“I’ve a sister who lives no too far from here. Maybe half a day’s ride. I’m thinking it best we take you there.”
Colin spoke without looking at her as if he half-hoped by not making eye contact she’d be more likely to fall for his line of crap.
“You said yourself we’re already in a race with time to reach your friends. Besides, if I didn’t choose to stay behind with people who at least knew where I came from, what makes you think I’d stay with this sister of yours?”
He shrugged, looking back before he spoke this time. “A day in the saddle. A night on the ground. It’s no so pleasant. There are dangers out here to be sure, wife.”
She’d love to tell him where he could put his dangers and thatwifestuff, if only she had the energy. As it was, she hadn’t any to spare.
“Forget it. If this is because of what I thought I saw last night, you don’t need to worry about me. I was just exhausted and imagining things. We go on together.” The stiff back he presented her told her more than any words could. “So which way does your Spidey sense tell us to head this morning?”
“My what?”
His look of confusion was almost adorable enough to make her forget how miserable she felt. Almost, but not quite.
“Never mind. Which way to your friends this morning?”
“You’ve decided, then?”
She nodded her answer. “Hey, even if he really had been out there, I can’t imagine any place I’d feel safer than with you.”
He’d been quite formidable as he’d gone into warrior mode last night.
On his horse now, Colin stilled, his eyes searching hers before he closed them. A light seemed to radiate up from his face, flowing out in all directions before focusing like a laser and streaming directly ahead of them.
“This way,” he said, leading his horse off in front of her.
She tried to blank her mind, to lull herself into some sort of automatic pilot that would allow the hours to pass quickly.
Good Lord, this was only Day Two.
She should have gone right to sleep last night instead of gabbing for hours, but she’d really wanted to know how they were going to find these friends of Colin’s. And then when he’d opened up and began to tell her about his encounter with the Faerie Queen, there had been no way she was going to stop the conversation and just go to sleep.
Colin wasn’t much of a talker, and he didn’t strike her as someone who easily shared personal details of his life. That he’d decided to share some of those with her had made her feel closer to him. For a little while there, it had almost lulled her into believing he really cared about her.
Of course he’d gone and ruined it all this morning by trying to convince her to let him abandon her at his sister’s house. Though, thinking about it now, his attempt had seemed almost halfhearted.
“Yer no much of a morning person, are you?”
How long they’d been on the road when Colin at last slowed enough to ask his question, she had no idea. What she did know was that between the heat and the pounding she was taking on the horse, she was in no mood for any attempt at light conversation.
“I’m a great morning person when my morning is anything even remotely resembling civilized. Anyway, I think we left morning quite a ways behind us.” The rumble of her stomach as much as the sun in the sky assured her she was correct.
“We can stop for a short rest and a cold meal if you need to.”
She briefly considered refusing just so she could show him that she could keep going as long as he could, but her growling stomach won out.
“Good. Let’s do that.”
She pulled up on her reins and slid off her horse. The earth greeted her feet much sooner and much more forcefully than she expected, buckling her knees. Only her grip on the side of her saddle kept her from landing on her butt.
Though staying on her feet would probably be smarter, she found herself a fallen log and sat down on it, amazed at how comfortable it could feel to sit without having to straddle something.
Colin handed her more of the bread, cheese, and dried fruit they’d brought along with them and she settled back, munching quietly, deciding that she was quickly developing an aversion to all three foods.
Thunder rolled in the distance and she glanced toward the sound, noticing for the first time the dark clouds that filled the southern sky.
“Think we’ll get rained on?” Soggy was what she’d come to expect from Scotland. At least it had been back in her time, though, come to think of it, she hadn’t seen a single drop since she’d been here.
