"Holme must have gone that way." Colin nodded toward the east. "If he was carrying her, he wouldn't have been able to scale this cliff. Look for tracks. He'll probably go through the pass, and then he'll be harder to find."
***
Bound, gagged and infuriated, Kristina could do nothing to free herself. Holme's hard shoulder dug into her stomach. He'd climbed uphill for a long while but now he ran down what felt like a slight slope. All she heard was his boots pounding the ground and his harsh breaths.
After a few minutes, he paused to rest, still breathing hard. He cursed, then muttered, "Where the hell is he?"
Holme walked briskly for what seemed a half hour. Sometimes she felt the warmth of the sun on her back. Other times the air smelled like dampness and pines. Now and then she heard streams flowing.
"Scroggie?" Holme growled. "Dobson? Damnation! Where are they?"
Mayhap Holme was lost and separated from his cohorts in this unfamiliar wood. And maybe he would walk in circles until Colin and his men found them.
Thinking of Colin was the only thing that kept her sane. She felt as if Holme had been carrying her for hours. Why couldn't he simply grow tired and put her down somewhere? If only she could get some relief from his shoulder rammed against her stomach.
A horse nickered nearby. Who might have a horse and could they help her? Hope swelled within her, and she tried to yell out again.
"Scroggie?" Holme sped up and crashed through the bushes.
"You got her," a man said.
"Aye." Holme breathed hard.
Disappointment near suffocated her. These ruffians were simply Holme's men, and they had horses. Which meant they would escape with her even faster.
"It took you a long time. We feared you'd been killed."
"I know naught about this wood."
"What about Cameron?" another man asked. She remembered his voice. One of Blackburn's soldiers.
"He fell in the river and hit his head. Drowned, I hope."
Nay!Colin could not be dead. Kristina refused to believe it.
"Scroggie, bring my horse. We'll ride until dark, then make camp."
"Won't be long now."
Slow hooves thumped over the grass nearby.
"Did anyone see you bring the horses?" Holme asked.
"Nay, I slipped them away one at a time. No one followed." She assumed that was Scroggie answering. She remembered Blackburn calling his name a couple of times during their long journey from Stirling. But she also knew him to be a friend of Holme, for she had heard their voices joined in conversation before.
"Hold her until I mount, Mungo, then hand her up to me." Holme dragged her off his shoulder and placed her into the arms of another man. The bastard groped her breast. She growled out a protest, muffled beneath the gag, then drove her bound fists toward his face. She made contact with the side of his head and his cheekbone. Her knuckle stung as a result, but it was worth it.
"Ow! Bitch! I'll strangle you!" His grip tightened.
"Don't hurt her!" Holme commanded. "If anyone hurts her, it will be me. But I plan to have my fun first."
Her small victory was short-lived as nausea welled inside her. She had to figure out a way to stop Holme from his horrid plan.
"Aye, sir." Mungo placed her across Holme's knees. Her stomach was aching already. The horse nickered and danced beneath them, jostling her about painfully.
Dear God, help me survive this,she prayed.
They rode at a trot for some distance. Kristina knew not how far they'd traveled. She simply tried to focus on breathing and ignoring the pain in her torso. She thought about the time she'd spent with Colin. The things he'd said to her. The way he'd kissed her. That brief time with him in the cave had been the most joyous time for her in the last several years. But that was over now. She might never see Colin again. Although she didn't want to accept that he was dead, he might be. Her chest felt crushed, for she could do naught to change that.
