Page 21 of Highlander’s False Identity

His easy nature made Edme relax and found she too was smiling back at him.

“Ye always seemed to think such a lot of yerself back then!” she quipped, watching as his expression changed from satisfied to surprised.

“What, what do ye mean?” said Beathan, looking as if he might fall off his horse in shock.

“I mean ye were mister high and mighty back then – werenae ye? Never playing with us younger kids!” she said, before turning to him and giving him a pout.

Beathan looked genuinely surprised. “Nae, I wasnae!”

“Aye, ye were too. Admit it, ye never remembered me at all!” she said. Her face was smiling, but it was hard for Edme to keep the hurt out of her heart.

“Och, of course, I remembered ye! Ye were the one who poisoned my dog and tried to kill me!” he grinned. Edme’s face changed.

“I explained about that already!” she protested. But Beathan was not serious; she could tell by the way he looked at her that he was only playing.

Edme sighed. She couldn’t work Beathan out. Perhaps he was still the same arrogant boy she had always known, always out of reach. But now and then, he would send her strange signs, hot looks which made her think that he must like her.

Confused, Edme didn’t know what to think. She rode on in silence.

“What? Did I say something to upset ye?” Beathan asked, riding alongside her.

The cold light of day was beginning to shine through the craggy landscape, and it was shaping up to be another cold and miserable day.

“Nae, of course not,” said Edme, unconvincingly. She took a breath, trying to calm herself down and take her mind off the fact that Beathan seemed to have no real idea of who she was. She guessed he had no memory of the kissing game they had played as kids one yuletide.

Beathan smiled good-naturedly, taking a swig of cold ale from his flask. He offered Edme a dram, but she shook her head.

“Och, dinnae be like that?” he said, watching her frozen face.

“Like what?” said Edme, whipping her head around at such a speed that Beathan was lashed by her hair.

“Like yer peeved wi’ me. Anyone would think that ye still held a candle for me!” he said, his easy features arranging themselves into a grin.

Suddenly, Edme wanted to pummel him, a hot fury racing through her like a tide.

“Hold a candle for ye? Your bum’s out the window, laddie!! Could yer head be any bigger!” she snarled.

Beathan, who had been laughing half a minute earlier, now recoiled as if he had been stung.

“Whoa!” he said, making a pretense of ducking to avoid a punch. “Hey, I was only joking!”

“Nae ye werenae!” fumed Edme. She knew it was ridiculous, but his assured manner and certainty that she was in love with him had made her see red. “Lads like ye think every lass has a crush on them. Well, I can tell ye, Beathan Craig, that is not true!”

Edme had worked herself up into a cold fury. Once she got into this kind of state, she needed to be alone to cool off. Incensed, she pulled ahead of Beathan on the dappled white mare, leaving him standing, bewildered.

“Come along, Nutmeg,” she said, tugging the reins of the pretty horse whose light brown fetlocks were blowing in the early morning breeze. “Ye can trot beautifully, but let’s see how ye run!”

She cast off, speeding ahead with nary a glance behind her at Beathan.

Edme’s heart was still pounding ten to the dozen when she reached the edges of the Craig clan lands and was teetering on the edge of the clanless area.

As she approached the borders, Edme hesitated a moment before resuming her pace. A rush of hooves behind her told her that Beathan was there. Still seething with anger, she refused to turn and look.

“Och! Edme!” he hollered, from halfway across the glen. His voice echoed gruffly across the valley. But Edme was so gripped by her madness that she did not even turn back.

The hooves that had sounded behind her got louder.

“Edme! Come back!” he cried, a little more desperately. Still, Edme did not look, let alone slow down. By now, she was galloping along on the small filly, who was proving far more capable of high speeds than she had realized.