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  “Give me your thoughts on this, Alexander,” Davin entreated as they met mid-yard. The flickering light from the torched haystacks danced ghoulishly on his face.

  “I don’t understand the purpose of this raid. This is a hay farm, for God’s sake. These crofters have a few sheep and one cow. And none of the livestock was stolen. It makes no sense. The raiders didn’t even set fire to the buildings. They murdered the Guthrie brothers and left their parents to watch and grieve.” Alexander motioned to the old couple comforting each other in their bereavement. “Whoever did this meant to leave witnesses but to what purpose?”

  “Aye that is what I am asking myself. Do you think the Ross was behind this? He thinks he has a score to settle with you over the death of his sister. Would he take his vengeance out on peasants when it is their laird he wants dead?”

  Alexander shook his head. “I cannot believe even Donovan Ross would choose such a cowardly way to extract revenge for Aileen’s death. Nay, there is something more sinister going on here. The evil mastery behind this action comes from a twisted mind. This raid is too similar to the ones that took the lives of Aileen and then Allister and Seamus. I still do not understand how my brother and cousin could have had been taken unaware. There is treachery in this, mark my words. Whoever did this wanted me to suffer and they are hurting my people as a means to that end. Nay, Davin, whoever did this was not after booty. They wanted to get my attention. Why? That is what I would like to know.” Alexander looked back at the old couple who knelt grieving over the dead bodies of their sons, and frowned fiercely.

  “I agree, Alexander. I don’t think this is what it appears at first look. The fires and the murders were not the main purpose of this raid. The bastards are after something more.” Davin looked around him as if he could see into the darkness that surrounded the circle of light.

  “Laird! We found their tracks!” One of his men shouted from the shadows in the direction from which the Sutherland clan had just ridden in.

  Alexander’s long strides brought him quickly to the spot his man pointed out. By the light of the torches he studied the imprints on the ground. They appeared to lead back toward the seacoast. But that direction would only take the raiders deeper into Sutherland territory. He stood and took several steps as his mind worked over the possibilities of such a thing. There was only one other dwelling between this farm and the seashore… The Sutherland keep! Alexander’s heart tripped and his gut wrenched at the sudden, unwelcome thought that entered his mind. Something was definitely not right here and he feared he had been the target of a bloody ruse, one designed to draw him and his best men miles from his stronghold…and from Gusty.

  “Mount up, we ride for home!”

  After Alexander had left, Gusty had found she could not settle back down to sleep. She spent an hour or so pacing the floor of their chamber, worrying about him until she realized what she was doing. It gave her an eerie feeling to find that she was back to doing the thing she had done before she ended up in the past. After her grandparents died she could not sleep and ended up pacing the floor every night. Her brother had worried about her and wanted her to go to therapy but she only went a few times before deciding it wasn’t for her. She had intended to tell Michael… Now she could not sleep for worrying about Alexander. Was her restlessness perhaps an omen of things to come?

  What a ridiculous thought! If she did not quit thinking like her grandparents, she would end up looking for absurd meanings behind everything that happened around her.

  No. She was just wired from her earlier passionate encounter with Alexander and her unsatisfied lust had brought on this restlessness. Gusty lay down on the bed and closed her eyes in an effort to fall asleep. Sleeping had to be better than sitting up all night worrying for nothing. After all, Alexander had his men to protect him. She would do better to get some sleep so she would be well rested when Alexander returned. He would probably be gone most of the night, if not until morning. She would be ready for him even if he did not return until after sunrise.

  With her eyes closed tightly, Gusty lay under the heavy covers, her bare flesh still tingling from her husband’s touch. In her mind she went over every detail of the evening and tried not to squirm. She forced herself to take deep, even breaths and before long she relaxed enough to doze off.

