by Olivia Myers
“You look like you could use a warm fire and a place to get cleaned up,” he said.
She blushed, realizing that she must look a mess. “I could,” she said. “The fire part sounds nice.”
Will smiled and gestured along the path, in the same direction that the wolf had come from last night.
“This way,” he said. “And stick close. Nothing will hurt you as long as you’re near me, but I can’t keep that promise if you wander off into the woods alone.”
Bridget nodding, reached up to pat her shirt and reassure herself that the knife was still in her pocket.
***
The trail grew fainter and more overgrown as they travelled farther into the forest. Will didn’t seem one for idle chit-chat, and Bridget didn’t try to force him to talk. She was wary, but she wasn’t afraid, not really; somehow she didn’t think Will would hurt her.
The walk took nearly an hour, and Bridget was acutely aware that each step she took was one step farther from her home and everything she had known. She was journeying into the unknown with a stranger—shouldn’t she feel more concerned? Bridget glanced over at Will, admiring his high cheekbones and strong brow. His face was serious, but not unkind. His gray eyes watched the world with the wariness of someone who had been hunted. Bridget bit her lip and forced herself to look away. Why couldn’t there have been a man like this in her clan?
Will put out his hand in a silent gesture that made Bridget stop in her tracks. “We’re here,” he said. “My brothers will want to meet you. Would you like the chance to clean up a bit first? I know I didn’t give you much time to get ready after you woke up.”
“Thanks,” she said, nodding. She felt nervous at the thought of meeting more men. “I must look a wreck.”
Will led her into an encampment, a collection of four tents situated around a common fire. He walked resolutely, in a way that Bridget could only admire—she wished she shared his confidence.
A few men were standing around the low burning fire, but when they started towards Will and Bridget with their eyebrows raised in silent question, Will simply gave them a hard stare. The men paused, obviously wanting to know who Bridget was, but made no further move forward. Will guided her towards a tent that was slightly larger than the others, and Bridget knew instinctively that it was his.
“There’s a water skin to the left,” he said, holding the flap of the tent open for her. “And don’t worry about anyone coming in. I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Thank you,” Bridget said, giving him a small smile before ducking into the tent.
It was roomy inside, with a comfortable looking sleeping pallet and a few bags of extra supplies. Bridget wondered if Will and his brothers were hunters from another clan, or if they were wanderers. She set her small bag down and looked around for the water skin that he had promised. She was beginning to regret not bringing a change or two of clothes, but then, she hadn’t really planned to stumble upon a camp full of strange guys. At least she could wash up a bit, and get her hair looking decent.
Bridget found a small silver plate that she could use as a mirror, though it wasn’t as good as her mirror at home, and managed to get her hair brushed—thankfully her sister had remembered to pack her small brush—and pulled up and away from her face. She washed her face and hands with the water from the skin, and also rinsed out her mouth. Then she tucked her bag into a corner of the tent, and made sure that the knife was easily accessible under her clothes. She didn’t feel like she would need it, but it was best to have it close by just in case.
When she felt like she was presentable, Bridget pulled back the tent’s flap and peered out. True to his word, Will was standing in front of it, his jaw set as he looked out at the camp. Bridget smiled to herself, enjoying the feeling of being protected. Then she cleared her throat slightly, causing Will to turn his head and look at her.
He grinned when he saw her. “Feeling better?” he asked.
She nodded. “I left my bag in your tent. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course, it’s fine,” Will assured her. “Are you ready to meet the rest of the pack now?”
Pack? Bridget thought, confused, but she just nodded again.
“I’m ready,” she said.
Will stepped aside, gesturing for her to join him. She did so, and looked around, taking in the encampment. There were three men that she could see, besides Will, and three tents slightly smaller than Will’s in a half circle around the campfire. The fire had burned low, and the men had obviously stopped tending it now that it was fully light out. They were probably only keeping it burning enough that there would still be coals when night fell again. Some sort of animal, rabbit, probably, was on a spit above the fire. She could smell the cooking meat, and her stomach responded with a growl. She was hungry; she hadn’t eaten yet this morning, and had only had a small piece of jerky the night before.
Will stepped forward and Bridget followed next to him. The three men by the fire watched warily as they approached.
“These are my brothers. This is Aiden,” Will said, gesturing to the youngest of the men. He looked like Will, but slighter, as if he hadn’t yet grown in to his height. Aiden nodded at Bridget, his eyes raking over her in a manner that brought a blush to Bridget’s cheeks.
“And this is Connell, and Eric.” The other two men were older than Aiden, and seemed close enough in age with each other to be twins. They weren’t quite identical though; the one that Will gestured to second, Eric, was slightly shorter and broader than Connell.
“And this,” Will said, addressing his brothers now, “is Bridget.” Bridget nodded to each of the men in greeting. Aiden stepped forward, surprising her, and took her hand in his. He was surprisingly warm.
“It’s nice to meet you, Bridget,” he said. His eyes met hers, and Bridget was surprised to see that they were gray like Will’s, but with a bit more yellow circling the pupils.
“It’s nice to meet you, as well,” she said, not sure if it would be rude to pull her hand away. He was pleasing to the eye, but Bridget felt more of an attraction towards Will. She didn’t want this young man making any sort of claim on her.
