The Highlander's Quest

by Dana D'Angelo

  When Elspeth finally drifted off to sleep, her last thoughts were of him. She might have stayed in the blissful state except she was rudely awakened by cattle thieves. After they had assessed the damages, she knew that there was nothing they could do tonight. She returned to her bed, but she ended up tossing and turning on the straw pallet, caught in the state between sleep and wakefulness. No doubt, the full day of work had exhausted her, yet her mind continued to seek solutions about how they might recover from their new losses.

  But then a faint rustling on the other side of the room caught her attention, and she became fully alert. Her eyes were already adjusted to the darkness, and she observed Angus making slow progress toward the door. He had no business wandering outside the house while everyone slept.

  Once she believed that enough time had passed, she got up and followed him. She didn’t know why he was in the yard, and she needed to find out. Yet the last thing she expected was to find him stealing from them.

  She planted the handle of the pitchfork firmly on the ground. “I’m going with ye,” she said.

  “What?” To his surprise, he jerked at the reins he held, and the horse pulled back in protest. Angus immediately placed his hand on its neck, settling the steed. When he looked up at her again, he said, “Ye should ken ‘tis nae safe for ye, lass.”

  “’Tis nae safe for ye either,” she countered. “What are ye going tae do against a band of robbers?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And how are ye going tae lead the livestock back here?”

  He fell silent, and she knew that she had stumped him.

  “I dinnae think ‘tis a guid idea. If anything, ‘tis a dangerous endeavor.” Angus paused as if he wanted to say more, but he seemed to hold back. Then letting out a frustrated sigh, he said, “One of the robbers wore the same brooch as me, and I need tae question him. I think he might ken more about my identity. I cannae anticipate what will happen when I confront him. And if a skirmish occurs because of my inquiries, I dinnae want ye caught in the middle.”

  Elspeth knew how violent raiders were. The remains of burned buildings, the injuries, and the death of clan members and livestock were proof of that. But, although she realized the danger, she found it impossible to sit back and allow her family to fall to ruins. Instinctively she knew she had a higher chance of recovering the stolen livestock if she was accompanied by a fierce warrior. And once the animals were reclaimed, Angus would prove useful in other ways.

  “I’m still going with ye,” she said firmly.

  “But...”

  “I can look after myself,” she said, interrupting him. “If ye take my horse, then ye are taking me as well.” She tightened the grip on the pitchfork as her resolve became stronger. “Your actions tonight will cost ye.”

  Before he could say anything more, she pivoted and marched toward the house. She needed to tell her father that she was leaving.

  Elspeth heard Angus’s footsteps behind her, and she waved toward the weather-beaten door. “Wait here, and I’ll be back in a moment.”

  As she entered the house, she carefully leaned the pitchfork against the wall. The shutters were tightly closed, and it was even darker inside the dwelling. But she had lived and worked in the common room for years and could easily maneuver around the space.

  Near the back of the house, she could hear her father’s soft snore. Her father was exhausted, and she knew he would have to wake up in a few hours to toil further on the farm. A moment of indecision struck her. Would it be wiser to allow him to sleep? The raiders had already interrupted his slumber. If she disturbed him a second time, he might be too tired to function the next morning. And she knew all too well that a fully rested farmer met fewer accidents on the farm.

  Elspeth bit down on her lip as she continued to weigh her options. One thing she didn’t want was to have her poor father worry about her. In the end, she still needed to advise him of her departure. Perhaps there was another way to inform him. She looked at the spot beneath the compact window where a small stack of her mother’s books was stored. Elspeth recalled that her father kept a few precious sheets of parchment at that location. She would write a quick message and allow him to discover her plan when he awoke.

  As she crept to the small window, her foot unexpectedly connected with a basket on the ground. A curse exploded in her brain. Her eyes shot to where Fiona slept, willing her sister to stay asleep. But Fiona stirred slightly and rolled on to her side, facing Elspeth. And though she tried to remain as still as possible, her sibling somehow sensed her presence. Fiona opened her eyes. And in the next moment, she sat up.

  “What’s happening, Elspeth?” she said, alarm in her voice.

  “Hush,” she whispered sharply and pointed toward their sleeping father. She crept closer to her sister.

  “Tell Da that I’m going tae see the Earl,” she continued. “While I’m gone, I want ye tae take care of Da.”

  “What are ye —?”

  A small, scraping sound caught her ear. Elspeth pressed a finger to her lips.

  Her sister pulled her knees to her chest, fear shining on her young face. “Have the raiders come back?” she whispered.

  “I dinnae ken,” she said, shaking her head.

  Elspeth cocked her head and tried to listen for the disturbance again. Did she imagine the noise? But even as that thought echoed in her mind, her anxiety grew. The area outside the house was quiet, maybe too quiet. As more troubling questions rolled into her mind, a sense of trepidation seeped through her spine. The raiders hadn’t returned. It was Angus, and he was leaving without her! Suddenly, she was seized by panic.

