“Och, hell, what?” Marjorie sounded nervous.
Aidan eyed her. That’d teach her to tease and taunt boys.
“You answer me right now, Cormac MacAlpin,” she said sternly. “Och, hell, what?”
“I … I think I’m stuck.”
Aidan laughed. His twin wasn’t the conquering hero after all. “You’ve ate too many pasties from the Aberdeen baker!”
“It’s not funny,” Marjorie snapped.
“I’m stuck,” Cormac said, and Aidan knew his twin was trying to tell him something. Cormac was much loved, but it was Aidan who seemed always to pry his brother out of jams.
“Aye, I hear you.” He propped the grate onto its side like an impromptu ladder, then stepped back to study it. A thick layer of ash blanketed the fireplace. He’d get filthy, and it’d be his hide tanned for Cormac’s folly. He always pried his twin from jams, but did anyone ever appreciate it? No. “Och, Mar-jorie, could your uncle no’ sweep the bloody hearth?”
He shook his head, resigned. There was nothing for it. His brother was stuck, and of course he’d help him. Aidan climbed onto the grate, using hands and feet to scale it like a ladder. He teetered at the top for a moment, then the whole thing toppled sideways. The metal jabbed into his ribs, and it hurt bad, but he’d never show that to Cormac and Marjorie.
Instead, he got right back up, propping the grate on its side and climbing again. This time he found his balance. The chimney above was pitch-black, but with the ambient light from below, he could make out the silhouette of Cormac’s dangling feet. “You get to save Marjorie, but it seems you need me to save you.”
“Thanks, Aid,” Cormac said, his voice tight.
Aidan realized how scared his brother really was, and it softened him. Because when all was said and done, he loved Cormac more than anything. More than anyone. “Eh, don’t fash yourself over it. Though it does mean you lose the dare.”
Aidan jumped, swiping at his twin’s foot. He fell again, harder this time. The grate clipped him on his chin, and a cloud of ash exploded into his face.
“Mind the grate!” Marjorie shouted.
Girls. Aidan shot her a look. “Thanks. I hadn’t considered that.”
What did Cormac see in her anyway? His twin was smitten, and it was making him a fool. And now he was a fool stuck in a chimney. “Losh, Cor, how’d you get up that high?” He coughed, slapping at his clothes. “My breeches are a wreck. Mum will have my hide.”
Nobody spoke. Everyone was waiting for him to save the conquering hero. Sighing, he climbed the grate and jumped, and then again. His fingertips grazed Cormac’s feet each time, but he didn’t manage to get purchase.
Aidan stared up. It was impossible. Cormac was wedged up too high. He could try to climb it, but then he’d have his brother’s feet jammed in his face and likely he’d get stuck too.
He needed something higher to stand on. A chair, mayhap. “Marjorie, what say we bring one of your uncle’s chairs to—”
Hands grabbed him hard from behind. Thoughts tumbled into his head. Why’d Marj grab me? Losh, the girl is strong.
But then the smell hit him. A foul, man smell. Man’s hands. Her uncle Humphrey home? We’re in for it now.
“Still yerself,” a gruff voice whispered in his ear.
A servant of Humphrey’s? He held still, waiting for his mother’s voice to chime out in a scold.
Aidan caught a glimpse of burly, hairy arms. Definitely not a servant.
A sack was shoved over his head. His heart exploded, and with it his limbs, kicking and flailing.
Someone was dragging him backward. He heard his brother calling out useless, clueless things, and Aidan tried to yell for him, but the bag only got in his mouth. He spit it from his lips. The air inside was hot and smelled of sour cheese, and it turned his stomach.
He hammered his heels against the floorboards, but the man was too strong. Aidan had thought himself almost a man, and this proof of his weakness shamed him, terrified him.
Marjorie screamed. Were they taking her too? Like her or no, what kind of man would he be if he let that happen?
He struggled wildly, imagining a miracle, willing it to happen. For once, he wanted Cormac to be the one to save him. Aidan cried out to him, and Cormac shouted back.
Hearing the panic in his brother’s voice made the moment real. This was really happening. Someone was hauling him away. A quivering sensation jittered through his body. He trembled, his every instinct to act, but he was held powerless in the man’s iron grip.