The Fiery Cross Read online

  trouble coming; we don't need more." He had drawn close to me, the better to forestall interruption, and I could feel the power of him where he touched me, his arm beneath my hand, his thigh brushing mine. Strength of bone and fire of mind, all wrapped round a core of steel-hard purpose that would make him a deadly projectile, once set on any course.

  "Ye say it is your business." His eyes were steady, the blue of them bleached pale with autumn tight. "I know it is mine. Are ye with me, then?"

  The ice blossomed in my blood, spicules of cold panic, Damn him! He meant it. There was one reason to seek out Stephen Bonnet, and one reason only.

  I swung round on my heel, pulling him with me, so we stood pressed close together, arms linked, looking toward the fire. Brianna, Marsati, and the Bugs were now listening raptly to Fergus, who was recounting something, his face alight with cold and laughter. Jemmy's face was turned toward us over his mother's shoulder, round-eyed and curious.

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  7-hey are your business," I said, my voice pitched low and trembling 'Aith intensity. "And mine. Hasn't Stephen Bonnet done enough damage to them, to us?"

  "Aye, more than enough."

  He pulled me closer to him; I could feel the heat of him through his clothes, but his voice was cold as the rain. Fergus's glance flicked toward us; he smiled warmly at me and went on with his story. To him, no doubt we looked like a couple sharing a brief moment of affection, heads bent together in closeness.

  "I let him go," Jamie said quietly. "And evil came of it. Can I let him wander free, knowing what he is, and that I have loosed him to spread ruin? It is like loosing a rabid dog, Sassenach-ye wouldna have me do that, surely."

  His hand was hard, his fingers cold on mine.

  "You let him go once; the Crown caught him again-if he's free now, it's not your fault!"

  "Perhaps not my fault that he is free," he agreed, "but surely it is my duty to see he doesna stay so-if I can."

  "You have a duty to your family!"

  He took my chin in his hand and bent his head, his eyes boring into mine. "Ye think I would risk them? Ever?"

  I held myself stiff, resisting for a long moment, then let my shoulders slump, my eyelids drop in capitulation. I took a long, trembling breath. I wasn't giving in altogether.

  "There's risk in hunting, Jamie," I said softly. "You know it."

  His grip relaxed, but his hand still cupped my face, his thumb tracing the outline of my lips.

  "I know it," he whispered. The mist of his breath touched my cheek. "But I have been a hunter for a verra long time, Claire. I wilina bring danger to them-1 swear it."

  "Only to yourself? And just what do you think will happen to us, if you-" I caught a glimpse of Brianna from the corner of my eye. She had halfturned, seeing us, and was now beaming tender approval on this scene of what she supposed to be parental fondness. Jamie saw her, too; I heard a faint snort of amusement.

  "Nothing will happen to me," he said definitely, and gathering me firmly to him, stifled ftirther argument with an encompassing kiss. A faint spatter of applause rose from the direction of the fire.

  "Encore!' shouted Fergus.

  "No," I said to him as he released me. I whispered, but spoke vehemently for all that. "Not encore. I don't want to hear the name of Stephen Bonnet ever bloody again!"

  "It will be all right," he whispered back, and squeezed my hand. "Trust me, Sassenach."

  OGER DIDN'T LOOK BACK, but thoughts of the Findlays went with him as he made his way downhill from their camp, through clumps R

  of brush and trodden grass. short-though taller than their The two boys were sandy-haired and fair,

  mother-but broad-shouldered. The two younger children were dark, tall, and slender, with their mother's hazel eyes. Given the gap of years between the older boys and their younger siblings, Roger concluded from the evidence that Mrs. Findlay had likely had two husbands. And from the look of things now was a widow again. n Findlay to Brianna, he thought, as farther Perhaps he should mention Joa

  evidence that marriage and childbirth were not necessarily mortal to women. Or perhaps it was better just to leave that subject lie quiet for a bit.

  Beyond thoughts of Joan and her children, though, he was haunted by the soft, bright eyes of lain Mhor. How old was he? Roger wondered, grasping the springy branch of a pine to keep from sliding down a patch of loose gravel. Impossible to tell from looking; the pale, twisted face was lined and wornbut with pain and struggle, not age. He was no larger than a boy of twelve or so, but lain Mhor was older than his namesake, clearly-and lain Og was sixteen. perhaps not. She had treated him with

  He was likely younger than Joan; but naturally bring a visitor to deference, bringing Roger to him as a woman would

  the head of the family. Not greatly younger, then-say thirty or more?

  Christ, he thought, how did a man like that survive so long in times like these? But as he had backed awkwardly away from lain Mhor, one of the little girls had crawled into the crude shelter from the back, pushing a bowl of milk pudding before her, and had sat down matter-of factly by her uncle's head, spoon in hand. lain Mhor had limbs and fingers enough-he had a family.

