The courage Isla had managed to gather earlier slowly faded. Jack receiving a marriage proposal from another clan was probably a good thing. Once she disappeared from his time, he would move on with someone else.
Isla was not sure she wanted to stay yet. Could she tell him her feelings and then leave him still when the time came?
Doubts made her flounder, so she stepped away from the door and was about to walk away when she felt strong hands grab her.
A palm pressed over her mouth and muffled her scream.
Her captor dragged her away from the door and delivered a strong blow to the side of her head that knocked her out in an instant.
* * *
Jack realized Isla was missing the next morning when Moira and Isla’s servant Faye came to find and show him the note left in her chamber.
“Faye told me she hasnae seen her all mornin’ and I grew worried after I tried to find her in the garden and the healin’ chamber.”
Jack immediately ordered his men to start a search around the Castle and its environs. He did not let them do it alone.
He began to panic when all his men returned without a positive report. “She isnae in the Castle, My Laird,” Jamie told him. “We have searched everywhere.”
Jack stared at the note he had bunched up in his fist and his jaw hardened.
Ye ken where to find yer English lass when ye are ready.
The only thought that came to his mind was the Calloways. “I must ride for Kirkpatrick,” Jack said to Elliot who had come to stand beside him.
“The Calloways are behind this,” he continued.
“We must be careful, My Laird,” Aideen said before Jack could think of anything else.
“Ye ken they are behind this,” he said to his cousin.
“We must ride out, My Laird,” Jamie said. “I dinnae think we should let these merchants think we are weak. If they got in here and took Lady Isla then we must get her back no matter the costs.”
Jamie and Aideen were about arguing over what step to take when Jack stopped them.
“I have made my decision; we ride out now. I dinnae need ye both arguin’ about it. Elliot, ye are to stay back in the Castle and stay on guard. I want every guard questioned. I need to ken how Isla was taken from my Castle without alertin’ anyone.”
He marched away from them while his anger buzzed within him. Jack’s head hurt, but not as much as his heart did.
How did this happen?The only way someone would have broken into his Castle was through an insider. One of his men had betrayed him to the Calloways, and he had to find out who.
The recent trend of events happening proved it already. First the murders that led to his villagers and Councilmen’s complaints and now Isla’s kidnapping.
Jack made it to the stables in blind rage and mounted his saddle. It was a six-hour ride at a steady pace to the Calloway borders of the Kirkpatrick Clan, but he could make it there in lesser time if he made haste.
His men rode behind him. The Castle could not be left unattended in the wake of these times, so as usual, his brother had to stay back while he rode out with Aideen and Jamie.
All he could think of was Isla as he galloped past the thick over-grown pastures of the hilly Humphreys land and headed west toward Kirkpatrick.
By the time Jack arrived on Kirkpatrick soil, it was midday. He did not need to rest, all he had to do was find their leader and speak his terms with him.
His men rode behind him, he was charged and ready to face anyone who tried to keep him from Isla or hurt her.
Anyone—
Jack arrived at the meadows where most of the Calloway merchants made their home. These merchants had the favor of the Kirkpatrick Clan as they were one house and brothers of their laird.
He knew they would never act without the favor of their laird. Jack was ready to face anyone this time, but he still bore in mind that he could not be the first to instigate a war with these people.