Lady Arline smiled and looked pleased with his answer. “There ye have it, sweeting,” Lady Arline spoke softly. “So I think ye be needin’ to show yer da how much ye’ve missed him by lettin’ him hold ye a while. He went through much to get ye back. I be quite certain he wants to hold on to ye fer a time. If ye act like the wee lady I ken ye to be, when we stop, I’ll be holding on to ye fer a spell.”
Lily seemed content with Arline’s promise and in a matter of moments, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Rowan was stunned. Lily was a very determined child, one might even call her strong-willed. There were times when Rowan and Lily butted heads, usually over quite silly things such as eating vegetables and taking baths. On more than one occasion, his daughter left him to question his own sanity and abilities as a father.
But Lady Arline was able to get his daughter to calm down and fall asleep in a matter of moments and with seemingly little effort. He found it perplexing.
What was it about this woman that left him feeling so bloody confused? There was a calming influence that seemed to ride in the air all around her. He looked around at his men. They seemed… content and unbothered by the events. No one seemed tense or on edge and acted as though they were simply out for an afternoon ride across their lands.
Even Thomas seemed at ease and he was usually the most excitable one of the lot. Was it Arline who brought them this sense of peace and contentment or had they been in the uisge beatha? Since the men weren’t dancing around the campfire and no one was singing, he doubted they’d been at the whisky.
While Lady Arline’s presence might calm his men, Rowan felt anything but calm when near her. She made his heart pound, his blood heat through his veins and his mind turn to think all manner of sinfully delightful things he’d like to do with her were the opportunity ever to present itself.
He didn’t like it. It made him feel guilty, as if he were not being true to the love he still carried for Kate. He felt that by lusting after any woman he was being disrespectful to what he and Kate had.
True, she had made him promise not to keep his heart to her after she was gone. Kate had wanted him to go on with his life, to love again, to marry and have more children.
He knew he was being foolish, for if Kate were here, she’d smack him along side his head and tell him just that. Kate would be very upset that he had not moved on. But he couldn’t move on. It was too painful, the guilt all too real. It should have been him that died, not Kate. And that was what most of it all boiled down to. He felt guilty that she had to die such a painful and ugly death while he lived.
If he didn’t have Lily? He would have taken his own life by now.
Lily was the only thing that kept him going. And Kate’s memory and his guilt were the only things that kept him from moving forward.
Eight
They had ridden well into the afternoon before Rowan called for a rest. Surrounded by trees to the south and west, they now stood in a large clearing. The mist had subsided not long ago and the sun made a grand attempt at trying to burn its way through the clouds. The clouds were currently winning the battle.
Lady Arline was quite relieved to hear his command. She slid from the back of Daniel’s horse without waiting for assistance. Tiny needles of pain raced up from her feet to her knees the moment her feet touched the ground. She stifled a curse, took a deep breath and waited for the pain to pass.
Her legs ached, from her ankles to her buttocks. Her ribs were still quite sore from where Garrick had kicked them. Her neck was stiff from resting her head against Daniel’s back, unable switch from left to right because of her wounded cheek and eye.
Lily was awake and came rushing to Arline’s side and flung her arms around her legs. Arline resisted the urge to cry out in pain or to push the child away. Instead, she patted her little head and hugged her back.
“Will ye hold me now, Lady Arline?” Lily asked looking up at her dolefully.
There wasn’t a chance on God’s earth that Arline could bend over let alone life the child into her arms. “Soon enough, sweeting. First, let’s find a tree.”
Rowan was now standing beside them, his arms crossed over his chest as he studied Arline closely. “Are ye well, lass?”
For a brief moment, she thought of telling him and the rest of his men that she would scream if another person asked her that question. “I am good and well, thank you,” she managed to keep an even tone to her voice. “Lily and I will need a few moments, me laird.”
Rowan gave a curt nod. “I shall escort ye,” he said.
Arline’s brows knitted and she felt insulted. “I can assure ye, me laird, that I have no intentions of takin’ yer daughter from ye. I can certainly be trusted to help tend to her private needs,” she bit out. And she most assuredly did not need any help in that department.