  That thought gave Roger a tight feeling in his chest, somewhere between pain and gladness-and a sinking feeling lower down, as he recalled Joan Findlay's words. e didn't, then Joan was left with two Send them safe bome. Aye, and if h

  young girls and a helpless brother. Had she any property? he wondered.

  He had heard a good deal of talk on the mountain about the Regulation at the matter had plainly not been since the morning's Proclamation. Given th

  sufficiently important to make it into the history books, he thought this militia business was unlikely to come to anything. If it did, though, he vowed to himself that he would find some way of keeping lain Og and Hugh Findlay well

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  away from any danger. And if there was bounty money, they should have their share.

  In the meantime ... he hesitated. He had just passed Jocasta Cameron's camp, bustling like a small village, with its cluster of tents, wagons, and leantos. In anticipation of her wedding-now a double wedding-Jocasta had brought almost all of her house slaves, and not a few of the field hands as well. Beyond the livestock, tobacco, and goods brought for trade, there were trunks of clothes and bedding and dishes, trestles, tables, hogsheads of ale, and mountains of food intended for the celebration afterward. He and Bree had breakfasted with Mrs. Cameron in her tent this morning off china painted with roses: slices of succulent fried ham, studded with cloves, oatmeal porridge with cream and sugar, a compote of preserved fruit, fresh corn dodgers with honey, Jamaican coffee ... his stomach contracted with a pleasant growl of recollection.

  The contrasts between that lavishness and the recent poverty of the Findlay encampment were too much to be borne with complacence. He turned upon his heel with sudden decision, and began the short climb back to Jocasta's tent.

  Jocasta Cameron was at home, so to speak; he saw her mud-soaked boots outside the tent. Sightless as she was, she still ventured out to call upon friends, escorted by Duncan or her black butler, Ulysses. More often, though, she allowed the Gathering to come to her, and her own tent seethed with company throughout the day, all the Scottish society of the Cape Fear and the colony coming to enjoy her renowned hospitality.

  For the moment, though, she seemed fortunately alone. Roger caught a glimpse of her through the lifted flap, reclining in her cane-bottomed chair, feet in slippers, and her head fallen back in apparent repose. Her body servant, Phaedre, sat on a stool near the open tent flap, needle in hand, squinting in the hazy light over a spill of blue fabric that filled her lap.

  Jocasta sensed him first; she sat up in her armchair, and her head turned sharply as he touched the tent flap. Phaedre glanced up belatedly, reacting to her mistress's movement rather than his presence.

  "Mr. MacKenzie. It is the Thrush, is it no?" Mrs. Cameron said, smiling in
his direction.

  He laughed, and ducked his head to enter the tent, obeying her gesture.

  "It is. And how did ye ken that, Mrs. Cameron? I've said not a word, let alone sung one. Have I a tuneful manner of breathing?" Brianna had told him of her aunt's uncanny ability to compensate for her blindness by means of other senses, but he was still surprised at her acuity.

  "I heard your step, and then I smelt the blood on you," she said matter-offactly. "The wound's come open again, has it not? Come, lad, sit. Will we fetch ye a dish of tea, or a dram? Phaedre-a cloth, if ye please."

  His fingers went involuntarily to the gash in his throat. He'd forgotten it entirely in the rush of the day's events, but she was right; it had bled again, leaving a crusty stain down the side of his neck and over the collar of his shirt.

  Phaedre was already up, assembling a tray from the array of cakes and biscuits on a small table by Jocasta's chair. Were it not for the earth and grass underfoot, Roger thought, he would scarcely know they were not in Mrs. Cameron's drawing room at River Run. She was wrapped in a woolen arisaid, but even that was fastened by a handsome cairngorm brooch.

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  "It's nothing," he said, self-conscious, but Jocasta took the cloth from her maid's hand and insisted on cleaning the cut herself. Her long fingers were cool on his skin, and surprisingly deft.

  She smelled of woodsmoke, as everybody on the mountain did, and the tea she had been drinking, but there was none of the faintly camphorated musty odor he normally associated with elderly ladies.

  "Tch, ye've got it on your shirt," she informed him, fingering the stiff fabric disapprovingly. "Will we launder it for ye? Though I dinna ken d'ye want to wear it sopping; it'll never dry by nightfall."

  "Ali, no, ma'am. I thank ye, I've another. For the wedding, I mean."

  "Well, then." Phaedre had produced a small pot of medicinal grease; he recognized it as one of Claire's, by the smell of lavender and goldenseal. Jocasta scooped up a thumbnail of the ointment and spread it carefully over his wound, her fingers steady on his jawbone.

  Her skin was well-kept and soft, but it showed the effects not only of age but weather. There were ruddy patches in her cheeks, nets of tiny broken veins that from a slight distance lent her an air of health and vitality. Her hands showed no liver spots--of course, she was of a wealthy family; she would have worn gloves out-of-doors all her life-but the joints were knobbed and the palms slightly callused from the tug of reins. Not a hothouse flower, this daughter of Leoch, despite her surroundings.

