Page 49 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

The force was enough to draw blood instantly. However, it did not succeed in toppling him from his horseback.

The distraction bought Neacal some time, though, as the dark-haired soldier swayed around, bloody and dizzy.

Spying his chance, Neacal tried to wriggle away from the ring of soldiers around him. However, the soldier with dirty blond hair—now back on his horse—tried hard to take Neacal by force.

Teasag bit her lip as she witnessed the blond man's snarling features as he advanced toward Neacal.

But hen, he too swayed crazily aloft his horse, as if he were but an ear of barley being cast about in the wind.

At first, Teasag thought the man was battling the wind, but then she saw the blond man collapse into a deep ravine that ran alongside the road.

Breathlessly, she watched as he catapulted, from the top of his horse, falling for what seemed to be an age before landing, face down in the pit.

For a moment or two, there was an eerie silence as the others tried to register what had just happened. And when they did, it was to a scene of complete chaos.

“Run!” yelled the chief commander. Teasag did not know his name, but she had seen the way he had lorded himself over Neacal.

And when Teasag looked up, she saw what had caused him to fall so dramatically. Out of nowhere, a hail of arrows were falling, sailing over the top of the steely gray skies.

“Teasag?” Neacal’s voice cried out, echoing oddly around the distant glen.

“I’m alright,” she hissed in a low voice. Until she knew where the mystery arrows were coming from, she was in no hurry to reveal herself.

Neacal darted for cover as a shoal of arrows unfurled into the turbulent skies. Likewise, his assailants had the same idea and furiously dove for cover—anxious to avoid the fate of their companion.

However, they were unable to avoid the sheer quantity of arrows aimed towards them. Bewildered, the men threw their arms into the air, scrambling away from the roadside for safety and leaving their horses as they fled.

With the soldiers disappearing gradually into the glen, Teasag finally dared to stand up look around.

In the undergrowth, it had been hard to tell where the arrows had come from. But now, she got her answer.

Emerging from the boughs of the surrounding trees and the back of the prickly gorse bush strode a band of archers.

One of them had bright red shoulder-length hair and a grin so wide that Teasag actually saw it before the rest of him.

“Neacal!” called the ginger-haired man, as he emerged from the depths of the foliage. Shortly, he was joined by two or three more, mainly slightly built lads, with mousy hair. Soon, they banded together, swarming on the now crowded narrow dirt track.

So far, they had not yet seen Teasag, now walking silently towards where Neacal was standing, open-mouthed, at the spectacle of the group arriving.

Tentatively, Teasag hung back. It was clear that the men knew him, and as far as she could tell, the atmosphere was good between them. But any more than that, Teasag did not know.

Warily, she lingered in the background, waiting to see more of this mysterious band who had emerged from nowhere to rescue Neacal.

“Robbie!” Neacal’s eyes lit up like beacons at the sight of the tall, beaming red-haired lad. Instinctively, he hastened over to him, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

“Neacal,” said Robbie, grinning. His green eyes sparkled as the pair of them met in an embrace. Nearby, Teasag looked on, quietly intrigued to learn of Neacal’s past.

By now, the soldiers were long gone, and the band of fighters had joined their ringleader.

“So, yer still drawing attention to yersel, Neacal,” chided Robbie, in tones that suggested he was less than serious. “Whatever are we gonnae dae about ye?”

Now there was a swell of men, listening quietly to the pair of them.

“I’m sorry, Robbie,” said Neacal, unfurling his very widest trademark grin.

Even from sixty paces across a wind strewn glen side, Neacal’s wicked smile did things to her as she watched him flash his teeth toward them.

Neacal slapped Robbie heartily on the back before congratulating some of the others on their assistance.