his wee cousin John.
The lad had yet to see two summers, but he hated the “Engwish,” as he called them, and every time someone spoke of them, he’d spit into a bowl by the door or outside. The lad did everything his father, Alasdair, did, including swinging about his wee wooden weapons.
The “Engwish” had kidnapped John and set up an exchange: the laddie for Alexander Grant. But their plan had failed thanks to the efforts of the Grants, and both the laddie and Grandsire were free.
He had to believe that they would defeat the English again, and this time his heart was a little lighter because he had Branwen to return to when everything was over. His wife.
He rode well past dark, taking a less direct route to MacLintock land, knowing if he was not cautious he could be accosted by an English garrison and strung up by his bollocks from the nearest tree. Shadow, who’d always been adept at sensing strangers, alerted him to the English soldiers before he saw them. A small group of them, well into their cups, sat talking about their plan to attack first thing on the morrow. He didn’t recognize any of them.
Was there a leader or were they reivers intent on wreaking havoc wherever they traveled?
They numbered around twenty, so he stayed out of sight and listened. Then he heard what he needed to hear.
“When Pembroke arrives with his three hundred, we’ll take over the castle with no problem.” The man who’d said that was definitely English, and from the way he and another man spoke apart from the rest, he suspected they were in charge.
“Burke, I don’t know why you insist on making us join all these ventures,” said the second man, who was fair-haired and taller than Burke.
“Because the English pay us good coin. We show up, we battle for a bit, then run like the devil back toward England before the savage Scots catch any of us. You know it’s easy coin for us.”
“Mayhap you’re right,” the blond man said, “but if we continue on this way, it’ll cost us. Some of us will get caught by the Scots and impaled on their huge Highland swords. Reiving is safer. Steal cattle and sell it.”
“They say Edward’s near dead. We have to take several castles to make him happy in his dying days. They’re paying us extra to go after MacLintock Castle.”
“True, but the other attacks against this one have been unsuccessful. This is a dangerous proposition, Burke, and you know it. I say we skip this one and move on to stealing some cattle.”
“As long as we get our coin, I don’t care. We can get out early.” He pointed to the other group of men. “Make sure those fools don’t drink all our ale.” Burke turned away while the blond man made his way over to the small group of reivers.
He grabbed one by the arm. “I think you’ve had enough. You need to be able to fight on the morrow.”
The man stumbled a little as he turned around. “Don’t worry. I love killing Scotsmen. A little ale won’t stop me.” He cackled in a way that made Alick want to kick him in the shins—and then stab him. “Soon as we finish here, we can go after the Bruce.”
“I’ll not go with you for that one. I’m staying close to England,” another drunken fool said, wobbling on his feet as he took another swig from his skin.
“There’ll be no chasing after Bruce,” the blond man said. “We go back to reiving and the simple life.”
“Fine by me,” the first drunk said, sitting on a log and falling off the back of it, hitting his head on a tree trunk.
Alick had heard all he needed to hear. He was off to warn his cousins to prepare for an early morning attack. Three hundred made the battle about equal. Two hundred Grant warriors plus Alasdair’s men would make this an easy battle, in fact, because any good Highlander could take out three Englishmen.
These fools would be easy to beat because they’d carry the pain of the ale, though he suspected he’d never see any of them. The one named Burke planned to grab the coin and run.
Well, the Grant warriors would have them all running on the morrow. A quick battle and back to his sweet Branwen so he could take her to Grant Castle, where they could live as husband and wife. He’d never looked forward to anything as