Now he was intrigued.He had to find out what this elusive pretender was up to.Even if it took all day.
But as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and she still didn’t emerge from the shop, he began to think he’d been wrong about all of it.
Perhaps the green hood hanging out of her satchel was only a coincidence.
Perhaps she hadn’t been the archer after all.
Perhaps she was the silversmith’s wife and had simply gone home.
He was almost ready to shuffle back to Perth when the silversmith’s door rattled open again.Adam drew back into the narrow space between shops and peered at her from beneath his cap.
She eyed the sky with a furrowed brow, as if noting the lateness of the day.Then she shouldered her satchel and pressed onward down the road, turning west toward the woods.
As he watched her walk away, Adam noticed he wasn’t the only one with an eye on her.From behind the last building, two rough-looking men eased out onto the road behind her.They too must have been monitoring the silversmith’s shop.Waiting for her to exit.Sure she’d have silver in her satchel.
Now Adam wasdefinitelygoing to follow her.He was a Rivenloch at heart.He wasn’t about to walk away and let a lady become the victim of thieves.
They wouldn’t immediately accost her.Not this close to the village.Not where she could put up a hue and cry and bring the law down upon them.
Nay, they would track her until she was isolated in the dark middle of the wood and then demand their due.
So Adam would trackthem.
Eve could hear the travelers on the path behind her.There was a good chance they were thieves.It was a rare journey when shedidn’tcross paths with thieves.Times were difficult, and not every beggar had a charitable convent nearby.
They probably thought they were being inconspicuous.Which meant they weren’t very experienced.Their boots scuffed through the leaves.One of them stepped on a twig and broke it with a loud snap.
It sounded like there were two of them.Maybe three.
Outlaws were always a risk in the woods.But she wasn’t afraid of them.
In truth, she felt sorry for them.Most of them were simply poor folk in a desperate situation.They had no coin.And no skills to make a living.
Or they were outcasts and exiles.
Or they had been raised by thieves and knew no other way.
But Jesus had forgiven a thief, even from the Cross.He’d promised the thief He would see him in Paradise.
Who was Eve to be less forgiving?
Of course, she would have felt safer in her nun’s habit.But it was foolish to assume bad intentions where there were none.She would do nothing unless they accosted her.Still, it seemed they would have made their presence known if they meant to be companionable.
She still hadn’t reached the village of Scone, which was a quarter mile from the convent near Scone Priory, where she intended to stay for the night.But now she was heading toward the deepest, darkest part of the woods.The trees blotted out most of what sun remained.Only narrow spears of light shot down upon the path to show the way.
She hoped she wouldn’t have to confront them in the shadows.
After several yards, her eyes grew more accustomed to the lack of light.She began to breathe easier.Perhaps she’d misjudged her pursuers.
No sooner did she have that thought than they suddenly rushed up behind her.
“Hold there, lassie,” one of them growled.
“Where do ye think ye’re goin’?”the other sneered.
She stopped with a resigned sigh and slowly turned to face them.
The light was too dim to identify them.With their hoods pulled forward over their faces, it was hard to see their features.But one of them was quite stout with a heavy black beard that sat on his chest like an overfed cat.His fellow was as thin and tall as a lance.Both were wielding daggers.
