“How close do ye need to be to hit one of these roofs with an arrow?”
Callum cursed. “Since he but has to put one onto a roof, that is close enough. I now see the problem with having the village nestled in these hills.”
“Two choices. Warn the village or try to get to them before they shoot any arrows.”
“We can do both. Only need to bellow out an alarm and make sure they dinnae get so afraid they hurt each other in fleeing.” Callum whistled, bringing Tamhas and Gybbon to his side.
Both men cursed freely when they saw the problem and raced for their horses, held by Joan’s boys at the edge of the village. Harcourt was just trying to think of a way to quietly spread the word that people needed to move when the first arrow came toward the town in a pretty if deadly arc of flame. He slapped Callum on the shoulder and the man began running to warn people as he turned and raced into the butcher’s to get Annys and Benet out of the shop.
Annys turned quickly to see who had just slammed into Master Kenneth’s shop. The look on Harcourt’s face had her reaching for Benet who was patting a lamb, blissfully unaware that it was soon for the block. Something had gone terribly wrong, she thought, and a heartbeat later she heard the sounds of alarm outside the door.
“Out of the building,” Harcourt ordered. “Someone is trying to set the roofs alight.”
Master Kenneth grabbed what he cherished most and headed straight for the door, snatching up the lamb as he walked past it. Annys clung to Benet as Harcourt pulled them out onto the street. For a moment it looked like complete chaos but she quickly began to see that Callum was working to get everyone out and to begin work to save as much as they could.
“Get to the edge of the village but stay in sight so I ken ye are safe. By Old Tom’s rowan tree.”
“I should help.”
“Ye will. I mean to send the women and children to gather there with ye.”
A cry and several people pointing caused her to look up. Even though she knew that what was headed their way was viciously dangerous, Annys was fascinated as it sailed over her head and landed on the roof of Old Meg’s little home. That woman was already hurrying out of the house dragging two sacks of her meager goods. Annys hurried to her side, grabbed one of the sacks, and then led the woman to where Harcourt had told her to wait.
“My bonnie wee home will be gone,” cried Old Meg, tears streaking the dirt on her wrinkled face. “What will I do?”
“If they cannae save it, Meg, then ye shall have a new one,” Annys promised.
She soon saw that she had been given an important job, alleviating the last of her unease about not being right there in the midst of it all alongside Harcourt and the men of the village. The women who had the strength and agility to help, stayed with the men to try to save what could be saved but they readily sent their children over to Annys and the older women. Annys soothed whom she was able to but her anger over the destruction was a hard knot in her belly. Keeping children and old women calm and corralled at the tree took all of her energy and she was grateful for that. Something inside of her was demanding she have a screaming, fists-and-heels-pounding-on-the-ground fit, the kind that had been quickly beaten out of her as a child. Giving in to that would be too humiliating.
Men from the keep raced into the village and swiftly moved to help. Annys tried to see where the fire had come from and saw Callum send a few men toward the hills. She then recalled seeing Tamhas and Gybbon ride that way as she had hurried to get Old Meg to the tree. It frightened her to think that men that far away could wreak such damage but she could not move the village or flatten the hills. She was worrying about that danger when she was distracted by a wrinkled, dirty hand patting her on the arm. She realized she must have let her alarm show for Old Meg was trying to comfort her.
“Everyone got out, m’lady, and that be what matters.” The old woman squinted toward the hills. “I suspicion those fine knights ye fetched for us will think of something to fix that weakness now that it has been seen clear and all.”
“I suspicion they will indeed,” replied Annys as she finally set Benet down. “Stay right here with all of us.”
“I will, Maman,” he said, his bottom lip trembling. “I dinnae like the burning. Why would someone want to burn our village?”
“A mon who wants us to leave so he can have this land for his own,” she replied. “All the people got out of the houses, love. We will be fine.”