Kidnapped: Chapter 22 Summary & Analysis

After traveling for seven straight hours, Alan and David reach an open stretch of the moorlands, which will be dangerous to cross because there is little cover and no way of seeing who might be watching them. Alan explains that they cannot go south into Campbell territory or back to Appin, which is crawling with redcoats, and heading north does neither of them any good. As such, they most continue east where they could easily be spotted. Alan and David begin crawling across the moor, keeping low and moving cautiously.

Eventually, they rest in a bush and take turns sleeping. David takes second watch, but exhaustion overcomes him, and he dozes off. When he wakes, he realizes in horror that he has fallen asleep and failed in his duty. Even worse, a body of soldiers is approaching from the southeast, sweeping the moor in a fan-like pattern. David wakes Alan, who says nothing but glances grimly at the advancing troops. Alan points to a distant mountain, Ben Alder, and declares they must reach it before dawn. Though this means running almost straight across the soldiers’ path, he insists it is their only chance. They begin crawling through the heather again, choking on dust. David struggles to keep up but pushes on out of fear. When he finally says he can go no farther, Alan offers to carry him. Stunned by the offer, David refuses to give in and keeps moving.

As night falls and the soldiers camp behind them, David and Alan stagger forward, dazed and stumbling with exhaustion. At daybreak, nearly senseless with fatigue, they walk straight into an ambush. Several ragged Highlanders leap from the heather and press knives to their throats. David, too worn out to care, lies still while Alan speaks with the men in Gaelic. It turns out they are sentries of Cluny Macpherson, a rebel chief still hiding in Scotland despite the bounty on his head.

Alan is relieved: these are allies. A messenger is sent to Cluny, and while they wait, Alan falls asleep in the heather. David, despite his exhaustion, cannot rest and grows increasingly disoriented. When word comes back that Cluny will receive them, Alan perks up, eager for food and rest. However, David is too faint to stand and must be helped forward by Cluny’s men. Delirious, the men carry him deeper into the rugged mountain country of Ben Alder.