Page 53 of The Plight of a Scottish Lass
She heard him, but didn’t stop, instead running as fast as she could. She’d not lose them this time. The pounding of the hooves behind her shook the ground and when he was nearly upon her, she stopped and held her arms over her head moments before Alaric bent down to grasp her waist and sweep her onto the horse in front of him.
Eli landed with an oof, but she was still furious. Furious and elated—but which emotion was more powerful? “It’s her, Alaric. I’d know her fletching anywhere.”
“Your grandmother? Are you sure?”
Two more arrows came toward them from a copse of trees ahead, but both went wide.
“Eli, whoever it is has a different intent than you think. Are you daft? They’re trying to kill us. I’m turning around.”
Eli nearly grabbed the reins but instead she said, “Nay, husband. She’s missing on purpose. Those arrows are so faraway from us, the person should be ashamed, but it is intentional. I know her. She’d not shoot at us. It was Grandpapa I saw the other day. They’re here. I swear it. And I want to know why!”
Nearly on top of their target, two more arrows went wider than before.
“Stop shooting, Grandmama! Logan Ramsay, stop her from shooting!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, making sure they heard her. She would not turn around.
The arrows stopped, and they neared the trees, so she hopped down and ran straight into them.
Her grandfather stood to the side of a boulder where her grandmother sat with a large blanket on her lap.
“You were shooting at us! You were! I saw you. Are you trying to kill your own granddaughter? What the hell?” She ran straight for her grandfather and shoved him in the chest.
He didn’t try to stop her, the look of admiration nearly dropping her to the ground. Then that wee smirk of his.
Then she turned to her grandmother. “How could you? I’ve thought you dead all this time and here you are, better than ever.” She moved to grab the bow out of her grandmother’s hand. “Give me that. How dare you shoot at us? What the hell is wrong with you? Have you gone daft?”
When she yanked the bow away, the blanket came with it.
First Eli gasped at what was revealed underneath, then she fell on her grandmother, sobbing her eyes out. “Grandmama, I’ve missed you so much.”
Chapter Thirty
Eli
Eli had been shocked to see the stub on her grandmother, her legging tied above where her knee would have been on one leg. That explained why she sat on a boulder shooting instead of firing from a tree. She’d had part of her leg amputated.
She hugged her dear grandmother, then climbed off the rock and lunged at her dear grandfather, still sobbing. “Why didn’t you tell me? And why the hell were you shooting at us? You know our plaid.”
Gwyneth Ramsay said, “Not his fault, Eli. I was confused. You know I don’t see well. I thought it was a Rankin plaid.”
“You are full of the shite of the biggest bull in all the land with that comment, Grandmama,” she said, standing and placing her hands on her hips. “Why are you lying so?”
Alaric came up behind her, his hands settling on her shoulders, then he leaned over and said, “Remember the one thing you’ve wished for more than anything? You have it. Do not lose it.”
And she leaned back into his heat, his arms wrapping around her and holding her tight. She whispered, “Must you always be right, husband?”
Then Alaric asked, “Why the secrecy, Logan?”
“Come over here.”
Her grandmother patted the spot next to her on the boulder, so Eli sat down. “I don’t understand.”
Her grandfather sat on a log and said, “We were hired to come here and see who is causing all the issues. Cattle-stealing shouldn’t take place on an island where there are so few cattle. King Robert wants to know if there are MacDougalls still causing trouble or what. With Gwynie’s problem, it was a good time totake our leave. It was to be done in secret, and you are not to share this with anyone but Maitland and Dyna.”
“So why didn’t you tell me? Why not stay with us? You could visit and spy without telling us.”
Her grandfather looked to her grandmother, but she lifted her chin higher, the stubborn nature more than evident at the moment. “Grandmama, why?”
The pause was longer than the shadows in a forest at twilight, but she would wait for her answer. “All right. Have you not seen my leg? It was lose my leg or die, so I had no choice, but I wish for my reputation to stand tall. I want my legacy as the best archer in all the land to remain. If anyone sees me like this, I will look like a cripple and my reputation will crumble. I want …” Then the tears started.
