They had indeed. She needed to get him home, where someone could deal with his baffling injury.
He swung up into his saddle with only one short pause and urged his horse onto the trail, heading west.
“Hold on,” Brie called as she finished tying the lead for Mathew’s horse behind hers and mounted. “Where do you think yer going? MacGahan lies in the other direction.”
“Mathew is on foot. If we put ourselves to it and scour the woods, we can catch up with him. Maybe even before nightfall.”
The old O’Donar had returned. Stubborn, stubborn man.
Brie grabbed his reins as she reached his side, pulling them from his hands. That, as much as anything, convinced her that his strength had not really returned. And if that tiny cut on his shoulder could rob a man such as Halldor O’Donar of his strength, she could only imagine what else it might do to him if they didn’t seek the help of a healer. His prediction offatalcould well be accurate.
“There are men from MacGahan on the trail as we speak, headed to this very spot. We’ll no doubt cross their path as we return.”
“We aren’t going to—”
“Do you remember saying to me that I should try, for once, to do as I was told without a blighted argument? Well, I’d give that same advice to you now. Yer in no shape to win such an argument. Not with me or anyone else.” Brie tugged on the reins she held to emphasize her point. “Besides, what good would it do you to reach Mathew and the weapon if you’ve got no strength to take it from him? We need to get you back home. To get you to a healer.”
She knew she’d won when his shoulders slumped and he stared into the distance.
“As you say,” he sighed. “I cannot fight you on this. But I suspect there’s none that can heal what ails me.”
Brie handed back his reins and pulled her horse up next to his, refusing to accept what he said. By the Seven, she would not give up on him so easily.
THEY RODE INthe wrong direction.
It hung in Hall’s craw, gnawing at his guts like a diseased worm. He’d been so close. He could have taken the sword from boy but he’d chosen to protect him first, planning to reason with him after. His failure lay bitter in his mouth.
“Bah!”
“What’s that you say?”
Bridget pulled her horse closer to his and reached out a hand to brush his forehead with her fingertips. He ducked away, too slow in his movements to effectively avoid her touch.
He needed to think clearly and her touch had the uncomfortable effect of muddling his thoughts.
“Move away from me if you like, but it does yer argument no good. I can see the fever in the color of your face.”
As if he needed her to tell him he had a fever. The burn spread out from his arm to consume his whole body, like a dry forest under siege of wildfire.
“We should have stayed on the sword’s trail,” he muttered, knowing she would hear and take the bait. Anything to distract her from her constant hovering. He could deal with her irritation; it was this tender worry that drove him to distraction.
“There’s no point in yer wasting yer breath on it, O’Donar. That discussion ended miles back down the road.”
“I’d reopen it, then. I’m feeling better now.”
A truth, more or less. Though he had little hope of recovery, he did feel much stronger than he had immediately after his injury.
“Oh, of course you are.” As if sarcasm hadn’t hung heavily enough in her tone, her accompanying snort clearly carried her opinion. “If yer so much better, then answer me this. Why is it that yer clearly burning with the fever? The way you felt to my touch, we’ll no even need to build ourselves a fire this night. We’ll just heat our meal by holding it close to yer skin.”
The chuckle rumbled up from deep in his chest and out into the open, beyond his ability to stop it. Damn, but the woman lightened his spirit, even when she was angry.
“You think any of this is funny? This isnotfunny. It’s damned deadly serious.”
Perhaps most of all when she was angry.
“You’re correct. Our situation is no laughing matter.” He allowed a moment to pass before he circled back to the conversation she wouldn’t like. “But neither can we continue to ignore that which is most important. We must have the sword and the scrolls. We cannot allow them to fall into the wrong hands. And while we bicker, they travel farther away from us with each step we take.”
She shook her head, stubbornly refusing to look over at him. “No. I’ll hear none of it. Any moment now, we’ll cross paths with Patrick and Jamesy and all the others. We’ll tell them what happened and they can go after the sword. We’ve a more important challenge ahead of us. You put yer mind to yer healing.”
