“Can I leave now?” he asked. “I promise I’ll bring ye bird eggs the next time.”
The red-haired lass didn’t respond for a moment. It seemed that she might have been pondering the possibility of preventing him from leaving. Reaching out, she yanked him to his feet and pulled him away from the others, out of earshot.
“When will ye come back?” she asked quietly.
He eyed her with uncertainty, even looking to the gang of children around them, before returning his focus to her.
“Soon,” he said. “When my grandfather allows me tae hunt for eggs again, I suppose.”
“And ye swear that ye’ll bring me some?”
“I do.”
She turned her head slightly, pointing to her cheek. “A bargain is a bargain. Show me ye mean it.”
From his expression, he wasn’t sure what she meant. Was he supposed to do something to her face? He was fairly certain she didn’t mean slap her. When it occurred to him what, exactly, she meant, his pale cheeks flushed but he dutifully kissed her, a swift peck on her tender skin and nothing more. He was embarrassed, but if it was a kiss of freedom, he was willing to suffer the indignities.
The kiss seemed to please her immensely.
“I accept yer vow,” she said, her eyes glimmering at him with warmth he hadn’t seen before. “I’ll wait for yer bird eggs, Cam Netherton. Ye may go now.”
There was something in her voice that made him take a second look. She was young, that was true, on the cusp of womanhood, but there was something about her that had his attention. Perhaps it was the pull of her eyes, the way she was looking at him. He’d never had a lass look at him that way before.
Had the circumstances been any different, he might have let himself be flattered by it.
But now wasn’t the time. He had to leave. Cam quickly bolted off, sprinting away as fast as his long legs would take him. As he headed east and the majority of the demons headed west, back to the vale to await their next victim, he could hear them singing their terrible song.
Fat, fat, the water rat,
Thirty daggers in his back!
That only made him run faster
As Cam dashed down the vale toward the village in the distance, the red-haired lass wasn’t singing the song of the water rat. She was watching her former captive’s distant figure. The older boy came up beside her.
“What’s wanting, Issie?” he asked.
Her gaze was still riveted to the blond lad as he faded down the hill. “Do ye suppose he’ll really come back?”
The older boy could see where her attention was and he snorted. “Nay,” he said flatly. “He’ll stay as far away as he can. We scared him with talk of monsters and The Cal.”
She cocked her head thoughtfully. “He dinna seem cowardly. He almost seemed… kind. ’Twas something in his eyes that seemed so.”
The older boy grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. “If he’s from Netherton, he’s Lindsay,” he said. “The man is yer enemy, Isadora. Get yer mind from him.”
Get yer mind from him.
It was a pity she had to. Isadora Keith, daughter of a minor Keith chieftain, thought Cam Netherton was rather gentle and handsome, not like the other lads in her village. They were allrough and angry. All they wanted to do was fight and hate, but she didn’t see that in Cam’s eyes.
She saw gentleness there and it made her very curious.
Curious enough to know that in spite of her brother’s admonition, she wasn’t going to force him from her mind. At least, not yet. Perhaps not ever.
She was going to see Cam Netherton again.
With a smile on her lips, she headed back into the vale.
CHAPTER ONE
