Chapter 11

When I'm broken down and I can't stand

I tightened my knees and reins as I tried to understand what was happening. Another shot exploded next to me and Ash reared on her hind legs in a panic. I fought her down pushing my weight over her neck and glanced in the direction of the shot. I saw Fergus slumped in his saddle with a red blossom of blood growing across the back of his shirt. They're shooting at us!

Another shot sounded and Ash reared again. They're shooting at us! They're shooting at us! The thought reverberated around my brain while I desperately fought to stay in my saddle. Suddenly Ash was descending to all fours. Someone was pulling her head down with the bridle. I felt a wave of relief until I saw the man who held her. He was a stranger, a ginger haired man with squinty eyes and a nose turned up so sharply at the end that it looked like a snout.

Terrified I kicked hard at him trying to make him let go but he only grunted and continued to grab at me. I kicked again and again while pig face spewed a stream of curses and Ash crow jumped from side to side trying to escape us both. He got a hold on my skirt and managed to drag me out of the saddle. I fell to the ground and rolled barely avoiding being trampled by Ash's hooves. I scrambled to my feet and started to run but a heavy weight crashed against my back driving me to the ground again.

He snarled in my ear, "Be still, piseag!" He yanked my hair back viciously dragging me to my feet in front of him. I thrashed and tried to kick behind me but he put his arm across my throat cutting off my air supply and began dragging me backwards.

I clawed at his forearm feeling the satisfying rip of his flesh beneath my nails but his hold on my throat did not loosen and I was getting no air. Some detached part of my brain took in the chaotic scene before me. Men were locked in battle everywhere. I could see Conrad trading sword blows with another man. They were too close to maneuver their horses and slashed savagely at each other, right then left then right again. I heard Conrad's attacker scream and he clutched at his side. Then he slumped over in the saddle and I saw Sam behind him pulling his bloody dirk from the man's back.

My eyes met Sam's for just a moment then another man charged up behind him with his sword raised above his head. I tried to shout a warning but I couldn't make any noise come out of my crushed throat. I dug my heels in the dirt bucking and thrashing as I pulled desperately at the arm across my throat. I tried to keep my eyes on Sam, but my vision began to tunnel and I couldn't see him anymore. My only thought was that I must have air. My lungs felt as if they might explode.

Just as I found myself sliding into unconsciousness my attacker released his arm from my throat and threw me face down into the damp leaf covered earth of the woods. I gasped sweet air into my burning lungs. Then I tried to rise but I felt a knee digging painfully into the small of my back. Pig face pulled my arm behind me nearly wrenching it in the socket. I cried out in pain as he grabbed my other arm pinning my wrists together.

"I'm going to make you pay for these scratches piseag!" I could feel rough fibers chaffing against my wrists as he wrapped something rope-like around them. He pulled it tight and I cried out as the cords bit into my flesh. With my arms secured tightly behind me he flipped me onto my back. When he bent down over me his thin lips were pulled back over small pointy teeth and I felt the full terror of my helplessness. My arms were pinned beneath my own torso. Whatever he chose to do to me now, I could not stop.

He pulled back his hand and slapped me hard across the face. My cheek stung and the force of his blow made my teeth cut into the side of my mouth. I tasted coppery blood while he grabbed my hair pulling it painfully from my scalp and dragged me to my feet. I struggled as best I could with my arms tied behind me wiggling and trying to kick out.

He pulled a dirk from his belt and held it to my throat until I felt the point puncture my neck. I stopped struggling and he focused his squinty pig eyes directly into mine. "Give me any more trouble and I'll slit your throat for ye."

He threw me over his shoulder and began walking. He was a big man but my weight was a burden and his steps were heavy each one slamming my pelvis against his shoulder. After a few moments of our bone jarring walk I heard a horse snort and then he was pushing me off his shoulder and onto the horse's back. He positioned me so that my body hung across the horse's saddle with my head dangling over one side and my legs over the other. It was very uncomfortable trying to breath with the weight of my own body crushing me against the saddle. With my hands bound behind me I could not relieve the pressure. When I tried to raise my head he shoved a greasy rag into my mouth and bent down to whisper in my ear. "Soon you'll get what you've got coming."

