“Southeast,” she agreed. “Around the town. And then where?”
Trick lifted a shoulder. “Shall we go find out?”
Fifty-Two
THEY MOUNTEDtheir horses and headed through the woods, following the ruts. Once clear of the ruins, the trees grew dense, providing reason for the chests to have been carted out singly. A larger cart wouldn’t have made it through.
At the forest’s edge, the tracks stopped.
“They loaded them on a wagon here,” Kendra said.
“Two wagons. No, three, or maybe four. Look.” Wider-set tracks turned south and continued. “Shall we see where they went?”
The tracks were easy enough to follow, leading Trick to believe they’d missed the thieves by not more than hours. Clouds were gathering again, and the trail would soon be washed away. But for now, the air was warm, the day bright as only a Scottish summer afternoon could be.
The colors seemed more brilliant here, slopes of blues and purples, the land’s harsh contours brought out by shadow and sun. Rabbits scurried in the underbrush, and a flock of swallows soared overhead. Scotland was beautiful, and Trick had missed it in a way he hadn’t realized till now, stuck in the confines of the dingy gray castle.
“What happened back there?” Kendra asked quietly.
“Hmm?”
“With Niall.”
“Oh. That.” Warmth crept up his neck, his memories of the incident childish at best. “I’m not sure. But it won’t happen again.”
“It will.”
“Nay, it won’t. I’m not usually as volatile as you’ve seen me…” His voice trailed off, because he didn’t know how to explain it. The longer he stayed at his crumbling childhood home, the more confused he seemed to get.
He’d learned his early years hadn’t been as he remembered—or as the duke had later caused him to remember. His world had tilted on its axis. And though he’d found family, they were too new, too unfamiliar, to possibly lean on yet.
Which left him his wife. He needed her more than he’d like to admit.
Thank God she was here. He gave her a wavery smile, and her lips curved in return. He wanted to kiss them. Hell, he always wanted to kiss them. “I just need to become accustomed to having family. It won’t happen again.”
“It will,” she insisted. “He’s your brother.”
“Exactly, and so he deserves my best. I’ll apologize for disbelieving him, and from now on I need to be more patient. He looks a man, but he’s yet a lad, and I must remember that.”
“No.” Her laugh rang over the hillside, and her smile would lift the most morose man’s mood. Sweet Mary, he was lucky to have her. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Trick. This is the way brothers are. Families are. We don’t give each other our best, I’m afraid, but more often our worst. We slide into comfort and forget ourselves. It’s the hugs after the battles that make it worthwhile.”
A concept so unfamiliar it bordered on incomprehensible. It had been so very long since he could reliably expect a hug from anyone, let alone someone he’d hurt.
Lost in thought, he was caught by surprise when Chaucer balked at the edge of a river. Kendra tugged on Pandora’s reins. “Look, the tracks disappear. Shall we cross?”
There was no bridge in sight. The water didn’t look too deep—waist high, he guessed, at most—but he eyed her long skirts and the sun overhead. “The day is getting away from us. Let’s take what we’ve found back to Hamish and Niall. They may have an idea where the thieves were headed.”
“I left my cloak in the dungeon.”
“We also didn’t lock up. We’ll follow the tracks back. I’m not certain how to return from here, anyway.”
Fifty-Three
KENDRA’S HEARTfelt light as they rode back. She’d heard a warmth in Trick’s voice that made her feel perhaps he was finally opening up. When she smiled over at him, he smiled back, raking her from head to toe with those amber eyes. A glimmer in them assured her that he liked what he saw, and her body reacted immediately.
How many more hours until they could sneak up to their chamber at Duncraven tonight? She’d never thought she’d look forward to anything in that gloomy place, but they had five long weeks to make up for.
Back at the ruins, she tethered Pandora and followed Trick into the dungeon, shivering a bit as she descended the narrow, cold staircase in the slanting light of the open trapdoor.
