Then more than likely, she was inside the burning castle with her husband.
He left the house heartbroken and angry and ran to Watley’s cottage next.
Empty.
Where were they all?
By the time he made it back to the earl and MacPherson, the earl was no longer there. Jones jumped over MacPherson’s still lifeless body and ran toward the castle’s dark entrance. “My lord!” he shouted.
“Here I am!” the earl called back. “Come quickly, Jones!”
Jones ran around the perimeter of the castle and tried to look around, but his eyes stung. He called out again and the earl answered. Jones followed the sound of his voice and found him bending to the wall.
“Lord?” Jones grew closer. He saw leather slippers. A woman’s feet. The earl’s daughter?
“’Tis Harper’s wife, Mary!” the earl told him. His dark eyes shone in the cloudy air. “She woke for a moment and I asked her if my Rose had been burned in the flames. She shook her head, Jones! She shook her head no! We must wake her. I must know where my Rose is.”
Had MacPherson saved Mary? Was it Tristan who lit the whole place on fire? If he did, what was he still doing here? Jones’ belly twisted into a knot. He rubbed it.
“Lord, this proves MacPherson had nothing to do with this.”
The earl set his eyes on him. They burned like embers. “Who said anything about MacPherson? Why do you mention him now?”
Did his eyes just dart to the other side of the castle where MacPherson was?
Jones bolted just as the earl took off running toward the Highlander. They turned the corner at the same time and skidded to a halt together. MacPherson was gone.
“I should kill you,” the earl said on a low growl beside him. “You knew it was him all along.” He turned to look at Jones. “How? How do you know him? Were you bringing me to him so he could kill me? Have you betrayed—”
“No, Lord. Never. I met him on the road home. He told me he was a shepherd and told me he was called Geraint Ward. When I returned home and discovered I had been fooled, I went in search of him to kill him.” Here he stopped. His lord would ask him why he hadn’t killed the murderer when he had the chance?
“I found out, instead, that he loves Rose very much and has no interest in killing you anymore.”
“He fooled you and you believed him twice!”
“Nae,” said another male voice behind them. They both spun around to see MacPherson standing alone near the tower. “I didna fool him the second time. If I wanted to kill ye, ye would be dead by now. I came this mornin’ to have a glance or two at yer daughter. I fell from a high branch in a tree and wasna awake fer any of this. I awoke to the fire. Screamin’…”
Jones noted MacPherson’s emerald green eyes taking on a distant, hooded look, as if he were pulling at an elusive memory and losing it. “I found a woman. She said Rose and William had been taken away.”
“That was Mary,” Jones volunteered. “She’s the captain’s wife. He’ll be glad you saved her. Come. She is this way. We must wake her and find out what she saw.”
“Jones!” the earl barked. “Why do you not invite him in for—” He stopped as if remembering there was nothing to go into and turned to look over his shoulder at the castle. His second home with possibly his daughter inside. A whimpering sound escaped his lips before he returned his gaze to MacPherson’s. “If my Rose is dead…if you have killed her—” He held up his palm to stop the Highlander from cutting him off. “Then please, kill me also. I give up my life.”
MacPherson shook his head and then closed his eyes and held his head, which likely ached from the earl’s hilt. “I didna kill her. But I will find her.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Why should I keep the truth from ye?” MacPherson countered. “Ye just handed yer life over to me. If I wanted ye dead, he—” he pointed to Jones, “–couldna stop me, even though my head is poundin’,” he emphasized with a gleaming, deadly glare.
“So,” Jones answered, “you no longer want the earl dead? And to be clear, you are in bad shape. I could stop you.”
MacPherson offered him a quick smirk that dared him to try. The Highlander was either a mad fool or chillingly confident with good reason. “I came here to kill him if he is guilty.”
“Who made you my judge?” the earl asked acidly.
“Yer daughter. I came as yer executioner.”
The earl’s eyes filled with tears again. “I did not kill my wife…although,” he choked on a cry, “it feels like the wrath of God is upon me.” He stopped for a moment and pulled himself together. “The one who did this did the same to my wife, and now he has my daughter. If you want me to believe that you love her, vow to me you will kill whoever is responsible for this.”
“I vow it,” MacPherson didn’t hesitate to reply.
The earl broke away without another word and ran to Mary.
Jones followed, with MacPherson limping close behind.
“She is awake!” the earl shouted, though the two behind him could see for themselves.
“Mary! Mary!” the earl cried. “What happened here? Who did this?”
The captain’s wife coughed into her hand and then looked up at MacPherson. “I thought for certain I was going to die. You saved me.”
They all looked at him and he scowled at his boots.
“Mary, where is my Rose?” the earl pleaded.
“Men came. Mr. Watley let them in. I did not know what to do. The castle felt so far away, and they were spilling in. A man with golden hair, ’twas very light and long, stood in the courtyard I ran into my home and watched from the window when he came out later. Rose and William were with him, being held
