Was there no adult nearby to watch over you, or help nurse you?”
“Nay, I was on my own.”
“But why? Did you not have a family?”
“I did, but my father believed in harsh discipline. ‘From cradle to combat,’ he always said. He’s the one who took me to the mountains and left me there to find my way home.”
Amelia did not understand this. Not atall. “Why would a father do such a thing? You could have died.”
“He meant to toughen me up, and it worked.”
“Obviously.” She faced front again and tried to imagine the Butcher as a ten-year-old boy, fending for himself in the mountains with a broken arm. “How long were you alone like that?”
“Three weeks. That’s why I climbed the mountain. I was trying to figure out where I was. But I got distracted when I heard a wolf howling at me.”
“You must have been terrified.”
“Aye, but a Scot knows how to deal with fear. We slay it, then take pride in thekill.”
“My father once said that courage is not the absence of fear,” she said. “It is how you behave when you aremostafraid.”
“Aye, your father was a wise man, lassie, and brave aswell. You sure he wasn’t a Scot?”
She chuckled. “I am absolutely sure.”
“Pity for him.”
Amelia slapped at a pesky midge on her neck. “What else happened to you during those three weeks when you were alone?”
“Mostly a lot of nothing. I wandered around, scrounged for food, trackedsmallanimals, sometimes just for the mere pleasure of their company. I remember a squirrel who made things bearable for a few days.allI had was my knife, but I soon figured out how to make a spear andkilla fish, and then how to make a bow and arrow. I knew I was north of my home. That’s the one thing my father told me before hegallopedoff and left me. So I simplyfollowedthe sun.”
She looked up at the sky though the canopy of leaves overhead. “I wouldn’t know which way to go in such a situation.”
“Aye, you would, lass.allyou need to know is that the sun rises in the east. You figure it out from there.” His body curled into hers. “But you needn’t worry about cluttering up your mind, trying to navigate by the sun,” he said. “You have me to rely on, and I know exactly where we are.”
“We are traveling to Moncrieffe,” she said, waiting curiously for his reply.
“Aye.”
She paused.«Willyou release me into the earl’s protection when we arrive? Is that your plan? To confront Richard, and then let me go?”
Please, God, let him say yes.
He nuzzled her ear again. “Nay, lass, I cannot promise you that, or anything else.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know if your belovedwillbe there when we turn up at the gate. If not, I’llbe keeping youtillwe find him. Or he finds us.”
“I see.” She strove to keep her emotions in check.«Well, perhaps hewillbe enjoying the Moncrieffe whisky so much, he’lldecide to linger awhile.”
“You should pray for it, lass.”
Suddenly Duncan’s body stiffened and Amelia’s heart flew into a panic as a spear shot past their heads and penetrated the bark of a tree.
“What’s going—?” But she didn’t have a chance to finish the thought before the horse reared up and they both toppled backwards to the ground. She landed on top of Duncan with a heavy thud that knocked the wind from her lungs. Herolledher to the side, and before she could even look up he was on his feet, standing over her with his legs braced apart, axe already in hand, as his claymore came scraping out of its scabbard with a piercing and terrifyingswish.
Chapter Eleven
