Page 196 of Tales of Highland Loyalty

For a moment, the dappled mare stalled, giving Ainslee the chance to leap aboard.

Slyly, she threw herself onto the back of the dappled mare, snuggly beside Malcolm. There; she glared at him.

"Ye get off my poor wee horse right noo!" she demanded. Malcolm just shook his head and grinned. Ainslee felt her temper raising.

"Nae!" said Malcolm, trying his hardest to make things rough for her. He was irritated, she could tell. But so was she!

Grabbing onto him tight, Ainslee tried everything she could to try and beat Malcolm into submission - but none of it worked. In despair, she tugged his chest, and shrieked.

"Get off, leave me! I need to be on ma way... the poor wee mare will nae stand the weight o' us both!"

At Ainslee's behest, the small mare cracked into a trot. Now they were riding, albeit slowly, along the dirt track. Ainslee glanced at Malcolm, hoping he would jump first.

Malcolm was not affected. "Well then, ye get doon," he said, without so much as looking.

Her hackles rising, Ainslee was not to be downtrodden.

"Nae, ye do, ye great lummox!" she spat. Pushing Malcolm with the sheer force of her might, Ainslee made a valiant attempt to jettison him from her horse.

It didn't work, but the surprise of such a gesture made Malcolm stop and stare. At least she had his attention.

"Whit did ye do there?" he asked, his green eyes flummoxed and reeling. Ainslee felt the tiniest bit of pride. But they were still riding, "Did ye try an' throw me off, there?"

"She's ma horse!" asserted Ainslee, and even though Malcolm shook his head, he did at least slow down. By now, Ainslee was losing her grip - as well as the sheer will power to cling on.

She was almost at the point of letting Malcolm have the horse, if it meant she did not have to talk to him any more!

Slowing to a stop, Ainslee slid off, but not without digging her fingers into the back of Malcolm, and pulling him down too.

Now they stood; each by the other, glaring accusingly.

"Whit...," began Ainslee and Malcolm in unison. Malcolm paused, as Ainslee continued.

"... did ye do that for?"

Her eyes flashed, defiant, as her heart pounded, ever hard as the galloping feet, approaching behind. Somewhere in the distance, both Marisse and James were forced to a standstill, as the little party coagulated in the tiny bend.

"Thank ye," Ainslee squared up to Malcolm, her eyes alight. "Noo ye can give me ma horse back an'..."

Malcolm pushed her back. Ainslee yelped, but he did so again, until her back was pressed against the low stone wall which ran against the dirt track road.

"Mal, I!" Ainslee gasped. The sheer force of his touch had toppled her.

"Nae," said Malcolm, his serious gaze hard upon her. His composure was mean. But he had not hurt her. Without fanfare he had put her on the backfoot. Literally.

Ainslee was up against the wall, unable to move, as Malcolm kept her pinned.

"Now yer gonnae listen...,"

Somewhere in the distance, she could hear feet reascend. Wherever Marisse and James were headed, it wasn't coming towards them, leading her to conclude they had taken some other way.

Briefly Ainslee wondered if this was James' doing, to get her out of the way.

Watching her eyes, Malcolm nodded. "Aye, they've gone. Leave us alone, awhile, for a wee chinwag..."

His body pressed against her, he kept her in. She could not move, and although he did not touch her, she wished he might.

The strength of Ainslee's desire came as suddenly as it was unexpected. Surprised, she looked up to his eyes.