I felt lightening steaks of panic coursing through me and my heart thudded against my ribs. I craned my neck hoping to see someone coming to my rescue but all I saw were trees. Pig face mounted the horse, shoving me forward and sitting on the saddle behind me. He kicked the horse's sides and we rode deeper into the woods.

Between my crushed diaphragm and the rag stuffed in my mouth it was hard to breathe. I realized that though my hands were bound I might be able to maneuver the rag loose. Carefully, I pushed it out of my mouth with my tongue and tried to spit out the nasty taste it left in my mouth. My balance on the back of the horse felt precarious and I dared not make any sudden movements for fear of flipping off the horse's back.

With every step of the horse I was jounced against the saddle and I began to feel all the blood settle at the ends of my body. My head, bound hands and feet were all throbbing painfully. I realized I still had my shoes and stifled a giggle lest pig face discover I'd shed my gag. I was very uncomfortable but my discomfort was nothing to my fear. I could feel the cuts and bruises pig face had already dealt me, and feared he planned to do much worse at the first opportunity.

I cast about in my mind trying to come up with a plan. If I tried to throw myself off the horse, I wasn't likely to get very far even if I managed not to break my neck in the fall, and I hadn't forgotten the promise pig face made me to slit my throat if I troubled him again. In the end I was so stupefied with fear that I jounced along in a dithering panic and made no plan of escape. I thought of Sam and Fergus and prayed for their safety. I begged God to have mercy on me and all the Mackenzie men, even Conrad.

With each step I became more nauseated and my head and digits throbbed more painfully. I longed to be off the horse, but when Pig face finally halted I found myself terrified at the thought of what he would do to me now.

"Who have you got there?" a male voice called.

I looked up but the voice seemed to be on the other side of the horse from me and I couldn't see him.

"A Mackenzie bitch who needs to be taught a lesson," pig face answered.

The man chuckled. "That's a lesson I wouldn't mind to help you teach her!"

I felt my heart leap into my throat where it beat wildly.

Pig face dismounted carelessly hitting me in the shoulder with his knee as he did so. "Where are Beathen and Ragnall?"

"I dinna know of Beathen, but I saw Ragnall stabbed through the chest by a big blaigeard with a crooked nose. I don'na think he'll be coming back."

"Mo Chreach!" Pig face grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me off the horse's back throwing me to the ground. Bending over me with his face thrust in front of mine, he growled. "You'll pay for Ragnall, Makenzie siursach!"

Terror flooded through me and I felt my body shake as I tried to scramble backwards on my elbows. Pig face grabbed me by the throat. I wanted to weep and beg for mercy but something about the bullying look on his face made me raise my chin and glare right back at him, fool that I was.

He drew back his clenched fist ready to hit me and I cowered.

"Wait! Who is this lass?" I looked up at my unlikely savior. He was not so large as pig face with swarthy skin and a black beard so thick it left only an inch of hairless skin beneath his black eyes.

A greasy, young man in a plaid bonnet still seated on his mount said, "Maybe we could ransom her back to the Laird Mackenzie?"

Pig face sneered at me. "Not likely, by the look of her dress she's no lady. We may as well use her till we tire. Then I'll slit her throat for her like I promised." He raised his fist again.

My bearded savior came to my rescue again. "Wait, she's likely to be the wife of one of those Mackenzie men. If they've captured Beathen we may need her to bargain with. You smash up her bonnie face and her husband may not want her anymore… besides I'd rather slip my gogan into a lass with a bonnie face than a bleeding one, aye?"

They all chuckled at that and I thought I might vomit.

"Alright then, but I get first go." Pig man pushed me down and began fumbling at my skirts. My arms were useless pressed beneath the weight of my own body, but my legs were free. I waited for the right moment. When he had my skirts rucked and began to fumble with his breaches I brought my knee up as hard as I could aiming for his bollocks. He managed to turn away and my knee only glanced off his private parts but I'd hurt him.

