"Bab! Bab! Come quickly," Alix called.

The older woman hurried to the window and looked out. "Well," she said dryly, "it would appear your husband and a few of his friends have come calling, my lady." Then she chuckled. "I can but imagine Sir Udolf's face when they break down his fine front door. I would say you're going home today."

"We're going home, Bab," Alix said. "If you will come with me." And Bab smiled the first smile Alix had ever seen her smile.

"Aye, my lady! I'll come, and gladly."

Chapter Twelve

As the great party of horsemen drew nearer, Alix could see they had brought some kind of weapon with them. It rolled along on its own wheels and appeared to be a long log with an animal's head fashioned from iron at one end. She had heard of battering rams, but she had never before seen one. The front door to Wulfborn Hall was strong, but it would certainly not withstand the assault it was about to receive. Suddenly the two men shoveling noticed the approaching party. They fled back towards the house, shouting a warning. Alix considered what to do. Should they remain safe in her chamber, or go below into the hall?

Bab decided for them. "We should remain here, my lady," she said. " 'Twill be better. Once the door is broken through the hall will be the center of the fighting. Sir Udolf is no coward, and he will defend his home and all he believes is his."

Alix nodded. Bab was right in everything she said, but the Laird of Dunglais's wife knew her captor did not have the men to overcome the great group of Scots borderers. "Add more wood to the fire, Bab," she said. "The morning is yet chill." Then she went to her window to watch as her rescuers arrived, milling about before the front of the house. Pushing the narrow casement window open, she called down, "My lords, I bid you welcome. I am more than ready to come home."

The borderers, seeing her, hearing her words, cheered lustily, their horses stamping and snorting in the icy morning.

"I am relieved to see you, lambkin," the Laird of Dunglais called up to his wife. "Is your chamber secure?"

"It is, my lord," Alix assured him. She could see his breath in the cold air.

"Then remain where you are until this is over," he advised her.

"Do not kill him, Colm," Alix warned. "I do not want the death of a madman on my soul, or yours. Do what you must, but leave Sir Udolf alive to face his own demons."

" 'Tis poor advice, lady," and to her surprise Alix recognized Adam Hepburn. "A madman cannot be swayed in his thought or else he would not be mad. If you do not kill him, he will return again and again to trouble you until he is dead."

"I believe today's lesson coupled with that of my husband's last visit will convince Sir Udolf of his folly," Alix replied.

"I think you wrong, lambkin," Malcolm Scott said, "but I will attempt to follow your wishes, for the sake of our child you carry."

"Grand merci, my lord," she answered him with a smile, and drew the casement closed. Turning to Bab she said, "You had best pack our belongings." Then she began to dress herself for travel, pulling on a gown of dark blue jersey she had left behind when she had originally fled Wulfborn over two years ago. She could not wear the breeks she favored for riding any longer, and would, she knew, have to ride sidesaddle. It would be an uncomfortable journey, but she would make it if it meant getting safely home to Dunglais and her own hall. Suddenly they heard a great booming sound. The house shuddered and shook.

"They're storming the house," Bab said, and she chortled. "Ohh, I should like to see Sir Udolf's face right now."

The noise and the effect it caused came again and again and again. A great shout arose. There was a final boom, and the two women actually heard the door give way as the battering ram shattered the ancient iron-bound oak. A mighty howl was emitted from the borderers, and then they pushed into Wulfborn Hall, meeting absolutely no resistance from the servants, who had all hidden themselves away for fear of being carried off into bondage. Half charging into the great hall of the house, they faced Father Peter and Sir Udolf Watteson.

"I've come for my wife," the Laird of Dunglais said quietly.

"You will have to fight me for her," Sir Udolf cried, and he charged at Malcolm Scott, waving his sword.

The laird disarmed him easily, skillfully knocking his attacker's weapon from his hand with his own sword. "I will not fight you, my lord. My wife has asked that your life be spared in spite of the misery you have caused us. While I disagree with her, I will grant her this boon for the sake of the son she carries."

"Coward!" Sir Udolf shouted. "Will you hide behind her skirts? Alix is mine! I have a dispensation from York to make her my wife. I will give you the child she bears for you, but she is mine! I will not give her up! I will not!"

