She swatted him on the arm, and they both started giggling like children.
Suddenly being stranded on a primitive planet no longer seemed so bad. Except…. “We’re going to have to get some things from Regelence.”
“Like?”
“Like a manual on indoor plumbing and a huge stash of tea.”
Louie giggled. “Amen!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Morality and law seem to go hand in hand. Unfortunately the morals seem rather loose.”
—Timothy on Skye’s criminal justice system.
As plans went, this wasn’t the worst one Ciaran had ever heard. Then again, he was still so relaxed from last night he might have agreed to anything Red suggested. With a grin, Ciaran stepped back from hammering a fence post into the ground and looked over the progress. They were building a corral outside Lochwood’s gates. They’d started at sunrise this morning, and already at noon, they had half the corral built. About fifty clansmen worked together constructing the pen, some pounding fence posts into the ground and others hammering up railings between the posts.
“Where did ye help go?” Angus sidled up next to him with a sledge over his shoulder, staring at the men working.
“Tae get nails.” Ciaran glanced around toward the front gate but did not spot Red. He’d been gone awhile. Ciaran had sent him on the errand over twenty minutes ago to keep Red from killing himself trying to put in fence posts. The sledge was just too heavy for him, but it hadn’t stopped Red from trying. When he’d hit himself in the thigh and sent up a string of curses to rival the most hardened warrior, Ciaran had sent him to get nails in order to start on the railing. A much more fitting job for someone of Red’s stature.
“Ye are smiling.”
“Am I?” Ciaran tried to erase the grin from his lips, but wasn’t entirely successful. Red made him happy.
In front of them, Frasier walked around, surveying the progress. His arms were crossed and his brow furrowed. What was the old curmudgeon doing out here?
Angus nodded. “Aye, and I can guess why. Dinna let Louisa find out. She will box ye ears fer compromising her charge.”
Ciaran smiled at that. “Red wouldnae like being called her charge.”
Smirking, Angus nodded. “Nae, he wouldnae. They seem tae disagree on who is supposed tae protect whom. ’Tis a strange society they live in, aye?”
“Aye.”
Angus chuckled and slapped him on the back. “I came here tae tell ye that Greer and Keith came back from surveillance a few minutes ago.”
“Any sign of our missing men?”
With a sigh, Angus shook his head. “Nae. Nae sign of them.”
The news wasn’t surprising, Ciaran and Patrick had searched around the site, but it was still disheartening. Ciaran had hoped….
“The men are getting restless. When are we going tae lay siege tae that base?”
“I dinna ken. Patrick and Marcus are going tae do more surveillance tonight. Then Patrick and I will come up with a plan.” Ciaran was hoping to have news on the whereabouts of their men before they went rushing in, but it was beginning to look like that wasn’t going to happen. Hell, he wanted to be the one doing the surveillance, but he had other duties to attend to. “Tonight we raid cattle. Then we will plan our assault.”
Nodding, Angus started to leave, but stopped. “How many men do ye want with us tonight?”
“Just meself, ye, Ram, and Red.”
Angus smiled again.
“What?”
“We’re taking Red?”
Ciaran frowned. “Aye.”
Angus’s smile got bigger. Shaking his head, he started walking off. “Should be interestin’.”
“What does that mean?” Ciaran watched his retreating back and swore his shoulders were shaking. That did not bode well. He should probably go in search of his missing helper.
Ciaran walked into the great hall from the kitchen some fifteen moments later and was engulfed in smoke, but there was no one in the kitchen. Was there something stuck in one of the fireplace chimneys? He hurried toward the great hall, looking for the source, and found it.
Red, Fiona, and Ian each stood in the middle of the three trestle tables, with some sort of burning plant in their hands. On second look, the plant wasn’t actually burning, it was smoking.
Louisa stood beside the kitchen door, leaning on the wall, with a smirk on her face, watching the proceedings like it was nothing out of the ordinary. When she looked at him, he raised his brows in wonder. What on Skye were they doing? He was so baffled, he couldn’t seem to form the words to ask.