Page 39 of Cottage in the Mist
“Well, whoever it was, I doubt we’ll find more answers here,” Elaine said.
As if to test the theory, Lily reached out and touched a fallen stone. It was cool to the touch, a crust of lichen covering one side. She stroked it as though urging something more, but there was nothing except the wind in the trees and the chattering of crows.
“Aye,” Mrs. Abernathy agreed, her eyes moving from Lily to the sky. “And it’ll be dark soon. We’d best head back.”
Lily nodded and pushed to her feet, letting her gaze wash across the ruins of Dunbrae. There had been happiness here.She recognized it deep in her heart. But there’d also been pain. Bram’s pain. She shuddered as she again saw the flames rising, saw the floor beneath her collapsing. If her friends were right, Bram had escaped. He’d lived.
But if they were wrong… dear God, if they were wrong, then she had to reach him before it was too late.
13
“Everything is set,” Ranald said, striding across the great hall’s flagged floor to where Bram, Katherine and Iain were sitting in front of the massive stone fireplace. “The rest of my men have arrived, and Fergus is seeing to their well-being. After a good night’s rest, they’ll be ready to ride with us in the morning.”
“Always glad to have an increase in numbers,” Iain said, lifting a tankard of ale. “And your lot more than most.”
“I canna complain.” Ranald dropped down onto a bench across from Katherine and Iain, who were seated in intricately carved chairs.
Katherine immediately filled another tankard and passed it to him. Bram, sitting adjacent on another bench facing the fire, allowed himself a moment of complacency. It was good to be among family, no matter how dire the circumstances.
“I’ve managed to cut out the worst of them.” Ranald sighed. “And the rest are loyal to me and mine.”
“I’ll wager serving under you is a vast improvement o’er having Davidson as laird.” Iain’s jaw tightened as his hatred of Alisdair Davidson washed across his face. Not that Bram blamed him. After all, the bastard had almost killed Katherine. “Ifnaught else then they’re finding out what it means to be treated fairly.”
Ranald nodded, his eyes narrowing. “I canna abide a man who doesna respect the worth of those about him. And when I think what could have happened to Ailis. From her brother no less.”
Ranald’s big hands closed into fists and Katherine laid a gentle hand on his arm in an effort to soothe. “But it didn’t happen, Ranald. You and Iain were there to save her.” She shifted her gaze to her husband. “To save me. Anyway, it’s all past history now. No need to relive it. It’s more important to concentrate on the here and now.”
“Our plans to ride on the Comyns.” Bram set his tankard beside him on the bench, pulling his thoughts firmly back to the present. “There are no’ enough words to convey my gratitude—“ he started, only to be cut off with a wave of Iain’s hand.
“You’d do the same for us.”
“Aye, that I would.”
“And you’ll have your own man as well,” Katherine observed, her gaze assessing.
“I understand you dinna know him. But I swear he’s a man who can be trusted. He served my father long and well.”
“I remember him from our visiting once when I was a lad,” Ranald mused. “He seemed as big as a bear. And as fierce as one, too. But he could be kind.” His cousin smiled. “As I’m sure you can imagine, and as Iain no doubt knows, I was a bit of a handful in those days.”
Katherine harrumphed as she swallowed her laughter. “Those days?”
Ranald shrugged. “Let’s just agree that I was worse. Anyway, I’d taken it into my head to walk the upper parapet.”
“On the roof of Dunbrae?” Bram couldn’t help the surprise. Built to withstand the vicious attacks of an earlier century, the ledge of the crenelated walls was narrow and dangerous.
“The very one,” Ranald agreed. “Anyway, I’d set about doing just that, when I managed to lose my balance. I fell, and quite frankly saw my very short life passing before my eyes. Fortunately, Frazier was there—standing watch, so he said. And he hauled me back over the edge to safety.”
“Standing watch overyou, most likely,” Iain quipped, his eyes crinkled with amusement. “I guess we all owe him a debt.”
“Speak for yourself,” Bram mumbled. “I was never even allowed to go up there on my own. Now I understand why.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the fire crackling merrily in the grate. Bram’s thoughts turned to the tower. His home. Or what was left of it. Anger rolled through him, hot and heavy. Thanks to Alec Comyn, Bram no longer had a home to call his own.
Instantly his mind filled with the memory of soft skin and curly black hair, his body tightening as he remembered the smell and taste of her.
Lily.
“Are you going to tell her you’re going?” Katherine asked, her voice soft, her grey eyes knowing.
