The dog barked in response—not a good sign.
“Hurry now!” Finn said.
He watched Alex and Lachlan scurry down the backside of the hill toward the cove where the boat was hidden. Luckily, the sky was growing dark with the coming storm, so they should be able to slip down the coast to Dornoch without being seen.
When Finn looked back the other way, he cursed. A line of men was on the shore coming from Dunrobin. He picked up the wee dog and put him in the bag he had slung over his shoulder and waited for the Sinclair men to spot him.
It did not take long. When he ran inland along the ridge, the Sinclairs started up the hill toward him. He could see Alex and Lachlan still scrambling down the hillside to the boat.Run faster, dammit!If the Sinclairs reached the top of the hill and saw them, Alex and Lachlan could not get to the boat and sail away before the Sinclairs raced down the hill and shot their arrows into the boat.
Finn had to keep the Sinclair warriors from cresting the hill, so he dropped down to their side. He shifted direction from side to side, but always making sure they could see him.
He glanced over his shoulder and grinned when he saw that every one of them was following him. Ha, George Sinclair was going to be furious when he learned Alex had escaped. Finn might not escape himself, but he would lead these Sinclairs on a good chase.
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Margaret screamed as she bounced against the rock walls of the crevice. With a final, jarring thump, she landed in a heap at the bottom. She hit so hard it knocked the breath out of her. For one terrifying moment, she could not suck in air, then she gasped as pain hit her like an anvil.
Far above her, she could just make out against the night sky the darker outline of a figure leaning over the opening. Clenching her teeth to keep from moaning, Margaret forced herself to remain still. Though it was too dark at the bottom for Isabel to see her clearly, she could feel Isabel’s cold gaze watching for movement.
How long would the wretched woman wait to be sure?
Finally, the figure disappeared. Isabel must have been satisfied that Margaret was either dead or too badly injured to survive. Or perhaps she was convinced Margaret could not escape and would die a slow death.
When the initial shock of pain subsided, she sat up and ran her hands over her body, checking for injuries. She was bleeding from cuts and scratches, her knee and hip were badly bruised, and her ankle was already swelling. Miraculously, nothing seemed broken, but every part of her body ached and throbbed. When she tried to stand, she could not put weight on the leg with the injured ankle.
The realization hit her that no one would find her here. Una was the only one who knew she’d taken the path to Lachlan’s cottage. And she’d gone off the path, so even Una would not know where to look. If Margaret had any hope of surviving, she had to climb out.
Raindrops hit her face as she looked up at the daunting distance to the jagged edge of her prison. Then thunder cracked, and lightning filled the chasm with a flash of light, briefly revealing the steep wall of rock she had to climb. If she wanted to survive, she had to try.
Feeling her way up the wall for clefts and cracks, she started climbing. Gritting her teeth each time she had to put weight on her injured leg, she made her way up several feet. Reaching up, she grasped a brush growing out of the rock. As she pulled herself up, the brush came loose in her hand. She screamed as she careened down the side.
When she hit the ground, the pain in her ankle shot up her leg and nearly blinded her. Shaken and gasping for breath, she dropped her head onto her knees. She would have to wait until morning when she could see to climb before risking it again.
She clutched her knees, shivering against the cold. Her gown was wet from the rain and clung to her skin.
With a long night ahead of her, she had nothing to do but dwell on her regrets. When Finn returned and could not find her, he would think she had left him. She had told him she would. How could she have been so foolish? Rather than risk pain, she had thrown away happiness for them both.
She could die in this black hole. If she had the chance again, she would not waste another hour that she could have with him. Her only comfort was knowing Finn would take care of Ella. She had no doubt he would. If only she could be with them…
She felt a prick against her skin and looked down to find the brooch Finn had made for her with the broken bits of onyx hanging by a thread from her torn bodice. Bursting into tears, she clutched it in her hand and prayed Finn knew how much she loved him.
Exhausted, she rested her head against the cold wall of rock. She awoke some time later to the sensation of ice-cold water on her feet. Scooting away from the puddle of rain that had collected there, she felt around her for a drier spot.
Water was all around her.
Fearing the worst, she tasted her wet fingers. They were salty. She tried to remember how close the trail had been to the sea.Too close.
Panic closed her throat. Her rocky prison was filling with the incoming tide, and she had no way out.
CHAPTER 30
Finn walked the last few miles back to Helmsdale with rain and wind pelting his face like accusations. Now that Alex was safely away and Finn had lost the Sinclair men following him, he could no longer avoid thinking about his mistakes with Margaret.
With time and distance, he recognized that he could have responded better to the revelation that she was able to conceive a child. And he definitely should not have shouted at her and told her shehadto marry him. That was not at all how he planned his marriage proposal to go.
He’d forgotten all about the wee dog until he whimpered.
“What do you have to complain about?” he said as he reached in to pat the dog. “You’re warm and dry in there.”