Page 41 of Highland Storm

“Nay, I’m no’ done dressin’ Lennox’s wound.”

“Let Orrick do it. Phoebe, I need to speak to ye in private.”

“But –”

“Now.”

“I’ll tend to his wound,” offered Orrick, hurrying over to help Lennox.

“Let the cur die,” called out old Callum from the wagon. “He has my son and willna get away with it.”

“Callum, have a little more Mountain Magic while ye’re waitin’,” said Hawke, hoping to calm down his great-grandfather before he did something stupid. Hawke took Phoebe by the arm and pulled her to the side.

“What do ye want?” she asked, wiping the cream off her hands with a cloth.

“We need to talk.”

“Hawke, I already told ye. I’m sorry I tried to escape again, but I wanted to get back to my faither.”

“That’s no’ what I wanted to talk to ye about.”

“It isna?” Her eyes rose to his and then trailed back down. “Then what?”

“I want to ken why ye flung yer knife at Lennox – one of yer own men, last night.”

“I did it because I wanted to stop him. If he made it back to Crookston Castle, he’d return here with more MacNabs just like ye said. I didna want to see ye and the others dyin’ before my very eyes.”

“I dinna believe ye.”

“What?” She looked up at him and her brows dipped. “Why no’?”

“Phoebe, I think there is somethin’ ye are no’ tellin’ me. Does it have to do with yer faither?”

“I dinna ken what ye mean.”

“Is yer da the one who is ailin’?”

“Nay, of course no’,” she said. “My faither is a strong chieftain.”

“I heard Lennox tell ye that yer faither has nothin’ to say about things anymore. Why no’?”

“All right, I admit my faither is ill,” she answered with a sigh. “But he’s still the laird and makes all the decisions.”

“So it was his choice to kill our messenger who came in peace with a letter askin’ for a trade?”

“Nay, that was of Euan’s doin’. My faither, I am sure, wants peace between our clans.”

“Ye’d better hope that’s the case. Because if no’, I swear I will do whatever I have to in order to rescue my grandfaither.”

“Dinna worry. I’m sure my faither will trade yer grandfaither for me.”

“And what about him?” asked Hawke, nodding toward Lennox. “Will he want him as well?”

“Aye,” she said, not sounding so certain. Hawke had a feeling she answered that way just so he wouldn’t think of the man as worthless extra baggage, and kill him before they got to the Highlands.

“Hawke, we’ve got the prisoner tied up and in the cart,” called out Logan. “We’re ready to go. Do ye want the girl tied up and in the back of the wagon as well?”

Phoebe’s eyes darted up to his and she looked panicked. “Hawke, ye dinna need to tie me up.”