Stephen shrugged. “Because I’d rather be, and since no one at Sgor Dubh seemed to care what I was doing—I’m with Philip. He can teach me more than his sire ever could.”
Isobel snorted, causing Stephen to raise a brow in amusement.
“You dinna believe it? He can find anything.”
“I can find things, too,” Isobel said. In fact, she was rather good at it. Probably better than Sir Philip.
Stephen shook his head. “No, I mean really find things—well, mostly people, but he found some sleuth dogs once and a stolen cow. He’s so good, people pay him. Lots.”
“Why is the son of a chieftain tracking beasts and criminals?”
Stephen looked thoughtful, then said, “It’s probably because of his sister. She’s the only person he’s never found. But then, so far as I know, he wasn’t in the business when she was lost.”
“His sister?”
“He doesn’t talk about it much, but Fergus has told me some, and I did hear a good bit of it from his stepmother when I was at Sgor Dubh.” He grimaced as if the memory were extremely unpleasant.
Isobel fell silent, thinking about this new piece of Sir Philip. She wanted to know more, but Fergus and Sir Philip had fallen back abit. Sir Philip twisted around in his saddle, watching them both suspiciously.
Stephen noticed Sir Philip and cleared his throat. “Uhm…. I was wondering if you might not wear that…thing?”
Isobel shot a poison glance at Sir Philip. He faced forward abruptly.
“So you were sent to charm me into removing the arisaid.”
Stephen grinned rakishly. “Am I? Charming?”
Isobel couldn’t help but laugh.
He laughed, too, but kept at her. “I pray you—take it off. If I don’t succeed, I vow he will thrash me tonight so I canna sit a horse.”
Isobel sobered immediately. “What? That’s horrible! He would beat you for something he couldn’t do himself?”
Stephen nodded emphatically. “That and more.”
Isobel hesitated a moment, but Stephen’s expression was so earnest she unfastened the brooch securing the plaid and swung it off her shoulders. She folded it neatly and laid it across her lap. The forest was cool, but she’d always enjoyed the chill bite of the forest air. She breathed in deeply the scent of trees and damp leaves and earth.
“There,” she said. “That should satisfy his majesty.”
“Oh, aye.” Stephen grinned and withdrew the purple flower from his sleeve, offering it to her gallantly. “My thanks, Mistress MacDonell, you’re a kind woman.”
Isobel accepted the flower, her cheeks warm. “Think nothing of it.”
“When I saw it, I thought how bonny it would look in your hair.”
Isobel’s face was in full flame now. She obligingly tucked the flower behind her ear and preened momentarily. He nodded admiringly.
“I don’t understand all this fuss about a plaid.”
Stephen grew serious. “Well, he’s right to make a fuss of it. I’m a lowlander, but the redshanks are my neighbors—I ken.” He tugged on his reins, bringing his horse closer to hers, as if to tell a secret. He tilted his head toward her, his eyes fixed on the men in front of them. “People have a verra low opinion of the redshanks. I did, too, ye see, so ’tis no lie I’m telling you. The mountains are like a great wall, keeping the redshanks in and us out. And the lowlanders like it that way. But sometimes redshanks do come out, and when they do, folks assume it’s to cause mayhem. And well, most of the time they’re right.”
When she just frowned at him, he said, “When folks see a Highlander outside the Highlands, he must be guilty of whatever crime has been committed recently. And if none has been committed, well, then he must be minding to. So they’re quick to put a stop to it. So you see, as soon as a redshank is spotted outside the Highlands, people expect trouble and are on the defensive—often attacking afore asking questions.” Stephen shrugged, straightening in his saddle. “We dinna need that kind of trouble. So it makes sense to look like everyone else.”
“That does make good sense,” Isobel admitted grudgingly.
Stephen grinned and winked. “I knew you’d understand if someone just explained it to ye. Dinna blame Philip—he’s not good at that kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing? Explaining obscure orders?”