Suddenly Adam Hepburn stepped forward. Reaching out, he grasped Sir Udolf by the neck of his dark robe, pulling him forward so that they were face-to-face. "Old man," he growled, "I did not promise to leave you unharmed One more word out of you, and I will slit your throat with the greatest of pleasure." He then shoved the Englishman to the floor, saying as he did, "Priest! See to your master. We are through here, and enough time has been wasted on this matter."

While he had spoken, the Ferguson of Drumcairn had gone with several of his own men upstairs, and was calling for Alix to come out, which she did, Bab behind her.

"Uncle, I am happy to see you," Alix said.

He stared at her big belly for a moment and then, grinning, said, " 'Tis a lad. My Maggie never carried as big. Well, come along now, lass. 'Tis past time we got you home. Your man is in the hall finishing up that bit of business."

"He had not harmed poor Sir Udolf, has he?" Alix asked.

"Nay, he's given in to you, but from what I see of the man he would be better off dead and gone. Now, have you anything you would take with you here?"

"The small trunk at the foot of the bed was mine when I first came with Queen Margaret. I should like to have it back," Alix told him.

"Bring it, lads," Robert Ferguson said. Then he eyed Bab. "And her?"

"Bab comes with me," Alix told him.

He nodded. "Well, then, let us be off. I think it best you not bid the Englishman farewell. Hepburn felt it necessary to speak rather firmly with him. No need to set the man off again in his madness." He led the two women downstairs, moving quickly past the wide entry to the great hall of the house.

Outside, to her surprise, Alix saw a small padded cart had been brought. Her escort led her to it. "This is for me?" she said.

"You can hardly ride with that belly," Robert Ferguson said.

"There are two horses in the stables that are mine. I won't leave without them," Alix told her husband's uncle.

"Two horses?" he said.

"When I originally fled Wulfborn I went on foot. I thought if my horse was found missing they would know I was gone. But the beast is mine, and I would have it back. My father, God assoil him, gave it to me. Bab knows which of the horses are mine," Alix explained. "Send one of your men with her to get them, I beg you."

The Ferguson of Drumcairn nodded, and dispatched a man to go with Bab. Then he helped Alix into the padded cart, laying a heavy fur blanket over her lap. "I'll go tell Colm you're safe and ready to leave," he said. Then he hurried back into the house, going directly to the great hall.

Sir Udolf and the priest were both being carefully bound and then tied into chairs by the hearth. Several of the laird's men had found the frightened servants. They secured them also and locked them in the pantry, a small windowless room with but one entrance, barring that entry. Eventually someone would manage to get free and would free the rest of the house's inhabitants. And it was very unlikely that anyone would come after the Scots borderers. Sir Udolf had few retainers left.

"Alix is in her conveyance, Nephew," Robert Ferguson said. "Come along now. I believe our business here is finished and the weather is lowering. We have a fair ways to travel, and the cart will slow us down, I fear, but the lady cannot ride. Her belly is large."

Without a further glance back at Sir Udolf Watteson, who was muttering in his chair, Malcolm Scott dashed outside to greet his wife. She was seated on the cart's padded bench wrapped in furs. Climbing up, he kissed her a hard kiss.

Alix melted in his embrace, her lips softening beneath his, sighing as he released her. "Good morrow, my lord husband," she said, smiling. "Thank you for coming for me. Your son and I are anxious to go home."

His big hand caressed her small face. "I can hardly believe you are here with me," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I will never allow you to be put in such danger again, lambkin. Forgive me!"

"Oh, Colm, how could you-how could we-know that in his madness Sir Udolf would have me kidnapped? 'Twas not your fault. We are together again, and I will not be parted from you evermore." She kissed his lips softly.

The Laird of Dunglais smiled down at his wife and then he saw the other woman seated in the rear of the cart, along with a small trunk. "Who is this?" he asked Alix.

"Bab was my servant when I lived at Wulfborn before. After I fled, Sir Udolf treated her cruelly, beating her without just cause and blaming her for my flight. She was not, of course, responsible, for she did not know of my plans. I will not leave her again, Colm. She will care for the bairn when he is born."

"If she has served you well and suffered for your sake, then she will be welcome to Dunglais," the laird said, nodding at Bab. Then he saw the two horses tied to the back of the little cart. "I recognize the mare, but the gelding?"