The Ghost (Highland Guard 12) Read Online Free PDF

Felton had been Sutherland’s nemesis when he’d returned to the English fold as a spy a few years ago, and Alex didn’t know how Sutherland hadn’t ended up killing him. Alex would like nothing more than to do so right now. But then he would have to use his right hand. His arm was fine, but he wasn’t ready to admit that yet.
    This time not only were his teeth gritted, but his fists were clenched around his reins as well. “I take orders from the earl. I wasn’t aware he’d put you in charge.”
    “He hasn’t,” Pembroke said with an admonishing glance at Felton. “I shall lead.” In addition to Felton and the knights he’d mentioned, Pembroke added a few others, and then turned to Alex. “Felton was right. We need someone to protect the carts, and until your arm is strong enough you are the obvious choice. Stay here, and I’ll send for you if you and your men are needed.”
    Had Felton not been the one to suggest it, Alex might have been glad not to have to face his former friends just yet. Hell, he was glad—Felton or not. He’d hoped to never be in this position.
    A few moments later, the bulk of the army rode off, leaving Alex, the dozen men he’d brought with him from his estates in East Lothian, and the fifty or so servants and skilled laborers who accompanied the army, from the stable lads who tended the horses, to the smiths and their apprentices who repaired the armor and shoed the horses. The “small army” as it was called was a vital part of any conventional force, but it also complicated the process and prevented them from moving quickly. By contrast, the small strike forces that Bruce employed weren’t hampered by all the added weight and logistics. That was part of what had made them so successful.
    The first clash of battle sounded like a thunderclap; it filtered through the cold evening air as if it were a hundred feet away rather than a half-mile or so. The roar of the attack, the shouts of surprise, the clatter of steel . . . the cries of death. It was fast and furious. Or at least it should have been with nearly two hundred men to forty. But after about five minutes something changed. There was a shift in the sounds of the battle that told him something had happened. A short while later, he found out what.
    One of Pembroke’s men-at-arms came racing back. “Take what you can and make for the castle. The Scots are on their way.”
    Alex swore. “What happened?”
    “Carrick’s men weren’t alone. The Earl of Moray and at least another fifty men were nearby and came as soon as they heard the attack. We were forced to retreat. Sir Aymer and the others are racing to the castle.”
    Being right didn’t make Alex any less furious—or frustrated. Sometimes it seemed as if the wall he’d been banging his head against in Scotland had followed him to England. For two years, he’d been trying to get the English to stop underestimating their opponent so they would see a reason to negotiate and bring an end to this bloody war. But all that men like Pembroke seemed to see were their superior numbers, armor, and weaponry. Things that hadn’t stopped Bruce’s men for eight years. Pembroke might have double Carrick’s men, but the arrival of the king’s nephew would have changed the odds. Alex ought to know, as he’d been responsible for some of the Earl of Moray, Sir Thomas Randolph’s, training himself.
    Alex shouted orders for his men to take what they could of the valuable plate and the silver Sir Aymer was bringing north to pay the garrison at Carlisle, rounded up the livestock, and ordered the small army to follow the old Roman road to the castle, which should only be a few miles away. The small army wouldn’t be hurt. No matter what horrible stories they told of the “barbarous Scots,” Alex knew that Bruce had given orders only to kill those who fought against them. It was the cattle and coin to provision the army that he was after.
    There was nothing barbarous about