Rowan rolled his eyes at her. “’Tisn’t ye I worry over takin’ me daughter,” he explained. “We do no’ know yet if any of yer husband’s men be near by.”
Arline returned his eye roll with one of her own. “He is no’ my husband.”
“Fergive me.” Rowan gave a slight bow at his waist. “Yer former husband then. I will no’ take any chances of ye or Lily bein’ in harm’s way again.”
“Would we no’ have seen them by now?” Arline asked. Clearly she thought it a foolish notion that Garrick’s men would be waiting in the woods. If he was going to attack he would have done so by now.
“Mayhap aye, mayhap nay,” Rowan said. “But I’ll no’ be takin’ any chances where me daughter is concerned.”
Arline shook her head is frustration, took Lily’s hand and began to walk away. “Fine, me laird. As ye wish.”
She wished she had the strength to stomp away from him. But stomping would have been quite painful and a bit childish. Instead, she ignored him and led Lily toward the tree line. Lily was happily skipping along beside her, clutching her doll to her chest.
“Da,” Lily spoke over her shoulder. “I be verra hungry.”
“I have cheese and bread in me bag, lass,” Rowan told her as he walked not far behind.
“Do ye have any apples?” Lily asked.
“Aye, I do,” he told her. His focus was not on his daughter, but on Lady Arline. Any fool could see that she was in a good amount of pain simply by the way she walked -- stilted and stiff.
“The mean people would no’ give us any apples,” Lily informed him. She sounded upset with that. “All we had was porridge and bread. Sometimes the maid would sneak us cheese.”
Rowan’s gut tightened. Apparently they had treated his daughter more like a criminal than a child. Silently, he wondered how far they had taken their mistreatment. He doubted there would be much need for asking his daughter many questions. She would tell him everything and would need little prompting.
“Lady Arline gave me her cheese,” Lily went on. “She gave me her bread, too.”
Arline gave Lily’s hand a slight squeeze and smiled down at her. They came upon a large tree, one that would allow them some amount of privacy. After Lily was done, Arline smoothed out the little girl’s skirts and sent her around the tree to her father.
“I’ll be but a few moments, me laird,” Arline called out to Rowan. She wished he would go back to the camp and allow her a few minutes of complete privacy. Truthfully, she wanted a moment alone to let out the tears she’d been holding on to and she did not want anyone to hear her.
Only a moment or two had passed when Arline heard someone from the camp calling out for Rowan. There was no urgency to the man’s voice, but Arline took advantage of it.
“Me laird,” she told him from the other side of the tree. “I will be fine. Go, see to yer men.”
“Nay,” Rowan answered, sounding quite determined.
Arline let out a slow breath. “Do you no’ have men surrounding the camp?”
“Aye, I do.”
“Then I believe I am safe from marauders. Please, go.”
Arline heard his heavy
sigh of frustration followed by something inaudible.
“Da!” Lily exclaimed. “Ye said a bad word!”
Why she felt some measure of satisfaction knowing she had frustrated him to the point of cursing, Arline was uncertain. But enjoy it she did. Whoever it was that needed Rowan called his name a third time.
Arline took her sweet time. Between the man calling out for Rowan and Lily’s loud protests that she was hungry, Arline felt confident that soon he’d relent and leave her.
“Da! Ye said a bad word again. Does this mean ye do no’ get any supper?”
Arline covered her mouth with the hem of her skirt so that Rowan could not hear her giggle. “This may take some time me laird,” Arline told him. ’Twasn’t a complete lie. What with the way her legs ached and her side throbbed, it might take some time before she could stand up again.
Rowan let loose with another frustrated sigh. “Fine!” he shouted to the tree. “Do no’ leave this spot, me lady. I will take Lily back to the camp, find out why the bloody hell Thomas keeps yelling for me, and I’ll be back fer ye. But stay put!”
