Sorchatried to listen as he told her of his plans for Gartmhor, all the ways heplanned to fill his purse as well as improve the lives of his people, but itwas impossible. She kept looking at the trees. They were in a clearing, butonly yards from them the trees began to thicken until she was unable to seeinto their depths. She was not sure why the trees held such an allure, but shewas certain that their attraction was not due to their great beauty. Fearknotted her insides, not admiration. There was something out there, somethingthat meant only harm to her and Ruari. All too aware that Ruari was slow tobelieve in what he could not see, she continued to stare into the shadowyforests, her eyes beginning to sting from the strain as she searcheddesperately for some sign, some warning signal, Ruari would heed.
“Thewoman can see us,” warned Thomas, hesitating in his advance and looking toSimon for instructions.
SimonTreacher paused and stared through the thick trees toward the prize he hadworked so hard to claim. Sorcha Hay was indeed staring intently in hisdirection, her lovely face slightly marred by a frown of deep concentration. Hewaited tensely for a warning cry to escape her full lips.
“Nay,she does not see us,” he finally said, inching forward and signaling his men todo the same.
“Shewill soon.”
“Thenit will be too late.”
“Aye,for us.”
“Ifyou are too great a coward to face a few Scots, Thomas, you may remount andride back to England.” Simon nodded when Thomas flushed, tightened his jaw, andcontinued to move. “And all of you are to remember that the woman is not to beharmed and that Sir Kerr is mine.” He stared back at his small army, glaring atthem until they all nodded. “I intend to make him pay dearly for taking what ismine.”
“Yedinnae seem to be paying me much heed, lass,” Ruari murmured, frowning atSorcha’s distraction as he took her by the arm. “Mayhap this will catch yourinterest. ‘Tis important to me that ye learn about my lands, my people, and myplans for them both,” he said in a quiet, serious voice, watching her intentlyfor a moment before tugging her toward the trees.
“Nay,”Sorcha cried, fighting his pull. She inwardly cursed the whims of fate for sheknew Ruari was about to speak of the future, quite possibly a shared future,but she could not let the desires of her heart outweigh her common sense.Something was very wrong, and she had to get him to heed her warning. “We mustleave this place.”
“Sorcha,what is wrong?” he asked, stopping to grasp her gently by the shoulders as hebecame aware of her agitation.
“Wemust leave here—now.” She glanced toward the forest. “We must get far away fromthose accursed trees.”
“Thereis something about the trees that afrights ye?”
“Nay!”She pulled free of his light hold, grasped him by the arms and dearly wished hewas smaller so that she could shake him until his teeth rattled. “There is notime to argue this. Call it a woman’s whim—tell your men I have lost my wits orthat the sun has disordered my poor wee female brain. I dinnae care! Just telleveryone to mount and hie back to Gartmhor.” The faint jingle of a horse’sharness reached her ears, and she cursed, spinning round to stare at the woods.“Too late.”
Ruarilooked toward the wood in time to see the first horseman emerge from thedappled shadows that had hidden him, and he cursed. “Sassenach bastards.”
Heknew there was no time to mount and meet the enemy on horseback. Pulling Sorchaalong, he raced back to his men, bellowing orders each step of the way. Theyall grabbed their helmets and shields from their horses then slapped theanimals into a gallop straight toward the swiftly advancing Englishmen. In theinstant of extra time the resultant confusion gained them, Ruari and his menran to a more open piece of land and formed a tight circle. Despite Sorcha’sprotests that she could fight with them, he pushed her into the center of theprotective circle.
“Staythere, lass,” he ordered her. “I need both mind and heart set on one thing now—fightingthese dogs. I cannae do that if I think ye are in their reach. Now they mustclimb o’er me to get to you.”
Sorchahad no time to reply as the first onslaught swept over them. With their shieldsand long swords, Ruari and his men pushed aside the Englishmen’s charge. A fewloud curses from the men of Gartmhor told her that it had cost them a few dropsof blood, but none of the men faltered or fell as the English reined in andturned to charge again.
Thesecond charge cost the English two men who were unhorsed and killed by theScots. One of Ruari’s men fell to his knees, knocked senseless by the blow of aflail, but he was quickly helped to his feet by the men flanking him. He wipedthe blood from his eyes and, after swaying a little, stood firm.
Shewas astonished when the English regrouped for a third charge. It was a poorchoice of tactics. In two assaults they had not successfully broken Ruari’scircle yet had lost two of their men. Despite the fact that they numbered closeto thirty compared to Ruari’s mere dozen, it was still an unacceptable loss. Itdid not show much hope of being successful either, for the horses shied as theydrew near the tight group of shielded Scots, and not every one of theEnglishmen could strike at the same time.
Anothertwo Englishmen fell when they charged, Ruari’s men unhorsing them and breakingthe circle only long enough to deliver the death stroke. In the one briefmoment when one of the English horsemen paused to try fruitlessly to cut downone of Ruari’s men, Sorcha recognized her enemy. Sir Simon Treacher had foundher. At the moment it was not particularly comforting to discover that Ruariwas right when he spoke of how thoroughly the Scots and English could spy uponeach other.
“‘TisSimon Treacher,” she yelled. “Ye were right, Ruari. The mon does have goodspies.”
“Iimagine it pained ye some to say that, dearling,” Ruari called back even as heparried a blow aimed at his head.
BeforeSorcha could demand to know how he could jest at such a time, the Englishstruck a telling blow. It had cost them four men, but they finally reducedRuari’s numbers to eleven. One of the Scots screamed as an English sword cutdeep into the flesh of his sword arm. He was quickly pushed inside of thecircle, his companions closing ranks around him.
Aquick look told Sorcha that the man would probably live, but he could no longerhold his place in the circle. She tore off a length of her petticoat andhurriedly bound the wound to stop the bleeding, then stared at the man. He wasthickly muscular, yet smaller than most of Ruari’s men. A quick glance towardtheir enemy revealed that they were dismounting. It was not going to be easy tofend off nearly twice their number when they were all on an equal footing.Ignoring the man’s protests, she grabbed his light helmet, stuck it on herhead, and then took his shield. Although the shield was heavier than she hadanticipated, she knew she could hold it as long as was necessary, and sheslipped her arm through the straps on the back. After taking a deep breath tosteady herself, she nudged her way into the circle next to Ruari and bracedherself for both the ensuing attack and his certain protest.
“Getback inside the circle, ye fool lass,” Ruari yelled after staring at her inshock.
“Nay,‘tis my enemy ye are fighting,” she said as she drew her sword.
“Yecannae fight grown men hefting a shield that is nearly as big as ye are.”
“‘Tisnaethat big, and even if it is, then it just means that more of me is protected.”
“Lass,this enemy doesnae wish to hurt ye. He wants ye verra much alive. Ye need notput yourself in harm’s way.”
