“Where are you taking me?” Sheena shouted, but Jamie didn’t answer. Nor did he turn around to look at her. She tried to force down her rising panic. “Sir Jamie, please! I wish to go back!”
“Dinna sound so frightened, lass. You’ve no reason to be,” he replied calmly, still without looking around.
If Jamie had seen Sheena’s expression, he might have relented. Then again, he might not have. His very purpose in taking her away from the castle to where they could be alone was to prove to her that she could trust him. Also, he wanted to give her a way of enjoying herself. He knew she liked to swim. Of course, he was not going to tell her he had seen her swimming in a glen!
Jamie grinned. He couldn’t deny his motives were selfish. He hoped for gratitude, at the very least, a smile from her or a lighter mood. And he could try his damnedest to see again the girl who had laughed and giggled only the night before.
Sheena devoted herself to silent prayer. Her only hope was for a miracle, something extraordinary to save her from—
Jamie stopped his horse suddenly, and Sheena’s mare stopped, too. Sheena held her breath until Jamie turned at last and looked at her. Her breath escaped in a long sigh then, for the look he gave her lacked evil intent. She had never seen a more winsome smile. Remarkably, even her anger disappeared, along with her fears. A shyness came over her then, so unlike her. She became flustered when Jamie dismounted and lifted her to the ground. “I came here often when I was a wee lad,” he said simply.
“Did you?” she responded, as though they were accustomed to normal conversations.
She saw sparkling water, a lovely little pool on the other side of a burn, next to what appeared to be a man-made dam. A high pile of boulders below the pool hid the water from the valley side.
“Did you make the dam?” Sheena asked.
“Nay. It has been here longer than I can remember. ’Tis a peaceful place. Many’s the time I’ve sat on the rocks there and watched the day pass on the surface of the water. But the rocks form a good base for jumping, too, if you’ve a mind to dive.”
“’Tis deep?”
“Aye, the deep slope is what caused the pool to form easily. To be sure, it makes a fine swimming place.”
Sheena was looking at the water wistfully. It didindeed seem a fine swimming hole. Not as secluded as her glen at home, yet private enough, and lovely. She tried to picture Jamie swimming there but couldn’t. Imagining him as a youth was impossible. This man surely had never been a boy!
“Do you still come here sometimes?” Sheena ventured softly.
“No’ for many a year. I canna seem to find the time anymore. Then again, I only swim in the warm months, and ’tis too cold for it already this year.”
Sheena could have laughed. She was used to swimming in the early spring and late autumn, and in weather much colder than this. Oh, how she would like to swim now! If only she were alone. She sighed. To feel the cold water surrounding her, caressing her. She hadn’t had a decent bath since being brought to Castle Kinnion, only sponge baths. If only she were alone, she thought again.
“Why did you bring me here?” Sheena asked bitterly.
Jamie turned away. “I thought you would appreciate the tranquillity. Apparently, I was mistaken.”
“But Ido,” she assured him, sorry she had sounded so ungrateful.
He turned back, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “Then I’m glad I took the time to bring you here. But alas, we canna stay.”
“Why?”
“There are others who require my time, lass. But mayhap I will bring you back here, if that is your wish.”
“Today.”
He laughed. “Mayhap.”
“Then could you leave me here?” she asked hopefully. “I’ve a great need to be alone…for a while.”
He gazed searchingly into her eyes. “If I thought I could be trusting you no’ to set out for Aberdeen, I just might grant your wish, lass.”
“Take the mare then. I canna get far without her.”
“Aye, I could do that, but you could still wander off and lead me the devil’s time finding you.”
“And if I swore to stay here, to be here when you returned?” she ventured.
“Would you?”
