Since his father had been born and raised in this area, Brian was not surprised that the older man would know who his father was. “Aye, odd, but verra virile.” He grinned when the man laughed heartily and slapped his knee.
“True. Verra true. Get out of here, lad. Get your wee bonnie lass far away. These men are nay good. Didnae like them from the moment they stepped in my door and will be glad to see the back of them. If business round here wasnae so poor, I would ne’er have let them in the door. They will gain no information here. I will see to it. Get her to Dubheidland. That braw laird will enjoy swinging a sword at a few Frenchmen.”
Brian did not hesitate to obey the man. With a grin and a wink that made the man mutter something about Fingal breeding true, he slipped out of the stables and made his way back to his horse. He had not gained much information on how close Lucette was to finding him but what he had learned was not good.
They knew who might have taken Arianna and the boys. They even had developed a way to keep each group informed of what the other had discovered. That meant there was no stopping them from eventually riding to Scarglas. At least he knew the man would gain no help from the ones working at the inn.
He also knew he could not tell Arianna all he had learned. The moment she heard that her enemy had knowledge of who might be aiding her, she would be terrified about the fate of the two boys. She had enough to worry about. He would not add to her fears.
As he rode back to where he had left her waiting for him, he thought on what he had learned. There were more men with Lucette than he had realized. This was the first time he had seen them all together. At least, he hoped that was all of them. Ten men and Lucette himself. That was more than he could deal with on his own, especially when he also had to keep Arianna safe. It also meant that, if the men landing on the beach had actually split up into three groups, Lucette and his allies had brought a small army with them.
For a moment he was concerned about the others, his brothers, the captain and his men, and the two boys, but he easily shook off that worry. His brothers would be safe enough. The odds were far more even with the other two groups. It did not even matter that the enemy now knew who they followed for it was not easy to catch up with a MacFingal who did not wish to be caught. The number of men hunting him and Arianna, however, made it even more imperative that he get her safely to Dubheidland.
The way Lucette had spoken of how the DeVeaux wanted to get their hands on Arianna and why plagued his mind as he rode. He was no stranger to the need for vengeance but Brian only saw the need for it when a wrong had been committed. He had the feeling the DeVeaux wanted it only because some Murray had thwarted a plan they had made. The more he learned about the DeVeaux, the more he saw them and what they wanted as a far greater threat to Arianna and the boys. Lucette’s wants were appalling, but simple. He wanted his nephews dead so he could return to France and take his place as the new heir.
If it was possible he would make Lucette and his allies believe that Arianna and the boys were already dead. Unfortunately, there was no time to concoct such a scheme. The ones following him, and those chasing his brothers, had undoubtedly already been given enough reason to believe otherwise, as well. The only way this could end now was with the deaths of the ones hunting her and the boys. Considering the number of men on his trail and adding in the ones who were chasing his brothers, Brian was certain that would only happen with a battle, and if he was going to have to go to battle, he wanted to do so on his own land with his brothers at his back.
“Ach, weel, Fither will be happy,” he muttered. “He believes that the truce with the Grays has made us all soft.”
“Brian?”
He heard Arianna’s tentative, soft call and looked around. Brian frowned when he could not see her. Edging his horse a little closer to where he had left her, he finally saw the banked fire, the pot of aromatic stew, and the horses. He dismounted and a moment later found his arms full of the woman he thought about far too often, and far too warmly.
“I was afraid they had found me,” she said against his chest, her small hands clutching at the back of his shirt. “Too long sitting here whilst the night crept in, I am thinking.”