Rebel Heart

By H.C Douglas

The Rebel Heart is a historical romance set in Scotland after Prince Charless defeat by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden. In the aftermath of the battle, Cumberland gave the order to his redcoats to hunt down the remnants of the rebels and of any supporters of their cause.
Minnette Telfer was a high-spirited young woman, beautiful and adventurous, and bored. Despite countless warnings from her rich father about the dangers of this time, Minnette stumbles foolishly along a path that would set in motion a train of events that would put her father and family in danger.
Banished to her uncles in France, a suitable husband and marriage contract was to be found. But Minnette had already fallen in love, not with the capricious count who had become frighteningly besotted with her, but with a rebel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Apr 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493135240

H.C Douglas

Born in Scotland in the 1930s, I migrated to Australia with my young family in 1962. My early years in Australia included being mother for several years with a well-known institution that cared for Aboriginal children. Being head chef in a commercial kitchen was followed by running a private catering company for a few years. During this time, I found little time for leisure activities, but when the opportunity arose, I enjoyed painting, pottery, and in particular, writing—winning a number of awards and accolades, including publications of poems and short stories, and the production of several plays. Working as the volunteer in charge of a charity shop, my life became hectic for the next twenty years. Having retired in December 2010, my focus has now returned to my pet interest: writing.

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Copyright © 2014 by H.C Douglas.

Original artwork on the cover is by Josiah Iturra

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 03/31/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-800-455-039

www.xlibris.com.au

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER ONE

M innette frowned and hitched her cumbersome skirts a little higher. Her soft-soled shoes and fine gown were proving more suited to the drawing room than to traipsing through the heather, brier, and bracken of the wild Scottish countryside. What had seemed in the early afternoon sunshine to be nothing more than a light-hearted escapade, a high-spirited show of bravura, could soon become a race against time. Even now the long shades of evening were stealing across the valley.

Scarce three miles as the crow flies, old Geordie had told her. The girl snorted and tugged her dress free of a tenacious gorse bush. Already she had covered that and more, over increasingly rough terrain, and was firmly persuaded that neither Geordie nor his silly old crow were reliable sources regarding the judgement of distance!

The girl paused and pushed her heavy auburn hair back from her face, her small cap proving to be more ornamental than practical. Looking across the lonely hillside, she saw no sign of another living creature, not even a sheep or a rabbit, and while she was not yet nervous or fearful, it was giving her some cause for alarm that she might be caught out in the dark. Ruefully, she picked a bit of the prickly gorse from her soiled petticoat tail and wondered if perhaps it would have been better had she stayed with the old buggy and the relative safety afforded her by old Geordie and his stout cudgel.

‘Why are we stopping?’ she had asked when Geordie had pulled the horse to a halt.

‘It’s the mare, she’s walking a bit lame. Chances are she’s just picked up a stone, least ways, I hope that’s all it is.’ The old driver grunted as he got stiffly down from his seat and began patting the animal’s sweating flank. ‘Steady now, steady there, lass. Steady.’

Minnette looked out across the valley from her vantage point in the buggy. Although early in the year, the day was pleasantly warm with the sun chasing a few cloud shadows across the green hillside and giving a sparkle to the burn wandering through the wood and on across the valley floor. The girl sat up, suddenly alert, and peered beyond the trees.

‘Geordie, is that the Bowrigg rooftops I can see from here?’

‘It will be, miss…’ He paused as he began probing carefully about the animal’s injured foot. ‘And, should you look off to the left a mite, you should be able to see the Kirk steeple at Oxley. Whoa, girl… there now…’

‘It doesn’t look very far from here and yet we have still miles and miles to go…’ The girl frowned thoughtfully. So far the journey had proved both uncomfortable and tedious. ‘Just how far would you say… ?’

‘Och, ’tis scarce three miles as the crow flies… Ah! I see the trouble!’ Geordie’s full attention was with the mare now and with the delicate task of removing the foreign object wedged between her shoe and her foot. Finally he straightened and gave the mare a few conciliatory slaps on the shoulder. ‘There you are, old girl! As good as new! See here, miss, here was the cause of the… !’ In triumph, the old man had turned to show the girl the offending pebble but stopped short when he found his passenger missing.