  “I have tae go,” she said quickly.

  Elspeth sprinted out the door, cursing herself for trusting the Highlander. Her family had fed him and gave him shelter when he had nowhere else to go. They even tried to make him feel welcomed in their home. She conveniently cast away the fact that she had yet to pay him for his labor. Instead, she focused on his underhandedness, and she allowed the hot anger to surge in her chest. Angus stole from them, she reminded herself. And now she was forced to put her plan aside and hunt him down.

  Then just as quickly, the stream of angry thoughts skidded to an abrupt stop.

  The sky had just begun to shed its darkness. Yet despite the gray cast, she could make out the shape of a man and a horse waiting several feet from the house. He stood with his broad back toward her. And even though he presented her with his back, she could feel the masculine strength emanating from his lean frame. His great kilt was loosened from his shoulder, and the excess part of the fabric hung loosely behind him. His powerful legs were planted firmly apart as he stared off in the distance, lost in his own thoughts.

  At hearing her rapid approach, he turned his handsome face. The full power of his gaze caused her heart to skip a beat.

  “Ye are still here,” she blurted.

  Chapter 6

  Ye are still here.

  Angus turned around at the sound of her voice.

  “Of course, I’m still here,” he said. “I was waiting for ye.” As much as he tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, he couldn’t.

  When Elspeth went into the house, he had the perfect chance to leave, but he didn’t. Now that the sky was starting to lighten, he felt like kicking himself. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he stayed. By now, the robbers were long gone.

  But he knew that the lost opportunity to go after the thieves wasn’t the only reason he felt irritated. Most of the annoyance was centered on himself. Since the day he met Elspeth, she managed to invade his mind. Everything about her was intriguing, and he often wondered whether he should forget his quest and settle down with someone like her. But then he shook his head, annoyed with himself. Why was he even thinking about this? She probably wasn’t interested in him.

  And then there was the urgency inside him. He needed to learn who he was and where he belonged. When the farmer had found him, he was barefoot and stripped to his leine. Except for a
brooch that he held in his hand, all identifying markers on him were gone. His rescuer was kind enough to offer him an extra kilt to wear. Since then, he had spent too many months trying to follow leads and piecing together the missing parts of his life. Whoever had attacked him wanted to make sure that his origins were obscured. Why? This question, above all else, burned inside him. He couldn’t allow a bonnie lass to distract him from finding the truth.

  “Will ye just be standing there, or will ye be getting on the horse?” he asked, unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice.

  “I’ll be getting on the horse,” Elspeth snapped in response to his tone. She searched for something that would help her get on the horse. Spotting a large rock, she led the packhorse to the spot. She then started to climb the rock in order to boost herself higher.

  “Here, let me help ye.” Angus let out a sigh. He knew that they couldn’t travel together if the tension continued to rise between them.

  Not waiting for her reply, he placed his hands around her slim hips and lifted her on the horse’s back. She was light, and his contact with her made him momentarily forget his irritation. It felt good to touch her.

  “Thank ye,” she said, looking down at him. For a moment, there was surprise and puzzlement in her eyes, as if she didn’t know what to make of his help. But then it was gone. “Ye can walk beside the horse —”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Angus had already mounted the steed and sat behind her. “I willnae walk. If I did, we’ll never catch up to the thieves,” he said.

  Angus reached around her to grab the reins. Most packhorses were used for transporting goods. Fortunately for Elspeth, her father had also trained this horse to carry people.

  Elspeth tried to scoot as far from him as possible, but he pretended not to notice. It was just as well. He didn’t need to be reminded of her womanly body. As it was, he spent too much time thinking about the lass. There were a few times he saw her guard down, and that was when she appeared relaxed and happy. On those occasions, she mesmerized him. He wondered if they had met under different circumstances, would things have been different between them?

  He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts of the bonnie distraction. It was best that he stayed focused and searched for clues that would help him find the robbers. At his resolve, the image of the brooch floated in his mind’s eye. Was he somehow connected to the robbers? And if so, would this mean that he was part of the criminal organization? The potential answers to these questions didn’t sit well with him. But he still needed to know the answers.

  As they started off, the first blush of dawn appeared in the distance, and the stillness of the morning continued to encase them. They moved along the rutted path as the sounds of crickets filled the air.

  Angus easily found the trail that the raiders had left. There were small clues on the ground that marked the groups passing.

  But the raiders had a head start, and it would take many more hours to catch up to them. The horse’s rhythmic rocking caused Elspeth to slump forward and almost bump her head on the mount’s neck before she caught herself. A few minutes later, she started to doze off again.

  Angus let out a long breath and grabbed the lass before she toppled over. If she fell from the horse, any injuries she sustained would cause them further delay. He pulled her back and settled her against his chest. As she rolled her head against his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her small frame, securing her firmly in place.

  “Rest,” he said quietly.