  Gusty opened her eyes and held her breath. Was that the sound of the door opening? Something had definitely brought her fully awake. Darkness still filled the room, making it difficult to see anything other than a large shadow moving toward her. Alexander! She fought to lie perfectly still, wanting to wait until he joined her in bed. Only then would she turn to him and they could finish what they had started earlier. Her toes curled under the covers in anticipation.

  The dark form reached the bed, leaned over her and Gusty braced herself for a kiss. But her smile died on her lips as a large, hairy paw clamped over her mouth and nose. Unable to breathe, she tried to turn her head as the intruder dragged her from the warm cocoon of bedding. She peered into the darkness, hoping to get a glimpse of the man’s face, but couldn’t make out any details. Her assailant moved behind her, manhandling her, suffocating her with his large hand. Gusty fought back like a demon but short on oxygen, she quickly lost her strength and hung limp in her attacker’s grasp. Her vision grew dim and through the fog filling her mind, she thought she heard more than one whispering voice. How many were there? I don’t want to die… I’ve only just found the man of my dreams, she thought. And then blackness claimed her.

  Duncan would be in deep shite if his cousin found out he had been down in the glen visiting with the traveling gypsies. Time and again he had been warned to stay away from them. Stories of small children being carried off were common among his people. But the danger of the exploit drew Duncan to sneak away after his cousin had ridden out to investigate the raid on the nearby croft. And besides, Alexander had refused to even consider taking Duncan along on the adventure.

  Duncan had sneaked down to meet Francois, who had befriended Duncan soon after the band of entertainers had arrived in the glen. Francois’ grandfather had forbidden the boy from encouraging the laird’s young cousin in their friendship. Such associations simply were not done and the gypsies could be thrown off the Sutherland holding if they angered the laird in any way. But the two youngsters were having the time of their lives, flouting adult authority.

  Tonight Duncan had waited until he heard the hooves of his clansmen’s mounts thundering across the drawbridge before he made his way out of the bailey through a little-used gate at the back wall. He and Francois had played for an hour, fighting with wooden swords in the moonlight until they were exhausted. Only when Francois’ grandfather bellowed for the lad to get to bed did the boys separate, and Duncan made his way reluctantly back to the keep.

  As he moved through the shadows under the inner wall to avoid the guard’s detection, he spotted a strange trio—a tall man and a shorter one, helping their drunken companion across the inner yard. But the individual was so soused he could not even take a step on his own. The other two were literally dragging him between them and they staggered under his dead weight. Duncan moved deeper into the shadows and crouched down as they made their way past him.

  Curiosity made him stay quiet in the black shadows. When the trio stumbled and fell, nearly at his feet, Duncan thought for sure they would discover him. But they were too preoccupied lifting their companion. As they struggled with their burden, the hood of the intoxicated fellow’s cloak fell back off his head and Duncan clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp. Lady Gusty! These men were attempting to make off with the laird’s wife!

  Marshaling his self-control to keep from shouting at the invaders, Duncan kept his head and waited until the trio moved farther down the wall before he quietly trailed behind them. They reached the hidden gate in the northeastern part of the outer wall and stopped near a small clump of rosebushes Duncan’s mother had planted in an attempt to bring a little beauty to the deserte
d flower garden. Only a handful of people even knew about the gate behind the old shed. Duncan wasn’t certain what these men were up to but he knew Alexander would be pleased with him at his quick thinking. His cousin would even be thanking him later, when he returned with information that would save his lady from her abductors.

  Duncan waited only until the trio moved through the small door and then he ran for the stable to get his pony, Edgar. He did not waste time saddling the beast but merely put a halter over its head before pulling him from his stall and out of the stable to the hidden door. For a moment, he wished Caesar was still in the stable but the large stallion would never have fit through the small opening.

  As soon as he was safely away from the keep, he urged Edgar into a fast trot. He had named the small dun pony in honor of the king, who’d gifted the pony to Duncan on Edgar’s last visit to Sutherland Keep. Duncan remembered Alexander had groaned when Duncan had made his proclamation but the king had merely laughed and tousled Duncan’s hair—a gesture he hated but which he tolerated from men such as his cousin and his liege.

