by Wylie, Diane
A brief flash of red appeared between the trees. He touched his heels to the horse’s flanks and got it moving forward again.
Kak! Kak!
Fin glanced skyward, but he already knew he probably would not catch a glimpse of his trained peregrine falcon, Grizel. Her call warned him of danger and told him she was ready to swoop down and sink her claws into an English soldier’s flesh.
He didn’t give her an answering whistle. Stay safe in the treetops, m’ lass. I’ll not have an English arrow take ye out.
A horse whinnied behind him, calling out to Fin’s horse. The English grew closer.
Hunger and thirst gnawed at Fin’s insides, but self-preservation was more important. He kicked the horse into a gallop, splashing through a small stream then up the slight bank to the other side. Forcing the animal to keep moving, despite its efforts to stop and get a drink. Fin knew it needed water, but now was not the time.
Zing!
An arrow ripped through the sleeve of the red coat, nearly unseating him.
The horse picked up speed.
Thirty minutes later, Fin decided it was time to lose his pursuers. He left the trail.
Picking out a zig-zag route between the trees took more time, but the shadows were lengthening, and he wanted a safe place to spend the night. They had been climbing higher into the hills, exposed to view as the trees thinned.
No arrows had cut him down.
More and more rocks and pebbles littered the ground. Fin slowed the pace. Splashing through another small stream, the horse suddenly slipped and pranced in a panic.
“Woah! Woah!”
He pulled it to a stop and dismounted in the water, hanging onto the saddle for a moment before putting his weight on the injured leg. It throbbed, but held him upright.
Letting the horse drink, Fin glanced around him. Somewhere on his travels, he expected to pass out of the Scottish Lowlands and move into the Highlands. Tales told at Dunnottar Castle, where he grew up, spoke of strange mystical things in this mountainous part of Scotland. Changlings, faeries, kelpies, and ghosties were just a few of the creatures living here. As children, he and his siblings loved to hear these stories but were secretly glad to live far away from such things in their Lowland castle.
Now, he headed toward this unknown land with only his horse and falcon for company.
To get some rest, Fin would need to find a place where the English soldiers wouldn’t see him.
A dark opening on the side of the rocky hill held some promise, so he filled his water bladder, picked up the reins to guide the horse, and limped in that direction.
As Fin suspected, the dark spot in the hill was indeed a cave. The horse planted both hooves and pulled back against the reins; it had no desire to go inside.
“I dinna blame ye, laddie. ‘Tis a dark and fearsome place, I grant ye that.”
Finding a scrubby tree outside the cave, Fin tied the horse to it and hobbled into the darkness alone.
He hadn’t gone far when the light from the cave’s mouth no longer penetrated the gloom inside. The air was heavy with dampness and the slight smell of something nasty. Perhaps the horse had the right idea?
Fin went back to the horse and dug through the saddlebags. He found a feedbag and some oats, so he fed the animal. Going back into the bags, he came up with pieces of flint and steel.
“Perfect.”
Minutes later, he had gathered enough sticks, peat moss, twigs, logs, and dry grass to start a decent fire. Groaning as pain shot through his injured thigh, he crouched down and struck the flint sharply on the steel. A bright white spark flared and died. He did it again, holding the implements even closer to the dry grass. Finally, by the fifth strike, he was able to coax the spark into a flame.
He’d have to work fast or the light from the fire would be easily seen against the darkening sky.
Pulling his sgian dubh from his boot, he cut a piece of cloth from the lining of the English red coat, wrapped the cloth around a long stick, and set it on fire.
Fin kicked dirt over the fire to extinguish it, and then he untied the horse and led it into the cave, while holding the torch high.
* * *
Kelsi Davidson wiped her hands on her apron, picked up a basket of supplies, and glanced around the main room of the stone crofter’s house.
“Coleen, where did you get to now?” No one answered. The room was unoccupied, except for the orange tabby cat napping on Kelsi’s basket of spun yarn.
“Naught to do but find ye.” Turning to the front of the house, she pulled the heavy wooden door open, ignoring the groaning of rusty hinges.
She stepped out into the mild summer air of the rugged Grampain Mountains and took a deep lungful of fresh air.
The scene outside her door showed her the flock of Scottish Dunface sheep grazing on a nearby grassy hillside that was dotted with scrubby trees. Rocks stuck up here and there as if they were parts of a stone giant who struggled to rise up out of the earth. Lying in the grass, their ever-vigilant sheep herder dog, Molly, kept a close eye on the herd. None would wander away with Molly on duty.
