follow orders for the life of her.”
“Sounds like every woman I’ve ever met. My wife’s the same.” Davy moved beside him and craned his head out the window. “Want to know what I think?”
“I reckon you’ll say it whether I want to ken or not.”
“You’re in love with her.”
Love? James had never been in love with anyone in his bloody life. “And you’re touched in the head.”
“Admit it. Why else would you have allowed her to come?”
James slammed his fist into his palm. “Good God, man, we’re at war. The woman of whom you are speaking has not only disappeared, I cannot afford to fall in love. Especially with a noblewoman who refuses to stay put after I’ve given her an implicit order to do so.”
Rather than argue, Davy pursed his lips, which was a damned good thing, else he’d have a mouth full of knuckles to contend with.
Grumbling beneath his breath, James took as step toward the door. “We need to find her. Mayhap she’s in the kitchens.”
Before he crossed the floor, Torquil and Caelan arrived, ruddy faced and eyes wide.
The Cunningham man’s gaze swept across the room, searching just as James had done only moments prior. “Plague take it, the bastard was right!”
“Who was right?” James demanded. “And about what?”
Caelan sidled around his friend. “There’s a crier in the square announcing a reward to anyone who can lead the Lord Warden to Lady Ailish Maxwell’s accomplices.”
Torquil threw out his hands. “’Tis only a matter of time until they track us here.”
James jammed his fists onto his hips. “I thought I told you to keep an eye on her.”
“Me, sir?” asked Caelan. “The lass never ventured below stairs.”
“Och, aye?” James asked. “Lady Ailish just floated out the window and landed in the arms of the Lord Warden, did she?”
“Mayhap she slipped down the rear stairs,” said Davy, still at the window. “Did she not mention something about having a word with the washerwomen?”
“That’s it,” said Torquil, snapping his fingers.
James cut the arse a deadly glare. “She may have done, but the pair of you still have some explaining to do. Why the blazes were you in the square if you were supposed to be watching out for Her Ladyship?”
“There’s no time to discuss it now.” Davy dropped the fur across the window. “There’s a half-dozen soldiers marching this way.”
Could things grow worse? “You all should be aware my visit to the smithy shack wasn’t in vain. I learned that Harris is not in Carlisle. Hasn’t been here, either.” James grasped Torquil’s shoulder. “Slip out the back. Ride to Caerlaverock and do whatever you must to find out where the earl took the child. Someone in that godforsaken castle must ken where he is. Meet me at Fail Monastery a fortnight hence.”
“Shall I accompany him?” asked Caelan.
“Nay—gather the other men. Camp outside the walls—near the cathedral. I saw a copse of trees that ought to give you a modicum of shelter. Wait there until I send word.”
Loud voices rumbled below stairs as Torquil hastened away.
Caelan popped his head out into the corridor. “What are you planning to do whilst I’m biding my time with the men?”
James grabbed the satchels and beckoned Davy to follow. “I aim to spirit Lady Ailish out of this godforsaken hell.”
As footsteps thundered on the stairs from the alehouse, James and the men slipped out the rear. Caelan strode for the stables while James led Davy through the shadows until they reached an awning that housed the smithy’s wood pile.
“Tell me you have a plan,” said his friend, glancing out from the stacks of wood. “We cannot hide here for long.”
James grabbed his satchel and pulled out his hunter’s hood and leather jerkin. “This is why I left no witnesses when I razed my own castle,” he said, shrugging into the coat. “Even if they discover Lady Ailish is under my protection, they will not recognize me. They may have heard of the Black Douglas, but no one truly kens what he looks like.”
“Aside from a man the size of Goliath with black hair and a black beard.”
James pulled his razor out of his satchel. “I mightn’t be able to shrink, but no one will ken the color of my hair if we shave it all off.”
Davy slid down on his haunches. “Then what? There’s only a handful of us. And no matter if ye are a brute of a man, we’ve no chance of standing up against the Lord Warden’s army.”
“Did I say anything about