Thanking him, the two deputies stepped away from the table, still keeping a watchful eye on each other as they moved to join their separate companies.
It took Quin a few moments to find Jenny, but he spotted her at last, talking with a lad he assumed was a kinsman. Managing to catch her eye, he waved, then shouted to Hob the Mouse to collect their people and prepare to depart.
The sun was nearing the western horizon and soon would set. He wanted to be well away from Dayholm before it did.
His party was soon mounted and ready. Lifting Jenny to her saddle, he swung into his, signed to the others, and spurred his horse to a canter, turning away from Kershopefoot Burn to follow Liddel Water to the nearest fording place. The group following him was smaller and quieter than at the beginning of the day. Many had already departed for their homes, and everyone was tired.
Looking back, Quin saw that a significant number of riders from the English cavalcade lingered on the Scottish side of the burn, and although they rode near the burn, they seemed to be keeping pace with his party. When he and his men rode over the rise into Liddesdale, he lost sight of them briefly but saw them again soon afterward, riding along the crest. He recognized some of the men but not their leader's banner. As he and his men neared the ford, two of the English riders shouted taunts at Ill Wild Will and Arch Crosier. The Crosiers shouted back.
Quin glanced at Hob the Mouse, who growled at the Crosiers, "Hold your whisst, ye fashious bairns."
Quin saw Jenny frown at the riders following them, but he was not unduly concerned. Each person attending the truce was, by law, inviolate to his enemies until the next day's sunrise. Therefore, even with hostile riders on the hillside above keeping step with him, he and his company should be safe. Nevertheless, instincts honed by years of raiding and battle set the hairs on the back of his neck to tingling.
At a point where the landscape to the east soared up through forestland to the Larriston Fells and the Cheviots, as Quin and his party neared the ford, the group above them suddenly spurred their horses.
"Ride, master," Hob shouted. "They be breaking truce!"
Even before Quin heard the warning and saw the well-practiced battlefield maneuver with the horses, he had feared an attack. The signs had been undeniable, for the other party was heavily armed and had watched him and his people more closely than mere taunting would account for. More than once he had seen one man lean near another to talk without looking away from the Scots.
"Hold where you are, everyone," he shouted before his men could spur their ponies. "They outnumber us, and I'll not risk my Jenny or any of the other women by encouraging them to chase us or make battle. We'll face them down."
"They'd never dare harm me," Jenny said stoutly. "I know that banner, sir. It is my cousin, Francis Musgrave. I cannot believe he would dare to break the truce."
Moments later, the leader of the English party, closely followed by his men, rode up to Quin and declared loudly, "You are under arrest, Rabbie Redcloak, for theft and for murder. You are to come with us."
Stunned by the unexpected identification, Quin fought to collect his. wits.
Jenny said angrily, "You are mad, Francis Musgrave. This is Sir Quinton Scott, Laird of Broadhaugh, close cousin to the Laird of Buccleuch, and my husband! You cannot arrest him. He is deputy warden of the Scottish middle and west marches, as you know right well!"
"He is under arrest nonetheless," Musgrave said firmly, adding with a flinty look at Quin, "We outnumber you, Broadhaugh, two to one."
Quin saw other riders coming over the rise and realized that Musgrave had planned his attack well. "I'll go peacefully," he said. "Jenny, ride to Buccleuch with Hob and our other men and tell him about this. Do not, under any circumstance, put yourself in danger, but do exactly what Buccleuch tells you to do. Now, go, lass."
Tears glittered in her eyes, but she raised her chin. "Recall that I know you well, Francis Musgrave," she said angrily. "Moreover, if I find out that Hugh had aught to do with this outrage, I'll … "
"Do not blame Sir Hugh, cousin," Musgrave said. "We learned only a short time ago that Broadhaugh is the notorious reiver, Rabbie Redcloak. I will do you the courtesy to pretend you did not know of his past. However, you should know that we mean to make a gift of him to your brother, and Hugh may not be so credulous. We mean you and the others no harm, though. You may depart in peace."
"Peace!" she snapped. "What do you know of peace, to break a solemn truce like this? You should be ashamed of yourself. God will punish you, Francis, and by heaven, if I can help him send you all to perdition, I will!"
