For The Love Of My Scotsman (Complete!)

Attacked In The Woods

Thomas stared at Catriona, counting each breath as her stomach rose and fell unevenly. She had been a buck-toothed kid of eleven or twelve when he had left six years before. Now she was a grown woman.

The door creaked behind him, but Thomas didn't look up.

"You haven't told Lottie who you really are, have you?" William asked.

Thomas sighed and finally set Catriona's hand back on the settee. He scrubbed at his face, willing away the exhaustion. "This is who I am now. That boy who abandoned Catriona died in the war."

William thought for a moment before sitting across from the Scotsman. "Several men have asked me for Lottie's hand this season. I cannot keep them off any longer. Sooner or later... she will marry."

The words made Thomas's heart ache and he avoided William's gaze.

William sighed. "If you have any hope of stopping that, you had best tell her the truth. She was quite distressed just a moment ago. It seems she doesn't suspect the true nature of your relationship with Catriona."

Thomas nodded slowly. Perhaps it was time to tell Lottie the truth. Even if she wouldn't have him... he could no longer deny the feelings that grew stronger each day.

***
Just as Thomas began his search, he spotted Lottie from a window in the hallway. She was outside, without a cloak in spite of the snowflakes that were drifting from the sky.

His shoulders tensed. She seemed to be in a trance of some sort, striding purposefully towards the line of trees.

Thomas followed her gaze. "Och, nay," he whispered. A cloak swirled through the fog as a man turned, leading the way deeper into the forest. And Lottie followed right behind.

"William!" he shouted over his shoulder.

***
Snow crunched beneath Lottie's leather boots as she followed the man's footsteps. The fog muted all sounds, and her heartbeat pounded in her ears. He was real. How could he still be alive? She had seen his dead body!

The trees loomed out of the fog and Lottie had to readjust with each step. It wasn't long before she realized she was hopelessly lost. She paused, listening for any sounds.

"Where is it?" a man's gravelly voice asked through the white clouds surrounding her. The voice was familiar, but they spoke roughly as if trying to disguise themselves. But she knew one thing for certain. It wasn't Mr. Farraday.

Lottie spun, reaching for her knife, only to remember too late that she had given it to Octavia.

"Who are you?" she shouted back, turning in circles. "What do you want? Why are you doing this to me?"

"If you won't give it to me... I suppose I'll just have to take it from your corpse," the voice sounded to her left and she twisted to face it, gasping for breath.

"Lottie!" Thomas's shout pierced the fog as footsteps rushed at her from two sides.

Thomas wrapped an arm around her waist, spinning her to the side.

A blade hissed through the air behind her, slicing through one of her blond curls as she turned.

Thomas held her tightly against his chest and spun them around again as their attacker swiped again, but they turned too far and Lottie's back collided against the coarse bark of a tree.

"Watch out!" Lottie cried, peering under Thomas's arm as the man in the cloak flipped the knife over in his hand and swung.

With nowhere to go, Thomas pressed Lottie against the tree, curling his body around hers to protect her.