  Through the cold, moonlit night they rode. At first they angled south, riding parallel to the shoreline, and then they suddenly turned and made their way straight to the rocky beach. A stiff breeze met them as they left the shelter of the forest and by the time they reached the ocean the temperature had dropped quite a bit.

  Duncan stayed far enough behind the villains that they would not notice they were being followed. He estimated a full hour had passed when they finally stopped. Nearby, a small dinghy sat on the beach. Duncan tied his horse to a bush and then kept going on foot until he found a large boulder farther up the coastline, where he hid and watched to see what the men would do next.

  He used one of his cousin’s favorite and most vile curses as he watched the villains drag Gusty to the small boat and dump her inside. Then before his horrified eyes they pushed the boat into the outgoing tide, launching her out into the swells of the cold North Sea. He crouched behind the rocks, powerless to do anything but watch as the current swept her away. Lady Gusty would be lost to them. If a storm didn’t cause the boat to capsize, drowning her in the murky depths of the wild and savage sea, she’d eventually die of thirst or exposure to the elements. Driven by those horrendous thoughts Duncan carefully made his way back to the bush where he had tied Edgar and pulled the pony back up the path. He must go for help. He would find his cousin. Yes, Alexander would know exactly what to do.

  Insistent pounding jarred Gusty’s aching head and she shivered in the abominable cold, coming fully awake. She frowned and lay there a moment, looking up at the sky as her foggy brain struggled to analyze her situation. She was, apparently, in a small boat of some kind, and judging by the rolling motion, she was somewhere on the water. Needing to fully ascertain her whereabouts, she tried to ease herself into a sitting position, groaning in pain. Her feet and hands were numb from the cold, her head throbbed as if it would split open and she felt bruised all over. When she finally sat up the wind caught her hair, flinging it about her, and she brushed it out of her face so she could see.

  The eastern horizon was beginning to lighten with the coming of dawn and as she’d feared, she’d been set adrift—naked, no less—on the open sea. Someone had kidnapped her from her bed and left her to freeze to death in the middle of the ocean. Who would do such a thing? She was so cold, her skin had turned a pasty white and her toes and fingers were fast becoming an alarming shade of blue. The sight of her discolored digits scared her. Without proper covering and shelter from the wind she would freeze to death. She would die of exposure if she didn’t figure a way out of this mess and soon.

  The small boat suddenly rocked crazily and crashed against something behind her. She turned to see she’d run aground on a rocky outcropping connected to a tiny island. The waves were causing the vessel to bump up against the rocks repeatedly. She grasped the side of the boat to steady herself and tried to catch her breath but even breathing was a major chore to her in her present state. She sat for several minutes while she struggled to understand what had happened but she was so cold her mind wasn’t functioning very well. She rubbed her hands up and down her thighs as she fought to collect her thoughts.

  She remembered being taken by surprise as she lay in bed waiting for Alexander to return. She remembered the surprise attack and putting up a struggle. But she had no memory after she lost consciousness. How had she ended up in her present predicament? She could only presume that whoever had kidnapped her wanted her dead. That thought brought on a sense of fear unlike any she’d ever known.

  As the rising sun brightened the sky she could see in the distance the shoreline of the mainland—or perhaps just another rocky island. She made a guess that it was perhaps a mile or two away.

  Swimming that far would require strength she lacked at the moment, and besides, hypothermia would kill her before she made it a few hundred yards. She could use the boat but without oars she couldn’t steer. At the mercy of the tide she would most likely end up farther out to sea.

  Only one reasonable option seemed available to her. A large rock sat in the middle of the tiny island. If she climbed to the top, hopefully she’d have a better view and could come up with a plan. After several failed attempts she managed to clamber over the side of the boat. She waded ashore and then stood there a moment, naked, cold and so stiff she could barely move. But you have to, she told herself. Get your blood circulating or you’re going to freeze to death out here.

