The Wild Rose of Kilgannon Read Free Page B

hardly move with it sucking at the horse's hooves." Moira put a hand to his cheek and he kissed her palm, then looked at me. "It's then Alex was wounded. He was afoot, like Angus and me, and three of the enemy were bearing down on him. Angus charged in and I did the same but then four more of them were there. I thought we'd die the next minute but Gilbey came up on Alex's right and we all met in the middle. Who woulda thought the damned tutor would save Alex's life? All those sword fighting lessons from Angus paid off." He laughed, then continued. "When we looked up we realized that the battle was over. Then Alex fell to his knees and Gilbey shouted that Alex was hurt. He was bleeding so much we thought we'd lose him, but he wouldna leave the Held until we found the others." He took a large gulp of whisky and stared into the distance for a moment.
    "And the rest of it was as ye'd think, men dying and dead already , the crows waiting in the trees for us to leave the field." He wiped his eyes and many of his listeners did the same. "We pulled back to Perth then and the talking began. I still think, and so did Alex, that we should ha' acted. We could ha' won then, if we'd attacked at once. I dinna think we can now unless something else happens." He shook his head. "And then we heard that Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, the chief of the Frasers, had come back from France. Since he'd spent the last few years with the Stewart's court we expected him to join us, but no, the man turned tail and he took Inverness in the name of King George. So all the Frasers deserted and the Gordons as well, and then English reinforcements who had been in Holland came. Within two weeks they had three times our number and our advantage was lost."
    He leaned forward, his voice solemn. "And then James Stewart came. We were there when he arrived at last from Peterhead, and we heard the news that the gold he'd brought, all the Spanish gold, had been lost at sea." Dougall's face darkened. "The king called us together and we thought he'd rally us, that maybe he'd thank us for our efforts and tell us what we'd all do next." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "He told us to continue. That was all the encouragement he gave us. 'Continue.' " He shook his head. "And then James Stewart told us how difficult his trip had been from France, and he complained about the food. He was making plans for his coronation as we left." He shook his head. "Our mighty leader."
    Behind me someone asked a question about the bat-de, and I left them then, Dougall drawing the battle lines in the table as the boys and men leaned
    eagerly over them, Ian and Jamie in the thick of it. I went to the library and unfolded Alex's letter, my hands shaking as I found where I'd stopped reading.
    James Stewart has arrived, Alex wrote, and It Is worse than before. We hear that English soldiers are walking the shore and picking up the gold we were to use to defeat them and to feed and arm our men. I will stay a little longer and see if our forces will rally, but I am sending the men who have small children or pregnant wives home with Dougall. He'll protect you, Mary, rely on him.
    Mar still expects men to leave their homes to aid us. He is a fool but I may yet be proved wrong. We are alive for the moment and healthy and I suppose I should take comfort In that, but, lass, howl miss you. I am not a man meant for warfare, lam so very angry over the mismanagement of this campaign that I can barely be civil. It is a disaster. If we are truly lost then Kilgannon may come under siege. If the news is worse when you get this or if you do not hear from me soon, then take the boys and go. Leave at once if you hear of troops moving west. Do not try to fight them or to defend the castle. Tell the clan to take to the heather and you take the Mary Rose and go to England. Do this, Mary. I must know you are safe. I will come to Kilgannon as soon as we can. Gannon's Lady is here in Perth and we will come home on her.
    I miss