downstairs, moving quickly past the wide entry to the great hall of the house.
Outside, to her surprise, Alix saw a small padded cart had been brought. Her escort led her to it. 'This is for me?' she said.
'You can hardly ride with that belly,' Robert Ferguson said.
'There are two horses in the stables that are mine. I won't leave without them,' Alix told her husband's uncle.
'Two horses?' he said.
'When I originally fled Wulfborn I went on foot. I thought if my horse was found missing they would know I was gone. But the beast is mine, and I would have it back. My father, God assoil him, gave it to me. Bab knows which of the horses are mine,' Alix explained. 'Send one of your men with her to get them, I beg you.'
The Ferguson of Drumcairn nodded, and dispatched a man to go with Bab. Then he helped Alix into the padded cart, laying a heavy fur blanket over her lap. 'I'll go tell Colm you're safe and ready to leave,' he said. Then he hurried back into the house, going directly to the great hall.
Sir Udolf and the priest were both being carefully bound and then tied into chairs by the hearth. Several of the laird's men had found the frightened servants. They secured them also and locked them in the pantry, a small windowless room with but one entrance, barring that entry. Eventually someone would manage to get free and would free the rest of the house's inhabitants. And it was very unlikely that anyone would come after the Scots borderers. Sir Udolf had few retainers left.
'Alix is in her conveyance, Nephew,' Robert Ferguson said. 'Come along now. I believe our business here is finished and the weather is lowering. We have a fair ways to travel, and the cart will slow us down, I fear, but the lady cannot ride. Her belly is large.'
Without a further glance back at Sir Udolf Watteson, who was muttering in his chair, Malcolm Scott dashed outside to greet his wife. She was seated on the cart's padded bench wrapped in furs. Climbing up, he kissed her a hard kiss.
Alix melted in his embrace, her lips softening beneath his, sighing as he released her. 'Good morrow, my lord husband,' she said, smiling. 'Thank you for coming for me. Your son and I are anxious to go home.'
His big hand caressed her small face. 'I can hardly believe you are here with me,' he said, his voice thick with emotion. 'I will never allow you to be put in such danger again, lambkin. Forgive me!'
'Oh, Colm, how could you-how could we-know that in his madness Sir Udolf would have me kidnapped? 'Twas not your fault. We are together again, and I will not be parted from you evermore.' She kissed his lips softly.
The Laird of Dunglais smiled down at his wife and then he saw the other woman seated in the rear of the cart, along with a small trunk. 'Who is this?' he asked Alix.
'Bab was my servant when I lived at Wulfborn before. After I fled, Sir Udolf treated her cruelly, beating her without just cause and blaming her for my flight. She was not, of course, responsible, for she did not know of my plans. I will not leave her again, Colm. She will care for the bairn when he is born.'
'If she has served you well and suffered for your sake, then she will be welcome to Dunglais,' the laird said, nodding at Bab. Then he saw the two horses tied to the back of the little cart. 'I recognize the mare, but the gelding?'
Alix explained, and he chuckled.
'I am pleased to see you are becoming more Scots with each passing day, lambkin. If the beast is yours, then to leave it a second time would be foolish. Your frugality delights me.'
'The creature is used to carrying a female upon its back,' Alix said. 'I think it will prove a safe and reliable mount for Fiona. She is really becoming too big for her pony. One thing before we go, my lord. I would visit my father's grave a final time.'
He nodded. 'We will stop, lambkin,' he promised her.
The great group of borderers had finally exited the house and were mounting up. An older Scott clansman climbed up next to Alix, nodding briefly to her and taking the reins of the horses that would pull the cart. She was surprised to see that there were four animals for the vehicle and not two. Then Alix realized that with four, the cart could move a bit quicker without jostling its occupants too roughly.