A low growl sounded from beside her, and Bridget jumped. She looked over to see Will leaning forward slightly, his eyes hard as he stared at Aiden. Aiden let go of Bridget’s hand and took a step back, looking apologetic. Bridget didn’t feel the fear or anger that she might have if this exchange had happened with any other guy. Instead, she felt comforted. Will had protected her.
“Welcome, Bridget,” Connell said, nodding at her and giving her a small smile. “Where, exactly, did Will find you?”
“Up a tree,” Bridget said, trying to keep from blushing. She really didn’t want to get into her reasons for running away, especially not right now in front of all three of Will’s brothers. Connell raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. Eric just gave her a nod, keeping a wary eye on her.
“Are you hungry?” Will asked.
Bridget nodded. She was starving, but she didn’t want to act too desperate. She appreciated Will’s help, but she didn’t like to think that she needed it. She knew that if he hadn’t come along, she probably would have survived her two days in the woods, but she wouldn’t have been comfortable. Here, it seemed, she could get warm food and fresh water, plus the company of this interesting group of men. She didn’t know how long she was going to spend here with them, but she might as well take advantage of freshly cooked meat while it was available.
Will cut a few good sized pieces of the rabbit and handed them to her. The rabbit smelled even better up close. His brothers watched them for a couple of seconds, and then seemed to lose interest. When Bridget looked up, the three men were nowhere to be seen. She shot Will a questioning look.
“They went hunting,” he said in explanation. Bridget nodded, even though she hadn’t seen any bows or arrows. There was something odd about these four brothers, but Bridget didn’t know what it was. She didn’t feel threate
ned, and that was good enough for now. She had learned to trust her intuition.
She and Will sat and ate the rabbit in silence for a few moments. While she was waiting for hers to cool off some more, Bridget turned to Will. “So, don’t you want to know why I was sleeping in a tree in the middle of a forest?” she asked.
Will shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me if you wanted me to know.”
“Oh.” Bridget frowned. If their positons had been reversed, she would be practically exploding with curiosity. But he was probably used to strange happenings. There was something about him that made her think that he had seen a lot more of the world than she had during her relatively sheltered life in the village.
He turned toward her, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. “Not to say I’m not curious,” he said. “But I try to respect other people’s secrets. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t push.”
Bridget was silent for a few minutes, using the time to eat some of the delicious rabbit, which had cooled off enough by now that it didn’t burn her mouth.
“I ran away from my home,” she said at last. That sounded dreadfully immature to her, so she added, “My father was going to marry me to someone against my will. I’m not going to stay away forever, just long enough that…well, long enough.”
She blushed. She didn’t want to discuss with Will exactly what would make her unmarriageable in her clan’s eyes, though Will was probably smart enough to figure it out. “I’m going to go back in a couple of days,” she said.
“Do you normally sleep in trees?” he asked her after a moment, grinning, and Bridget was relieved that he wasn’t going to question her further about her decision to not follow her clan’s will.
“Not normally,” Bridget said with a laugh. “I saw a wolf last night, as it was getting dark. I thought that it might be safer to sleep up high, with predators running around.”
Will nodded silently, a strange expression on his face. Then his expression cleared and he smiled at her again. “Come,” he said. “I’ll show you around.”
***
Bridget spent the rest of that day out in the forest with Will. He showed her the trails that he and his brothers used for hunting, and led her to a small, clear pond that was fed with an underground spring. Here she bathed, while Will stood guard on the bank, facing the woods. Bridget was hesitant at first about taking off her clothes when a man was so close by, but she trusted that Will wasn’t going to spin around and catch her in the nude. He was too honorable for that. The water was cold, but it felt good once she got past the first freezing shock of it.
It was evening by the time they wandered back into camp. Bridget was smiling; she had had a pleasant day with Will. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so comfortable around a man who wasn’t related to her.
Will’s brothers were back, and they had a deer hanging up, gutted, from the strong branches of an oak tree. Bridget stared at the animal, and then looked around the camp, once again looking for weapons, but she saw nothing other than the long, curved knives that were used for cleaning game. Where did they keep their bows and arrows? Did they not have swords? She would expect to see a few muskets, even if these men were nomads. The men in her village were never very far from their weapons, and Bridget would have expected these men, who didn’t even have the safety of a village, to keep their weapons at hand. She noticed that their feet were bare, and worn rough by the hard forest ground. This was odd, too. Of course people went barefoot, and often, in her village, but the hunters always wore shoes, as did men who were going into skirmishes. She wondered once again exactly who these strange men were, and where they had learned to fight and survive in the forest.
When they approached the fire, which had been built up to cook dinner, the most amazing smell reached Bridget’s nose. There was an iron pot hanging above the fire, from it came the scent of onions and meat. She peeked in and saw a stew; venison, and wild onion, and carrots, and even what smelled like garlic. Bridget felt her mouth water and realized that she hadn’t eaten since that morning.
“Wow,” she said to Will. “Your brothers are better cooks than I am.”