Kelsi headed toward the barn first, it was Coleen’s favorite place, which is something Kelsi understood and shared. When Coleen’s father had been alive, they’d had two horses to pull the wagon and help haul fleeces to the market. But Kelsi had been forced to sell them off for feed, seeds, and a good breeding ram.
As if he knew she was thinking of him, Shamas let out a plaintive bleat. This was not an ordinary, aggressive breeding male. Shamas was tame like a pet dog. He was playful as a lamb at times and would rub against her leg in a bid for attention.
Kelsi stuck her head into Shama’s stall. No Coleen. The Scottish Dunface ram looked up at her with soulful eyes in a brown face and bleated again.
“Sorry, lad. I ken ye want to be with yer ladies, but I canna have lambs born in mid-winter.”
She walked on, her boots stirring up little clouds of dust on the dirt floor. One of the too-many-to-count barn cats sat washing its paws and watching her.
The next stall contained stacks of shorn wool. In the third stall, she found Coleen. The little girl lay curled up in the straw with a rescued red fox mama nestled in her arms. The tiny baby kits tumbled over each other and over Coleen’s feet as they played under the watchful eyes of their mother.
For a few minutes, Kelsi watched her sleeping daughter. A smile touched Kelsi’s lips as she remembered what Brian would say about their child. “The lassie’s the splitting image of you, Kelsi; the same chestnut hair and bonnie brown eyes. Aye, she’s even got the same need to love.”
Coleen missed her Da fiercely. She seemed to be filling the void by bringing home more and more injured and sick wild animals. This red fox was her most recent find. While picking berries, they’d come across the fox. She was caught in a leg trap, and in the process of chewing off her paw to get free. The plucky little thing was heavy with unborn kits at the time.
“Coleen, Coleen, nighean, wake up. We need to change the little mamm’s bandage.”
Kelsi opened the door and stepped inside the stall, careful not to tread on any baby foxes. Sitting beside them, Kelsi place her basket on the straw. In no time, several tiny red balls of fur were trying to scale the sides and get inside with her supplies.
Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Coleen sat up. Blinking at her mother, she nodded and dutifully held the mother’s fox’s head, patting and murmuring sweet Gaelic words while Kelsi removed the old bandage on the animal’s front leg.
“’Tis healing well. This little mama is fortunate God let us to her before she damaged herself overmuch.” Kelso spread her homemade healing ointment on the wound and rebandaged the leg.
Coleen yawned again then gave the fox a kiss on the head before releasing the animal. They both watched it limp to the corner of the stall and lay on her side. Her three babies soon stumbled and tumbled over to her and settled down to nurse.
Kelsi put an arm around her daughter, who sn
uggled against her side.
“Mamm?”
“Aye?”
“Can we go up to the mountain again tomorrow?”
“I suppose we can do that. After chores, mind.” Kelsi kissed the top of her head. “Do ye want more berries?”
The five-year old’s smooth, rounded face tipped up to her mother. “Och, aye, and I want to look for another animal that needs us.”
With a laugh, Kelsi pulled her close. “Just remember what I said. No dangerous animals.”
The Scottish Falconers, Book Three: Redeemed available soon.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to:
Janet Abney, my wonderful editor.
Jack Hubley, a naturalist, who gave me the opportunity to hold a falcon and bring it back to the glove during “The Falconry Experience” in Hershey, PA. He patiently answered all of my questions and provided most of the information about falconry contained in this book. http://www.jackhubley.com.
Diane and the Falcon
Additional Titles by Diane Wylie
Besieged
Outlaw Lover
Magic at the Roxy
Magic of the Pentacle
Moonlight and Illusions
Prelude to Magic
Secrets and Sacrifices
Jenny’s Passion
Lila’s Vow
Adam’s Treasure
A Soldier to Love (short story)
Besieged
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Historical Romance
High on the craggy cliffs of Dunnottar Castle live those who train predators to obey their commands. Falconers like Rabbie Graham have tamed the wild peregrine falcons to hunt for decades, but the hunter becomes the prey when the enemy arrives at the gate.
Catriona Dunn is the baker's daughter, just one of many people who come and go in the castle. When the dashing figure of the falconer and his majestic bird catch her eye, she is intrigued. A chance encounter brings them together one night, changing their lives forever.
United by a cause, the falconers of Dunnottar must fight to survive an invasion of their home and save the ancient regalia of the Scottish kings from the hands of their enemy.
