Page 38 of Only a Highlander Will Do

“And Father?” Fiona threw off yet another stone from the pile, ignoring the twist of fear in her stomach.

“None of us have seen him since he left the dower house yesterday.”

Fiona heaved a large stone off the pile, revealing an open space below. After three more stones were dislodged, she could finally see the top of Mrs Bagley’s greying head in the open space of the cellar. Fiona reached for another stone when the sound of rubble shifting behind her caused her to straighten and turn. Instead of Alex MacDonald as she’d feared, Rowena appeared, scrambling up beside her.

“Could you use some help?” Rowena asked, with a concerned expression.

“Where did you come from?” Fiona could not believe the sight before her. “Why are you here?”

“I came here with my brothers to find you.” Rowena bent down and lifted a stone, tossing it aside before looking around her with a frown. “I’m sorry about your home, Fiona.”

A sad smile came to Fiona’s lips. She had wanted Rowena as a friend, and she was certainly that, to come all this way to find her. “Your presence here means a lot. My home is gone, but my people still live. They are trapped below this rubble.”

Rowena sent Fiona a look of determination before she bent to lift another stone. “Then we’d best hurry and set them free.”

With the two of them working together, they removed enough stones to reveal the three servants trapped in the empty space of what used to be their cellar. Mrs Bagley was able to carry Ginny from the ruins while Rowena and Fiona struggled to lift a now unconscious Higgins from what might have been a stony grave without their help.

Once free, Rowena and Fiona carried Higgins by the arms to a patch of grass and set him down. Fiona ripped a strip of cloth from her shift to use as a bandage. She tied it over the bleeding wound in his leg. While she was certain the bones were broken as evidenced by the odd angle of his leg, she could at least bandage the wound to staunch the blood.

When Mrs Bagley placed Ginny on the grass beside him, Rowena began inspecting the gash in the maid’s head for debris. Once the larger chunks were removed, Fiona ripped another length of fabric from her shift to tie around Ginny’s head.

“You should sit down too, Mrs Bagley,” Fiona encouraged the chatelaine. “You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”

The older woman collapsed on the ground beside Higgins and stared at the ruin before her. “Whatever shall we do? We’ve no home at all now.”

Fiona placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, trying to lend comfort that she herself did not feel. They all had nowhere to go. “We will come about. We always have in the past. Together.”

“You will all come back to Dunvegan,” Rowena said. “That will be your home. There is plenty of room, and far too much work to accomplish with our diminished staff. Besides, Fiona, your place is with your husband and my brother, Tormod.”

Mrs Bagley’s eyes went wide. “Tormod? You didn’t marry Alex MacDonald? Praise the heavens!”

Fiona felt her cheeks heat. “Much has happened since I left here three days ago.”

“I’ll . . . say.” The chatelaine closed her eyes and fell back against the grass, as out of her senses as the other servants beside her.

“We’ll need a wagon to get them back to Dunvegan.” Rowena frowned as she turned back to Fiona. “Why did you leave? Did you know Alex would do this to your home?”

“Nay.” The weight of what had happened here today started to creep past Fiona’s defences and her heart felt heavy in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She’d come back to save her home and to avoid having to take the life of her husband. “I had my reasons.”

“I’m sure you did.” Rowena pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest and staring into the distance as if trying to figure out how best to say something. “You will always have a home with us, no matter what. You are both a Fraser and a MacLeod. Let that mean something to you.”

Fiona clutched her hands together and pressed her lips into a thin line, trying with everything inside her not to tremble as she thought back over everything that had happened since she’d left her home. Perhaps things did not go exactly as Fiona might have wanted, but she would cherish the good memories from the last few days. As she stared into the horizon she recalled the first time Tormod had taken her hand in his. She remembered the companionship she’d felt while having tea with Gwendolyn and Rowena. Her body warmed at the thought of Tormod’s lips on her own and the pleasure he’d brought to her while she’d lain in his arms.

A sudden gasp from Rowena broke through her thoughts. Her stomach tightened as her gaze shifted from a seized Rowena to the man two feet away who held the girl captive against his chest with a dagger at her throat.

“One word from you and the MacLeod woman dies,” Alex MacDonald warned as he tightened his grip around Rowena’s waist.

Fiona stiffened, remaining as motionless as possible while casting a quick glance around her for a way for her and Rowena to escape or call for help. There had to be a way out of this.

Mrs Bagley, Higgins, and Ginny were all too out of their senses to be of much help. And Tormod fought off in the distance. Even if she risked crying out, she doubted he would hear her over the clashing of swords and moans of the injured.

The only way to save Rowena was to negotiate with the man. “Please,” Fiona rasped. Her voice sounded frightened even to her own ears. “Please, release Rowena and take me instead. I’ll go quietly and do anything you want.”

Alex MacDonald’s eyes glittered as he laughed. “You, my dear, are no longer the prize I seek. I wish to torment Tormod MacLeod most thoroughly. Since he took my bride-to-be, now I will take his sister from him.”

“Nay! You’ll not take either of us.” The emotion in Rowena’s gaze shifted from fear to anger. She twisted in her captor’s arms and slammed her palm into his nose.

He bellowed in pain.