‘Are you daft?’
‘They did not see me,’ Brodie said, tugging free.
He could not believe the sight of Arabella, riding at a full gallop on that beast of a horse up the road on the mountainside. She rode right into the clearing and he almost, almost, walked out to see her. A few minutes passed in the grey silence before she travelled back down towards the road to the keep. This time her mount walked and she stared off into the distance as they went by the copse of trees that hid him and Rob from view. He might have grabbed her then but for the two armed guards who rode up to meet her. And he knew that others would follow too closely now.
‘Have you changed your mind then? You’ve given up your mad plan?’
‘Not at all,’ he said, pushing through the branches and walking away from the road. He made his way back to where three others waited for them. ‘We stay true to the plan and do not let ourselves be distracted by surprises.’
‘And the lady? Is she not simply a distraction in all this?’ Rob asked from behind.
They’d argued this point many times over the past two weeks as the wedding date approached. Brodie would not be swayed from his intention—kidnapping Arabella to prevent the marriage. He turned so quickly that Rob nearly ran him down.
‘Aye, she is the distraction. Caelan uses this wedding to disguise his true intentions. Everyone is so very busy looking at the beautiful bride that no one sees his true motives or actions.’
Rob ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, a familiar gesture his friend did without even noticing it. ‘You are certain?’
He’d learned much during his past four months of exile and every bit of it pointed to his cousin’s very comprehensive and long-planned plot not only to take over the chieftain’s chair but to destroy the Camerons. Caelan’s goal was not peace and compromise, but complete destruction of the other clan.
And though he loved power and control as much as most men, the other clan had much to offer both in terms of goods and trade and stability in the area. He saw no reason to destroy an entire clan when there was gain to be had in letting them live.
He smiled, grim and dark, at his friend. ‘Aye. Completely certain.’
‘And you must seize the lass? There is no other way?’
‘The wedding and the treaty must be stopped, Rob. We have discussed this and you know what he’s done. You, your sister, the others, would not be here, outcast and exiled, if you did not believe me. And believe we must take action.’ They reached the others then and Brodie waited for them to gather closer.
‘Go now and take your positions,’ he said. ‘The gates are open and many from the village will be entering now.’ He drew in the dirt at his feet and continued, ‘Hamish. Duncan. Ready the horses at the stables.’ Nodding to Jamie, he said, ‘Jamie, you trail us and warn us if need be.’
Brodie brushed the dirt from his hands and stood back.
‘The kitchens will be the busiest place. Most of those attending the wedding will go on ahead and be waiting by the church.’ The small stone building sat near the southernmost corner of the wall enclosing the keep, yards and other outbuildings. ‘Her father and few others will remain in the keep to escort her there when ready.’
‘But she’ll not be ready,’ Rob said.
* * *
They spent a short time going over the plan and then once more before they split up to enter the gates separately and disguised, so they would not be recognised. The sun was up in earnest when Brodie and Rob entered a little-used door and made their way up the stairway leading to Arabella’s chambers.
Surprise was on their side as they opened the door and met her aunt and maid. In the few seconds before they recognised them, Brodie and Rob were able to get control over them and keep them from screaming out an alarm—to either the guards below or the woman in the other chamber.
Once the two women were gagged and tied, Brodie lifted the latch and pushed the door to Arabella’s chamber open. Moving quickly inside while Rob stayed in the outer room, he found her standing, back to the wall, with a very interesting dagger in her hand. Aimed at him.
‘It was you!’ she said, turning her body to face him as he approached.
‘Aye, my lady,’ he said softly, easing his way across the distance between them. The one thing he needed to prevent her from doing was screaming and bringing the guards in on them. ‘Did you see me then at the clearing?’
Keep her talking. Move ever closer. He thought those words over and over as he did both. Another step and pause.
‘I saw you from the window,’ she said, her gaze skittering over to it and back to him. ‘But, the clearing was empty.’
‘I am here now,’ he said, holding out his hand to her. ‘Give me the dagger, Arabella. I will not harm you.’
She stared at him then, with bleak and empty eyes that filled with tears. ‘Is that how you killed Malcolm then? Tricked him into giving up his dagger and used yours on him?’
Christ! He wanted to deny it, but could not. He still remembered nothing of her brother’s death. Rob scuffed along the wooden floor and whispered a word to hurry him along.
‘Give me the dagger, lass,’ he ordered softly.
She raised her hand as though preparing to defend herself but it gave him the chance he needed. With a quick stride, he was in front of her, grasping the hand that held the weapon and twisting it down until she dropped it. Arabella gasped and opened her mouth to scream. It took but a second to cover it and nod to Rob.
Brodie wrapped the length of cord around her wrists after Rob gagged her with a piece of cloth. He wanted to laugh as his friend apologised, but this was too grave a time for any humour. Within minutes, she’d been secured—hands, mouth, legs.
‘We are taking you from here, Arabella,’ he said, as Rob threw a tapestry pilfered from another wall on the floor before them. ‘Fight not and you will not be hurt.’
He might as well have thrown water on an angry cat, for she bucked and twisted, trying to free herself. With quick, efficient movements, he and Rob placed her on the tapestry and rolled her inside of it. They carefully lifted the tapestry and the lady and carried her from the chamber, closing the door tightly behind them. Her father would not seek her out until just before the ceremony.
Brodie and Rob walked quickly in the opposite direction and took the second stairway, the one used by servants now busy with wedding preparations, to the lowest floor of the keep. Once there, it took little time to find the secret doorway which opened into a long-forgotten tunnel. He’d played here as a boy and his uncle had planned to close it, but never had. Brodie doubted that anyone remembered this hidden path out of the keep that led to one of the storage sheds near the stables.
The plan in place worked exactly as he’d hoped—his men were in their positions and executed their parts precisely. Even better, those living or working within the walls or the keep were seeing to all of the arrangements for the day’s celebration. With most of them so occupied, no one took note of two men carrying a rolled rug away. Soon, with the tapestry laid across his lap, Brodie rode the lass’s horse out through the gates and into the hills. Rob followed him while the others parted ways and would meet them back at their camp in two days, each group taking a different route to avoid detection.
* * *
The horse had accepted the extra burden without effort and they rode for miles before Brodie realised that the lass had stopped moving beneath his hand that held her securely on his lap. He signalled to Rob and they slowed and then walked the horses a short distance before coming to a halt. Rob was at his side quickly and Brodie lifted Arabella down to him and dismounted.