‘Over here, Geordie!’ the girl’s voice sang out cheerfully from some distance away, and he turned quickly to see what she was up to. He frowned deeply as he caught sight of the blue dress flouncing off over the brave face.

‘Now then, lassie, what is it you are playing at? You had better get yourself back up here so we can be on our way!’ he spoke sharply, but the girl ignored his command and kept walking sprightly over the turf.

‘I have decided to go this way, it will be much quicker.’ She laughed merrily and gave a quick toss of her head. Even the old man was aware of how lovely she had grown. From a scrawny little scrap of a thing forever getting up to mischief, she had suddenly developed into a beautiful and lissom young woman. The small oval face was highlighted by almond-shaped grey eyes, strange grey eyes with their dark ring around the iris, sparkling grey eyes full of devilment and laughter beneath the veil of thick dark lashes. The fine arch of her brows tended to make her eyes look larger, and her straight little nose had the merest hint of a tilt at its tip, and her mouth always seemed to have a smile tugging at its corners.

The old man shook his head and wondered to himself, and not for the first time either, how a dry old stick like William Telfer had ever sired such a wild-hearted creature. That is what she is, he thought, a bonny wild creature.

Meanwhile, he noted the bonny wild creature was skipping off down the grassy hillside and it was his job to see no harm befell her. He knew from past experience, however, that looking after Minnette Telfer was no easy task. It was a bit like trying to hold on to a greased pig; you have a fair good chance of holding on only should the animal have no desire to run off, but once it chose to go, there was little you could do to stop it!

‘You come back here this instant! It’s no’ safe for you to go gallivanting off on your own. You never know what might happen to you. Do you hear me? Your father will not like this at all!’ The grizzled old servant sighed; she was not paying him the slightest bit of heed. He would try another tack. ‘Have you no thought to the trouble you’ll get me into? No thought at all for an old man? Your father will have me flayed if I turn up without you, d’you hear me? He’ll have my hide!’ In truth, the old man was less feared for his own hide than for the girl’s safety. ‘Miss Telfer! Your father… !’

The girl stopped but made no move to return to the road; instead she answered him with a gay laugh.

‘Don’t worry, Geordie! He would more likely be after your hide should you lose that old rattletrap and his provisions! Besides, I wager I’ll reach Bowrigg before you. I’ll even open the gates for you. On my word, Geordie, should I suffer another mile joggling and bumping in that contraption, I swear, I’d not be able to sit for a week!’

‘When your father hears tell of this nonsense, my girl, there could be a very strong possibility of that being the case any roads!’ Geordie threatened, but her reply was appeal of laughter and a cheeky toss of her auburn curls. ‘You are a stubborn and wilful girl! Do you hear? Stubborn and wilful!’ Yet though the man’s words were harsh, the faded blue eyes were gentle on the bright figure stepping so lightly down the hillside.

Minnette sighed. Poor old Geordie, she certainly led him a merry dance at times. This time, maybe it had served her better to listen to him, she thought as she got up from her resting spot. Well, she had got herself into this mess and would achieve nothing to sit and ponder on it.

Before her now lay the Bogglie Burn woods and, just beyond that, Bowrigg—her father’s house and her own destination. Pausing only to gather her skirts up into a bundle in her arms, she ran, veritably bounding over the ground that remained between her and the wood. She was eager now to gain the wood and quit it ere darkness fell upon her.

Finding the path she sought, she dropped her skirts and smoothed them down before setting off once more at a brisk pace. The going was much easier now and the path here was well-known to her since she had played in these same woods in childhood. Now, however, its dark and sinister aspect bore little resemblance to the leafy refuge of laughing children.

Now that she was drawing closer to home, Minnette had other thoughts to occupy her mind. There seemed but little chance that her act of disobedience would go undiscovered, and she must needs be prepared to face an angry father. She was well aware of the displeasure she had surely brought upon her own head; indeed, her action was a direct defiance of her father’s recent strictest admonishing to her sister and herself against venturing abroad alone and unprotected.

