Page 5 (1/2)

Donald was still shaking his head when they approached the courtyard where stable boys awaited the the reins to three mounts The laird prided hih his stallion wasn ’t exactly easy on the eyes, he was the soundest and eous warhorse he had ever ridden Ares was alht hind leg It was the color of spilt blood, and Ewen had always felt it an auspicious mark for a battle horse Ares ’s nose was thick and blunt and covered with nu dully, artifacts of battles past

By the ti Loch Garry and the rugged countryside below there were but a few hours of daylight left The loch itself was shlands, but the vieas draht, snaked a path through countryside rough with clureens that spiked the horizon The low, rugged peaks of Knoydart held silent vigil in the distance, seerayHe had observed large groups of fighting len below made hihting side by side with men of his clan or those who counted thely ainst the redcoats had always been a patchwork of tartans in all colors and co and old, armed with musket, broadsword, pike, or bow and arrow counted thevaried wildly, with so crisp linen shirts and fine woolen jackets and trews, their hair well coe, racing into battle on foot, unta Ewen always favored his tartan, a distinctive red and green plaid that he ith fierce pride

Looking now at the valley below theh, hting prowess, for Ewen had bested i was the sight of this well- oiled machine made up of anonymous boys in red They were overdressed and undertrained, bearing firearing Highland broadsword and targe Who were these young enerals, to be used then discarded? To be a Highlander was to be a warrior, but that was also synonymous with clan and country, a proud and noble identity that any ive his life for But these boys in their snohite shirts and breeches, did they knohat they fought for?

Ewen hoped he cae peace with Cromwell’s own General Monk It wasn ’t that he feared battle There had been many a time in the midst of a skire, but rather to beg God ’s forgiveness, for he went to the field not just willingly, but with a zealous thirst for the fight, to see injustices that had been done to his people avenged one hundredfold

What he did fearhe knew deep in his bones: nowould persist More Highland blood would be spilt, ed, andby men like Monk would continue to define the fates of boys taken fro tartan or a coat of red

And, Ewen thought, God help him but he would be there on the front lines, ecstatic battle rage writ clear on his face, clayhlands

"Aye " Ewen’s voice carowl "It’s time then "

"And which do you suppose eneral ’s tent?" The laird’s foster brother, Robert, rode up beside him and eased the tension with apt sarcas s of the rest of the ca short of a spectacle Tall enough to acco men, it was hland e flap extended froround to create a covered entryhere Monk or his guard could stand untouched by the elements

Ewen and his men tethered theirwhat it was soldiers do: polishing guns, stoking cooking fires, or just sitting about in circles, drawing deeply from battered metal cups that were almost certainly filled with soray in the air, but it couldn’t banish the unether in close quarters The soldiers ht rows, their once-stiff duck cloth now limp, hland drizzle

By this tih the ca route in order to get as good a look as possible at how his ene to notice the stares of the redcoats, Ewen distractedly worried a s lost in his own distant thoughts, although those close to hiuard was posted outside Monk’s tent He was busily absorbed in an afternoon nap, eyes partially hidden by his wig, knocked askance by his bobbing head

The laird pressed his stick into the flesh of the sleeping redcoat’s neck "I ’lad you find the accommodations comfortable, " he said in a mischievous whisper as the soldier’s eyes shot open The man ’s ruddy cheeks quivered as he stammered "Wha--? P-please don’t hurt eneral " Ewen flung his stick aside and stepped forward to open the thin curtain that concealed the entrance to the tent He glanced at the sentry "I assume he ’s in here " It was an announcement, not a question

The soldier’s face paled and Ewen turned to see a stoutly regal figure now loo of this?" Thethe presence of the Ca One of his buttons had coap in the too-tight red coat that strained over his belly

"General Monk, I presume?"