  Finished, she passed her hand lightly over his face and head, picked a dried leaf from his hair, then wiped his face with the damp cloth, surprising him. She dropped the cloth, then took his hand, wrapping her own fingers around his.

  "There, now. Presentable once more! And now that ye're fit for company, Mr. MacKenzie--did ye come to speak to me, or were ye only passing by?" Phaedre put down a dish of tea and a saucer of cake by his side, but Jocasta

  continued to hold his left hand. He found that odd, but the unexpected atmosphere of intimacy made it slightly easier to begin his request.

  He put it simply; he had heard the Reverend make such requests for charity before, and knew it was best to let the situation s eak for itself, leaving ultimate decision to the conscience of the hearer. p

  Jocasta listened carefully, a small furrow between her brows. He'd expected her to pause for thought when he'd finished, but instead she replied at once. "Aye," she said, "I ken Joanie Findlay, and her brother, too. Ye're right, her

  husband was carried off by the consumption, two year gone. Jamie Roy spoke to me of her yesterday."

  " Oh, he did?" Roger felt mildly foolish.

  Jocasta nodded. She leaned back a little, pursing her lips in thought.

  "It's no just a matter of offering help, ye ken," she explained. "I'm glad of the chance. But she's a proud woman, Joan Findlayshe willna take charity" Her voice held a slight note of reproval, as though Roger ought to have realized that.

  Perhaps he should, he thought. But he had acted on the impulse of the moment, moved by the Findlays' poverty It hadn't occurred to him that if she had little else, it would be that much more important to Joan Findlay to cling to her one valuable possession-her pride.

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  "I see," he said slowly. "But surelythere must be a way to help that wouldn't offer offense?"

  Jocasta tilted her head slightly to one side, then the other, in a small mannerism that he found peculiarly familiar. Of course-Bree did that now and then, when she was considering something.

  "There may be," she said. "The feast tonight-for the wedding, aye?-the Findlays will be there, of course, and well-fed. It wouldna be amiss for Ulysses to make up a wee parcel of food for them to take for the journey home'twould save it spoiling, after all." She smiled briefly, then the look of concentration returned to her features.

  "The priest," she said, with a sudden air of satisfaction. "Priest? Ye mean Father Donahue?"

  One thick, burnished brow lifted at him.

  "Ye ken another priest on the mountain? Aye, of course I do." She lifted her free hand, and Phaedre, ever alert, came to her mistress's side.

  "NESS Jo?"

  "Look out some bits from the trunks, lass," Jocasta said, touching the maid's arm. "Blankets, caps, an apron or two; breeks and plain shirts-the grooms can spare them."

  "Stockings," Roger put in quickly, thinking of the little girls' dirty bare feet. "Stockings." Jocasta nodded. "Plain stuff, but good wool and well-mended. Ulysses has my purse. Tell him to give ye ten shillings-sterling-and wrap it in one o' the aprons. Then make a bundle of the things and take them to Father Donahue. Tell him they're for Joan Findlay, but he's no to say where they've come from. He'll know what to say." She nodded again, satisfied, and dropped her hand from the maid's arm, making a little shooing gesture.

  "Off wi' ye, then-see to it now."

  Phaedre murmured assent and left the tent, pausing only to shake out the blue thing she had been sewing and fold it carefully over her stool. It was a decorated stomacher for Brianna's wedding dress, he saw, done with an elegant lacing of ribbons. He had a sudden vision of Brianna's white breasts, swelling above a low neckline of dark indigo, and returned to the conversation at hand with some difficulty.

  "I beg your pardon, ma'am?"

  "I said-will that do?" Jocasta was smiling at him, with a slightly knowing expression, as though she had been able to read his thoughts. Her eyes were blue, like Jamie's and Bree's, but not so dark. They were fixed on him-or at least pointed at him. He knew she could not see his face, but she did give the eerie impression of being able to see througb him.

  "Yes, Mrs. Cameron. That's-it's most kind of ye." He brought his feet under him, to stand and take his leave. He expected her to let go of his hand at once, but instead, she tightened her grip, restraining him.

  "None so fast. I've a thing or two to say to ye, young man." He settled back on his chair, composing himself.

  "Of course, Mrs. Cameron."

  "I wasna sure whether to speak now or wait until it was done-but as ye're here alone now. . . " She bent toward him, intent.

  "Did my niece tell ye, lad, that I meant to make her heiress to my propertYP"

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  "Aye, she did."

  He was at once on guard. Brianna had told him, all right-making it clear in no uncertain terms what she thought of that particular proposal. He steeled himself to repeat her objections now, hoping to do it more tactfillly than she might have done herself. He cleared his throat.