William Telfer was not a man given to flights of fancy, and his fears for the safety of his daughters were not ill founded. It was 1746 and scarce a month since the defeat of the Jacobite forces at Culloden. Since that battle, and its bloody aftermath, many of the Young Pretender’s followers had taken to the heather to escape the gallows or the outright slaughter at the hands of the King’s overzealous men.

Minnette was aware of the ‘rising’, and that in July of the previous year Charles Edward Stuart had come to Scotland in an effort to regain what he, and presumably his supporters, believed to be his divine right—the crown of the three kingdoms. News of the Jacobite victories had come to them, indeed, and had inspired some to the belief that this time would see the crown rest once more on the head of a Stuart king.

William Telfer was not a Jacobite supporter; if he even had secret sympathies in that direction, he had never spoken of them. There were those within his household who were quietly hopeful of the Prince’s success, yet too fearful to voice such ideas openly. Thus, no actual blow had been struck for or against either side in the matter, and all the rebellion had achieved in and around Bowrigg was a change from the usual topics of conversation.

A twig snapped loudly and drew the girl’s attention back to her present situation; she tensed and her wide grey eyes swept swiftly over her surroundings. It was merely some small animal, a rabbit or a fox, she told herself level-headedly and continued walking at a steady pace. Somewhere, deep inside her, a small voice questioned this, but she quickly thrust it from her mind although she did find she walked a little faster.

There came another snap and some rustling among the dead leaves, this movement sounding rather heavier than either a rabbit or a fox. Minnette quelled the hysterical urge to cry out, and instead she stopped and once more looked around her trying, with difficulty now, to pierce the deepening gloom of the undergrowth.

It was only a deer! That was it, she decided and smiled to herself. Probably the poor animal was a great deal more frightened than she. The smile froze on her lips when she heard a thump and louder and more prolonged movement. There was no mistake now, she thought with alarm as she glimpsed a form out of the corner of her eye and spun around. There was definitely someone there, someone in the thicket! She saw it then, the dim figure of a man, crouching… perhaps even now preparing to spring!

Minnette wanted to scream out, but when she opened her mouth to do so, she found her vocal chords refused to function. Her mouth had gone dry and the sound of her own blood thundered noisily in her ears. Her frightened eyes held fast to the crouching form while her brain cried out ‘Run! Run!’ to legs that seemed to have lost the power to obey.

Suddenly, the shadow figure moved!

‘Eeee!’ a high-pitched squeak broke forth from her lips. Watching him as if mesmerised, she saw the man rise and stretch out his arm towards her, and then, with a low groan, he fell to the ground. Standing stock-still, she watched the fallen figure for further movement but there was none. Now that he was free of the shadows, she noticed he was clothed in tartan. A Highlander! Her curiosity was roused, and finally she took a tentative step towards him. There was still no movement and the girl’s hands flew to her lips.

‘Dear God! I think he is dead… !’ she cried out aloud in her distress, and with that, she gave no more thought to her own fears and knelt down beside him. His hair was long and curling about his neck, blond in colour but so matted and dirty as to appear brown at first glance. The clothing he wore consisted of a heavy linen shirt and a green tartan plaid belted about his middle with a broad black belt. His legs were encased in a thick green hose, and his shoes seemed to be made of animal hide.

The matted hair had fallen about his face in such a manner as to conceal his features, and gingerly, the girl reached out her hand to move the locks to look upon his face.

‘Not quite dead yet… ,’ the man spoke softly, and with a movement, exceeding swift and accurate in one so recently cast as a corpse, he caught and firmly held the stunned girl’s wrist. He muttered something which Minnette did not understand as he stared at her with surprise in his vivid blue eyes.

‘You are not… ? I mean… you feigned…’

‘I could not run and chase you. How else then could I get you close?’ His form of speech had a sing-song quality to it, but though it were gentle, Minnette was alarmed.

‘For what reason… ?’ she may as well know the worst, she thought resignedly, after all, why else would he want to get his hands on her unless he meant her harm.

‘I need your help, mo gradh.’ With that, he got awkwardly to his feet and Minnette noticed the front of his shirt was caked with dried blood. He caught the look on her face and he placed his hand on the area and shook his head sadly. ‘Alas, I carry the blood of a comrade upon me as well as my own. But I am wounded and in great need of…’

‘You are one of the rebels… ,’ she said slowly as she rose and stood before him.