Arline stuck her tongue out at him as she heard him walk away, rustling through the tall grass. She did not like being ordered about. People had been ordering her about her entire life. The more she thought on it, the angrier she became. A flood of memories came crashing all around her. First her father with his constant, children should neither be seen nor heard. Then Minnie, her maid. Ladies do no’ ride astride. Ladies do no’ show skin from the neck down. Then Garrick, If ye wish to live, ye’ll follow me orders to the letter.
Would there ever be a time in her life when people, especially men did not feel the need to order her about like a child? Would there ever be a time in her life when she could simply do as she pleased without someone telling her she couldn’t? She had reached the ends of her patience.
“I will no’ stay put, Rowan Graham!” she whispered angrily to the tree. In a good deal of pain, frustrated, angry and tired, she used the tree to keep her balance as she stood. She took a moment to smooth out her skirts, wiped away an errant tear and began to walk. Away from the camp.
“I will no’ be ordered to ‘stay’ or ‘sit’ like a dog!” she told the air as she lifted her skirts to make her way around some bramble bushes. She continued her tirade as she walked through a dense thicket of trees, mumbling to herself.
“I’m a woman full grown!” She muttered under her breath. I’m no’ some ignorant fool who doesna ken up from down!”
A moment later, as she stepped through the trees and spilled out into another clearing, she found herself staring into the nose of a rather large horse that stood beside several other large horses. Panic ensued when she looked up into the eyes of the very large, menacing looking men sitting atop the horses. Without thinking, she lifted her skirts, spun around, and ran back the way she had come.
“I’m an idiot!” she scolded herself as she ran through the woods. “A full-grown, bloody idiot!”
Arline did not take the time to count the number of men on horseback. It could have been thousands for all she knew. Her instinct was to run, as fast as she could, back to the camp to warn Rowan and the others.
Every step and intake of air was a painful reminder of just how badly Garrick had beaten her. But she could not think of that now. She had to warn Rowan, had to make sure nothing happened to Lily.
With her heart pounding and face covered in sweat, she ran as fast as her tired and sore legs would allow. She began to make bargains with God. If He would get Lily and the others out of this alive, she’d never run off in anger ever again. If Rowan told her to stay put, that was exactly what she would do.
She worried over the men Rowan had sent to the perimeters as lookouts. They must have been killed else Garrick’s men would not have gotten this close. Arline hadn’t taken the time to look into any of the faces to see if perchance to she recognized any of them. She had a relative sense of certainty that the men on horseback belonged to Garrick. Who else would sneak up on them like this?
With her heart pounding loudly and her head filled with thoughts of what Garrick was going to do to her, to Rowan and the others, she was paying very little attention to where she was going. As she ran through the trees, her feet slipped on a patch of mud. She fought for balance and when she felt herself slipping, the last thing she could think to do was to scream as loud as she could for Rowan.
Rowan was more than frustrated by the time he made his way back to the camp. He handed Lily off to Frederick with orders to feed her before seeking out Thomas. Rowan intended to ring the fool’s neck for his constant bellowing.
“What the bloody hell are ye hollerin’ about?” Rowan shot out as he walked toward the bank of trees where Thomas stood. He cast a glance over his shoulder toward the tree he had left Lady Arline behind. He wanted to get back to her, wanted to see that she was fed something other than porridge.
“Nial McKee and his men be here,” Thomas informed him. “I thought ye’d want to ken that.”
That was indeed good news. Rowan had expected to meet them earlier and was quite anxious to learn what had delayed them. But first, he had to get Lady Arline safely back to the camp.
“Good,” Rowan said to Thomas. “Where be they now?” Rowan asked.
Thomas’ reply was cut short by Lady Arline’s blood-curdling scream.
“Damn!” Rowan spat out as he raced toward the trees where he had left her. He knew he would not find her where he had ordered her to stay.
The way she had screamed had told him either she had encountered one of Blackthorn’s men or a bear or something equally menacing. With his broadsword drawn and fifteen men following fast on his heels he raced through the woods. Breaking through trees and bushes, jumping over felled trees, he raced in the direction the screams had come from.