"That's enough now, Jenny; go to Buccleuch," Quin said calmly. Turning to Hob, he added, "Stay with her. I depend upon you to guard her well."
"Aye, master," Hob replied. "And, mind, we'll have moonlight again."
Chapter 20
"Now word is gane to the bauld keeper,
In Branksome Ha', where that he lay … "
IGNORING TEARS THAT STREAMED down her cheeks, Janet watched as they constrained Quinton like a common felon with his arms tied behind him and his feet bound beneath his horse's belly. He held himself erect throughout the humiliating process, and his dignity reminded her of her position as his wife. She did not raise a hand to dry her tears, but they continued to flow.
Beside her, Hob murmured, "We should go, mistress, whilst we can."
"We will wait until they have ridden away," she said, not bothering to lower her voice to match his. "They must see that we are outraged, Hob, and not think for a minute's time that we fear them. We will sit quietly and watch, so as to make them constantly aware that we can serve as witnesses to this unlawful act."
"By God, madam," Gaudilands said behind her. "Were it not for you and the other women, we'd soon teach them a lesson. I can promise you that."
"Then you would give them grounds to declare later that you caused the trouble instead of them," Janet said without turning her head. "This way, they can never say that we initiated any of this. They are wholly in the wrong, and we shall be able to say so without fear of hearing any action of ours condemned in turn."
The Scots sat silently after that until the English band had disappeared over the rise with their prisoner.
Hob said quietly, "Now, mistress?"
"Now," Janet agreed.
Leaving half of their men to escort the other women, she rode ahead with Hob, Gaudilands, and Todrigg to Branxholme, where Buccleuch had remained to let his leg mend itself. Darkness fell some hours before the big gates swung open to admit them to the torchlit bailey.
Leaving their horses with lackeys, Janet hurried into the hall with Hob and the two gentlemen following. She found Buccleuch alone, sitting at his ease in a cushioned armchair with his leg propped on a bench set lengthwise before him. A goblet of wine rested companionably on a small table at his elbow.
He frowned at her hasty entrance, but made no move to stand. "What's amiss, lass?" he demanded. "And why the devil have you brought Todrigg and Gaudilands with you? Where's Quin?"
"They've seized him, sir. They've broken the truce, and I am ashamed to say that those who took him are Musgraves, members of my mother's family and hitherto men for whom I held both respect and affection."
His startled reaction sent the goblet at his elbow flying, but he paid no heed to the resulting clatter or mess. "The devil you say!" he exclaimed, sitting bolt upright now. "They've broken the truce?"
"Aye, Wat," Gaudilands said angrily. "We'd scarce left the ground when Francis Musgrave and about a hundred others swooped down upon us."
Todrigg said, "They arrested him as Rabbie Redcloak."
"Damnation," Buccleuch exclaimed, adding as an obvious afterthought, "I beg your pardon, lass."
"Quinton said to ride straight to you, sir," she said. "What can we do?"
"We will protest, of course, for they have broken the law. You are certain that none of you crossed to their side of the line?"
Gaudilands snapped, "Of course no one did! Christ, Wat, we were about to cross the Liddel near Whithaugh. We could scarcely have wandered the opposite way, across the Kershope into England, without noticing."
"I'll send a protest to that blasted Scrope at once."
Todrigg said, "Ye'd best send it to Sir Hugh Graham at Brackengill. Them what took Quin did say they mean to make Sir Hugh a gift of him."
Buccleuch frowned thoughtfully at Janet. "Did they, indeed?"
"Yes," she said, "they did. They also said that Hugh did not know of their intent. In point of fact, they said that they had just learned that Quinton is Rabbie Redcloak. Someone must have told them-someone who attended Truce Day."
Buccleuch nodded. "I see what you are thinking, lass, and I own, I ought to have considered that possibility sooner. Who on our side might have had reason today to feel anger or resentment toward Quin?"
"Those devilish Crosier brothers," Gaudilands said instantly.
"Aye, Arch and Ill Wild Will," Todrigg agreed.
The two men, speaking in turn, described the events of the day. Before they had finished, servants brought wine and ale, and afterward Buccleuch invited them to linger and take a late supper with him.