Page 95 of Love with a Scottish Outlaw
The sheriff cursed, the children whimpered, and the mercenaries turned to look at Cat, as if they needed some amusement. She shivered, but again the sheriff overruled the men, who bedded down around the fire, muttering. There were no blankets to spare for Cat and the children, so they huddled together and tried to keep warm as an autumn wind came down the loch and swirled around them. It was hard to hold them all within her arms when she was still tied up, but little Adam crawled up within the circle of her bound arms, Finn leaned against one side, while the other traumatized boy didn’t protest when she looped her bound hands around him and pulled him against the warmth of her body.
“Mistress?” Finn whispered.
“Aye?”
“Can I run for help?”
“Nay!” she practically hissed. “Ye’ll not risk yourself in these woods when ye don’t know where ye are.”
“But—”
“Don’t give up hope that we’ll be found.”
Finn remained silent, and the flickering firelight showed the doubt in her expression.
By morning’s light, Cat could see that the boat hadn’t sunk, and that the sailors who’d kept it afloat now worked to repair it. Hours passed, bringing her closer and closer to setting sail from the Highlands, perhaps from Scotland forever. When the captain appeared on deck and saluted smartly from across the water, Sheriff Welcker jumped up.
It was now or never, Cat thought. She’d hoped through the night that the Carlyle clansmen would find them, and it was her own fault they hadn’t. She had to do what she could for the children.
“Sheriff, I wish to discuss the possibility of ransom,” she said coolly, using her most aristocratic British accent.
The sheriff stiffened and turned slowly from his view of the ship and studied her from beneath raised eyebrows. The three mercenaries who weren’t patrolling the beach and the woods did the same.
“Ransom?” the sheriff echoed.
He sounded as if he wanted to scoff, but she knew her cultured voice had made him wary.
“Yes. My true name is Lady Catriona Duff, sister to the Earl of Aberfoyle.”
The mercenaries looked interested but unaware, while the sheriff narrowed his eyes at her. “What would the sister of an earl be doing near the ruins of Carlyle Castle?”
“I fell from my horse and hit my head, which left me incapacitated and unaware for some time. When I came to my senses, I could not yet be returned to my home. But I am who I say I am. Ask me any questions you would like.”
For several minutes, he asked about her father and his land holdings, the castles and properties of her clan. They were easy for her to answer, and the bored mercenaries watched her with little curiosity. The little boy in her arms kept his face against her chest and stared up at her, her flow of words hushing his whimpers. Even Finn looked at her with wonder.
The sheriff became more and more intrigued and narrow-eyed with calculation. At last, as she was reciting details of her brother’s Edinburgh townhouse, he held up a hand.
“Just stop. I believe ye.”
“Then you comprehend that my brother will pay handsomely for my safe return.” She glanced at the ship.
“Aye, he likely will. But then he’ll also know all about my private venture.”
Cat felt her simmering fear begin to rise again, and she struggled to keep it from her voice. “Why would I tell him this, if you returned me and the children safely to my brother?”
“Because ye’re just a woman, and won’t be able to keep your mouth shut about anything important,” he said, giving her a friendly smile. “I’ll not lose the sure profit from the children on the chance I might receive a ransom, which will certainly lead to too much notice from Aberfoyle. Your father, now he was a man who understood the value of coin.”
She offered a look of distaste. “My father believed himself all powerful. My brother is a far more practical man, a man of science, rather than a warrior. He will negotiate in fairness—”
“Stop, there’ll be none of that. ’Tisn’t worth the risk.”
“But—”
And then he rose up above her, hand raised as if he’d hit her. The children shrieked, Finn tried to jump to her feet, and Cat had to restrain the girl.
“Touch her and ye’ll die.”
The deep, cold voice rang across the beach.
