Siena hurried over to the one purple bush and she caught the light floral scent which he liked. She reached into the bush and picked several of the sprigs. In the middle of the purple she spotted two sprigs of white heather, something she’d never seen before. She reached to snip the white buds. The minute she touched the white sprigs she caught a glimpse of Michael. He was crying and asking when he was going to go home to his father. She gasped and clutched her breast.
“What is wrong, lass?” Elen asked.
Siena turned toward her. “I just caught a glimpse of Michael and he is alive, but I don’t know where he is located.”
“’Twas the white heather,” Elen said. “’Tis known to be lucky.”
Just then something swept by Siena and she screamed and jumped. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it was big. She moved as fast as she could back to where she’d left her bow, but she wasn’t fast enough as something caught her skirt and she heard the material rip.
Elen’s horse reared and the other two horses scattered.
“Go for help!” Siena screamed just as she reached her bow. She jerked it up and positioned her bow just as the animal swung around to come at her again. She took deadly aim, knowing that if she missed the animal would defiantly hit her and most likely kill her with his tusk. The animal’s black eyes were wild and his tusks long as he barreled down upon her. The arrow was swift. It caught the animal in the eye. With a squeal he fell to the ground and slid to her feet.
Siena’s knees were shaking so bad she could hardly stand, but then she heard Agatha scream, “T--there is another one, milady!” She ran right past Siena with the boar chasing right behind her. Again, Siena’s aim was true as she caught the animal between the eyes.
Siena was shaking so bad that her teeth were chattering. “I—I do believe that I need to sit down.” She staggered over to a smooth rock. She didn’t realize that tears were streaming down her cheeks, but when she let go of her bow, she realized that she still held the white sprig of white heather in her hand.
Everything would be all right.
Chapter 14
The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance.
The ground shook.
Siena looked up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Surely there could be no more boars because she didn’t have the strength to move. She could hear Agatha screaming and crying in the background.
As the rumble grew closer, Siena turned to her left and saw Roderick and his men galloping toward her. Before she could blink, he jerked Hercules to a halt and was on his feet running toward her, his sword drawn ready for battle.
“What the hell!” Roderick bellowed as he noticed the dead boars at Siena’s feet. His heart was beating so fast that he had to pause before he could speak again. In the short time that it had taken him to get to her, he realized that he could never lose Siena because he had an overwhelming need to protect her, but there was something more. She meant more to him than he ever thought possible.
He knelt down beside her and took her trembling hand in his. “Are ye injured, lass?”
“Saints above!” Duncan shouted from behind Roderick. “Och, the lass has taken down two boars. How in the hell did the lass do that?”
“They dinna hurt ye?” Roderick asked again as he checked Siena’s body for injuries.
“N--No, they just scared me,” Siena finally admitted as she dashed the tears from her face. She was shaking so bad that her voice trembled. “T—They came out of nowhere. I—I barely had time to shoot them.” She couldn’t believe Roderick was here. She desperately needed his comfort. As if he read her thoughts, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, then rested his chin on the top of her head.
“And that was one of the reasons I dinna like ye ridin’ without a guard. Ye scairt the hell out of me, lass.” He took a deep breath. “Elen sounded like a banshee when she met us screaming for help and waving her pipe in the air.”
Siena brought her hand up to stifle her giggles as she pictured what Elen must have looked like riding disheveled on her horse. “Now I can see that a guard would have been good, however, I also was capable of protecting myself,” she pointed out.
Roderick felt that Siena was gaining control of herself again because she’d stopped trembling and he hated to admit that what she said was true. The lass seemed most capable. “Aye, but ye still could have been hurt and I would no forgive myself if you were hurt. `Twas a good thing that I’d ridden out to see how ye were faring when I met Elen.”
Siena pushed back from him, then changed the subject. “We got our herbs so I guess we can go back to the keep,” she said as she stood back.
“Aye. And now we can have roasted boar for the feast tonight. Everyone will be happy about that,” Roderick said, then looked at his men. “We’ll need to get these animals back to the keep and get them dressed for tonight’s feast. Tonight, we celebrateBeltane.”
“I don’t see, Star,” Siena said as she looked around. “She must have bolted during all the commotion.”
“Aye,” Roderick said. “’Tis one of the things that caught my attention. Yers and Agatha’s horses coming back without riders was not a good sign. Star was a silver blur as she raced back to the keep. Come on, ye can ride with me.” He helped her up on Hercules’ broad back.
“Duncan, are ye goin’ to take Agatha back?”
“Aye. Just as soon as she quits shaking.” Duncan chuckled. He had his arm around Agatha waist. “No sure the lass can walk just yet.”
“It isn’t funny,” Agatha grumbled. “We both could have been dead if it were not for milady’s skills.”