  Gusty forced herself to keep going, half staggering, half walking, until she reached the highest point on the rocky little island. She leaned over, hands on her knees, until she caught her breath and the dizziness subsided a bit, and then she straightened and looked around. Under any other circumstances she would have taken a moment to admire such a stunning view. From where she stood she could see for miles in any direction. Before her and out to each side were several other small islands, while behind her the sea stretched out along the horizon, unbroken by any sign of land. If the boat had missed this one last small island, she would have drifted on, out into the open ocean. She shivered at the realization of how close she had come to disaster. As she stood watching, the sun rose slowly out of the sea, filling the eastern horizon with its pale golden glory. She stood in the cold morning air, her hair whipping around her, entranced by the majesty of the scene as the sun’s rays spread their warmth across the sparkling water.

  Arph! Arph!

  Gusty jerked in surprise at the sound of sharp barking behind her. Her knees wobbled and she staggered a few feet, struggling to keep her balance and not fall down the side of the rock. Slowly she turned, fearing what she would find sharing her refuge. The sight that met her eyes had her heart leaping into her throat.

  A large, sable-colored seal lounged upon the rocks below her, staring up at her curiously. The animal studied her with dark, human-like eyes, just as she studied it. If she remembered correctly, such beautiful creatures were very prominent along these rocky shores. Slowly Gusty sat down on a jutting slab of rock, not taking her eyes off the seal. Something about having him there for company comforted her, and her sense of panic and fear eased as she stared into his eyes. In that moment she felt as if there was an affinity between them. Had Alexander not called her his own little selkie? Perhaps this was one of those supposedly mythical sea creatures that shed its seal-like skin and walked about on land in human form? Gusty grinned at the fantastical thought.

  “Well it looks as if it’s just you and me, my friend. I hope you don’t mind my crashing at your place for a while.”

  The seal barked once as if to answer.

  “I have no idea what to do at this point. The swim to the mainland would probably kill me before I made it even a few yards. But if I just stay here, I’ll eventually freeze to death anyway, not to mention the possibility of dying from dehydration or starvation. Trying to get to the mainland in the dinghy without any oars would be futile and I would probably end up drifti
ng farther out to sea. My choices are grim. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.”

  “Well my little selkie, if I were you, I would ask your husband for assistance. Perhaps he would be willing to take you to back to the mainland in his vessel.”

  Gusty’s heart did a flip-flop at the sound of his voice and she did something she had never done in her entire life. She fainted.

  As Gusty collapsed, Alexander jumped forward to catch her before she landed on the jagged rocks and injured herself further. Her body was like ice and as he eased her to the ground he cursed whoever had left her to die in this manner. He freed his plaid and draped it over her then lifted her a bit and wrapped her limp body as best as he could. Once he’d gotten her covered he picked her up, cradling her as if she were a newborn babe. He carried her back to the boat and gently lowered her down into Davin’s waiting arms. The expression on Alexander’s old friend’s face was one he had never seen. In amazement he watched as tears flowed down the large man’s wind-burned cheeks.

  “The bloody bastards! Their lives are forfeit from this day forward.”

  Davin cradled Gusty in his arms as Alexander pushed the vessel off the rocks and jumped aboard. He then took his sweet wife from his giant friend and held her close, willing the heat from his body to warm hers.

  “Let’s get her home,” Davin declared.

  They made for the mainland and the beacon on the shore, a fire Duncan had built and now tended as he awaited their return.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gusty opened her eyes to a blurry view of the world around her. Her head throbbed, every muscle in her body ached and the pressure in her bladder was intolerable. She had to pee. The door opened and Violet entered. She met Gusty’s gaze. With a shake of her head, Violet rushed across the room. Suisan straightened and she too hurried to Gusty’s aid.