on her father’s estate. She had enough vanity to wish to make a good impression on the first members of Will’s family she encountered.

“Ye can put me down now.” She tugged at his hair to make her point.

A point made too late. The door opened to reveal a redheaded giant who bore enough resemblance to Will for her to guess that he must be Dougal.

Ellen was surprised to see the master of the house answering the door. In general, the upper classes paid servants to greet callers.

The man’s handsome face brightened, as the lamps from inside the house revealed who waited on the step. “Good God, it’s ye, Will. When you didnae appear on Monday, we feared ye might have drowned.” It was said with a notable lack of drama, although Ellen heard affection beneath the unsentimental welcome.

Will’s grunt of laughter was dismissive. “No’ me, cuz. I’m the best swimmer in the family. Other business occupied my time.”

When Dougal’s eyes leveled on Ellen, his smile broadened. “Aye, very pretty business, too, I see. Welcome to Tigh Na Mara, my lady.”

Heat flooded Ellen’s cheeks. She felt awkward, too aware of the ragtag impression she must make. “Thank you.”

“Dougal, this is Ellen Cameron.”

With commendable grace, Dougal bowed and stepped back to allow Will to shoulder his way into the elegant hall. “Your servant, Miss Cameron.”

Will went on. “I’m hoping ye can offer us a bath and a change of clothes and a good dinner. And a bed.”

“Two beds,” Ellen interjected.

Now that she was back in civilization, she was painfully aware of the impropriety of turning up unchaperoned on a stranger’s doorstep and in the company of a virile young man. Only a fool would fail to draw the obvious conclusion. Despite Will’s description of his cousin as a bit of a dreamer, she could already tell that Dougal Drummond was no fool.

“Two beds,” Will said, to her relief.

On Bortha, she’d known that she and Will broke society’s rules. But society had felt a thousand miles away. Here, in this lovely house, she was only too conscious that people would assume she was Will’s doxy.

“For heaven’s sake, Will, the house is ratty with empty bedrooms. Ye can have half a dozen, if you like.”

“Dougal, who is it?” A pretty, dark-haired woman in a stylish lemon-yellow dress appeared at the top of the steps. In her arms, she clasped a baby wrapped in a white woolen shawl.

“Good evening, Kirsty.” Will’s flashing grin reminded Ellen of his devilish side. “We come seeking your hospitality.”

Dougal looked up with the kind of smile that Will gave Ellen. “My love, my cousin has turned up, late as usual, and he has company. Come down and meet Miss Ellen Cameron of…”

“Bortha,” Will said as Ellen said, “Inchgallen.”

“Och, that’s grand.” The advent of a pair of salt-encrusted guests so late in the day left Kirsty remarkably unfazed. She made her way down to the hall. “We were expecting a dull evening.”

“Thank ye very much,” Dougal said with a theatrical humph.

Kirsty wasn’t impressed with his response, Ellen could see. “Ye cannae say a bit of company won’t go astray, and I can see these two have quite a tale to tell.”

“Ye must wonder…” Ellen began.

Kirsty passed the baby to Dougal, who took the child with practiced ease. “Och, save your story for dinner. We cannae do justice to the telling, standing in the hall. You both look altogether done in. Let’s get ye organized, then we can have a good blether over a nice plate of roast lamb.”

“But do you no’ want to know who I am and what I’m doing here?” Ellen asked, taken aback at such unquestioning acceptance. Will had told her that the Drummonds would welcome her. It turned out he wasn’t exaggerating.

Dougal shrugged. “We dinnae stand on ceremony here on Askaval. You’re very welcome to our house, Miss Cameron. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay.”

“Dougal, will ye please tell Ruth that there are another two for dinner and ask the maids to prepare baths? I’ll show Miss Cameron to her room. The Chinese one, I think. Will, are ye happy to go into the blue room? It’s the one ye usually use here.”

“Thank you, Kirsty. That would be braw.”

“Ye can put me down now, Will,” Ellen muttered, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.

“Must I?”

“Aye, you must,” Kirsty said with a laugh. “I promise to look after the lady and deliver her unharmed to the dining room.”

With a sheepish expression, Will let Ellen down to the floor. “She’s safe here, I know.”

Dougal snickered. “Aye. Whatever ye two have been up to, there’s no danger on Askaval. Nae need for you to act like a sheepdog with a ewe lamb, cuz.”

“Is it so obvious?” Will asked, then laughed when Kirsty rolled her eyes.

“Aye, it is. Now come and meet Sorcha, the newest member of the family.”

Ellen wondered if she was alone in reading Will’s reluctance to step away from her. She doubted it. It was obvious that the cousins were very close.

“Hold her.” Dougal passed the sleeping baby across. “I’ve got duties to fulfill.”

Ellen was surprised to find Will just as adept with infants as his cousin. Then she remembered that he came from a large family.

