Page 65 of A Bridge Through Time
“And we were getting along so well,” he chided. “Don’t attempt to escape again, whore, or you will surely suffer the consequences. I find I grow tired of your nonsense.”
“You surprise me, Thomas,” Ashley stated coldly.
“How so?”
“Is this the way you treated your wife? It’s not much wonder she killed herself,” she goaded him, hoping to distract him.
Thomas aimed a punch at Ashley’s side, making the breath whoosh out of her lungs as he carried her roughly. “You will not deter me this time, woman! I know exactly what you are doing. Speak of my wife again and you’ll regret it, I assure you.”
Ashley sobbed quietly, certain she was doomed.
***
Thomas reached the stream and dumped Ashley onto the ground, before he started shrugging off his clothes.
“Undress,” he commanded roughly.
Ashley was losing the last shreds of control she had held onto, until this very moment. She stood stock-still, utterly terrified, and shaking with fear. Thomas reached out and grabbed the front of her gown, tearing it down the center.
“You will do as you’re told!” Thomas shouted furiously. “Take off your gown!”
Ashley backed away, clutching the torn front of her gown to her chest and found herself blocked from escaping by a huge tree. “Stay away from me! I’m warning you.”
“Warning me?” Thomas laughed and eyed her coldly, before the laughter died in his throat. “Now take the gown off, you whore, or I’ll do it for you.”
Ashley’s eyes flickered around her the surroundings, frantically searching for an escape route. It didn’t look promising. She lifted the hem of her gown as though she was preparing to follow his orders and slipped her fingers into her boot, snatching up the Sgian Dubh. She pointed it in Thomas’s direction.
“I said,no!”
Thomas’s eyes fell on the Sgian Dubh, but he didn’t seem perturbed by the fact that Ashley had a weapon. In fact, helaughed, but it was all Ashley had to defend herself, and she was determined she wasn’t going to let him touch her, not ever again.
Thomas drew his sword and held it up in front of her, waving the tip menacingly in her direction. Against his weapon, the Sgian Dubh looked pathetically small. “You have a lot to learn if you are to serve me, whore.” He eyed her cruelly. “Now, unless you want me to use that pitiful thing on your body when I take you, I suggest you drop the knife.”
Ashley sobbed with terror. This was the moment she had tried so hard to avoid, but there seemed now to be no escape, nowhere she could seek safety. Thomas stepped towards her slowly, his intentions clearly written in his expression. She held the knife out in front of her body, pointed directly at him.
“Stay away from me,” she whispered harshly. Her hands were shaking so badly, it was difficult to keep the knife steady. “I’ll use this! I swear it!”
Thomas laughed again and opened his mouth to speak, but he fell forward abruptly, a knife protruding from his back when he hit the ground. Ashley watched his fall, in disbelief and shrieked in terror when she was wrapped in a pair of strong arms.
“Ashley, love,” Cailin said in her ear, hugging her against him as she struggled to escape.
“Cailin? Cailin!” Ashley began to shake uncontrollably as she realized she was safe and she sobbed, letting the tears she’d been struggling to hold back flow freely. She nestled against his familiar chest, finally safe.
“Cailin, we must go,” Dougall announced, wrapping his hooded cloak around Ashley’s shoulders. Ashley offered him a weak smile of gratitude as she gripped the cloak around her body, to cover the torn gown.
“Come, love. We still have much to do if we wish to get away from here safely. Stay with me, and do as I say.” His grayeyes were serious as he stared down at her. “Do ye ken? ‘Tis important.”
Ashley nodded, too frightened to speak.
Cailin led the way, gripping Ashley in one hand, and his sword in the other, and Dougall followed closely behind Ashley.
As they approached the encampment, the noise of metal clanging again metal, and men yelling and shouting was deafening. They arrived in the clearing to discover Robert was engaged in a heated battle with Sir Richard. Cormac, who had hold of Irene, was fending off another attacker. It seemed their plan to get the women to safety before the attack had failed.
Cailin and Dougall rushed into the fray, keeping Ashley securely sandwiched between them. They hacked and slashed through man after man as they fought towards the center of the battle. Ashley’s instincts screamed at her to run, to escape from this horror, but Cailin had told her to stick close to him and for once in her life she was going to do what she’d been told.
They reached Cormac and the men formed a ring of protection around the two women and fought off attacker after attacker. No one managed to breach the protective circle they had created around the women.
The nearest Ashley had come to anything like this was watching Dax play video games with his friends – and that was far removed from the horrific sights of blood and gore she was surrounded by now. Ashley desperately wanted to shut her eyes, but she needed to be aware of her surroundings and ensure Cailin was safe. She tried not to look at those who were falling around them, but it was impossible to keep her gaze from straying to their battered and bloodied bodies. It seemed to last for hours, but eventually, the battle began to slow and it grew quiet, with the only exception being the moans of the wounded and those near death.
