He shook his head without opening his eyes. “Not here.”
“Where then?”
“We’re near my sister. Lizzie lives about two miles east.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll go an’ borrow a wagon or something.” He tried once again to stand. This time I allowed it and rose with him. My hands hovered, useless, over his shoulders in case he needed someone to steady him. He was surprisingly sure on his feet for the amount of blood he’d lost.
“I’m coming with you,” I insisted.
He rounded on me with more strength than I’d credited him. “You’re staying right here. You can help Rory watch the supplies.”
“You have a head wound,” I reminded him.
“Yes, and yet, you’re the greater pain.”
“I’m not letting you walk two miles alone. You could swoon and die,” I explained, perfectly reasonably.
“Men don’t swoon, and it’s a scratch. I’m hardly at death’s door.”
“There is nothing inherently feminine about the verb. And I’m quite resolved.”
He looked beseechingly at Rory.
“I’m on the lass’s side on this. Sorry. Besides, we need to find the horses.”
I caught the edge of a curse under his breath before he set off to the left.
“I thought you said she was east?” I called after him.
Another muffled curse and he whirled around and stomped off, this time to the right.
“Are you coming?” he yelled over his shoulder.
I nodded at his back, grabbed the water skin and my reticule, then tripped along after him. He slowed for a moment, waiting for me to catch him up.
KIT
My head throbbed like the devil and it seemed I was to spend the entirety of our journey trying not to cast up my reckoning.
The formerly sticky mud was drying on my back and side like crackled wallpaper paste. Davina had fared little better, though the worst of the muck was on my coat. Of course, I had not packed a second.
It was good fortune that we found ourselves so near to Lizzie and Sydney. In our present state, and with our impressive transportation, no one of repute would have stopped to assist us.
Davina had the good sense to remain silent as we stumbled across an uneven field, but as we found the road that led past Sydney’s farm, she could restrain herself no longer.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Do you need to rest?”
“No.”
“Do you want some water?”
“No.”
