“Betterin harm’s way than being pulled into his cold arms.” She met Ruari’s intentgaze for a moment then sighed with relief when he nodded.
“Justdinnae die before me,” he ordered her in a gruff voice.
“Ishall do my best to see that neither of us dies.”
Shereadied herself to meet the advancing enemy and was surprised that, despite thedanger they faced, Ruari’s words caused her heart to skip with joy and hope.Telling her not to fall first might sound a foolish command to others, but theway Ruari said it was what pleased her. The gruffness in his voice had not beenthat of command, but of deep emotion. Ruari did care for her, she was certainof it. As the first clash of English and Scottish swords echoed in the smallclearing, she prayed that they would both survive Simon Treacher’s attack sothat she could find out just how much Ruari did care.
Chapter Twenty
“Hold,”cried Dougal, waving his small group of ten men, two women, and one slendergirl to an abrupt halt. “Did ye hear that?”
“Hearwhat?” demanded Neil as she stepped up beside him, tugging her weary horsebehind her.
“Itsounds like swords clashing, like steel against steel.” He took a few moresteps, crouching slightly as he listened intently. “Aye, ‘tis fighting.Straight ahead of us.”
Neilcursed softly when Dougal hurried forward, heading toward the sound with acomplete disregard for the noise he was making and what danger he might beheedlessly running toward. She signaled to the others to keep pace, but to bequieter, then hurried to catch her nephew. When she grabbed him by the arm,stopping him short, she ignored the glare he sent her.
“Willye but think a moment?” she scolded him. “Ye dinnae ken what ye are runninginto the midst of, who is fighting and who is winning. Can ye approach with awee bit more caution, please?”
“Oh,aye, of course. I but feared that Sorcha might be in trouble. After all, thatis the very direction in which we saw her and Sir Kerr ride.”
“Shecould verra weel be in trouble, but ye willnae help her much if ye stumble intothe hands of her enemies, will ye?”
“Nay,ye are right.” He frowned and sent her a half-annoyed, half-amused look. “‘Twouldbe nice if ye werenae right quite so often, Aunt. It sore bruises a mon’svanity.”
“Yourscould weel afford a chip or two knocked out of it.”
Neilsmiled faintly when Dougal ignored her and started to move ahead silently. Thesounds of a battle grew more distinctive with each step they took. When thebattle finally came into view, she cursed and crouched next to Dougal.
“‘Tisthat English bastard Sir Simon Treacher,” whispered Dougal. “He has foundSorcha. How did the cursed mon discover that she was here? I have done my bestto keep this whole matter strictly between the Kerrs and the Hays.”
“Yeken as weel as I do that both sides of the border fairly teem with spies andtraitors. There could have been eyes on Sorcha for months, even near enough athand to see what happened at the fair.”
“Aye,I ken it.” He rubbed his chin, his expression thoughtful as he watched theKerrs fight an English force twice in number.
“Weel,let us go and give them some help.” Neil glared at Dougal when he grabbed herby the arm, stopping her advance. “What foolishness is this?”
“Wecould wait here and let the English fight the Kerrs for us.”
“Yewould squat here and let Sassenach dogs kill Scots before our verra eyes?”
“Ihave no wish to risk my life for a Kerr.”
“Andwhat of our Sorcha?”
“SirSimon doesnae want her injured.”
“Sheis in the midst of the fighting. What Treacher wants could be easily forgottenin the heat of battle. And what do we do if she survives after all the Kerrsare slaughtered?”
“Takeher from the English.”
“Chasethem down on these horses?” She nodded when he flushed slightly and scowled. “TheEnglish may also still outnumber us when they are done with the Kerrs. If we goand aid Sir Ruari now, we will number nearly as many as the English and we willhave the advantage of catching the motherless swine between us and the Kerrs. ‘Tistoo good an advantage to toss aside just because ye have no love for the Kerrs.”
Neilignored Dougal’s curses as she wrenched free of his hold. She ordered thewide-eyed Euphemia and Eirie to take the horses and hide, then drew her sword.The sound of the rest of their small group doing the same steadied her. Shestood up and, after securing her skirts above her knees so that they would nothinder her, she raced toward the English, the Hay war cry upon her lips. At herheels raced Dougal and their small group of warriors.
Sorchanearly faltered in parrying the thrusting sword of an Englishman as a familiarcry rent the air. Against her back she felt Ruari start with surprise as well.They had ended up back to back as the battle had slowly deteriorated into amelee with Ruari’s men doing all they could to save their own lives or at leastmake the English pay dearly before they died. As more of Ruari’s men fell, herhope for their survival had grown thinner. With Neil’s war cry still ringing inthe air, Sorcha felt a renewed strength surge through her aching arms.
“‘Tismy aunt to our rescue,” Sorcha cried, enjoying the brief respite from fightingas the English struggled to overcome their shock and confusion when they sawthis unplanned-for threat rapidly advancing on them.
