'Keep in sight of me,' Hugh whispered, 'and keep silent.'
'It is you who is doing the talking,' I told him, more tartly than I intended as my mare slipped and banged me down rather sharply on his back.I gasped and rubbed at myself, wondering if I should have stayed put in the dungeon.
We moved on, with the horses picking their way slowly along the treacherous ground as the rain hissed down cold and penetrating.That rain may have saved us, uncomfortable though it was, for within a very few minutes it would obscure any trail we left.
I do not know for how long we rode.I only know that grey dawn was cracking the black of the night when Hugh next spoke.'We will halt soon,' he said.'There is a patch of woodland where we will spend the day.'
I eased myself on my uncomfortable perch and rubbed pointlessly at some of my aches.'Would we not be better riding by day?'I asked, 'when we can see our way?'
'This is still Armstrong land,' Hugh explained patiently.'We are on the bounds of Liddesdale.Do you know which families are there?'
'Of course I do,' I said, testy because of my myriad aches, particularly the major one on which I sat.'As well as the Armstrongs there are Elliots, Croziers, Nixons, Turnbulls, Rutherfords, Laidlaws, Halls, and Robsons.'
'Aye, and they are all allied and related to each other; the most predatory riding families in Scotland.'I could sense Hugh looking at me although I was unable to make out his features in the dullness of that bleak dawn.'Do you really think we would be able to ride through them unchallenged in the full light of day?One man and one maid, on horses without saddle or stirrups and with Wild Will looking for us?'
I knew he was right although I did not like to admit it.I was stubborn that way.I am still stubborn that way, as any who know me will bear witness to, but that is to jump my story and leave out far too much.'No,' I said, shortly.
'Then we do as I say.'There was no triumph in his voice, for which I was grateful.Tired and aching as I was, I could not have stood any gloating from a man who had bested me in an argument.I would have burst into tears, or perhaps slapped his face for him.Probably the latter.
The patch of forest land was open at the edges and became denser the further in we pushed.The light of day was strengthening as we entered yet, within a very few moments, it was hard to see where we were going, so close-packed were the trees.
'Dismount,' Hugh ordered as if he was the Captain of a troop of the King's Horse and I was one of his soldiers.He watched as I very gingerly lifted my leg over the rump of the horse and slid to the ground.My legs wobbled when my feet touched the thick leaf mould, but it was that other much more prominent part of me that was causing me most grief at that time, and I was disinclined to rub there with a man watching.
I had no need to worry.Reaching behind him, Hugh furiously massaged his behind.'I don't know about you,' he said with a grin that I could see even in the shade of the forest, 'but riding bareback really makes me sore.'
'Me too,' I found it easy to match his grin, 'I don't think I will sit comfortably for a week.'
There was something very reassuring about being with a man who was open about his weaknesses and I was much more relaxed about rubbing my own tender parts.'I will wager that I have matching bruises on both sides,' I said more than I intended, and far more than my mother would ever have approved.
Hugh cut off his laugh.'I will be the same,' he said.Mercifully, he did not ask if he could check, as some of the boys of the Lethan would have, nor look the other way in tongue-tied embarrassment as Robert would do.
'Now.'He cut lengths of grass, tied them together and created effective hobbles for the horses.'We will let them graze and hope that if they are seen they look like wild beasts rather than Armstrong mounts.'He smiled.'They were probably stolen from somewhere else in the first place.'
'I will call mine Kailzie,' I said, 'after a place I know well.'
'Kailzie she is, now and henceforth,' Hugh agreed solemnly.
I watched him work.The morning light was strengthening but in the gloom between these thick trees, I still had no clear idea about his looks.I wished to see this man who was so ugly that he thought women would only speak to him because they wanted his lands.
'First things first,' he said.'I have to find a tree and no doubt you will too.I will head right, and I suggest you go left.'He moved away, stopping in the shade.'Watch for the snakes.'
'Are there snakes here?'I asked.
'Not many,' Hugh replied quickly.'The dragons killed them all.'His laugh was short and cheerful.
There was a small burn running through the forest, chuckling brown and friendly, with small pools and a number of miniature waterfalls.Hugh lay on his face beside one of the pools and slowly inserted his arms.A few moments later he flicked them out, holding a fat trout.He grinned over his shoulder to me.
'That's a good start, I think.'
'A very good start,' I agreed as he quickly put the fish out of its misery and slid his arms back into the water.'Why don't you see if there are any brambles?'
I obeyed without question, which was highly unusual for me.There were a number of blackberry bushes on the outer fringes of the forest, with those on the southern side heavy with berries.I picked some docken leaves to carry them in, added a few very late and overripe raspberries for good measure and returned to the fishing pool to find the trout already gutted.Hugh was searching for dry wood.
'I'll start a cooking fire while you prepare the berries,' he said.'It will only be a small fire in case the smoke alerts the Armstrongs.'He kept his back turned all the time, as if ashamed to show his face in the dappled light.
'Hugh,' I said at length.'Face me.'
There was a long pause as he pretended to concentrate on his sticks.
