Page 8 of The Plight of a Scottish Lass
“Join me or stay behind. If you are too busy, I’ll find someone else.”
Brian, two years younger than Thane and two years older than Mora, barked, “I’m coming!”
Brian grabbed his sword near the entrance and sheathed it, following his brother out the door and into the stone courtyard, Mora directly behind them.
“Shall I come along?” she called out as her boot falls echoed across the bailey. “Who do you think it is? Are you sure it’s a lass? What if it’s a bairn? I’m sure you would need me to come along with you.”
A chorus of “Nay!” came from the brothers.
“But I could help,” Mora cried, chestnut hair flying wild in the wind. “Surely, I could be of assistance. Could I hold her hand? Could I guide you when you get close to the rocks? Mayhap I should be the one to climb onto the rock?”
His sister definitely had the most pleasing looks of the three siblings, but she didn’t care about her looks at all and refused to plait her hair. Perhaps that was why he adored her so much. She was not the typical lass found in the Highlands fussing over her gown and her ribbons, gushing over any man who was a possible suitor. He’d heard about those women, the kind who wouldn’t attract him at all. Not that it mattered, as he’d vowed to never marry.
“Nay, Mora, I’m only taking the small boat, so there’s not enough room for you,” Thane said, stopping in his tracks. He knew how persistent she was. “There’s only sufficient space for Artan, Brian, and me.”
“Nay, it holds four or five. I can fit. I’ll be quiet,” she said, that look in her eyes he hated. “Can I sit in the middle? Or just in the back? Or anywhere else? Please, Thane?”
He did indeed have sympathy for his sister. Being the only female other than the housekeeper who visited daily was difficult for Mora, especially because he feared she had no role models. He did the best he could for her under the circumstances.
“Nay, we need room to fit another passenger, and I have no idea how large the person is. You will stay on the dock, Mora. Understood?” They made it to the place where the boats were hidden, various small vessels they had built and one large birlinn that could hold multiple oarsmen, kept locked not far from the coastline. Three other guards were already carrying the boat to the shoreline at Artan’s instruction, something Thane was grateful to see. Artan anticipated Thane’s every thought. An invaluable quality in the man in charge of the guards.
By family name, Brian was actually second-in-command to Thane, but Artan was more mature by ten years, so his insight was needed. Clan MacQuarie needed Artan.
Thane climbed into the boat, giving instructions as he readied the vessel. “Artan, you will lead us to that outcropping, the Trio of Fate as we’ve called it before.” The group of rocks had been nicknamed such because their existence had ended the voyage of many boats while hidden during high tide. Those who sailed often knew every outcropping, but the younger seamen did not.
Mora stood on the dock, her hands on her slim hips. “May I come along? Please? I’m tiny, Thane. I can fit. Please allow me to feel a part of this rescue mission. You know I love to ride in any boat.”
“Nay, not this voyage. Please make sure that Agnes is ready to care for someone, if I am correct. I believe it to be a lass who was beaten and left to die. We shall see. Be ready to help Agnes with her, Mora. Please do not disappoint me on this.”
Mora stomped her foot and crossed her arms. “As you wish,brother dearest.”
He hid his grin at the way his sister liked to pull on the end of her name for him for dramatic effect.
It would take a quarter hour to get to the outcropping, and high tide was yet a couple of hours away, but he did not wish to wait.
Brian climbed in, setting his weapon in the bottom of the boat. “Why are you suddenly so willing to help another, brother? It is not your nature and surely you know it.” He arched a brow at him as he untied the rope that kept them from moving yet. “Shove off, Artan. Move along so I can be back for the midday meal.”
“Do you ever think of anything but your belly, Brian?”
Brian spit over the edge of the ship as they pushed off.
“Disgusting!” Mora yelled, still tapping her foot on the dock as the boat slipped away from the coast. “I don’t understand why I cannot go. How could you leave me here? Surely, there must be some way I can help. Come back, please?”
Brian spit again, landing in the water in front of her, a wide grin on his face. “Until later, Mora.”
Thane couldn’t help but wonder what the two of them would be like if they’d had their parents here to raise them. Would they have matured more? Matured quicker? He had to admit that they’d matured faster than many since he had served as both mother and father to them. Living in the wild for several years had made them grow up. Fortunately, they’d found a safe cave and made it their own. Three bairns alone in the wilderness.
Again, someday he would right that wrong.
He didn’t have time to think on that at the moment. He would help guide the boat to the place where he had seen the girl deposited, then see if they could rescue the innocent woman. He prayed she was still alive.
But was she innocent? That he did not know.
Perhaps it was curiosity that drove him onward.
Brian reminded him, “You still have not told me why you care about this person. You know she’s not a MacQuarie, so why the concern from someone who cares about naught but our clan?”
Thane couldn’t argue that point. He shrugged. “I cannot answer for certain. I’ll tell you when we get over there. I am driven to find out what happened. Call it curiosity from someone who stood on the point admiring the view before it was ruined.”
