The Hidden Princess

Black Watch

"I am going to over to Mr. Fletchers farm to help him look around and see if we can find any tracks. Levi, come along with me and help." Papa said. "Sure thing, Pops." Levi replied as he shoved another flour biscuit in his mouth and stood up from the table. Levi grabbed his coat off the hook, and him and Papa headed out the door.

"Come Isabelle, I will wash the dishes up while you wipe the table down. Sounds good? Anna asked, looking down at her little sister. Isabelle pouted her lips at first but quickly cheered up when Anna handed her a warm soapy rag and a small bucket. Isabelle loved dipping the rag in the sudsy water and watching the water fall as she wrung out the rag.

"Anna, why don't you, I, and Isabelle all go fishing today? We could really use some meat on the table instead of flour biscuits all the time, no offense to you, Lucy." Sam said while glancing in Beth's direction. "None taken, I would love some fish." Beth reassured him. "While you are out, also stop at the store and pick up some tea and sugar." Beth stated as she took an old tin cannister off the shelf and removed two silver coins from inside. She put them in Sam's hand. "I expect change back, Sam, no candy this time." Beth stated while looking hard into his eyes. "Oh shoot, Beth, I did that one time years ago. I'm not a kid anymore. When will you let it go?" Sam said while looking down. "You spent an entire weeks worth of food money on peppermints and bubble gum, Sam! If not for Levi shooting a buck that week, we would have surely starved!" Anna scolded her twin. Anna usually always stuck up for Sam. They always had each others back, but Sam had been incredibly reckless that day, and it could have cost all of them greatly. "I know, I know, it won't happen ever again. I promise." Sam remorsefully said. He grabbed Isabelle's coat and helped her put it on and button it up. Then, Sam helped her into her boots. "All ready, let's go get the fishing poles out of the barn. Then we will dig up some squishy wiggly worms!" Sam told her. Isabelle grinned widely, then turned and bounced out the door.

With everyone gone, Beth began on the next meal. She decided on vegetable soup. She went outside to the cold cellar. It was really just a big hole in the ground with a wooden trap door over the top. It had stairs made into the hard dirt that led down to the bottom. It wasn't very big but it kept all their root vegetables and milk fresh during the winter. She rummaged through the potato bin till she found 4 good-sized russets. She also grabbed some skinny carrots that still looked fresh. She noticed that the cellar was getting really empty. And they weren't even halfway through winter. She sighed at the reality of the situation and then trudged up the dirt stairs holding her bundle. As she neared the house, she saw several men on horseback galloping towards her. She wondered what they could possibly want. They rarely had visitors this far out. Lucy walked down the path to the front gate. She opened it and walked to the edge of the main dirt road. She could now see the flash of black and green tartan on the men. It was one of the Highlands Black Watch companies. This couldn't be good, Beth thought. She had heard of the Black Watch but had never seen them in person before. They consisted of ten large companies of men that wore black and dark green tartans and kept "watch" over the highlands. Whether the name Black came from the dark tartans they wore or from the way they handled business "black heartedly," Beth wasn't sure. She stood tall as the forty or so men brought their horses to a stop in front of her. Beth assumed the man directly in front of her must be the captain of the group. He had a bright red waistcoat on and wore a silly dark blue bonnet on top of his head and had a long broadsword hanging from his left hip.

"Good morning maam." the captain said as he tipped his silly bonnet to Beth. "I hope you may be able to help us with a situation we are having."

"I am not sure how I can help." Beth replied, looking up to the sparkling blue eyes of the captain. I guess he would be called attractive in his own pompous way. He was very confident, which most girls found attractive. Beth was not like most girls. Over confidence in ones own self irritated Beth.

"Oh, I am sure you can be of utmost help to our cause, Maam. You see, we had one of our own men from the Black Watch rob us blind then turned rogue and desert from our company. This man is armed and very dangerous. We need to apprehend him right away so no harm comes to anyone." the captain stated. Then he leaned closer to her over his large black horse and more quietly said, " He fled in this direction less than 30 minutes ago. Have you seen him or anything out of the ordinary this morning?"

"No sir, I haven't. And some of my siblings just recently left to go to Coopers Lake. Do you think they are ok?" Beth asked as she turned and looked down the dirt path that led to the lake they fished at.

"Oh, no worries, Maam. He will be caught and punished before the hour is gone. He was on foot and injured. There is no way he will get away."

"Injured?" Beth inquired.

"Yes, one of my men shot him with a pistol as he was fleeing. Got him in the back near the kidneys. He may even succumb to his own injuries, and we won't even have to bother with doing it ourselves!" The Captain laughed loudly, and so did several of his men.

Beth was appalled. Sure, the deserter had robbed them and left their company, but death seemed like a harsh punishment for the crime he had committed.

"Well, dont let me stand in your way then. Good day, men." She curtly replied as she stuck her nose in the air and turned on her heel towards the house.

"We have men stationed at the Baven's Inn. If you see anything, let them know immediately." The captain tipped his silly little bonnet again, and him and his men galloped off.

"Hmph! Men!" Beth stated to herself. She was not at all impressed with her first encounter with the Black Watch. Butch of overconfident boys riding around on horses.

Beth walked up the path towards the front door. When she stepped onto the porch, she noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. "That's strange.." she murmured to herself. She crept closer and slowly cracked the door open more and peeked into the cottage.

There leaning against her fathers chair was a devilishly handsome man. He was tall, so tall, in fact that if he stood up straight, Beth was sure his head would hit the beams in the low ceiling cottage. He had tousled dark brown hair that was loosely tied in the back. He was holding his side while blood pooled below him. There was a sweet, intoxicating smell in the air that Beth couldn't figure out where it was coming from. But it overpowered her senses. She wanted more of it. Her eyes traveled down the man, and that's when she noticed the black and dark green tartan that he was wearing. Then it dawned on her that he was the Black Watch rogue. He was standing in her living room! Beth was shocked. She just stood there, not knowing what to do next.

"Well, are you just going to stand there and admire the view, or are you going to give me a hand, darling?" Then the Black Watch rogue winked at her.