Read Online Sarah Gabriel by Keeping Kate - Free Book Online Page B

black-haired Gael had taken a beating recently, for one eye was bruised and swollen, and his cheek and lip were cut. But his expression was calm, his jaw square and reliable, his mouth sober yet tender. In his blue eyes she saw weariness, gentleness, and no threat.
    “Thank you,” she said again.
    He grunted in reply and turned, walking over to the small man in brown, now bunched against the wall. “Stay there, you.”
    “Just a bit o’ fun, lad.” He waved a hand. “Ah’m Jacobite, like you. Friends, aye?”
    “I have all the Jacobite friends I need, and so does she,” the Highlander said. “Stick to your corner if you value your crop of lice and the head they’re living on.”
    Kate stared at him in utter gratitude as he turned and came back toward her. He sat an arm’s length away, leaned his head against the wall, and closed his eyes.
    Kate noted the bruises and the caked blood. “Are you badly hurt?” she asked in Gaelic.
    “I’m fine enough,” he replied.
    “I’m grateful for your help, sir.”
    He nodded, eyes still closed.
    “I’m Kate,” she said. “And you are Donald?”
    He snorted. “Donald is a name some Lowlanders use to refer to all Highland men, lass. I am Ian Cameron.”
    “Oh!” She gasped and scooted closer. “Ian Cameron—we’ve been looking for you,” she whispered.
    He opened one eye. “And who would be looking?”
    “My kinsmen.” She kept her voice low, though she did not think the Lowlander or guards would understand Gaelic. “I’m Kate. My brother is Duncrieff.”
    Both blue eyes opened. “Robert MacCar—”
    “Hush,” she whispered. “They might recognize the name, even in our tongue. We knew you were taken but did not know where you were held.”
    “I’ve been here a few weeks.” He rubbed his head. “But how is it that Rob’s sister is here?”
    “I was arrested for…helping my kinsmen.” She leaned closer. “We thought you might be in Edinburgh Castle.”
    “Not yet, but they will send me there soon, I hear. Colonel Grant and his men took me down about a month ago. He’s a madman, that one. But at least I earned the right to be here.” He smiled in impish contrast to his bold size.
    “Earned it?” She looked at him, puzzled.
    “I slept too long that morning, and they found us—killed my two cousins and took me. But I wounded two red soldiers and made fools of the rest. Knocked some heads together and went down roaring like a bull.” He winced and touched his swollen eye.
    “I am sorry about your cousins. And I’m not surprised to hear what you did. Ian, did you ever find…what you were searching for?”
    He shook his head. “I know what you are asking. I have not found it yet, but I know where to look now. I was taken before I could get there and before I could send word to Rob.”
    “Where is that?” she asked breathlessly.
    He studied her. “If I told you what I know, and they tortured you as they did yesterday, damn them all”—he spat in disgust—“you might speak of it.”
    “I would not,” she said.
    “Well, then, I’ll say this.” He leaned close, glancing past her, where a guard paced close to the cell door. “The hermit of the Highlands knows the secret.”
    She blinked at him. “Hermit? But where?”
    “That’s what my cousins said, when they found the weaponry,” he whispered in Gaelic, watching over her shoulder toward the door. “A hermit near Glen Carran, they said. They would not tell me more until we were closer to the place—caution on their part, but they did not think to be killed. I was on my way to tell your brother and to go searching.”
    “They told you nothing else?”
    “They died too soon, lass,” he said somberly. “If you see your brother, you must tell him this.”
    “I will see him soon,” she said. “Somehow, I will.”
    “They mean to take you to Edinburgh Castle, too, I have no doubt. Does your brother know you’re here?”
    She shook her head. “I have not told anyone my