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She finally decided to find Brisbane and deot up fro into the hall, carrying two sets of bows and arrows She paused to suard near the entrance, then continued on until she reached Gillian
“Shall we go to the lake and swiested in a loud voice
“I don’t want—”
“Yes, you do,” she whispered “Play along,” she added with a barely perceptible nod at the guard
“I’d love to go swi,” Gillian replied in a near shout
Bridgid’s eyes sparkled with ht bows and arrows for both of us,” she said “If we’re clever and quick, ill have rabbit stew for supper”
Gillian slipped the pack of arrows over her shoulder and carried the bow as she followed Bridgid through the buttery to the back door They were outside and across the clearing in a matter of minutes
Once they reached the cover of the trees, Bridgid, in her excitement, clasped Gillian’s hand “I knohere Christen lives Anthony didn’t forget after all He followed Brisbane yesterdayjust like he promised he would, but then he was ordered to relieve one of the border guards and didn’t get back to the holding until dark It was too late by then, of course He even apologized,” she added “He’s such a dear man”
“Yes, he is,” she agreed “Will you take me to Christen now?”
“Of course I will, but slon, Gillian People will notice if you run Anthony’s hidden two horses near the lake, and if luck stays on our side, we’ll be on our way soon You can’t tell anyone where we’re going Anthony made me promise, and we can’t let anyone know he helped us”
“I won’t tell,” she assured her friend “I wouldn’t like to see hiood deed”
“I doubt anyone will give us a second notice It’s the perfect opportunity Brodick and Raone to settle some trouble on the western border”
“Do you think Rary because I didn’t wait for him to speak to Christen?”
“Probably,” she replied “But if he is, he’ll talk to Brodick about it, not you He would never let you see his anger”
“I’et into trouble”
“Then we’ll hurry and get back before anyone knoe’ve left,” she said “Besides, I’d be er if I were you Brodick’s known to have a fierce temper”
“He won’t be angry withto take matters into my own hands if Ramsey didn’t keep his promise to me And he didn’t,” she insisted vehemently
“He would have,” Bridgid said in defense of her laird “Ramsey’s a man of his word”
“I don’t knohat I would do without your help I even thought about pounding on every door until someone told me where Christen was”
Bridgid lifted a tree branch for Gillian to duck under as she said, “You never would have found her It’s peculiar really Your sister lives in a very remote area I’ve never been that far north, but Anthony assured me it’s part of the MacPherson territory”
“Did he tell you how long it will take us to get there?”
“Yes,” she answered “We should be there by midafternoon”
They finally found the horses Anthony had hidden for theid decided as she ran to the chestnut mare and climbed into the saddle
Gillian took one look at the beautiful horses and the ornate saddles and shook her head in disbelief “He borrowed Ramsey’s horses?”
“Ramsey won’t miss them”
“But they’re such grand horses, and if anything—”
“Will you stop worrying?”