Seeing the tiny baby cradled in his strong hands, she couldn’t help picturing him holding his own child in the future. Longing twisted deep inside her. This unassuming house and the palpable love between Dougal and Kirsty made her thirst for a life with the same joys. For years, she’d been convinced that normal human pleasures were out of reach. Now she staggered under the possibility that she might become a wife and mother.

“I’m very pleased to meet ye, wee Sorcha,” Will murmured in a low croon that made the hairs on Ellen’s skin prickle. “What a bonny bairn ye are.”

Kirsty watched on with a proud maternal smile. “She’s quieter than Alexander, at least. We manage as much as three hours sleep a night. I feel positively sprightly, compared to last time.”

As Will chuckled, Dougal glanced at Ellen. “Our son and heir was a handful from the start. He’s just turned two, and he’s still giving us a good run.”

Will looked up, eyes soft. “What rubbish. My godson is perfect.”

Kirsty’s snort expressed her contempt for that remark. “That opinion will no’ last, once you’ve spent twenty-four hours in this house. It’s lucky that I love the little terror with all my heart, or I swear we’d run mad. I’m no’ sure we haven’t.”

Dougal turned to Will. “Seeing you’re godfather to one perfect child, would ye accept the job for this one, too?”

Will’s expression revealed how the request moved him. “I’d be honored.”

With a discomfiting mixture of envy and admiration, Ellen observed this domestic harmony. On Bortha, she’d seen Will as a roguish loner who invaded her life and stole her heart away. Now she realized that he was enmeshed in a family and a life that she had no part in. Would he decide that the woman he’d found so enchanting on her rocky island lost her allure, now he was back in a familiar setting?

If he did, where on earth did that leave her?

When she’d decided to run away with him, she thought she knew him to the soul. But observing him with people he loved and a baby in his arms, she wasn’t so sure.

He glanced up and gave her a smile, as if he guessed both her shyness and her misgivings. “Come and see, Ellen.”

She took a couple of steps forward, then stopped, self-conscious about her uneven gait. Plague take her, she felt like the monster at the feast. At this moment, all she wanted was to run away and hide from judgmental eyes.

But where could she run? The bitter question reminded her that she couldn’t run at all.

Her recklessness in entrusting herself to Will Mackinnon after a mere few days together struck with painful force. She felt a sudden longing for her tower on Bortha, where she knew just where she stood, even if that was on legs of two different lengths.

Will frowned as he studied her face, although she did her best to hide the doubts devouring her. “Ellen?”

She struggled to smile. His expression told her that her efforts failed to convince. He saved her from taking another limping step. He came closer and passed Sorcha across before Ellen had a chance to tell him that she had little experience with babies.

“I’m not…” she began as her arms automatically formed a cradle.

Will supported the little girl’s head until Ellen held her the correct way. “Isn’t she a wee beauty?”

Tears filled Ellen’s eyes as she stared down at Sorcha. As Will’s boat cut through the waves, she’d felt so free. She’d felt as if, with him at her side, she could conquer anything. Now she felt more inadequate than ever. Her father had told her she wasn’t fit to go out into the world. Perhaps he was right.

But the little girl was so warm and soft in her embrace. After a few seconds, Ellen’s vision cleared. Wide blue eyes fastened on her face with innocent interest, and the rosebud mouth curved upward in a slow greeting.

Wonder gripped Ellen. “She’s smiling at me.”

Will stood beside her and despite her fears, she took comfort in his nearness. “Of course she is.”

“You’re lovely, wee Sorcha,” she whispered, touching the baby’s cheek with a gentle finger and marveling at the petal-soft skin. “Oh, Will…”

Overwhelmed, she raised her eyes to his. They shared a long look that reminded her that she’d placed her trust in this man and he’d never let her down. Trepidation leached away, and her smile this time was genuine. He flung an arm around her shoulders and hugged her against his side.

When Sorcha grizzled and shifted in Ellen’s arms, Kirsty laughed. “She’s getting hungry. Let me show ye to your room, Miss Cameron, before she tells us about it.”

Ellen’s attack of nerves had mostly settled, but she couldn’t help seeking signs of disapproval in Kirsty and Dougal’s faces. They must have noticed how clumsy she was.

She caught curiosity but no disdain. Given their cousin was hugging a stranger, it was likely they were curious about more than Ellen’s infirmity.

Sorcha grumbled again, and Kirsty took her. “If we’d passed Alexander around at this age, he’d have screamed to the rafters.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Aye, I remember. The christening shouldn’t be so noisy this time round.”

Dougal looked at his cousin. “I’m gey glad you didnae drown, Will. The ceremony wouldn’t be the same without ye.”

Will moved away from Ellen, as if he understood that her collywobbles had receded. “By God, dinnae smother me in sentimental effusions, laddie. Otherwise I’ll start sniveling all over your front hall.”

They all laughed, even Ellen, as Kirsty gestured toward the staircase. “Come with me, Miss Cameron. We’ll get ye settled.”

To her relief, Will took her arm and escorted her upstairs ahead of her hostess.