Why the bloody hell was Alasdair so worried about these usurpers? The blasted woman claimed to own land that wasn’t hers, and now he was stuck with them all arriving at the castle at the same time.
“They can ride with their mon.” He waved at the two lackwits who’d been sitting on their horses as Evan had fixed their cart.
“We cannot ride with Angus and Colum. Their horses are already overburdened with my brother and the supplies that dinnae fit in the cart.” Mistress Stirling glared at him. “Meggie and I shall walk.”
“Oh, miss!” the young girl whom Evan had not even noticed until that very moment wailed.
“’Tis no trouble, Meggie. We can do it.” The snappish lass pulled her shawl tighter against her and began the trek to the castle.
Alasdair glared at Evan. “We cannot let the lasses walk while four men ride on horses! Mum would be disgraced.”
Evan growled and trotted his horse next to Mistress Stirling, scooped her up from the ground, and placed her, none too gently, on his lap.
“What do ye think yer doing, ye big oaf?” She elbowed him in his middle, catching him by surprise.
“My brother seems to think my mum will curse me for all eternity if I let ye walk to the castle.”
With a loud chuckle, Alasdair rode toward the one Mistress Stirling had called Meggie, and scooped her up as well. That woman did not protest, and in fact, batted her eyelashes at his brother, which brought a shout of laughter from Evan. “Serves ye right,” he bellowed as he kicked the sides of his horse and headed to the castle.
They’d barely gone about a quarter mile when Evan groused, “Quit moving around, or ye’ll end up tossing yerself to the ground.” He placed his hand on the lass’s shoulder to still her. Her lovely bottom was pressed up against his cock, and if she kept moving like she’d done since they left the others behind, it would be impossible for him to walk from the horse with any dignity.
“I’m not comfortable.” She tried to move, but he clamped his hand on her shoulder again.
“No matter. We will be at the castle—my castle—in a matter of minutes.”
The castle was a mere mile or so away when the skies opened up and rain poured down on them in torrents. No mild rainfall, but a deluge. Since they were so close, there was no reason for him to untie his tartan and cover them with it. They would just have to brave it out.
With the rain coming right at them, Mistress Stirling turned her face and rested her forehead against his chest. ’Twas better than her shifting around, but now the lovely scent of her hair was right below his nose.
They reached the stables, and Evan rode directly into the structure. An older man stepped out from behind one of the stalls. “Good day to ye, sir. Are ye Laird MacNeil?”
“Aye. I take it you received my message?”
The man bowed. “Yes. We were finally happy to hear from the new owner. I believe Mrs. Brody has the castle ready for ye and yer brother.” Douglas MacDuff had been the stable master for years at the MacDuff estate, Evan had been told by Mr. Manning, the old MacDuff’s solicitor. Manning had passed along that information, along with the copy of the will. He noted that a few of the servants had remained with the castle after Bridget MacDuff had departed.
Mrs. Brody had continued on as housekeeper, MacDuff the stable master, and two or three chambermaids, as well as the cook, had stayed. At least it would be comfortable for them in what he hoped would be a short visit. His plan had been to survey the land, castle, tenants, and holdings, solve any outstanding issues, then hire a competent land steward and leave the running of the place to him, with monthly reports.
With the Clearances wreaking havoc on the Highlands, many clans had not survived. Clansmen were leaving Scotland and relocating to Canada, the United States, and Australia. After the devastating defeat at Culloden, a couple of generations had struggled, but the MacNeil clan had survived.
Evan’s father and grandfather had managed to keep his clan together. Some of the land was now used for sheep farming, but there were still plenty of crofters and farmers who tended to the land and worked their craft.
With winter arriving in several weeks, it had been his intention to get the matter settled at MacDuff castle and be home to Argyll before it was too late to travel the roads. He had no intention of spending the winter in Fife. His clan needed him at home.
Evan thanked the stable master and turned his horse over to the man. He strode to the front of the castle with the annoying lass nipping at his heels like a puppy. “’Tis verra large, is it not?”
“Aye. Verra large.” He had to dodge her footsteps.
“My people will be happy here.” The lass was having a hard time catching her breath, trying to keep up with him.
He came to an abrupt stop. “Yer people?”
“Yes. My clan.”
He snorted and continued on. “Ye call the five of ye yer clan?”
“No. The five of us came first to ready the place. I had a report from the men I sent here last month, but I wanted time to prepare. I told the rest of them to leave about a sennight after we did.”
He came to another abrupt stop, and she slammed into his back. “The rest of them?”