Love's Ransom Read Online Free PDF Page A

be the leader for he held up his arm and spoke with an air of authority. He said, “We have reached the boundary of the Douglas lands. We go no further. We have seen no sign of thieves, or of the stolen cattle the Truddles claim they have lost. They brought us on a fool’s errand.” A few men grumbled but they turned and began to canter back the way they had come. Their leader turned to follow them. I didn’t see how it happened but he suddenly fell from his horse, not far from my tree. I could see he was hurt. The rest of his men had gone so I was about to climb down to see if I could help him but the two men were still beneath the tree, whispering. I heard the younger man say clearly, “My arrow brought him down but he’s still alive.” The older man went to their injured leader lay but instead of helping him he drew his knife and stabbed him many times. I gasped aloud. The man with the long nose looked up. I thought they would kill me too.’
    ‘Good God, Henry. I had no idea you ever got yourself into such adventures,’ Sir William exclaimed.
    ‘Yes, God was good that night,’ Henry said with faint reproach. ‘At least He kept me safe, Father.’ He and his father disagreed often about religion. ‘The killer said the gasp must have come from the dying man. The one with the long nose didn’t argue.’
    ‘You never breathed a word of this before!’
    ‘Would you have believed me, Father?’
    ‘I don’t suppose so. Can you blame me? You never hunt or fight or seek adventures like Zander and his friends’
    ‘The moonlight calls to my soul, Father.’
    ‘You should have told me. We would have given the man a decent grave.’
    ‘I gave him a grave,’ Henry said simply, as though it had never occurred to him not to do so.
    ‘You? Alone? How?’
    ‘I waited until the two men had gone. From my bough, high in the tree, I could see clearly in the moonlight. Some yards away, on our own side of the burn, a large tree had been uprooted by a storm some time ago. The roots had left a small crater. I carried the man and laid him there.’ It had been a struggle and taken Henry a long time. He looked at Isabella and Jamie. ‘I covered him well with leafy branches from other trees, then I pushed the soil from the edge of the crater to cover them. He sleeps in peace there. I have been back. Nothing has disturbed his resting place.’
    ‘Thank you, oh thank you,’ Isabella said, her grey eyes luminous with tears as she crossed the floor to stand before Henry and take his hand in both of hers.
    ‘I am sure that man was our father. It will comfort my mother to be assured he always kept his promise to her and now he lies in peace.’
    ‘We are very grateful,’ Jamie echoed her words. Henry Douglas gave them both his gentle, boyish smile.
    ‘I have always told you, Father, that my brother can be both brave and resourceful when he needs to be,’ Anna said.
    ‘I didn’t even know he could climb a tree,’ her father answered gruffly.
    ‘No,’ Henry said with a note of surprise, ‘I didn’t know either. I think the spirits of the moon must have taken me up there.’
    ‘Ach, you and your moon magic,’ Sir William muttered impatiently. Isabella gave Henry a sympathetic smile and squeezed his hand. Sir William observed them. His gaze became speculative.
    ‘You think me too hard on my son do you, Miss Isabella Ellwood?’
    ‘I am grateful to him and you do seem very impatient, Sir.
    ‘Well, you have just provided a solution to two of my problems.’ He turned to look at Zander. ‘It would be a waste to cut short a life with so much spirit, and more courage than most men. Don’t you agree, Zander?’
    ‘I do indeed. Both Miss Isabella and her brother have courage. I would not like to see either of them hang.’ Behind him the two men on guard sighed. There would be no excitement tonight.
    ‘But a penalty has to be paid. You will agree?’ Isabella looked at Alexander Latimer. Did his uncle always consult