He lay next to me clutching his hand against his bollocks. "You siursach! You're going to pay for that."

I rolled to one side and found my knees and then my feet. I ran like panicked hare zigzagging as I went desperate to find cover. Behind me I could hear the sound of men laughing and heavy footsteps. I made it perhaps a hundred feet into the woods and then he tackled me again and I landed hard on my side. Then he was on top of me his pig face inches from mine with a feral gleam in his eye. My terror was a palpable thing. There was no bearded savior here now, only this animal mad with fury.

I heard a horrible ear splitting scream and realized it was coming from my own throat.

"Shut up, piseag!"

I screamed louder putting all the volume I could into it and turning my head so that my mouth was close to his ear. Then on impulse I bit down on the side of his ear as hard as I could.

He screamed and hit his fist against the side of my head. I bit down harder during the next blow but the third one loosened my jaw and I let go. I felt about to pass out and went still.

Pig face rolled off me and I heard him yelling. "You bloody siursach! I'm going to kill you." Then he kicked me hard in the ribs.

I rolled to the side and found myself tumbling over and over down an embankment until I hit something hard that stopped my fall. I came to my knees ready to flee.

"Leannan!"

I looked up and saw Sam standing over my attacker. Pig face lay limp on the ground with his throat cut from ear to ear. His life's blood pumped steadily from the wound and stained the ground around him. Revolted I looked away and pushed myself to my feet.

Sam came up behind me. "Hold still and I'll free you."

I held my arms still and he sawed through the rags that bound my wrists. As he pulled the them away he bent his head to mine. He kissed my temple and whispered, "Hide!"

I was off like a hare again. Hide! Hide! Hide! But where? In the bushes… behind the fallen log… Then I saw the tree. It was a tall elm with a low branch on one side. Remembering a tree I used to hide in as a child I launched myself at the branch. My breath left my body as I fell against it, but I threw out one leg to the side and managed to get it on the branch. I pulled myself to a seated position then stood and worked my way higher, branch by branch until I was well hidden in the tree's foliage. Settling myself on top of a high branch I looked cautiously out into the glenn.

My breath caught as I saw three McDonnels moving towards Sam. The bearded man reached him first and swung his sword toward Sam's neck as if to slice his head off. Sam caught the man's sword against his own and pushed it to the outside. Then he spun in like a top toward his attacker. The bearded man's hairy face showed only mild surprise when Sam stabbed him in the throat with the dirk he held gripped in his other hand. The wounded man grabbed his throat and when Sam pulled his knife free the man sank to his knees while blood seeped through his fingers.

Sam advanced toward the other two men his broad sword held ready. The first to reach him was the greasy, young man. He swung his sword at Sam's head, but Sam ducked and slashed his dirk against the back of the young man's calves. Rising he kicked the young man in the stomach pushing him backwards into his second attacker, a heavy set man I hadn't seen before.

The heavy set man side stepped leaving the wounded man to fall to the ground. He raised his arm and brought his sword down in a mighty blow towards Sam's head. Sam blocked the blow with his own sword, but the force of the contact reverberated through his body. They traded blows, with the sound of their clashing swords ringing through the glen. They maneuvered each other thrusting and parrying, each man wary lest the other get in too close and stab him with his dirk.

The heavy set man was strong. His muscles bulged through his shirt as they fought, but Sam was the bigger man and he was using his longer reach to tire his opponent. He swung his blows in from the outside and the smaller man could not reach him unless he stepped inside making himself vulnerable. It was a strategy I'd heard Beiste explain to Eoghann many times as they sparred, but seeing it used in a battle to the death was horrifying.

