Page 18 of Highland Steel

“Ye mean before ye go on the search,” said Ethan. “I told ye, I plan on spendin’ time with my new bride.”

“You are recently married?” asked Rhoswen. “How exciting.”

“Him, too,” said Ethan, nodding to Hawke with a jerk of his head.

“Well then, I think you both should stay with your wives while Logan and I track down the thieves by ourselves.”

“We’ll see about that,” growled Logan, taking her by the arm and leading her toward the waiting traveling party. “But first things first. And right now, we need to get ye and yer siblin’s to safety. There is no better place for that than in the company of the MacKeefes.”

Chapter 6

Logan rode at the back of the traveling party watching behind them for anyone who might try to attack. Jack ran back and forth, sometimes disappearing in the foliage, keeping watch as well. With Hawke at the lead and his red tail guiding from the sky, they hadn’t had any trouble. Rhoswen and her siblings were slowing them down, but Logan didn’t want to push them.

“How much longer before we’re there?” asked Rhoswen over her shoulder. Logan directed his horse forward and slowed down to keep an even pace beside her.

“The trip from the Horn and Hoof to the MacKeefe camp normally takes about five hours,” he told her.

“Five hours?” She seemed surprised and disappointed all at the same time.

“Aye, of course. We’re goin’ to the Highlands, remember. Of course, five hours is what it takes my friends and I to get there. With ye and yer siblin’s along, it’ll take us at least an extra two.”

“Really?” Hopeful eyes looked up at his, waiting for his answer.

“Really,” he said, realizing the English members of their party looked worn and tired. “Perhaps we need to stop for a bite to eat. Hawke,” he called out. “We’ll stop up ahead near the creek.”

“What for?” he called back. “We need to keep goin’.”

“I think a rest is in order.”

“A rest?” complained Caleb. “We’ve been travelin’ so slow I even took a nap along the way atop my horse.”

“Ye did no’, Caleb,” growled Logan. Caleb had a way of overdramatizing most things, and elaborating the truth. If he were a wench, he’d make a good alewife the way he liked to gossip.

“I could go for somethin’ to eat, so I dinna mind stoppin’,” remarked Ethan, traveling at the center of the group. He was the biggest of the friends and always seemed to be hungry.

“We need to water the horses and give them a break anyway,” Hawke finally agreed, veering off the main road, leading them toward the creek.

They stopped their horses and Logan jumped off, reaching up to help Rhoswen dismount. This seemed to surprise her.

“I don’t need help,” she said with a slight smile, as if his action amused her.

“Just the same,” Logan said, clamping his hands around her waist and lifting her off the horse. The scent of wildflowers drifted by as her unbound hair blew in the spring breeze and brushed past his lips. So soft, like silk. And her waist felt feminine and curvy beneath his fingers. The only thing he didn’t like was the sword strapped to her waist, hitting up against him as her body slid from his grasp and her feet hit the ground.

“Mmmphf,” he said, looking down at the sword. “Why are ye wearin’ yer brathair’s sword?” He had noticed her wearing it earlier, but didn’t have a chance to ask her about it.

“It’s not my brother’s sword,” she told him. “It’s mine.”

“Yers?” He lifted his head and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she spat. “Don’t you believe I can use it?”

“I think the squire should have the sword, no’ the lady.”

“The squire is only a page and he can barely hold a sword let alone swing it.”

“What do ye mean?” he asked, his eyes roaming over to Newell who was helping his sister, Blaine, dismount.

“It was only for show,” she said, stretching and yawning – so unlike a lady. “How old do you think my brother is?”