He could wander for days without finding his way.
He swore long and bitterly, and the pony’s ears twitched again.
The trees did not allow him to search for a horizon. If he might get a glimpse of the sea, he would have his direction. Or if he might follow the slope of the land down.
But they had climbed and descended several times.
Aye, he should have known what they were about.
He stepped away from the pony and slowly, methodically, searched for signs. Plenty of deer scat here. It must be a favorite place for the beasts to graze. Not so much as a single hoofprint from his companions’ ponies.
He’d need to climb a tree for a glimpse of the sea. Tall pines surrounded him, dark and silent. In fact, it felt as if they watched him.
Somethingwatched him.
Did Kerr and Toren lurk nearby, hidden, to see what he would do? Was that why he hadn’t heard them moving off?
Would they call an end to the prank, or did they indeed intend to lose him out here, and leave him to die?
An ill fate for one who had never wanted to come here in the first place.
He selected a tree and began to climb.
Chapter Seven
When Kerr andToren came home without game and without their Erin cousin, Bradana feared the worst. Indeed, she’d been uneasy about their jaunt ever since the three of them left. She knew her stepbrothers, understood all too well that any show of hospitality on their part must be false and rotten.
She now admitted to herself that her uneasiness had kept her hanging around the dun most of the day. She had other things to do. She’d neglected those things.
Kerr and Toren came riding in at late afternoon, as casually as if they were missing nothing.
“Where’s the Erin cousin?” she asked, planting herself in front of them.
They exchanged a telling look before Toren dismounted from his pony. “Out o’ our way, Bradana. We are bound for the pony sheds.”
“But where is he?” A terrible, icy feeling poured over Bradana. “Have ye killed him?”
Kerr gave a ghastly grin, revealing his big, square teeth. “Not us.”
Realization hit her an equally icy blow. “Ye left him out there.”
“It seems,” Toren said with great satisfaction, “our poor cousin from Erin got lost. He should no’ put his feet where they do no’ belong.”
She stared at them, aghast. A hundred thoughts flooded her mind before she chose one. “What will your father say?”
“I do not know wha’ he may say”—Toren wagged his head—“but he should be grateful to us.”
“Aye, grateful,” Kerr echoed.
“We got rid o’ this one far quicker than they other two.”
“By Lugh’s spear,” Bradana swore. “How far out did ye take him?”
“Far enough that he will no’ be coming back.”
“And the pony?”
“A shame, that,” Kerr admitted. “’Twas a fine pony.”
