Needed By The Highlander - Rebecca Preston Page 0,138

“The guards would have seen him. Wait — why didn’t they recognize him? He’s a wanted man… hardly the most popular man in the castle…”

The groom was shaking his head. “He said — he said he knew another way out of the castle. Old way, down through a passage to the docks…”

“I’ll ask Maeve,” Nancy said immediately, leaping to her feet. “Any old passages in this place, she’ll know for sure. I’ll be back, Helen.”

Helen nodded, her heart pounding as she comforted the groom, waiting for aid to arrive to carry him inside to be treated for his wounds. So Perry MacCullen had returned… had he crept into Niall’s quarters to steal the boy in vengeance? She felt sick at the very thought… and worried about what Niall was going to say when he found out. His anger was going to be terrifying… and for once, she had no interest in making any kind of defense for Perry’s actions. Kidnapping a child… a small child, a frightened child… that was utterly unforgivable, no matter how many brothers you’d lost. No — the benefit of the doubt could only extend so far, and as far as she was concerned, Perry was beyond forgiveness. He was a monster, and he deserved what was coming to him… even if that was a swift death at Niall’s hand.

It wasn’t long before Niall was with her. She filled him in on the story, and he nodded tightly, his jaw rigid — had he expected something like this? Or was he just taking all new information like this — with a tight jaw and that grim expression? He must be expecting the worst, she thought as he strode into the stable. Tersely, he explained that he was checking which horses were missing so they knew what they were looking for. Sure enough, a chestnut mare seemed to be absent — a couple of worried grooms had come over to assist with the search and confirmed that the mare had been there the night before, but now her stall was empty.

Maeve met them outside. Nancy had clearly reached her — she was already halfway through an explanation of the passageway that Perry and his captive would have taken to get out of the castle without going through the gates. Niall nodded. The grooms had already tacked up two horses for them, at Helen’s request, and they strode back to the stables. Helen was grateful that she was able to jump onto the horse without assistance — she had a suspicion that Niall wouldn’t have waited around to help her.

“The path is rocky and dangerous,” Maeve had explained. “If I were you, I’d head around to where it emerges — in the rocks south of the castle.” She gave Niall specific directions, and they headed out through the gate.

Helen’s heart felt like it had been pounding in her chest like a drum all morning — she was dizzy and worried, full of stress and concern for Eamon.

But they were on their way. They’d find him, one way or another.

They just had to.

Chapter 54

Niall hopped off his horse before stepping onto the sand, and Helen followed suit. It became clear what he was thinking when he lowered his head to examine the sand — he was searching for tracks. Of course. But Helen gasped with dismay when she got a good look at the sand. Sure enough, there was the passage that must lead up into the bowels of the castle — from what Maeve had said, it was an old escape passage, designed to help the castle folk sneak out during protracted sieges to get hold of food and other resources. But it was abandoned now.

And there were hoofprints all around the entrance, she realized with horror. Unshod hoofprints — the hoofprints of Kelpies.

“There really are a lot of them,” Niall said in a low voice, scrutinizing the sand. Then his eyes widened. “There!”

“What?”

“Here. Careful,” he warned her as she crept closer. “Can you see these prints?”

“Horseshoes,” she said, her eyes widening as she noticed the slightly different tracks. “This must be the horse he stole.”

“It is,” Niall confirmed, nodding with his jaw tight. “And it’s heading up toward the road into the village. I think that’s our next port of call.”

“I’m with you,” Helen said fiercely.

“We’ll have to ride fast. Are you ready to learn how to canter?” He spared her a brief smile. “You just trust the horse and sit to it. Much easier than trotting