Rory. She would soon find him and that’s all that mattered.
“What’s yer name, lass?”
Startled, she looked around. “What?”
“I asked what yer name was?” The man had bright blue eyes, shoulder-length auburn hair with a distinctive white streak through it, and a dusting of stubble across his chin. Perhapsa few years older than herself, he looked like a man used to working outdoors, with his wide shoulders and strong-looking arms.
“Um...Madeleine,” she said. “Maddy.”
“Madeleine MacKay. I’m Deryn Stewart. Pleased to make yer acquaintance.”
“You too,” she mumbled. “Although my name’s not MacKay. It’s...oh, never mind. Thank you for rescuing me.”
“I could hardly leave ye there, could I? Ye were caterwauling loud enough to cause a landslide.”
“Caterwauling? I was not—” She trailed off as she saw the quirk of his lips and realized he was teasing her. “Alright, maybe I was. It’s been,” —she blew out a breath—” a stressful afternoon.”
He looked at her sidelong. “Aye, so I can see. Why are ye out here, lass? This is hardly the place I would expect to find a woman alone.”
“I told you—I’m looking for Rory.” Oh God, Rory! “I followed him beneath the bridge and then...then...” She could hardly frame the words to explain. Her thoughts wouldn’t settle, and she knew she was on the verge of panic again.
The man—Deryn—didn’t reply but she couldn’t miss the look he gave her—as though he thought she might be crazy. Heck,shethought she might be crazy. What else would explain all this?
“How long till we get there?”
He glanced at the sky. “Providing the weather is kind to us, perhaps an hour. But surely ye must know that? Did ye not come from there?”
“No,” Maddy said, shaking her head. “I came straight from the school. I went to pick Rory up like I always do only Rodric had got there ahead of me. I should have just called the police!”
She felt her control slipping again and screwed her eyes tight shut. A hand settled on her shoulder.
She opened her eyes to find Deryn watching her. “I dinna know what’s happened here, lass,” he said in a deep rumble. “But I will get ye to Torryn Keep and yer boy. Have no doubt about that.”
The weight of his hand on her shoulder was oddly comforting and helped to push the panic away a little. She found herself nodding. “Thank you.”
They continued walking, following a trail that was invisible to Maddy’s eyes. She couldn’t see a path, a road, a house, anything except a patchwork of pine-covered hills and windswept fields. Where was she? And how the hell had she gotten here?
“How come you’ve got a sheep?” she blurted, looking for something to distract her.
Deryn glanced behind to where the sheep was plodding along looking annoyed. He frowned. “Because that idiotic beast doesnae know what’s good for him, that’s why. The fool creature thought it a good idea to go wandering in the storm. And me, being equally idiotic, thought it a good idea to go look for him. I’m not sure which of us is the bigger fool.”
“You live around here?”
“Not around here. Many miles over yonder.” He nodded towards the hills in the distance.
She turned to look over her shoulder at the beast. “Well, Mr Sheep, I owe you a debt of gratitude. If you hadn’t forced your owner to come looking for you I don’t know how I would have got out of that gully. So, thank you.”
The sheep gave a sharp bleat.
Deryn laughed. “I think that’s probably the first time anyone has ever thanked Surly for anything. I dinna think he quite knows how to take it.”
“Surly?”
“Aye. Ye wouldnae believe how well the name suits him.”
Maddy laughed. The action surprised her, and she stifled it immediately. Fear for Rory came lurching back.
Perhaps seeing her discomfort, Deryn said nothing more. He picked up the pace and they made their way through sodden fields, across flooded gullies that were narrow enough to step over, and between the knees of forested hills. All the while Maddy looked around for anything that looked familiar. There was nothing. She recognized none of this. She might as well have found herself on another planet.
