Mad for the Plaid Read Online Free PDF

anyone else, especially a sharp-witted highlander who managed to convey disapproval with every stroke of her pen.
    The final bit of the letter curled into ashes, and he turned away, far more worried about his grandmother than he wished to admit.

Chapter 3
    Castle Leod
    The Small Study
    November 25, 1824
    Ailsa paced rapidly, her chin tucked against her chest, her hands clasped behind her. Good lord, what a coil .
    Lady Edana sat by the fire pretending to embroider a rose upon a piece of cream muslin. She sighed. “ Why has someone done this?”
    â€œWe’ll know soon enough,” Ailsa replied just as she had the previous nineteen times her grandmother had asked the question. Ailsa continued to pace, her slippers silent on the thick rug, her mind whirling with thoughts. On the day of the abduction, she and Greer had ridden to the overturned coach and, after much searching, had located the tracks of the scoundrels and their captives where they’d disappeared into the woods. There, behind a thick cove of brush, Greer had found signs of waiting horses.
    Greer had followed the tracks a short distance, but it quickly became obvious that the abductors were notheading toward the main road, but were going ever deeper into the woods, so he’d returned to where Ailsa waited.
    After some discussion and a long look at the map Greer had brought, they’d decided that the abductors, burdened by the uncertain weather and two elderly prisoners, would be forced to join a road at some point north. Traveling into the mountains beyond the Rhidorroch Forest was a hardship even a healthy man would hesitate to face. That left one question: Which road would they join?
    There were only two choices; the narrow and winding northwest road traveled through steep craigs before eventually leading down across the bogs of Meall An Fhuarain and on to the coast, where a handful of small villages sat. Ailsa’s heart sank at the thought, for that road would take the ill-doers deeper into Mackenzie lands, which would make her clan look all the guiltier.
    But if the scoundrels instead took the northeast road, which curved over the Strath Brora to Borrobol Forest, they’d end up on the easternmost holdings of the Summerlands. That option was her one and only hope, for the Summerlands were close allies of the Earl of Arran. If she could prove that the Summerlands had orchestrated the abduction, the Mackenzie name would be cleared.
    Thus, she’d directed Greer and two of his men to follow the trail as far as they could and send word as soon as they knew which road the abductors had taken. The heavy snows of the last few days had lowered Ailsa’s hopes considerably, but to her relief, a note had arrived this morning, hand delivered by Ian Stewart, one of Greer’s men.
    Ailsa paused by her desk and picked up the much-creased missive.
    â€œI don’t know why you keep reading it over and over; the words will not change.” Lady Edana’s peevish tone raked over Ailsa’s nerves like an out-of-tune piano. “It’s the worst possible information, for they are deep in Mackenzie lands.”
    Ailsa returned the letter to the desk. “Aye, but at least we know where they are headed. Greer traced them all the way to the Corrieshalloch Gorge.” She paused, sending a side glance at her grandmother as she added in what she hoped was a casual tone, “Greer awaits me there.”
    Edana looked up, her eyebrows arched high. “ What? ”
    â€œI and some men will go directly over the mountains and join Greer. It’ll be more rugged, as it is a much steeper trail, but ’twill be much quicker than Greer’s journey, for he was following the abductors, who had to take the longer route because of—”
    â€œNo, no, no . You cannot do this.”
    â€œI’m nae going alone. I’m taking Stewart and MacKean. We’re leaving at first light.”
    â€œAilsa, you could get hurt.