Page 25 of Highland Storm

“Come here,” she said, pulling a shilling out of her pouch. “How would ye like this?”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “I do.” He grabbed for it, but she pulled back her hand with the coin in it.

“Ye’ve got to do somethin’ for me first.”

“What?” asked the boy.

“Go to the stable and find the tan horse with the black spot on its side. Then ride it out of the castle and meet me outside the gate. Then I’ll give ye the coin.”

“All right,” said the boy, taking off at the run for the stable.

“This will be easier than I thought,” said Phoebe, checking for her throwing knife hidden in her boot and also the one attached to her leg that she’d managed to keep hidden from Lady Clarista when she’d changed her clothes. Then she headed off in the shadows, making her escape.

* * *

Hawke decided to check on Apollo before he ate. Heading across the courtyard toward the mews, he was almost trampled as a young boy ran into him.

“Whoa, there, Harry,” said Hawke, knowing all the children from the village as well as the ones who lived inside the castle walls. He loved children and they loved him as well. “Where are ye off to in such a hurry this mornin’?”

“I need to get to the stable right away,” said the boy. His clothes were filthy and he had a streak of mud across the freckles on his little face.

“The stable?” Harry was the son of one of the serfs who used the castle kitchen to bake her bread. He lived in the village and wasn’t a stableboy. “What have ye got to do of such importance that ye are in a hurry to get there?”

“A lady is goin’ to give me a coin if I bring her horse to her outside the gate.”

“Oh really,” he said with a chuckle. “That must be a very generous lady to do that.”

“I canna mount the horse without help. Will ye lift me, Hawke?”

Hawke realized the boy meant it and wasn’t just playing a game.

“What did this generous lady look like?” he asked curiously.

“She was a bonny lady with a nice smile.”

“What color was her hair and what was she wearing?”

“Her hair was dark and long and she wore the MacKeefe plaid.”

“Did ye ever see her here at the castle or in the village before?” asked Hawke, having a feeling he knew who it was.

“Nay, my laird.”

“Where did she want ye to bring the horse?”

“Just outside the castle gate. Will ye help me? She is waitin’ and I dinna want to disappoint her.”

“Nay, we wouldna want to disappoint her, now, would we?” Hawke looked around the courtyard and rubbed his chin. “Did she describe the horse ye are to bring to her?”

“She said it is tan with a black spot on its side.”

“Phoebe’s horse,” he muttered under his breath. “How much money did she offer ye to do this?”

“A whole shillin’, my laird.” The boy’s eyes lit up. This was a lot of money for someone so poor. Children didn’t usually have money at all.

“I’ll tell ye what.” Hawke dug into his sporran, pulling out a silver coin and holding it up. The boy’s eyes grew wide. “I’ll give ye a merk if ye let me take the horse to the lady instead.”

“All right,” said Harry, nodding and holding out his hand.