best bestir yourselves,” he added, glancing from one to the other. “There do be black rain clouds rolling in.”
Catriona nearly offered a smile to match Tadhg’s but thought better of it when Fin frowned at her. Soberly, she said, “Truly, sir, I won’t slow you down.”
Still frowning, Fin said, “The Mackintosh leaves me no choice but to take you, lass, so tell Ian to see to our things. Tadhg, you find the kitchen and tell them to put up food for us. Come, Ewan,” he added. “We’ll collect your gear and your lads. Then I’ll go across in the boat with you to speak to Toby.”
Catriona waited until they had left the dais before quietly sending the gillie who had served Tadhg to fetch Ian Lennox and Ailvie.
When she told them to pack and explained why she and Fin were leaving, Ailvie said, “What about us then, mistress?”
Ian said, “Sir Finlagh will take Toby and me, lass. So I expect that he’ll take you as well, unless you want to stay warm and dry here instead.”
“I want to stay, sure enough,” Ailvie said with a grimace. “But me place be wi’ the mistress, come wha’ may, so I’ll go.”
Ian nodded, and the two packed the sumpter baskets. By the time Fin returned, all was ready for their departure.
To Fin’s relief, and somewhat to his surprise, the journey proceeded without incident, although darkness had fallen an hour before they forded the Spey.
There was no moon and only a sprinkling of stars, but he was sure that Rory Comyn would not expect them yet if he expected them at all. Just as Fin knew how long it should take Ivor to reach Lochindorb, gather Alex’s forces, and return, Comyn would know that, too, and would expect it to take at least until late the next day for any reinforcement to reach Rothiemurchus.
As they rode side-by-side through the woods in near pitch darkness to the top of the last ridge, Fin realized that Catriona was thinking along similar lines when she said quietly, “Do you think Rory knew we were going to Moigh when we met him?”
“I don’t know,” Fin murmured, as aware as she clearly was of how easily sound traveled at night. “But we’ll assume that the Comyns know we’re here.”
“Rory’s lads are not keeping a close watch here tonight, though,” she said. “There are many lights below on the castle.”
“Or the Comyns have somehow lulled the castle into a false sense of security,” he replied. “They could up to mischief, and no one from the castle has caught them at it. We should proceed as if that were the case. Recall that they have killed three of your watchers. I’ll wager that Shaw has put more lads out, doubtless two by two, to look after each other. But the long perimeter of the loch makes it impossible to secure entirely, especially on a moonless night like this.”
“At least, those clouds have yet to produce rain,” she said. “We have seen patches of starlight ever since it got dark.”
They had used torches at first, but Fin had ordered them doused as soon as they had safely forded the Spey. Nevertheless, instinct warned him that the Comyns had likely kept track of them both going and on their return.
Warning the others to keep a close watch as they guided their horses down the hill, Fin kept his right hand poised to draw his sword at a moment’s notice.
All remained quiet when they reached the shore. The host of lights on the castle ramparts should have reassured him, he knew. But they did not.
“Waken the echo, sweetheart,” he murmured.
With a low chuckle that stirred him to think briefly of more pleasant things, she hooted softly. When the echo failed to respond, she hooted again with more energy, and the sound echoed back to them. As it faded, another hoot sounded.
“That’s Aodán, not the echo,” she murmured. “Watch for the boat to come.”
The rowers made little noise and collected them swiftly. Fin told Toby, Ian, and Tadhg to remove the sumpter baskets and turn the garrons loose.
“Aye, sir,” Tadhg said. “They’ll find grass and feed on their ownsome.”
They made the trip back without a hint of trouble, and Aodán assured them that all had been quiet. “The laird do be away, gathering men to head for Glen Garry whilst Sir Ivor and the Lord of the North’s forces keep to the east,” he said. “But the laird left enough lads here to stand regular