In no time, he broke through the dense overgrowth and nearly fell down the side of an embankment. A large, torn piece of a woman’s dress clung to one of the bushes that grew along the top of the embankment. Rowan grabbed it and began searching the area with his eyes. He peered over and down the small decline and saw her lying below. For a moment his heart stopped beating when he saw her lying on her back with blood covering her chest.
She had not fallen far, mayhap only ten feet. Thomas, Daniel and Frederick were at his side now and followed his gaze.
Without speaking, Rowan grabbed Frederick’s arm for balance and slid down the nature-made wall of mud. Roots of bushes grew randomly through the wall, snagging Rowan’s tunic as he slid down to help Lady Arline.
By the time he reached her he was covered in mud and sweat. He rushed to her side, laid his broadsword at his feet as he knelt beside her.
Her bodice was covered in blood. Rowan took only a moment to glance around looking for any sign of Garrick Blackthorn’s men. He called up to his men. “She’s bleeding! I think she’s been stabbed! Look about fer Blackthorn or his men!”
He turned back to Lady Arline who was gasping for breath. “Wheesht, lass,” he told her as he removed his dirk from his boot. “I have to check yer wound,” he told her as she lay there fighting for breath. Her eyes were wide with what could only be described as abject fear. She was trying to speak. “Wheesht, lass! Was it Blackthorn’s men?” His words were rushed and filled with worry. She shook her head and muttered “Nay.”
“We’ll find the bloody bastard! I swear it!” Rowan whispered harshly. He would kill whoever had hurt this brave woman, the woman who had protected his daughter.
He took the dirk and made a small cut at the top of the bodice. He laid the dirk on the ground, took the bodice between this hands and ripped it to her waist.
Blood was smeared along her neck and chemise. He hoped her injuries were not too grievous. Quietly, he began to pray that she would live, for a multitude of reasons. The most important being he was rapidly developing feelings for her. The most cowardly was the fact that he did not want to have to explain to Lily that her sweet angel had been
killed.
He took the top of her chemise in both hands and was about to rip it to get a better look at Lady Arline’s wounds. Suddenly, she grabbed his wrist. “Nay!” she squeaked out. Her chest heaved up and down as she struggled for air.
“But, lass, I must see how badly ye are injured!” Rowan told her. He thought it a damned odd time for her to be worried over her reputation or to be modest. The woman had been stabbed for the sake of Christ! He tried to tear the bodice again when her other hand flew up and grabbed his other wrist.
“Ber--” she closed her eyes, swallowed, and tried again. “Ber-ries!” she managed to work the word out.
“A bear did this?” Rowan asked with wide eyes. He began scanned the area, looking for a bear.
“Nay,” she breathed out. “Berries!”
Rowan looked down at her, confusion written in the hard lines of his furrowed brow. “Berries?” he asked, uncertain what she meant.
Arline nodded her head and tried to regain control of her breathing. Her face was red with humiliation. The wind had been knocked out of her when she fell. She had come close to having a heart seizure when she felt herself falling.
“What are ye talkin’ about lass?” Rowan asked. Had she hit her head as well?
“I slipped. Berries. Up there. On dress. Not blood,” Arline told him between breaths of air.
Rowan looked at her dress, bodice, and neck. He glanced up at the side of the embankment. Berry bushes. Several of them. ’Twas then that understanding set in. Arline hadn’t been attacked by Blackthorn men. She hadn’t been mauled by a bear. She had slipped in the mud, fell, and slid all the way down, smashing berries along the way.
It wasn’t blood.
It was berry juice.
She wasn’t going to die. At least not from wounds she had received in her fall. But he was sorely tempted to strangle her long, slender neck for scaring the bloody hell out of him!
Her skin had heated, turned red from the top of her head and spread down her neck. She finally opened her eyes to look at him. It took no great level of intelligence to see that he was angry, what with the way he was working his jaw back and forth and the vein that throbbed in his neck. His brown eyes were dark, nearly black. He was taking deep, slow breaths in through his nostrils.
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