Border Fire Read Free Page B

neatly trimmed beard glimmered red in the torchlight. His eyes glinted like cold gray steel.
    The captive inhaled deeply, then in a voice heavy with the Scottish Borderers’ accent, he said, “I’d be gey willing to mak’ a fair bargain over this wee misunderstanding betwixt us.”
    “You are in no position to make any bargain,” Sir Hugh snapped. “Your race is run, Rabbie Redcloak.”
    “’Tis true ye caught me fair, sir,” he said, “but I canna think what grievance ye mean to claim agin me.”
    “Theft, for one, you scoundrel!”
    “Ah, but I dinna carry any stolen goods, as ye must ken the noo.”
    “You are a thieving murderer!”
    “Yet there be no man, lass, or bairn wha’ can claim to ha’ suffered harm at my hands this nicht, sir.”
    “Mayhap that is so tonight, but it is of no—”
    “Moreover,” the captive interjected swiftly, “I might could just put a wee finger on certain articles that ha’ gone missing over the past month or twa gin ye give me cause to act in a generous manner toward ye, sir.”
    “I do not doubt that,” Sir Hugh said grimly. “Has it not occurred to you yet to wonder just how it is that you find yourself in this predicament tonight?”
    Since he had been wondering that very thing from the instant he realized that a considerable force of men had driven him into a trap and surrounded him, he said simply, “Aye, I canna deny ye’ve whetted me curiosity considerably on that point.”
    “We knew you would strike at Haggbeck,” Sir Hugh said smugly.
    The captive said nothing, knowing Sir Hugh wanted him to suspect betrayal by one of his own. Refusing to rise to the bait, he waited patiently for him to go on.
    “I knew you’d not be able to resist retaliating after we raided the Crosiers in Liddesdale. On that occasion my men purposely claimed to ride from Haggbeck.”
    “I see. ’Twas a wee trap ye set, then.”
    “Aye, and I’ve had plump watches out patrolling every night since,” Sir Hugh said. “Their sole mission was to capture you and put an end to the absurd notion that you are some sort of invincible Border legend.”
    “Aye, sure, and it seems to have been a grand effort, indeed, sir, but to what purpose? Ye still ha’ no evidence to support a simple bill of grievance.”
    “I have your presence here on the English side,” Sir Hugh snapped.
    “There is that,” Rabbie admitted generously. “However, men on both sides o’ the line frequently cross over to drink in a tavern or attend a horse race. Moreover, and if I dinna mistake the matter, the place where ye captured me lies in Debatable Land. So even that evidence is like to result in a clearing o’ the bill.”
    “There is no longer any Debatable Land,” Sir Hugh said, ignoring the rider. “Not on this side, at least. The Scotch Dike put an end to it years ago.”
    “Aye, so our twa governments would ha’ us believe,” he replied. “Border folk still believe strongly in it, though, and so ye will see come Truce Day.”
    “We need not concern ourselves with Truce Day,” Sir Hugh said.
    “Ah, that’s fine, then—just a wee misunderstanding amongst friends.”
    “There is no misunderstanding, either. Your days of thieving and creating chaos in the Borders have ended.”
    “Aye, sure, if ye say so. We can mak’ any agreement ye like.”
    “I say so because it is true. Moreover, if you are thinking that your thieving Bairns will discover where you are and raid this castle to release you, you can think again. None but my most trusted men know where you are now, nor will they. As we speak, a heavily armed party is riding on to Carlisle. If anyone managed to track us tonight, they will assume that you went with that party and will not dare to attack one so large and heavily armed. And, by tomorrow, they will think it too late to do anything for you.”
    The prisoner remained silent, although there was much he would have liked to say. Sir Hugh was wrong to think the Borders’ magical