A Hint of Rapture Read Online Free PDF Page A

carry out his threat."
    "Just as I thought," Garrett said, rising
from his chair and following the colonel from the room.

     

     

 
    Chapter 2

     
    "Will ye be ridin' out again this ev'ning,
Maddie?" Glenis asked as she smoothed a clean cloth over the rough-hewn
kitchen table. She glanced up when she received no answer. Her eyes, brown as
dried berries, anxiously studied her young mistress. Madeleine was seated on a
low stool by the window, poring over a worn and yellowed map balanced atop her
knees.
    Her brow creased in concentration, Madeleine traced her
finger along the thin line of General Wade's Road, which stretched from
Inverness to Fort Augustus. The road hugged Loch Ness for three-quarters of the
way, then jutted out to the southeast around Beinn a Bhacaidh, a lesser
mountain, and Loch Tarff. The narrow valley of Glen Doe lay just to the south
of the tiny loch, and it was the site of tonight's raid.
    " 'Tis a risky plan," she whispered to
herself, unaware of Glenis's scrutiny. There would doubtless be many soldiers
so close to Fort Augustus, but that could not be helped.
    According to her sources, a large herd of cattle was
grazing in Glen Doe, cattle which until a few weeks ago had belonged to some
hapless Highland villages. Well, she would simply "rescue" a few
tonight, during the wee hours of darkness. Her people would have fresh meat for
their suppers within two days.
    A smile briefly touched Madeleine's lips, then faded as
her thoughts turned once again to the impending raid. She looked up from the
map and gazed out across the apple orchard, the sun's bright rays warm on her
face. The damp morning fog had long since burned away, leaving the sky overhead
a pristine blue. The clear, sunny afternoon boded well for the weather later
that night.
    She and her five kinsmen would start out at dusk for
the distant valley. They would ride the sturdy, dun-colored horses native to
the Highlands and keep to the mountains they knew so well, away from Wade's
Road and any unwelcome encounters with redcoats. On the rugged slopes above
Glen Doe they would tether the horses and descend into the valley like silent
ghosts to gather together a dozen cattle and drive them back into the
mountains.
    Moonlight would guide them along the footpaths of
ancient drovers as they traveled as far as possible before daybreak, hiding in
the forested brae beside the River Feohlin until nightfall. Then they would set
out again. Once they reached Aberchalder Burn near Farraline, the cattle would
be slaughtered and the meat distributed to the surrounding villages before
dawn.
    "Maddie, hinny. Dinna ye hear me?" Glenis
repeated. Again there was no reply. With an exasperated sigh the old woman
walked to the window, stopping just behind the stool. She reached out and
brushed an unruly chestnut lock away from Madeleine's temple.
"Maddie?"
    Madeleine jumped up, the map sliding from her knees to
the freshly swept floor. "Och, Glenis, ye startled me!" she
exclaimed. "I dinna know ye were standing there."
    "I'm sorry, lass," Glenis said as Madeleine
bent to pick up the precious parchment, folding it into a neat square.
"But I feel as if I've been mutterin' to m'self in this kitchen like some
mad hatter. Ye've not heard a word I've said to ye."
    Madeleine slipped the map a side pocket of her gown and
gave her servant a hug. Glenis Simpson had been with the Frasers of Farraline
so long she was like a grandmother to Maddie. Serving as housekeeper and
midwife, she had been present at the birth of Madeleine's father as well as
Maddie's own, nineteen years ago.
    Madeleine would never have lived to see her first day
if not for Glenis, who had breathed air into her tiny lungs after she was born
blue and silent, the cord wrapped around her neck. The determined Scotswoman
didn't give up until the room echoed- with Madeleine's lusty cries, and her
grateful parents swore they had witnessed a miracle from heaven.
    Now Glenis was frail, with stooped shoulders and