‘I fought on the side of our true King. If that makes me rebel, then, so I am…’ He stopped and held his hand to his lips in a bid for silence. ‘Horses! I am lost!’ The blue eyes turned to Minnette. ‘If that is troopers I hear, and they find me, I am indeed a dead man.’

‘Then, quickly… conceal yourself! Look, back there is the dry bed of an old burn. It cannot be seen from the path since it is well overhung with tree roots and bushes…’

‘And what of you, mo caileag?’ The Highlander looked down into the beautiful face and frowned. He had placed his hand on the knife he wore in his belt when he caught the first sound of the horses, but it was not until this moment that Minnette realised he was armed. The sounds of the approaching horses grew louder mingled with the chinking of metal and the voices of the rider.

‘Make haste!’

‘I only wondered…’ He reached out his hand and gently he tilted her face up to his. ‘Is this beautiful face really the face of Judas… ?’ He dropped his hand quickly and made away as Minnette had directed him. To her relief, the tall figure dropped down out of sight only moments before the appearance of the horsemen approaching along the narrow path. There were five soldiers in all. They looked tired and dispirited, but they straightened up when they caught sight of the girl.

‘Ho! Lookee here, Captain. We’ve found us a woman… !’

‘And a mighty pretty one at that!’ his comrade-in-arms added with a lusty laugh.

‘An’ it was I saw ‘er first… ,’ growled the first trooper.

‘Seein’ an’ gettin’ is two different… ,’ a third soldier added.

‘Well, I’m first sin’ I saw ’er first…’ The first trooper was beginning to dismount, but a sharp command stayed him.

‘Johnson! Stay in you saddle!’ the Captain’s voice snapped curtly.

‘But, Captain… ,’ the trooper hesitated to obey, but the Captain was not to be gain said and repeated the command. ‘Maybe we could take ‘er back wi’ us…’ Minnette drew back, suddenly very afraid. She had not thought for one moment that the troopers could prove a greater threat to her than the man she had just helped to hide.

‘Hold hard there, girl. What are you doing in these woods at this late hour? Are you alone?’ The young Captain had silenced the others with a wave of his hand. ‘Speak up, wench, if you value your life!’

‘I hie for home and am delayed. It is a long story, but the gist of it is, I left my servant and carriage on the high road back yonder believing I could walk home easily enough. I’m afraid I sadly misjudged the distance and the roughness of the ground over which I had to travel. I was much afraid I had fallen into danger when I heard you and your… gallant men draw near.’ Minnette looked up at the troopers with what she hoped was taken for an admiring look.

‘Don’t you know it is dangerous to be out walking alone?’ the Captain spoke to her as if she were a child.

‘Oh, indeed, I realise that now, Captain, and I fear my father will be very angry with me since he expressly forbid…’

‘Have you seen anyone else about?’ the Captain butted in, obviously not interested in what her father had said.

‘Anyone else?’ She looked up at him vacantly.

‘Yes, one of the scurvy Jacobites is thought to have come this way,’ the young soldier said and watched her closely, but she looked quite vague. The young man sighed and added, ‘He’s a tall man…’

‘Oh, I did see a man, just after I left the road. Of course, he was some distance off and I… well, I took him for a shepherd.’ She looked at him solemnly. ‘Do you think perhaps… ?’

‘You would not mistake the man we seek for anything but what he is… a murdering rogue and a filthy rebel!’ one of the troopers broke in angrily.

‘Well, we must be on our way. I can’t afford a man to squire you safely home and I am loath to leave you here upon the road alone.’ The young Captain frowned. Minnette thought to herself she would feel a great deal safer without an escort of his troop but smiled up at him as if in thanks.

‘If you passed no one on your way… then surely it must be safe now for me, Captain?’ She smiled up at him trustingly.

‘True enough. Now we must move on, the devil may have taken the path by the burn after all. I’ll bid you ‘good evening’, mistress, and wish you safe home.’

‘Thank you, Captain,’ she murmured and the soldiers formed up to leave, but the Captain suddenly held up his hand to halt them and turned back to her. Minnette’s heart stood still. Had he seen something? Had she given something away somehow in her manner or her speech? She stood and waited with bated breath as the young soldier leaned down towards her.