  "I'm sure my wife is most conscious of the honor, Mrs. Cameron," he began cautiously, "but-"

  "Is she?" Jocasta asked dryly. "I shouldna have thought so, to hear her talk. But doubtless ye ken her mind better than I do. Be that as it may, though, I mean to tell her that I've changed my own mind."

  "Oh? Well, I'm sure she'll-"

  "I've told Gerald Forbes to be drawing up a will, leaving
River Run and all its contents to Jeremiah."

  "To-" It took a moment for his brain to make the connection. "What, to wee Jemmy?"

  She was still leaning forward a little, as though peering at his face. Now she sat back, nodding, still holding firmly to his hand. It came to him, finally, that, unable to see his face, she thought to read him by means of this physical connection.

  She was welcome to anything his fingers might tell her, he thought. He was too stunned at this news to have any notion how to respond to it. Christ, what would Bree say about it?

  "Aye," she said, and smiled pleasantly. "It came to me, ye see, as how a woman's roperty becomes her husband's when she weds. Not that there are p

  no means of settling it upon her, but it's difficult, and I wouldna involve lawyers more than I must-I think it always a mistake to go to the law, do ye not agree, Mr. MacKenzie?"

  With a sense of complete astonishment, he realized that he was being deliberately insulted. Not only insulted, but warned. She thought-she did! She thought he was after Brianna's presumed inheritance, and was warning him not to resort to any legal contortions to get it. Mingled shock and outrage sealed his tongue for a moment, but then he found words.

  "Why, that is the most-so ye take thought for Joan Findlay's pride, but ye think I have none? Mrs. Cameron, how dare ye suggest that-"

  "Ye're a handsome lad, Thrush," she said, holding tight to his hand. "I've felt your face. And you've the name of MacKenzie, which is a good one, to be sure. But there are MacKenzies aplenty in the Highlands, aren't there? Men of honor, and men without it. Jamie Roy calls ye kinsman-but perhaps that's because ye're handfast to his daughter. I dinna. think I ken your family."

  Shock was giving way to a nervous impulse to laugh. Ken his family? Not likely; and how should he explain that he was the grandson-six times over-of her own brother, Dougal? That he was, in fact, not only Jamie's nephew, but her own as well, if a bit further down the family tree than one might expect?

  "Nor does anyone I've spoken to this week at the Gathering," she added, head tilted to one side like a hawk watching prey.

  So that was it. She'd been asking about him among her companyand had failed to turn up anyone who knew anything of his antecedents, for obvious reasons. A suspicious circumstance, to be sure.

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  He wondered whether she supposed he was a confidence trickster who had taken Jamie in, or whether perhaps he was meant to be involved in some scheme with Jamie? No, hardly that; Bree had told him that Jocasta had originally wanted to leave her property to Jamie-who had refused, wary of close involvement with the old leg-trap. His opinion of Jamic's intelligence was reaffirmed.

  Before he could think of some dignified retort, she patted his hand, still smiling.

  "So, I thought to leave it all to the wee lad. That will be a tidy way of man aging, won't it? Brianna will have the use of the money, of course, until. wee Jeremiah should come of age-unless anything should happen to the child, that is."

  Her voice held a definite note of warning, though her mouth continued to smile, her blank eyes still fixed Aide on his face.

  "What? What in the name of God d'ye mean by that?" He pushed his stool back, but she held tight to his hand. She was very strong, despite her age. "Gerald Forbes will be executor of my will, and there are three trustees to

  manage the property," she explained. "If Jeremiah should come to any mischief, though, then everything will go to my nephew Hamish." Her face was quite serious now. "You'd not see a penny."

  He twisted his fingers in hers and squeezed, hard enough that he felt her bony knuckles press together. Let her read what she liked in that, then! She gasped, but he didn't let go.

  "Are ye saying to me that ye think I would harm that child?" His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears,

  She had gone pale, but kept her dignity, teeth clenched and chin upraised. "Have I said so?"

  "Ye've said a great deal-and what ye've not said speaks louder than what ye have. How dare you imply such things to me?" He released her hand, all but flinging it back in her lap.

  She rubbed her reddened fingers slowly with her other hand, lips pursed in thought. The canvas sides of the tent breathed in the wind with a crackling sound.

  "Well, then," she said at last. "I'll offer ye my apology, Mr. MacKenzie, if I've wronged ye in any way. I thought it would be as well, though, for ye to know what was in my mind."

  "As well? As well for whom?" He was on his feet, and turned toward the flap. With great difficulty, he kept himself from seizing the china plates of cakes and biscuits and smashing them on the ground as a parting gesture.

  "For Jeremiah," she said levelly, behind him. "And Brianna. Perhaps, lad, even for you."

  He swung round, staring at her. "Me? What d'ye mean by that?" She gave the ghost of a shrug.