Will chuckled. “We spend a lot of time away from the rest of our… family. We’ve learned to take care of ourselves.” He prodded the stew with a wooden spoon, and then raised a bit of it to his mouth to sip. “I think it’s nearly ready.”
Eric, the burly one, made his was over to them. His arms were bloody up to the elbow from cleaning the deer.
“We’ll eat as soon as we wash up,” he said. He gave Bridget a nod. “I’m glad to see Will hasn’t scared you off yet.”
Bridget smiled back at him. “He’s been the perfect gentleman.”
The stew was as good as it smelled. Bridget ate it out of a wooden bowl, and went back for seconds, and thirds. After she was full, she lounged back against a log near the fire and watched in fascination as Will, Aiden, Connell, and Eric devoured the rest of the pot of stew. It was getting dark out, and in the firelight, the men looked strange and powerful. Bridget watched them with her eyes half-closed, feeling drowsy. They moved differently from the men in her tribe moved. They were more confidant, more sure-footed. They moved with a grace that Bridget had only seen before in dancers or wild animals. She thought again that she should be scared, or at least more cautious; she was alone, deep in the forest, with four strange men. But she felt comfortable around them, and especially around Will. She felt like he would never let anything hurt her.
“Bridget.” Will’s voice woke her. His hand was on her shoulder, shaking her gently. She felt her eyes flutter open, and saw Will’s face, ruddy in the dying firelight. “You should go to bed,” he said, gazing at her with soft, gentle eyes.
“Sorry,” Bridget said, sitting up and arching her back in a stretch. “I fell asleep, didn’t I?”
Will grinned. “At least it wasn’t in a tree. Here, you can take my tent.”
Bridget tensed, wondering if she had misjudged the man, but he sensed her anxiety.
“I’ll sleep in Connell’s tent,” he reassured her. “You’ll be safe here; no one will disturb you.” His gaze hardened for a moment. “I promise.”
Bridget nodded and got up, letting him help her. He led her towards his tent and pulled the flap aside for her.
His gray eyes met hers as she walked by. “I’ll see you in the morning. Have a good night, Bridget.”
Bridget took her hair down and brushed it again before bed. Then she snuggled into the pile of pelts and blankets that was Will’s bed. It was warm, and amazingly comfortable. She felt sleep coming quickly, and didn’t try to fight it. She knew she was safe here. She fell asleep with a small smile on her face.
***
Bridget woke up early again, when dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky. Only the faintest amount of the gray light made its way through the sides of the tent. Bridget lay in the bed, unmoving, for a few minutes. It was quiet out, with only the occasional birdsong breaking the silence. She heard snoring from elsewhere in the camp, and realized that everyone else was still sleeping. She got up and pulled her cloak on to protect against the dawn chill. Then she peeled back the tent flap, and almost tripped over the sleeping form of Will. She gazed down at him, her face soft. He must have spent the night in front of her tent, to better keep his promise that no harm would come to her.
As she watched, he stirred. He blinked up at her, and then smiled as he recognized her. “Bridget,” he said. “Good morning.”
They sat by the fire together. Will threw a few logs on, making the coals spit and spark. As new flames began to lick at the logs, Bridget held her hands out to them, relishing the warmth. Will carved a few thick slices of meat from the deer, which was still hanging from the branches of the oak. He began roasting the meat over the fire, and Bridget smiled at the sight. Something about this scene—her and Will cooking breakfast together in the gray dawn—felt so right.
His brothers woke up one by one and joined
them. They didn’t say anything to each other, but ate in a companionable silence. Bridget felt included in that silence somehow. She smiled and scooted closer to Will, who handed her a piece of the sizzling meat when it was done.
***
Bridget spent the day with Will and his brothers. They seemed happy, and even though they travelled around a lot, they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to be anywhere in particular. Will told her that they were a small part of a larger family group. Their clan split off into small groups or individuals for most of the year, but came together around midsummer for a gathering. He and his brothers were leaving such a gathering, and were making their slow way back to the mountains in the north, where they would spend the rest of autumn, winter, and spring before coming back through the forest to the moorland where his family met.
Bridget thought it sounded like a nice life. She thought fleetingly of her own village; she had only left it twice in her life, for festivals with some of the neighboring villages. The men of her clan travelled a lot, trading livestock with neighbors and going on long hunting trips, but the women tended to stay home, sewing and cooking, and tending crops. It wasn’t a life that Bridget wanted.
As the day wore on, Will and his brothers began playing a game with stones, and Bridget joined in, laughing with them when Aiden won, taking all of their stones and adding them to his growing pile. Bridget realized that she was having a great time. Will’s brothers didn’t seem to mind her presence; they just took her in stride, much as they seemed to take everything else. Aiden seemed to keep his distance, but Bridget soon realized that that was just out of respect for Will. The other two, Connell and Eric, were polite and friendly, but never touched her or act in a manner that even her father could claim was inappropriate.
Will was the only one that touched her, and Bridget welcomed his touches—the small brush of his fingers on her arm when he was getting her attention, the warm, strong grasp of his hand when he was helping her up. Wherever he touched her, her skin tingled, as if his fingers were electrified. When their gazes met, their eyes seemed to catch each other and linger.
