Page 39 of Highland Hearts

“Lately, there is far too much confusion circling around it to make any sense of it,” Old Mary confessed. “And far too many people added to the mix of things. It is like a game with too many players, and no one knows which side is which.”

Dawn gestured as if counting coins.

“There is more to this situation than the greed for coins, but beyond that I cannot see, and I assume I am not meant to see for whatever reason.”

Dawn gestured as if expressing sadness and shrugged.

Old Mary understood what she asked. “I wish I could say I saw no harm coming to the clan, to your family, but not seeing beyond what I have been able to see thus far does not allow me to say that with any certainty.” She reached across the table to rest her aged hand on Dawn’s. “Cree is a wise warrior. Worry not.”

Dawn smiled softly and nodded.

Old Mary eased back in the chair. “Now tell me your plans for your new home.”

* * *

Dawn gaveOld Mary a hug at the door.

“My old bones are tired. I will nap and see you at supper,” Old Mary said.

Dawn nodded and turned, seeing the children sitting on the ground absorbed in a game with sticks and stones. Beast lay stretched out asleep beside Lizbeth, and Tynan sat to the dog’s other side using him to rest against. Keeping up with his sister and brother in play must have exhausted him and Beast as well. Her young son was in need of a nap.

Dawn hurried her steps away from the cottage but stopped abruptly after taking only a few steps, something catching her attention out of the corner of her right eye. It was a flash of brown cloth hurrying behind a cottage. Or was it?

It couldn’t be the cleric. He was secured in the dungeon, she reasoned as she hurried to see what she had spotted, or barely spotted. When she made it around the cottage, it was to catch a fleeting glimpse of what she again thought was a flash of brown cloth disappearing around yet another cottage. Whoever it was seemed to be weaving a trail between the cottages so as not to be noticed, and that trail appeared headed for the woods.

Dawn hurried her pace, intent on finding out who it was that appeared to be fleeing. She caught one more flash of brown cloth, dark brown cloth, and feared she would not reach the person before he disappeared into the woods.

Her fears were founded when she sped past the last cottage before the woods and stopped suddenly, seeing no one. The woods stretched in front of her calm and quiet. No rushing footfalls were heard, no snapping branches, no rustle of leaves, no birds taking sudden flight. All was quiet.

She stood staring at the peaceful scene not sure what to think. Where had the fleeing person gone? Had she missed spotting a turn he took? Had she truly seen anyone? Could it have been a low flying bird?

The she heard it, a distinct snap of a branch… but it came from behind her.

Instinct might have one screaming for help, but that was not an option for her. Instinct, however, did have her responding without hesitation. She fisted her hand at her side and brought it up in a powerful swing as she swerved around.

CHAPTER12

Dawn’s fisted hand was caught in the grip of a more powerful hand before she was swerved around, her arm flung down and pressed just beneath her breasts, and the iron-clad strength of a muscled arm locked her against a hard body.

Her silent gasp caught in her throat as lips rested near her ear.

“If you did as I ordered, wife, Beast, would have his teeth in the person you feared was behind you.”

Dawn sagged with relief against her husband and silently admonished herself for not realizing it was her husband. But then the nearby pines in the woods had masked his musky scent.

Cree turned her around in his arms slowly and before he could rest her snug against him, her arms hurried around him, and she buried herself tight against him. He did not like that fright still lingered in her, and that he had been the cause of it, sneaking up behind her, worried that she might go into the woods alone when he had spotted her standing there as if in contemplation.

Or had he been the cause of her fright?

“What happened, Dawn?” he asked annoyed that she should feel fear in her own home.

She tightened her hug on him, letting him know she needed a few moments, and she was relieved when his powerful arms squeezed her tighter.

“I am here with you. You have nothing to fear,” he said, wondering what had caused her fright.

As if suddenly realizing she could be wasting time in finding whoever it was she had seen, she pulled herself out of his arms and gestured.

“You need to slow down. I cannot keep up with you when you gesture fast,” he urged.