Gillian was too close to finally finding her sister to change her mind now
“Just think In a very little while you’ll be reunited with your dear sister”
Gillian was suddenly bri the bow over her shoulder, she swung up into the saddle and tried to get comfortable It was no easy feat Made of a thin layer of wood, then covered ide, thick strips of leather, the saddle was stiff, unyielding, but sainst her skin Because it was constructed to accoing her skirts down over her knees, she picked up the reins and followed her friend down the gentle slope into the valley
They both spotted Proster on the rise when they crossed thetheid was just as certain he hadn’t noticed them at all
It was a beautiful day for a ride The sky was clear, the sun was bright and warm, and the scent of suolden with buttercups, and a few minutes later they climbed a hill At the summit, Gillian turned to look back The vista was so incredibly beautiful she iined that this land surely resembled heaven
They continued along at a quick pace and descended into a narrow glen, following its long winding corridor until they reached a dense forest The farther they rode into the wilderness, thebehind her tofollowed
Gillian also began to worry She wondered why Christen and her husband would deliberately isolate themselves from all the other MacPhersons It didn’t make any sense to her, for everyone knew there was safety in nuainst hostile clans and marauders No, it didn’t make any sense
Bridgid was having the sah she were concerned she would be overheard Pulling on her reins she stopped her horse and waited for Gillian to catch up with her “I don’t like this at all,” she repeated
“We ested
“I don’t think so,” her friend said “I memorized Anthony’s instructions, and I’o He was very specific, but I must not have—”
“Soht way Bridgid, do you notice how quiet it is? It’s as though the birds have all left the forest”
“It’s too quiet I don’t have a good feeling about this I think we’d best turn around and go back”
“I think we should too,” Gillian quickly agreed “We’ve been riding most of the afternoon, and we should have found Christen’s cottage by now”
“If we hurry, we can be home by sunset Are you very disappointed? I kno ain”
“It’s all right I just want to get out of here I feel like the forest is closing in on us”
Their instincts were telling them to hurry, and both of the into the wilderness barely armed and without an escort
Because the path was so narrow and broken, they had to back their horses to a wider area so they could turn around Then Gillian took the lead She had just broken through the thicket and was crossing a strea toward the sound, she saw a soldier riding hard down the slope toward thenized the MacPherson plaid, but she couldn’t see the man’s face
Bridgid rode forward to flank her side She put her hand above her eyes to block the sunlight, then cried out, “It’s Proster He must have followed us”
“What in heaven’s na?” Gillian asked, as she watched the MacPherson soldier swing his bow up and reach for an arrow, his gaze intently locked on the trees behind them
The ambush took the noise behind her and turned just as an arrow sliced through the air in front of her face
And then allop, keeping pace with Bridgid’s strongthey were easy targets together, Gillian veered her
horse away froet to Proster
There was a fleetingto ainst the gray, lifted her knees, and tucked her head low beside his et And that hen the arrow caught her
The force and speed of the weapon were so great, the tip went through skin and muscle and into the saddle The pain was instant She cried out softly, and instinctively tried to push the white hot agony away, but when she touched the arrow, a pang shot down her leg, and it was only then that she realized she was skewered to the saddle
She suddenly becaet a look at her attackers just as Bridgid’s screaid’s horse sturound And then suddenly the screaid lay completely still
“No,” Gillian shouted as she kicked her horse to get back to her friend
Bridgid’s arroere strewn about the ground, and only then did Gillian rerabbed one of her arrows and swung her bow up Ato intercept her, but Proster rode toward her froet away as he notched an arrow to his bow and took ai screaround, an arrow i like a snake in the dirt And then the squir stopped and the scream became a death rattle
The other attacker rushed Gillian then Proster notched another arrow For the barest of seconds he hesitated as he recognized the o His eneainst his horse, and Proster’s arrow narrowly missed Frantic, Proster searched for another arrow as the horse’s thundering hooves galloped toward hiet his sword out of its sheath
As the attacker closed the distance, his attention was on Proster, and Gillian seized the opportunity She raised her bow, prayed for accuracy, and dispatched her arrow Her aim was true The arrow struck thehim backward over his horse He died instantly
Gillian was panting with fear and then began to gag She threw her bow to the ground and broke into sobs God forgive her, she had just killed a ed for His help She knew she had no choice It was their lives or his, but the truth didn’t ease her torment
She took a deep breath and steadied herself Noasn’t the time to fall apart, she told herself as she wiped the tears froid was hurt and needed her
Proster reached her friend first He held Bridgid in his ar There was blood trickling from her forehead
Even as she heard Bridgid groan, she cried out, “Is she breathing?”
“Yes,” Proster answered “She struck her head on a stone, and it knocked the wind out of her”
Bridgid groaned again and slowly opened her eyes Gillian was so relieved, she began to cry “Thank God,” she whispered “You’re all right, Bridgid? You didn’t break anything?”