‘Your name? I don’t think you mentioned…’

‘It’s Minnette. Minnette Telfer,’ she said and gave a quick bob.

‘Ah! You must be daughter to Telfer of Bowrigg!’

‘Indeed, I do have that honour, Captain.’

‘A fine and loyal subject to His Majesty.’ The girl nodded and did not fail to notice the subtle change in the Captain’s manner. ‘Perhaps it would be better if I send you home under escort now, Mistress Telfer.’

‘No, indeed not, Captain! I would not hear of you jeopardising your mission on my behalf. I will, however, remember you to my father… ah… Captain… ?’

‘Blake. Captain Thomas Blake at your service.’

When the last of the troopers had passed from sight, Minnette ran to where the wounded man lay hidden and reached an arm down to him.

‘Are you able to walk? If so, I can get you to some shelter. It is cold at night and, in your condition…’ The man stood beside her now. He was tall and broad-shouldered and his hair would probably look quite well were it scrubbed, she mused to herself. He had the most vivid blue eyes she had ever seen and he was ruggedly good-looking. Even in his wounded and bedraggled state, he had a proud bearing—like a wounded eagle, she thought.

‘I’m sure I’ll be able to walk, but I have no wish to further endanger yourself. And have no doubt on it, if you are discovered aiding me, not even your father’s good name or high standing would have much chance of saving you!’ The lilting voice held a serious note in it as he spoke.

‘And if you are intent on chattering so, I’ve no doubt but you will most certainly have us both apprehended! I would urge you to make haste. I have no wish to put myself or my father’s house in danger… !’ she said sharply.

‘You are a fiery maid indeed for a Lowlander! It would seem your hair does not belie your disposition!’ The man laughed and his whole face seemed to light up, and the girl felt her stomach give a strange lurch.

‘My hair, sir, or my disposition is of little matter at the moment, and if you will take my arm, I will give you what support I can,’ she spoke sharply, but this time it was in an effort to cover the confusion she felt.

‘I thank you. If you are sure you…’

‘By my faith, sir, you certainly do talk a great deal for one in such a tenuous position as yours is at the moment,’ Minnette muttered.

‘Ho! Your arm it is then, mo gradh!’

They had managed to gain the edge of the trees when the not-too-distant whinny of a horse alerted them to the return of the soldiers.

‘You must take cover again, quickly, or we are both undone!’ Minnette cried out in alarm.

‘They will surely take you with them this time… ,’ her companion said with what Minnette thought to be a note of sadness in his voice.

‘And I can do none else but go with them. If you keep to the edge of the wood, however, in a short time you will come to an old bothy. It is half fallen in, but it will afford you some shelter.’

‘Perhaps it would be best I keep moving…’

‘And you’ll not be able to do that long unless you rest for a bit. You are hardly in a fit state to travel far without you get some food and rest,’ she spoke crossly, mainly because the thought of him going out of her life as suddenly as he had entered it was distressing for some odd reason.

‘Minnette Telfer’—her heart leaped as he spoke her name—’I owe you a great debt this day…’

‘How came you by my name?’ she asked weakly.

‘Did I not just overhear you tell it to the good Captain?’ He smiled.

‘And you? Do you have a name?’

‘I have, but it is not one I give lightly. Perhaps it is better you have no knowledge of it then you can be in less danger of…’

‘Oh, so you take me for an informer!’

‘You know well I do not. Today you held my life in your hand, but what you do not know cannot hurt you… and I would see nothing hurt you if I had my way.’ His last words were said with such warmth of feeling that Minnette felt her face flush. There came the jingling of metal and the plodding of walking horses, much closer now. It had grown almost dark and the girl urged her companion to hide in the nearby Rhododendron bushes until they had passed.

‘Lie low there and I will run a little ahead and draw them off. May God go with you… Highlander.’ She felt herself choke on the last word, the only name she had for him. She knew she did not want to leave him there, hurt and alone. She wanted to spirit him off to warmth and safety.

‘And may he watch over you, mo gradh,’ he said softly ad he melted into the dark green of the bushes. Minnette felt her heart lift with his words;