Read MacKinnon’s Rangers 03.5 - Upon A Winter's Night for Free Online Page B

on the face, helping to clear the fog of rage from his mind.

    "He’s lyin ’!" Connor hissed.

    "Aye, he’s lyin ’," Morgan agreed. "But how are we to prove that? Do you think the paymaster will take our word over that bastard Haviland’s ?"

    "There’s but one way to prove what is owed to the men." Iain started toward the fort’s gates. "We must find Wentworth."

    * * *

    Lord William Wentworth sat beneath thick blankets on a chair before the hearth, trying to doze, his feet propped up on a footstool. Laudanum had left a bitter taste on his tongue, his mouth dry, but at least the pain had diminished. He shivered, drew the blankets tighter about himself, feeling chilled to the bone despite the blazing fire.

    His physicians had been right. The long journey from Fort Ticonderoga to Fort Edward and then on to Albany had brought back his fever and, with it, the terrible pain where his wounds had festered.

    His eyes drifted shut, oblivion slowly taking him, strains of harpsichord music drifting through his dreams. ’Twas a Christmas carol. He remembered now. Sarah had been playing upon the harpsichord he’d given her, the sweet music filling him with—

    A knock woke him.

    "My lord, it is I, Cooke. I must speak with you on an urgent matter."

    William shivered beneath his blanket, bit back a curse. "Come in."

    Behind him, the door opened and closed, letting in a rush of cold air.

    Cooke appeared at his side, gave a bow. "My lord, I — "

    "Yes, get to it, man!" William ached with weariness.

    Cooke frowned. "Your fever has returned. I shall fetch Doctor—"

    "No! No." William was tired of doctors and their pitying glances. "I’ve been bled enough. I wish only to sleep. What is it you’ve come to tell me? Speak, and be gone."

    "The MacKinnon brothers are in Albany, my lord, and they are looking for you."

    William had left the letter and the cracked black king as a way of saying farewell to Lady Anne and to Sarah. He should have thought that would be obvious to them. But the three brothers had tried to follow him that night, calling for him, riding after him in the snow, forcing him and Cooke to drive their mounts hard. Cooke had urged William to stop, to stay the night at the MacKinnon farm, but he had refused.

    William did not wish to be seen like this — not by the MacKinnon brothers, not by his niece, not by anyone. That’s why he’d kept to these rooms since arriving in Albany and why Cooke was his only contact with the world beyond these walls.

    "Go on."

    "I spied them entering The Fife and Drum, the pub frequented by our officers down on the— "

    "I am familiar with Albany, Captain."

    "I entered behind them, kept to the shadows, and overheard them asking if anyone had seen you. They said that it was essential for them to find you as they needed to speak with you on a matter of great urgency and— "

    "They are simply trying to find me, trying to flush me out for Sarah’s sake so that they can bring me back and see what’s become of me. I do not wish to be seen by them, Captain. Do you understand? Are you quite certain they didn’t notice you? For if they did, they’ll simply follow you and…" Some part of William realized that his words were little more than fevered raving. "I need water."

    He hated being this weak , helpless like a child.

    Captain Cooke immediately poured water for him from a porcelain pitcher and held out a glass. "You should not be alone, my lord."

    William drank, the water soothing his parched throat, then set the glass aside. "Did they reveal the nature of this urgent matter? Is my niece…?"

    She’d been well and alive a few nights back. She’d recognized the chess piece he’d left on MacKinnon’s doorstep and had run from the house, barefoot and clad only in her shift, crying out for him — proof that she did not hate him despite everything he’d done to keep her and Connor MacKinnon apart.

    What if running barefoot in the snow had left her ill?

    "I am