All was still quiet, most of the servants abed now that the danger was past.
Charles and his men no doubt had retreated for the night to his estate adjoining the De Vescys’, though she knew he would return soon enough.
Her grandfather had surely shared with him her agreement to marry him, and she didn’t need to guess that Charles would want their wedding to take place within days—heaven protect her, she had seen the lust burning in his eyes.
Heaving a shaky breath, Julianna hastened down the hallway lit by candles sputtering in wall sconces to a storage closet and stepped inside the darkened space, but she didn’t need any light to find the iron ring that lifted a trap door.
She knew her way through the tunnel that led outside the manor walls as surely as if she had dug it herself. With sure footing, she climbed down the wooden steps into pitch-darkness and drew the trap door closed above her.
In daylight, she would ride out herself to tend to her injured charges and no one questioned her at her grandfather’s behest, but tonight she knew the guards at the gate would never let her pass after what had transpired with the Highlanders.
Not a murderous invading force after all, but a delegation of Scotsmen seeking the release of King Robert’s wife, her heart filling with pity for them.
She imagined their bodies had been dumped into a hastily dug pit by now or mayhap even set ablaze—no,no! Better not to think of it as she hurried through the tunnel until moments later, she had climbed out into the cool night air and kicked back the dirt to cover a second trap door.
An escape route that her father had built for his family—though death had come too swiftly for it to be used to save them.
Within another few moments she was deep into the woods, exhilaration filling her at her sense of freedom and purpose.
She was only tending to a handful of forest creatures, and mayhap they were sleeping soundly and didn’t need any ministrations at all. She found peace and solace simply being among them, listening to them breathe.
A squirrel with a hurt leg that had mended enough for her to let it go in the morning.
An abandoned fawn that was grown enough now to survive on its own in the woods.
An owl with a sprained wing that soon would be ready again to fly.
All of them safe and snug in a rough-hewn hut that was hidden deep in the trees and had once been home to Greta, the old woman who had taught her much about the forest and its inhabitants. Greta was gone now, God rest her, but all of her healing potions and medicinal herbs were there for Julianna to use.
She drew in a deep breath of night air that smelled of pine needles and earth dampened by the moonlit mist swirling upon the ground, and began to run at the sound of an owl hooting in the near distance.
The young bird must have heard her approaching, which thrilled her. Julianna ran faster, skimming her hands against rough bark as she wound her way through the trees.
Another hoot, louder still, and she knew she was almost there, laughter bursting from her that the owl seemed to be calling to her.
Lighthearted laughter answered by a low groan that made her stop dead and look around her, her breath caught and goose bumps pricking her skin.
At first she saw nothing more than the trees around her and the familiar shapes of rocks and tree stumps that she had learned to avoid…until another shape lying prone on the forest floor made her heart jump into her throat.
Another groan…masculine and shaking with pain, rose above the chirping of crickets and the throaty croaking of frogs while Julianna ventured closer.
So close that she gasped when the shape rolled over and a hand shot out to grab her ankle, Julianna falling to her knees next to a man who struggled to lift his head as he stared at her in the moonlight.
“Dinna scream, lass…I beg you.”
CHAPTER3
AHighlander! Recognizing the Scottish burr from the attack on her family years ago, Julianna was overcome by terror as she tried in vain to rise. He held her fast, his hand clamping around her ankle with astonishing strength.
“I willna hurt you, I swear it.”
“Youarehurting me!” Julianna countered as she tried desperately to pry his fingers from her ankle.
To her relief, his grip loosened, but he did not let her go. Instead he struggled to raise his head, grimacing in pain.
“Listen tae me, lass. Our delegation tae York was attacked. We came in peace under a white banner…truly, I mean you no harm. Is there a village nearby? A town? Mayhap you could help me make my way there. If I could speak tae the constable and tell him what’s happened—ah, God!”
He had attempted to sit up only to fall back upon the ground, groaning in pain. All the while Julianna had stared wide-eyed at him, her heart racing, her hands trembling, not knowing what to do.