  Elspeth let a soft sigh and didn’t resist him. Clearly, the night’s disturbances had caught up with her. But even though her eyelids were closed, he could clearly remember her hazel eyes. As she slept, the expression on her face softened, and she looked like a sweet angel that had come down to tempt him. Until now, he had never had the opportunity to study her this closely. Her beauty was undeniable. Her oval face was tanned, and a sprinkling of freckles covered her cheeks.

  Slowly the impatience he felt earlier seeped from his body. He didn’t remember how long it had been since he was last with a woman, but having her trusting body pressed against his was pleasant.

  He drew the excess part of his kilt over the two of them, protecting them from the early-morning chill. Elspeth stirred slightly, and settled more comfortably on his broad chest. As she leaned intimately against him, he couldn’t help but catch the faint scent of heather and the intoxicating smell of woman. His arms instinctively tightened around her. Somehow it felt familiar to have her cradled in his arms. It almost seemed as if she belonged in his protective embrace.

  A silken curl fell across her forehead, and he brushed the tress aside. Her mouth was parted slightly and his gaze dropped to her luscious lips. It was a decidedly kissable mouth. And some strange yearning filled him. What would it be like to kiss her? Would it be as sweet as he imagined?

  But that thought abruptly ended when it occurred to him that there was something different about the trail they followed.

  Angus stopped the horse and looked around him, confused. For the past few hours, he had watched for the debris the thieves left behind, and for the inevitable animal droppings. Thinking back to the last fifteen minutes, he couldn’t recall seeing any of those telltale signs.

  Elspeth stirred. “Why have we stopped?” she asked.

  She blinked as the morning light caught her eyes, and she tilted her face to him. Her movements stilled when she caught his gaze. Then as if she suddenly realized that she rested against him, she straightened her spine. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw her blush as she shifted forward on the horse. Perhaps the lass wasn’t entirely immune to him after all.

  “It seems that we’ve lost their trail.” He looked ruefully at the trees that surrounded them. “We need tae retrace our route and find the direction they took.”

  At any point, the robbers could have veered off the main road. He turned the horse around and went back in the opposite direction. This time, he set the horse at a slower pace, watching keenly for the small signs. After several minutes, he noticed some shrubs that had a few broken branches near their base.

  Angus stopped the horse once again and dismounted. He walked to the spot and crouched to inspect the surrounding dirt. The turn wasn’t obvious, but if one were to look closer, he would see the tiny disruptions in the environment. In one small section, the grass blades were bent. And on the other side, there was an overturned stone that was likely kicked aside by a large animal. He lifted his gaze and peered into the forest. Up until this point, the robbers made no attempt to conceal their tracks. But then when they reached this location, they made the effort. Other than what he found, there were no other disturbances to indicate that they had passed through this area.

  “We’ll go through here,” he said, getting back on the mount.

  Angus grabbed the reins and led them into the thick woods. Tall grasses grew as far as he could see, and among the greenery were patches of bluebells. The trees were dense, but the periodic break in the branches allowed sunlight through. If he wasn’t intent in pursuing the robbers, he might have enjoyed the tranquility that surrounded them. He heard the craw of crows echoing deep in the forest, and once he glimpsed a red deer hiding among the shrubbery. And every so often, a rodent scrambled through the underbrush.

  Once again, he slowed their pace. They had come this far, and he couldn’t afford to miss anything.

  “Are ye sure ye ken where ye are going?” Elspeth asked, turning her head to look at him.

  “Aye,” he said shortly.

  Their eyes met, and a strange current passed between them. It was something inexplicable and charged. But then she broke the contact and forced her sights on the lush vegetation before them.

  He wasn’t certain what had just happened, nor did he want to dwell on it. For now, he reminded himself, it was best not to engage in conversation in case the thieves were close by.

  “We’ve been riding for hours,” Elspeth said after a while. “We proba
bly should have stuck tae the main trail. I havenae seen any evidence that the robbers passed through here.”

  “I’m certain they did.”

  Elspeth twisted her lips, not even bothering to hide her doubt or discomfort. “’Tis eerie here,” she said, finally. She folded her arms over her chest. “It almost feels as if someone or something is watching us.”

  “’Tis just your imagination,” he said dismissively.

  “Perhaps, but I remember my ma telling me that nature spirits live in the woods. She always told us tae be careful as many of them have malicious intent.” She frowned. “The last thing we need is tae fall in their clutches. Sae, I ask again, are we going in the right direction?”

  “We are,” he said.

  And he was telling the truth. It was strange that while he couldn’t recollect many things about his life, he knew about forest spirits.

  Angus took in their position and noted that the afternoon light was fading, and the air had turned colder. But these changes did little to deter him. Instinctively he knew they were closing in on the culprits. And it would only be a matter of time before they found them. In the meantime, he needed to formulate a plan on how he would approach the raiders.

  “Do ye think maybe we can stop and find something tae eat?” Elspeth asked, interrupting his thoughts. “I forgot tae pack some food when we left the farm.”

  If he had traveled on his own, he would have continued his search, but he realized that he was also hungry.