Gisele tried to sound calm, but she suspected that some of her fear had slipped into her voice, for Nigel watched her closely. She decided to let him think that her fear had been stirred by what she had been forced to do. If he guessed that it was because she was terrified that he could sicken and die it could be upsetting for him, and it could tell him far too much about her feelings. Until she could decide how much weight to give his remark about the bounty, the very last thing she wished him to guess was that she was coming to care for him.
“I cannot properly tend your wound here,” she said, “but I do not know where to go. We need somewhere safe and hidden away.”
“There is no one left to tell the DeVeaux where to find us.”
“True,” she reluctantly admitted. “That is not our greatest problem, however. You will need rest and shelter for a while until this wound is healed enough for you to ride again. If all goes well, that could be in just a few days, but we both know it could easily be a lot longer.”
Nigel cursed. “I have done a poor job today.”
“Non. There were six of them and only one of you. There are now six dead men, and you have but one wound. I do not see that as doing a poor job. Do you know of some place where we might seek some shelter? I have begun to think that you know this land better than I do.”
“Some parts of it, aye, quite possibly. There is a cave in these hills. I rested there when I first came to France.” He sat up, wincing a little. “I will take us there.”
She helped him stand, letting him drape his arm over her shoulders and rest some of his weight on her. “What about our horses?”
“I fear ye will have to come back and collect them, and I am going to have to ask ye to do a distasteful chore.”
“The dead men?” She fought to maintain a steady footing as she helped him walk yet let him lead.
“Aye, lass. The three bodies on the hillside should be pushed or dragged back down. Let the carrion find them there, far away from us. Ye must strip them all of anything that could be of use to us. If any of their mounts are still about, keep one, strip the rest of what we might use, and then set all the others free. We can use that one as a packhorse. Can ye do all of that?”
Gisele only hesitated a moment before nodding. It would be a grizzly, horrifying chore, but she recognized the wisdom of his instructions. It was impossible for her to bury all six men to keep the scavengers away, so the only other choice was to make sure the bodies were nowhere near them. They also had a need for supplies, since they might well be holed up somewhere for days. She had a strong distaste for taking from the dead, but she knew she would be a fool to let that make her throw away things that could help her and Nigel survive.
“The cave is just behind that rock there, lass,” Nigel said.
She frowned as she looked at him. He was pale and bathed in sweat. The walk to the cave had badly sapped his strength. Leaving him slumped against a rock, she cleared a path through the brush in front of the cave opening As carefully as she was able to without a torch, she checked the cave for signs of animals, then helped Nigel to get inside.
“I will see to our horses first,” she said, “for they have what I need to tend to your wound and make you more comfortable. I shall be right back.”
“Take my dagger with ye, sweeting.”
She suddenly recalled that her dagger still rested in the dead man’s neck, that it would have to be retrieved. Then she hastily pushed that horrifying thought aside. Nodding, she took Nigel’s dagger and hurried away to get their horses. She found one of the DeVeau horses lingering close to hers and Nigel’s. Tethering it so that she could deal with it later, she led their horses back to the cave. It took a little coaxing, but she finally managed to pull the reluctant animals through the opening that was almost too narrow. Then she left them in the far corner near the mouth of the cave and hastily took all she needed from the saddlepacks.
After she removed Nigel’s shirt andjupon, he was barely conscious. Gisele worked on his wound as swiftly as she could. Once the injury was washed, stitched, and bandaged with clean rags, she spread out their bedding. Nigel was so unsteady she almost had to carry him to the bed. It took only a moment of scurrying around outside of the cave to collect enough wood to make a small fire.
When the fire was lit she checked carefully to make sure that the smoke from the fire was leaving the cave. To her relief it appeared that the cave had a great many holes, ones she could not see but would obviously do a very good job of keeping the air within the cave clean. Gisele prayed that those holes were not so numerous or large that she and Nigel would find that they had no more protection than if they had bedded down outside if it rained.
Certain that Nigel was asleep, Gisele took a long drink of wine to steady herself and went to take care of the bodies and gather what supplies she could. It nearly made her ill, but she even managed to extract her dagger from the man she had killed before pushing him off the hill. All of the horses lingered in the area, and after stripping them of their saddles and packs she set free all but the one she had tethered earlier. It took her two trips back to the cave to bring in all she had gathered. She had even taken some blankets, but she left them outside, unsure of their cleanliness. Nigel might need them for some added warmth, but she was certain he would not be helped much if those extra blankets were filthy and infested with vermin.
Exhausted, she washed herself off, forced a little water into Nigel, and then crawled into bed beside him. As she closed her eyes she paused to pray that Nigel would recover from his wound fully and quickly. She hated to admit it, for it made her feel very helpless, but she needed him hale, strong, and by her side. The battle to stay alive had become larger than she could deal with alone. For now, she was all that stood between them and a horde of DeVeaux searching the whole of the country, eager to catch or kill them. Gisele knew she made a very small shield. With Nigel at her side she had begun to feel safer than she had for a long time, but she suspected that she was going to become fully reacquainted with fear until Nigel was well again.
Thirteen
“Why are ye here?”
Gisele woke up so suddenly that she found herself short of breath. She looked at Nigel, and her eyes widened. He was staring at her as if she were a ghost, and his eyes were glazed. She touched his cheek, and felt her heart skip with fear. He was very hot.
“Ye shouldnae be here,” he rasped, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “I fled home and hearth because of you. Have ye naught better to do than continue to torment me?”
Afraid that his agitation would reopen his wound, she scrambled out of his hold. He fell back onto the bed, softly cursing whoever it was that his fevered mind told him was here at his side. As Gisele got some water to bathe his face, she realized that he spoke of a woman.
It took several moments of washing his face and forcing him to drink some water before he grew calm again. Gisele continued to bathe his heated body as he slowly fell into a restless sleep. She felt an urge to weep, and knowing the reason why did not make her feel any better.
Nigel was still tormented by the woman he had left behind, still cared for the woman. Gisele realized that she had begun to nurture some hope, however small, that one day she and Nigel might share more than a sweet passion. It was clear that his heart was still in firm bondage to another. It would be hard enough to fight for him if her rival were real, and near at hand. Gisele doubted that anyone could fight the cherished but unattainable dream to which he still clung.
For a brief moment she decided that she would put an end to the lovemaking they indulged in so greedily once he was well again. She did not wish to be used just to soften the hard edges of a memory. Then she sighed and softly cursed her own weaknesses. She did not want to give up the passion she enjoyed so much. There was also a chance that she did not want to give up—the obviously very tiny chance that there might be more between them—but she did not dare to consider that possibility for too long. She had more than enough trouble on her plate. The last thing she needed to start thinking about was what she did or did not feel for Nigel Murray. And there was also the fact that she could not completely fault him if he were using her, knowingly or unknowingly. She was using him, too—to protect her, to fight for her, and to show her what passion should be.
She knew she was going to have to firmly confront her feelings at some point, however. If she lost this battle for her life, it did not really matter what she did or did not feel. She planned to survive, was intending to do everything necessary to clear her name, so the moment of truth lurked upon the horizon. Gisele grimaced as she rose to tend to the horses She hoped she would have enough strength to face that truth when the time came.
