“Sir, time is short.” She started for the doors, and several of the soldiers stepped back, but not Kuresh. He blocked her path.
“Get out of my way.”
“No.”
“Laird Jamie could die out there!”
“He is a warrior,” Kuresh argued. “You are not.”
“I am a Highlander.”
Kuresh gripped her wrist, but Helen wouldna back down. She slapped his face, and Kuresh let her go, shocked, even offended by the action.
A tense moment of silence followed, the murmurs around them held to a whisper.
Kuresh finally relented, sidestepping so she could walk by.
Helen ran to the stables, where several mounts were already saddled. The lads looked at her like she was mad, but Helen dinna waste time explaining. She was a capable rider and pulled herself up and swung her leg over the saddle like a man. Just as she was about to ride out, Kuresh and five other soldiers joined her.
“Ye will go with me?” she asked him.
“I cannot let you go alone.”
They galloped through the open gates, turning northward. Helen had known the pain of losing Sutherland crofters growing up, seen the aftermath as she helped tend wounds in her father’s great hall once when she was young. She dinna want anyone to get hurt or die because of her. And in her heart, she knew whoever had done this evil act, burning the stable and killing that poor lad, had done it because of her. Her father had sent someone to get her or to punish whoever was protecting her. What would he do once he found out she had married Jamie?
They powered through the snow, reaching the village. Nothing appeared out of place. Plumes of smoke rose from the chimneys in the cottages, all the doors were shut, and no one was outside.
“Thank God,” Helen said as she pulled up next to Kuresh.
“Are you at peace now, Lady Helen?”
“Peace? Hardly. Jamie is still out there.”
“You asked to check on the village, and we have. I want you to go back to the manor house where I can keep you safe.”
Helen let out a dark laugh. “Doona make me fight ye again, Kuresh. Please.”
“I will leave three guards here if you will go with me. Once we reach the house, I will send more men to patrol the area. It is impossible to guess where Jamie has gone. It is dark and cold, and I am sure he split his soldiers up and sent them in every direction to save time. If we pick up a trail, there is no guarantee it will be your husband’s.”
“A risk I am willing to take.” She heeled her horse and the beast responded, leaping forward aggressively. The horse she had randomly chosen wasna a mild-mannered mare. It had spirit and was obviously accustomed to being ridden by a warrior.
She headed south, sure if the attackers hadna targeted the main village, they were after Jamie. She rode past the manor house and picked up fresh horse tracks in the snow—many of them, which told her Jamie and the soldiers had ridden south, too.
That’s when she heard someone rushing behind her to catch up. She turned in the saddle and found Kuresh. He raised his hand, signaling her to halt. Should she keep riding or stop? She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, hoping he had decided to help her.
“Lady Helen,” he said. “You leave me no choice but to ride with you.”
They were grateful for the near cloudless nighttime sky and the moon reflecting off the snow, providing enough light to follow the tracks she had found. But after a short distance, as Kuresh had suggested would happen, three sets of tracks took off in different directions.
“Now what should we do?”
“Pray for guidance,” Kuresh suggested.
“I am sorry I struck ye,” she said sincerely. “I doona know what came over me.”
He frowned but nodded. “Fear.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “Or maybe I have something worth fighting for at last.”