The man grew desperate and when Sam feinted right he pressed in too close hoping to land a fatal blow with his dirk. In the blink of an eye Sam had raised his sword high. He slashed down cleaving a deep gash between the man's neck and shoulder. A fountain of blood spewed forth from the wound covering them both in the man's blood. Sam came in close stabbing his dirk into the man's eye for good measure. When he pulled it free the man dropped to the ground.

Sam stood there panting, a warrior painted in the blood of his enemies. It dripped down his face and into his snarling mouth. Sam walked to the young man who lay moaning on the ground his legs useless. He squatted beside him and plunged his dirk into the man's chest. Then he pulled it free and wiped the blade neatly off on the man's shirt. When he rose he stood looking about the glen his head thrust forward like a mad dog searching for another kill.

I shrank back behind the tree's trunk suddenly afraid of the feral beast Sam had become. I remained still and quiet but the sound of his footsteps moved closer and closer to my hiding place.

"Leannan, it's alright now. They're all dead. You can come out."

I held my breath listening to the sound of my rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry if they hurt you, leannan, I came as quickly as I could."

His voice sounded so forlorn that I looked down. The bloody warrior had Sam's voice if not his face.

"I'm here in the tree." I managed to squeak out.

The warrior smiled up at me his teeth white against his blood darkened face. "Good lass, you're safe now." He walked up under my tree and held up his bloody hands. "Come down quickly before they find us."

I hesitated.

"Please, leannan, we've no time. There may be more McDonnels coming."

I came then moving down swiftly branch to branch, when I reached the lowest branch Sam held out his hands to help me, but the blood on them sickened me and I rejected his help. "I can do it."

I sat on the branch as I had done when a wee lass then flipped backwards to hang down from my knees and hands. Then I flipped off the branch and landed more or less on my feet. I giggled and the part of my brain that seemed detached from the rest of me wondered at my sanity.

"Come with me, Leannan, quickly."

As Sam herded me past pig face I looked down and saw his open eyes staring vacantly up at me and the mark my teeth had made on his ear. I began to shake all over.

Suddenly Sam was beside me. "He's dead now. He can'na hurt you." He put his arm around me and I was overwhelmed by the scent of blood.

"Don't touch me!" I shrieked.

He dropped his arm instantly. "Alright."

I walked beside him careful to keep my distance. We walked to where his horse was tied. The big roan snorted and fidgeted when we approached. Sam quieted him crooning as he untied the reins from the tree. Then he crouched in front of me hands clasped together. I hesitated.

"Quickly! They're coming."

I flinched but came forward placing my hands on the shoulders of his blood darkened shirt and my foot into his bloody hands. He practically threw me into the saddle. As soon as I was mounted he was up behind me slapping the horse's rump and urging it into a run. The strong scent of blood coming from Sam assailed me again and I felt a wave of nausea and weakness. My shaking grew worse and my teeth began to chatter.

Sam wrapped his arms around me. I was repulsed by the feel of his blood dampened shirt against my back but too weak to protest. "It's alright now, Leannan. Your safe wi' me. They can'na hurt you anymore."

I could give no credence to his words. I had not been safe before and I had no reason to believe that I would ever be safe again. The heat of his body comforted me, but I was still afraid. I would always be afraid.

How do you feel about the violence in this chapter? Did the character development justify it? In many ways this is a coming of age story for Catriona. For a girl of her time she has led a sheltered and privileged life. She is physically brave and willing to take risks, but part of her bravery is simply ignorance. She did not really comprehend either what she risked in running away or how well Sam treated her until this point in the story. In my mind this is the chapter where she really begins to grow up and see the world as it is and the violence was necessary to cause that change. Your thoughts?

How does seeing Sam as a ruthless warrior impact your feelings toward him? Do you think Catriona's shock when faced with the reality of warrior Sam is realistic?

I enjoyed writing this action scene but it is easy to confuse readers when you write action. Anything you found unclear or confusing? My research was minimal if you have any suggestions on how to make sword/dirk fights, horse riding or spurting arterial blood more realistic please let me know. I don't mean to pepper you with questions. Thank you for any comments you care to write. They really motivate me to keep going with the story.