Outlaw Lover
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Romantic Suspense
When Meghan Somerset moves to a small town in Pennsylvania all she wants is to build a new life and put her past behind her. In a stroke of fate, she is drawn to a man whose ambitions embody her worst nightmare—he is an outlaw racer.
Kevin Richards, the son of a farming family, is a weekend sprint car driver whose greatest desire is to become a professional auto racer. But all of the cards seem stacked against him when a string of suspicious accidents threaten his life and the lives of everyone around him.
Magic at the Roxy
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Celeste Macallister is not having a good year. She's been jilted at the altar and laid off from her job. The one, slightly tarnished, bright spot is the old art deco theater in Scotland, The Roxy, left to her by her Aunt Nora. On the advice of her old friend, Harry Cameron, she decides to hire Matthew Stewart, the famous stage magician, to keep the theater alive. It’s a good idea…at first.
One minute she’s in the 21st century, and the next, Celeste finds herself in a time when The Roxy is new, Harry Cameron is young, and Nazi bombs are raining down on Scotland. It doesn’t take her long to figure out it is all Matthew Stewart's fault. To think, she was really beginning to like the man...
Magic of the Pentacle
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
As a psychiatrist, Dr. Juliana Nelson deals with her patients’ real and imagined problems every day. But the secrets revealed by magician Richard Blackstone, have Juliana questioning her judgment and losing her heart.
Richard’s playboy lifestyle suited him for hundreds of years…until he meets Juliana. He tries to hide the power of his five-pointed star amulet, the Pentacle, from her until events spin out of control. Now he must face the truth of his past and fulfill the five virtues of a knight of the Order of the Garter or risk losing Juliana for good.
Moonlight and Illusions
by Diane Wylie
I
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Illusionist Stephen Elliott performs dazzling magic feats to crowded theaters around the world. Then a chance encounter with an old woman and a cursed relic send his perfect life spinning out of control. He ends up cursed, on the run, and…immortal.
From her seat in the twenty-second row, Anabel Bernier recognizes with a jolt the handsome star of the magic show. World War II and the passage of time did nothing to dim the burning memory of her moonlight encounter with the charming Stephen Elliott. Will unexplained events, secrets, and powerful magic threaten their second chance at a future together?
Lila’s Vow
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Historical Romance
Schoolteacher Lila Sutton finds her one true love when cavalryman Captain Jack Montgomery rides into Gettysburg. But receiving word of his death leads her to seek her own type of revenge.
Imprisoned for a year, Jack returns to an uncertain future filled with turmoil and danger, when all he wants is Lila.
Jenny’s Passion
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Historical Romance
David Reynolds joined the cavalry out of a sense of duty and adventure. As he rides into battle at Mine Run he has no idea his life is about to change forever.
The forbidden Yankee attracts Jennifer Winston like no other. She would do anything to save him…even kill.
Secrets and Sacrifices
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Historical Romance
The Confederate army is starving and badly in need of clothing. Add to that the mounting numbers of battle casualties, a lack of medical supplies, and army surgeon, Captain Daniel Reid, of the Twenty-Fifth Virginia, knows he has to take action, no matter the consequences.
Charlotte Garrett loses her husband and her identity when she takes on the guise of a Southern soldier. Learning to march, fight, and even spit like a man is to be expected. But what she doesn’t expect to find is a situation that leads her into the arms of a new man and into big, big trouble with the North and South!
Adam’s Treasure
by Diane Wylie
Genre: Historical Romance
Master of disguise, Adam Skelding, is a Pinkerton agent on assignment. His mission: Find the missing gold and stop the secretive Knights of the Golden Circle before they gain power. The future of the country depends upon it.
All Marilla Logan wanted was a way to escape from her life as a tavern wench. A dark stranger who breaks into her room offers her only chance. Swept up into a life of intrigue, she becomes ensnared in a tangled web of clues, danger, and emotion to break the code.
About the Author
Author, Diane Wylie, loves books that will take her on an emotional roller coaster ride. What better genre than romance to do that? She has always particularly loved romances with dashing heroes and beautiful heroines.
Diane, a graduate of Rutgers University, had wanted to be either a veterinarian or a marine biologist, but still manages to fulfill her love for science as a technical writer.
The mother of two grown children and grandmother to two cuties, Diane makes her home in Maryland with her husband, Ed and two sassy Pembroke Welsh corgis.
Visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianewylie.com to learn more about her and her upcoming novels.
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