“No! No’ you!” he cried out, as his ugly face took on an expression of terror.
“Get out of my sight!” The answering voice was deep, throaty, and furious, and Amanda heard the old man protest fruitlessly as he was struck by a blow from what sounded like a large fist. “Go before I take your head off!”
Amanda was terrified. Whoever was speaking was clearly absolutely incensed about something, and she did not wish to be on the receiving end of his fury.
She tried to open the door on her own side of the carriage, but it was too late. The man outside reached out and tugged her hand, pulling her out of the carriage none too gently.
Amanda looked up, her face twisted with fear, then stopped, transfixed, as her eyes met those of the most handsome man she had ever seen.
1
Amanda had no time to think of what to do next as the stranger pulled her along behind him. She followed him because she had no choice, since his grip was fierce. They passed the old man, who was howling and moaning in pain from his shoulder and another wound on his thigh that he had sustained in falling from the carriage.
Then, abruptly, the noise stopped. Amanda wanted to look behind her to see what had happened to him, since all her instincts as a healer told her to help him, but she could not break free of the mysterious man’s grip.
She stumbled along behind him, trying not to trip and fall over, since the ground was muddy and her shoes were old and not suitable for the slippery surface. She had no idea why they were in such haste, since no-one else seemed to be following them, but she had no choice but to keep going because her chance of escaping from the big man seemed nigh on impossible.
However, her chance came a moment later when the tall stranger almost bumped into the low branch of a tree and stumbled, giving Amanda the opportunity to wrench her hand away. Holding her breath, she ran in the opposite direction,making her way into a thick copse of trees, in which she hoped and prayed to lose him.
After all, this man was tall and strong enough to overpower her and do whatever he wished to her—take advantage of her without consent, or even kill her. Amanda managed to pull ahead a little, since the stranger was finding it difficult to dodge under the low-hanging branches, but a particularly treacherous patch of ground slowed her down.
Then her feet slid from under her as she stepped into a puddle of water and cried out in fright. However, she was stopped from falling, as a pair of strong arms came around her before she hit the ground.
Instinctively, Amanda struggled to escape, even reaching up to claw at his face, but it was fruitless, since she was battling against someone who was twice as strong as she was.
“Do not fight me, lass,” said a deep, husky voice that was so close to her ear that Amanda could feel his breath on her face. “You will only hurt yourself.”
With that, he let her stand up and face him.
He was big, well-built, with blond hair that reminded her of the descriptions of the Norsemen from Scandinavia who had raided Scotland and Northern England centuries before. Like them, he was fierce and intimidating, but that was not what struck her first. No, it was the bright-green eyes that dominated his high-boned, square-jawed face. He was magnificent.
But if he looked so much like a Viking, perhaps he would have no trouble behaving like one!Amanda thought.
Amanda looked into his bright-green eyes, which were as cold as ice as they regarded her. Nevertheless, she knew she had to appeal to him. “Please let me go,” she begged. “I will not tell anyone what happened here.”
The stranger ran a hand backwards through his golden hair and gave a cynical laugh. “No, you will not,” he replied, “becauseyou will not get the chance. You are coming with me whether you like it or not, and if you try to escape again, the consequences will be dire for you.” He raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Do you understand?”
Amanda began to tremble uncontrollably. What would this giant of a man do to her if she disobeyed him? Having no choice, she nodded and began to follow him again, but this time he moved a little more slowly, no doubt to avoid any more delays, she thought.
They moved along, and Amanda thought she heard the big man talking to himself very quietly in his low, rumbling voice. Was he making plans, rehearsing a speech, or was he simply mad? The latter possibility seemed the most likely, she thought, as she trudged along beside him, filled with even more fear than she had been before.
From time to time she looked up at him, wondering how a man who had done such a heinous deed as kidnapping a woman could look so handsome. But then, did evil not hide behind beauty in many cases?
Amanda sighed. She was tired to the bone, although it was only midday.
The stranger heard it and looked down at her, and Amanda thought she saw a flicker of doubt on his face. Perhaps he was regretting what he had done. But then the expression was gone and his mask of cold indifference went up again.
It seemed like years before they reached an extremely thick copse of fir trees, and stopped abruptly. Amanda bent over, out of breath from trying to keep up with the big man’s long stride. She straightened up, then froze.
As she watched, dozens of men approached them out of the cover of the trees, each one looking fiercer than the last. They were all armed with swords and daggers. Every one of them was dressed in clothing that had seen much better days, in shades ofbrown, green, and grey which blended in with the colours of the forest. It took Amanda a few moments to figure out the reason for this. Could they be bandits? Their clothing no doubt gave them the advantage of surprise in an ambush. She could not be sure, of course, but it was a terrifying thought.
If she had been frightened before, Amanda was now almost paralysed with terror. What kind of hell had she landed in?
The blond man was still gripping her hand, and instinctively, she moved closer to him as if for protection. Later, she would laugh at herself for doing this. What kind of shielding could she expect from a kidnapper?
However, the man noticed her terror and shouted to the men, “Back off, you lot! She is not going to do us any harm, and you’re scaring her.”
Amanda, listening to his commanding tone and watching the way the men responded to him, realised that he was their leader. Most of the others were older, and the big man, whom she now thought of as the Viking, was by far the youngest. Even so, he had an air of authority about him that marked him out as the chief of the band.
