Logan stepped off the path and crouched beside the worst of the boards. He pried it up with both hands, dragged it free, and set it aside. The wood was heavier than it looked, since it was swollen with water. The mud beneath sucked at it as if it hated to let go. He wiped his palm on his kilt and reached for the next.
David watched him for a moment with his eyebrows raised.
“I can send for the carpenters,” he offered. “They will have it mended by tomorrow.”
Logan pried another board free and checked the stone lip beneath. “It will be mended by tomorrow, huh? By then, the goat, the dog, or that ridiculous calf will have trampled over it twice.”
“So ye are worried about the animals now?” David asked, the amusement in his voice evident.
The guard returned with tools, breath slightly short from the run. Logan took the axe and trimmed a warped edge from one of the planks. The familiar weight of steel in his hand steadied him more than any breathing exercise would have. It was the same work he had done on deck for half his life.
“I am worried about anything oranyonethat walks here,” he said. “Four legs or two. This is the main path between the stables and the yard.”
He laid the board back, tested it, then reached for the mallet. The sound of the first nail driving down into wood and stone rang clear in the cold evening air.
David leaned his shoulder against a post, arms folded. “I had the impression ye werenae overly fond of the beasts,” he remarked. “With the way ye chased them out of the hall.”
Logan set another nail and drove it in. “I daenae want theminme hall,” he said. “Or in me study. That doesnae mean I want their legs snapped.”
He shifted to the side, lowered another board, and flattened his palm against its length to check for wobble.
“I cannae imagine what would happen to Emma if any of the animals suffer from something that could’ve been prevented.” The words came out before he could stop them.
David’s mouth twitched.
Logan sensed the motion but did not lift his head. “Daenae start,” he warned.
“I havenae said a word,” David replied, but his eyes were bright. They said all the words his mouth did not.
Logan did not even have to look at him to know.
Soon, he finished driving in the last nail and straightened. The repaired run looked solid now. There were no gaps wide enough to swallow a hoof. The mud still glistened between the boards, but at least the wood sat firm above it.
“It ismeyard,” he said. “If someone breaks their neck on it, they willnae curse the man who laid the first board. They will curse the laird who didnae fix it.”
“Aye,” David agreed. “And if that wee calf took a tumble, her mistress would curse ye as well.”
Logan wiped his hands on his kilt again. Mud streaked the wool. He could feel the grit under his nails.
He started walking toward the courtyard. “If ye are finished talking, we have more than planks to see to.”
David fell into step beside him. “Of course,” he said lightly. “Only, when Lady MacLellan learns that this path has been fixed, I shall be sure to tell her some nameless guard did it. So ye neednae worry.”
Logan shot him a look. “Ye will say nothing.”
“Oh, I wouldnae dream of it,” David drawled. “I would hate to spoil the mystery.”
They passed the end of the repaired run, and behind them, the path looked normal again. There was no sign of how close it had come to turning into a trap.
Logan kept his gaze on the rest of the yard. However, as they walked on, he could still feel the boards under his hands. Emma’s face flashed before him.
No. He did this to keep his people safe.
This had nothing to do with Emma.Not in the slightest.
25
After looking at the afternoon sky for too long, Emma decided that she had finished being reasonable. The last few days had set like a stone under her ribs. Logan at the windows instead of the tables. Logan on paths with David instead of in the room where she slept. Logan leaving or preparing to leave while she stayed in place, nodding as if it did not hurt.
