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"D’ye think he’s come to claim her, Uncle?" Ian interrupted "We ry excite the lad’s lean cheeks with feeling

Ja that he had been holding it

"I dinna ken," he said, surprised at the calmness of his own tone He had barely had time to take in the news, let alone to draw conclusions, but the lad was right, there was a danger to be dealt with

If this MacKenzie wished it, he ht of co bairn as evidence of his claim A court of laould not necessarily force a woht of a s in theand hiding as until his mother ith child, so that her brothers were forced to accept the unwelcoe A child was a permanent, undeniable bond between lanced toward the path that cah the loood

"Will he not be here on your heels? The Woolahtfully "I shouldna think so We took his horse, aye?" He grinned suddenly at Lizzie, who giggled faintly in reply

"Aye? And what’s to stop hirin widened substantially on Ian’s face

"I left Rollo in the wagon bed," he said "I think he’ll walk it, Uncle Ja sed modestly

"Well, I didna want the bastard to take us unawares And though I’ve not heard Cousin Brianna talk about her laddie lately--yon Wakefield, aye?" He paused delicately "I didna think she’d want to see this MacKenzie Especially if--"

"I should say Mr Wakefield has left his co," Jamie said "Especially if" It was no wonder she had stopped looking forward to Wakefield’s co--once she’d realized After all, hoould a woin?

He slowly and consciously unclenched his fists There would be tih for all that later For theto be dealt with

"Fetchto Ian "And you, lassie--" He gave Lizzie so intended for a se of the woodpile

"Bide ye here, and wait for your us a hand with his chihter--or I’ll have your guts for garters" This last threat was spoken half in jest, but the girl hite as though he’dblock, her knees wabbling beneath her She fu reassurance from the coldas a great red wolf His shadow stretched out black before him, and the late autumn sun touched him with fire

The medal in her hand was cold as ice

"O dear Mother," she murmured, over and over "O Blessed Mother, what have I done?"

45

FIFTY-FIFTY

The oak leaves were dry and crackling underfoot There was a constant fall of leaves from the chestnut trees that towered overhead, a slow yellow rain that round

"Is it true that Indians cana sound, or is that just so they tell you in Girl Scouts?" Brianna kicked at a s Dressed in wide skirts and petticoats that caught at leaves and twigs, we sounded like a herd of elephants ourselves

"Well, they can’t do it in dry weather like this, unless they swing through the trees like chi, it’s another story--even I could walk through here quietly then; the ground is like a sponge"

I drew inelderberry bush, and stooped to look at the fruit It was dark red, but not yet showing the blackish tinge of true ripeness

"Twoto use them for h, and to dry like raisins--and for that, you want thear, so you wait until they’re nearly ready to drop frolanced around, and s rock that looks like an Easter Island head"

"Very good," I said approvingly "Right, because it won’t change with the seasons"

Reaching the edge of a s our way slowly down the banks I had set Brianna to collect cress, while I poked about the trees in search of wood ears and other edible fungi

I watched her covertly as I hunted, one eye on the ground, one on her She was knee-deep in the strea stretch of long,water

There was so; had been for days At first I had assumed her air of tension was due to the obvious stresses of the new situation in which she found herself But over the past weeks she and Jamie had settled into a relationship that, while still ly warhted to see the her It had been three years since I had left her--four since she had left rown entirely into a woer read her as easily as I once had She had Ja behind a mask of caled this foraging expedition as an excuse to talk to her alone; with Jamie, Ian, and Lizzie in the house, and the constant traffic of tenants and visitors come to see Jamie, private conversation there was impossible And if what I suspected was true, this wasn’t a conversation I wished to have where anyone could hear

By the tie wood ears, Brianna had e with clureen cress and bunches of jointed horsetail reeds to make into tapers

She wiped her feet on the hee chestnut trees I handed her the canteen of cider, and waited till she had had a drink