“Watch there and wait,” Drake said, his voice hushed. They sat motionless for several minutes, William frowning into the dark where Drake had indicated.
“There.” Drake pointed.
William saw it—a shifting of the darkness near a sparse stand of distant trees. And the harder he stared, the more he realized there was an unnatural mass to the trees.
“Bloody hell,” William breathed. “What are they waiting for?”
“They probably hope to catch us all asleep.”
William looked over his shoulder to his daughter, sleeping peacefully, oblivious of the danger laying in wait.Damn.
“Well,” William said, removing his dag from his belt and checking the charge. “Let’s get this over with.”
Drake looked at him in disbelief, then scanned thedark, deserted moor around them pointedly. “Until they attack, what are we to do?”
“Rose,” William called in a loud whisper.
She turned and came when he gestured for her, then squatted down beside him.
“I want you to take Deidra and ride southwest, as fast as you can.”
“What? Why?”
“The broken men outnumber us,” Drake said.
“Aye. If we don’t overtake you by morn, keep going. Take her to your home and send word to my sister, Maggie Munroe. She’s married to Paden Munroe of Norcreiffe. She will take Deidra.”
William felt Drake staring at him, but he didn’t look at his brother.
Rose shook her head, confused. “If we’re outnumbered, you cannot send me away. I can shoot.”
“You’ve one shot in your dag and no time to reload. Even if we prevail, I cannot hope to keep you both from harm when they outnumber us. Youmustride to safety.”
Rose nodded, her face pale. “Very well. Maggie. Paden Munroe of Norcreiffe.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Get the horse ready—and hurry.”
She did as he bid while William crept to the wall and picked his daughter up. Deidra stirred as he carried her to the horses hobbled at the other end of the cottage. They’d not unsaddled them in preparation for this eventuality.
Rose was beside him. “Let’s all go. Why are you staying here if they outnumber us?”
“Because they’ll keep following, and we must stop sometime. Best to do this when we’re prepared, rather than be ambushed later.”
“But you said you knew some Rosses near Strath Ben that were friends. Could we not ride there for help?”
“That’s another two days’ ride at least.” He smiled grimly. “Fash not—we’re not so bad with a sword.”
She exhaled loudly and stared at him, tight-lipped. She shook her head slightly as if she meant to say more, but finally she mounted. He passed Deidra up to her, then caught her hand, pressing on her cool, slender fingers.
“Remember what I said. Keep riding. Don’t turn back.”
Rose clasped his fingers back, gazing down at him with worry and fear.
Deidra blinked awake and stared at William, who was at eye level with her, then she glanced up at Rose.
Her confused gaze flew back to him. “Da?”
“You must go with Rose now, Squirrel. I’ll be seeing you soon.” He released Rose’s fingers and took his daughter’s hand, squeezing it and pressing a kiss to the back of her small, soft palm. He met Rose’s gaze, still fixed unhappily on him, and tried to convey to her with a look the importance of the trust he’d just placed in her. Until tonight, he’d trusted no one but Drake with his daughter’s safety.