They moved off, stopping briefly at the burial ground on the hill where Alix bid a final farewell to her father and then left Wulfborn Hall behind them. The attack had come at dawn, and as there had been no defense made against their incursion it was still early morning. They traveled without stopping until the sun was at mid-heaven. Alix was ravenous, for there had been no time for Bab to find her breakfast. She gobbled the oatcakes and hard cheese her husband brought her eagerly. Then she swallowed down the cold water in his flask.
'Is there any place we can shelter tonight?' she asked the laird.
He shook his head. 'Nay, but you and your woman can sleep comfortably in the cart. We can put an awning over you to protect you more.'
'I need hot food,' she told him.
'We set traps as we came. We'll have roasted rabbit for certain tonight, my lambkin. I know this is difficult for you, but we will be home soon,' he murmured to her encouragingly, and kissed her forehead.
She smiled at him, but Alix knew better. The cart was slowing them down. It would be another full day of traveling, and then perhaps another half. But there was no help for it. She simply could not ride. But if she had one consolation it was that she would be home just in time for Christmas. That night, and the night after, she and Bab shared the large fur robe, huddling together to keep warm. Light snow came in short bursts as they traveled, but then it was winter and snow was to be expected. Midmorning of their second day of traveling the laird announced to them that they were once more in Scotland. Alix was relieved to learn it. It wasn't that she expected Sir Udolf to have escaped his bonds, gather a party of soldiers, and come after her. Nay, it wasn't that. It was just she had come to think of Scotland as her home.
Their second night on the road the snow was a little heavier and more sustained. It was so bitterly cold, although the wind was calm. Wrapping her cloak about her, Alix shivered nonetheless. She caressed her belly with her gloved hands more to reassure herself than anything else. Her child was most active and seemed to be dancing a jig within her womb. She slept sporadically, although Bab snored contentedly by her side.
Alix was not unhappy when the morning finally came. Colm had reassured her that they would get home by midday. The great party of Ferguson and Hepburn clansmen were still riding with them. Now Alix began to worry about, how they were to be fed and housed before traveling on the morrow to their own homes. But certainly Fenella would be prepared for them, she finally decided.
And then through the gray she finally saw the shadowed outline of Dunglais Keep. She pointed it out to Bab excitedly. 'We're almost home!' Alix declared, smiling.
'It looks a rough place,' Bab said softly, nervously.
'The keep is older than Wulfborn, 'tis true, but inside it is warm and cozy,' Alix told her serving woman. 'But should you be unhappy, I will send you back to England in the spring.'
'Nay,' Bab said in a resigned voice. 'There is no place for me there now.'
Alix reached out and patted the older woman's hand comfortingly. She had never known the quick-tongued Bab to be so subdued. She almost felt sorry for her, but then, she decided, as soon as Bab recovered from the shock of what had happened and regained her footing she would be as sharp as ever. 'Fenella is the housekeeper, and I will put you in her charge,' Alix said. 'Respect her and the position she holds within the house and she will help you. I know it cannot be easy starting all over again, Bab, but you are a strong woman. This is not Wulfborn. It is a better, happier place.'
The cart trundled up the hill to the keep. The laird had ridden on ahead to identify himself and their party. The little drawbridge was already lowered by the time they reached it. The cart rolled over it and into the courtyard. The laird was there at once to help his wife out of her vehicle. Beinn hoisted Bab from her place, setting her upon her feet, which were numb with the cold. Bab thanked him, and he nodded politely in response. Then she followed Alix into the keep.
When they reached the hall, a little girl dashed forward, half laughing, half crying. She flung herself at Alix, who caught the child in her arms and hugged her hard. 'Oh, Mam, I was so afraid I had lost you like I lost the other one,' Fiona cried. 'I am so glad you are home.' Then she stepped back from Alix and her eyes widened. 'Oh, you are so fat with my brother, Alix! Will he come soon?' Her gaze swung to Bab. 'Who is this?' she asked, curiously eying the older woman.
'This is Bab, who took care of me at Wulfborn when I lived there. When I left the first time I had to leave her
