and with his other hand worked the infant’s shoulders free. Finally, in a rush of blood, the rest of the body slid into his arms.
“’Tis a boy,” he announced and wiped the mucus from the tiny puckered mouth.
A healthy wail broke the anxious silence. Katrine laughed, a rich, silvery peal that sounded remarkably healthy.
Duncan stared down at her in surprise. That sound couldn’t possibly have come from the torn body lying on the stairs. “Are you all right, Katrine?” he asked.
“Oh, Duncan. I’m so grateful. How did you know I was here?”
“Never mind. You need a woman to see to you.” He looked at the cord still attached to the baby. “I’ve got to get you out of here. Can you wait until I go for help?”
“I can bear anything now.” She held out her arms for her son. Balancing the baby in one hand, Duncan shrugged out of his shirt and wrapped the infant in the expensive linen. He handed him to Katrine and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’ll be back soon.”
***
“I don’t think this surprise march is a good idea, Murray,” O’Sullivan remarked. “The men are tired and hungry. Why not let them have the night to rest?”
George Murray did not bother to explain that because of their inferior numbers and the Irishman’s choice of battleground, a surprise attack was their only hope. “Cumberland will be celebrating his birthday,” he said instead. “The soldiers will be drunk as beggars.”
“I pray you may be right,” said O’Sullivan. “The prince arrives tonight from Traquair. He won’t be pleased if you muddle this one.”
The entire rebellion had been a hopeless muddle from the beginning, reflected George as he walked, still in his kilt, through the columns of exhausted clansman. They had marched for two days without sleep, and their food and provisions had inadvertently been left behind at Inverness. The grumbling he heard among the ranks was not his imagination. The men were losing heart. If only they could fight from the hills where the ground was thick and marshy. Because there was nothing else to do, George gave the order to march. It was eight o’clock and very dark, and he had only five thousand soldiers.
Cursing, the men complied.
They were to march around Nairn and strike the English under cover of darkness. After only an hour of marching, Murray found that nearly one-third of the men had left to forage for food. Precious time was wasted while officers rounded them up.
The ground was a giant bog, and more and more men, disgusted and nearly dead with fatigue, crawled under the bushes and fell asleep. The march was halted while O’Sullivan and Murray argued in the fog. Finally George cursed. “If we are to reach the English before dawn, there can be no more delay.”
Again the troops moved forward, but this time pale streaks of dawn lit the sky. They could hear the English troops stirring in their camp. There would be no surprise attack on Nairn. Dispirited, George Murray gave the order to retreat, and the starving, weary soldiers marched back to Drumossie Moor. There was still no food. No longer able to stand upright, they fell where they stood and slept. Less than an hour later, the drums rolled signaling the call to order. The battle had begun.
***
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Katrine demanded.
Duncan Forbes grinned and gestured toward the child in her arms. “We were otherwise occupied,” he reminded her.
Katrine’s eyes softened as she looked down at the bundle nestled close to her heart. She touched her lips to the tiny head and inhaled deeply, loving the sweet baby scent of him. She thought of her aborted journey to find the stone and pushed it to the back of her mind. Scotland’s Stone could wait. She smiled at Forbes. “’Tis true, we were. But now, I must see my husband.”
“That isn’t possible,” replied Duncan flatly. “You’ve not yet recovered, and a battlefield is no place for a woman and child.”
“Your house is there, Duncan,” she coaxed him. “Surely, as guests of the lord president of the Court of Session, no harm will come to us.”
He tried to reason with her. “I cannot guarantee your safety on such a journey, but I will take a message to your husband personally.”
She shook her head. “No, Duncan. If you won’t help us, I’ll find someone else.”
“Katrine,” he begged her, “be reasonable.”
She refused to listen, and when their conversation was over, Forbes retreated to his own room, where he