Page 48 of Highland Fire

“I have watched ye do it for nearly a fortnight. I am sure I can do it.”

Moira inwardly cursed. He was making what had sounded like a good idea appear as foolish as he claimed it was. She had not expected him to be gone long enough for her to face any real danger, but she realized she had not thought far enough ahead. It would undoubtedly take him most of a day. She would be alone for at least one night, and she dreaded the thought—but she could not tell him that.

“I didnae wish to be responsible for your capture once again,” she said.

“Ye werenae responsible for my capture.”

“Nay? If we hadnae been with you, ye could have easily eluded those men. Instead ye had to put yourself right in their path so that they wouldnae find Adair and me. It could happen again.” She frowned when he crouched by her side and kissed her cheek. “What was that for?”

“For ye caring so much about my welfare.” He gently poked Adair in the ribs, causing the child to giggle and bounce around in Moira’s hold. “We will stay together. Mungan’s keep is barely a half day’s journey from here.”

“Aye, if our hunters dinnae force ye to change direction yet again.” She sighed, trying to force down the anxiety that made her temper flare. “I am sorry, Tavig. I grow weary of running and hiding.”

“As do I, loving. Howbeit, we have been doing that since we fell off that ship.”

“But not like this. We havenae had the hunters nipping at our heels, making us afraid to light even a small fire.”

Tavig sat down beside her, slipped his arm about her shoulders, and held her close against his side. He understood what troubled her. The same feeling gnawed at him. Iver’s hirelings had never been so close for so long. He felt like a rabbit pursued by a hunter, all the entrances to its lair blocked, so that it ran in circles until it dropped. Mungan and safety were just within reach, yet he and Moira had to take so many twists and turns to elude their pursuers they were adding miles to their journey. At times it was difficult not to do something reckless in a vain attempt to shake free of Iver’s mercenaries.

“We will get to Mungan’s, lass. ’Tis just proving a wee bit more difficult than I had planned for.” He ruffled Adair’s thick curls. “The lad is done. Shall we continue?”

“Aye, let us try to get a few steps closer.” Moira sighed as she put Adair back into his sling and stood up. “Pay me no heed, Tavig. I am in a sour temper.”

“No need to apologize, loving. My temper isnae much sweeter.” He started down the hill, praying that this time they could stay to their chosen path.

“Ye hide it a great deal better than I do.”

“Mayhap. If I could ease my temper with words, though, ye would be hearing a multitude of them. That wouldnae help soothe the fury twisting my belly, however. I need to act. Right now, I would like to find those hirelings Iver sent after us and kill them—slowly.”

Moira’s eyes widened as she followed him. There had been a wealth of cold anger in his voice. She now realized there were clear if faint signs of the anger churning inside of Tavig. It was there to see in the taut lines of his face, in the way he moved, even in the way he yanked the goat along, not catering to the animal’s obstinance in any way. She felt guilty for having been so caught up in her own feelings of frustration, weariness, and anger that she had paid no heed to how he felt.

She promised herself she would cease to complain. It did make her feel a little better to express her feelings, releasing her emotions with bitter words. Tavig did not really need to be troubled with that pettiness, however.

Her good intentions were hard to maintain when, barely an hour later, Tavig hurriedly ushered her into the shelter of some large rocks and gnarled trees. This had happened so often in the last two days that she knew exactly what it meant. Iver’s mercenaries were near at hand—again. She was beginning to truly hate those men.

“Where are they now?” she asked.

“Not far to the left of us. They have chosen an easy path down the hill,” Tavig answered.

“Mayhap we should follow them for a change.” She frowned when Tavig stared at her. “’Twas only a poor jest born of my ill temper. I am sorry. I had promised myself that I would cease to plague ye with it.”

Tavig laughed softly, giving her a quick, hard kiss. “Ye werenae plaguing me. And this time ye have come up with a truly inspired idea.”

“What do ye mean?” Moira wondered if the strain of the last few days had disordered his mind.

“Lass, where is the last place those fools would think to look for us?” When she just continued to stare at him as if he had lost all of his wits, he answered his own question. “They willnae look behind themselves. They would never expect us to follow on their heels. We should be running for our lives, not trailing along the same path they are. Ye dinnae understand what I am saying?” he asked when she still said nothing.

“Oh, I understand. I was just thinking that it could be verra risky. It will put us verra close to them.”

“We are verra close to them now, dearling. Any closer, and they could smell us.”

“If we do follow them, what happens when they stop? Ye said they wouldnae go near Mungan’s keep, that they willnae wish to be seen by Mungan or his men. That means they will stop short of where we wish to be, and we will have to get around them ere we can travel the rest of the way to your cousin.”

“I didnae say it was a perfect plan. Howbeit, at least for a little while we will be going in the right direction and we will ken where they are every step of the way. In truth, getting around them shouldnae be much more difficult or different from what we are doing now. We already spend most of our time trying to evade them.”

“All right, we will try it. After all, ye have kept us safe thus far.”

Tavig gave a short, bitter laugh. “Safe? I have done a cursed poor job of getting us to Mungan’s. If ye had any sense ye would avidly question my judgment. I begin to do so.”