today. Captain Grant had a tough road ahead of him.
***
Logan searched the hills but saw nothing. He had to admit that protecting three lassies did force him to be more on the alert than usual, if such a thing were possible. They didn’t linger at all since Logan and his four men were worried about being followed by Murray. He sent two ahead and the other two brought up the rear, just to be safe.
Autumn was definitely in the air for their journey. Logan took a deep breath just to enjoy the crispness of the Highland day. How he loved the outdoors, especially playing outside with Lily and Torrian. Now that they were well, he could chase them about—a game all three of them enjoyed. The leaves were just starting to turn. Fortunately, they hadn’t had a hard frost yet, so the ground was still soft, there were still plenty of leaves on the trees, and there was still food available for picking and digging. The squirrels were busy hiding their winter stores, and the rabbits hadn’t yet gone into hibernation, so at least their trip should be fruitful. The lassies were too thin, and could use some meat on their bones.
Since they were all on horseback, they made good time the first day, which made him relax a bit. He had taken a couple of different turns off the main path to confuse anyone who might be following them, and he often sent one of his men behind to clean up their tracks. It was a good sign that they’d made it through the first day without any sign of pursuit.
He found a clearing and signaled for the group to stop around dusk, hoping there would be enough light to hunt. He was ravenous after consuming a strict diet of oatcakes during the day, so the others must be as well. After he helped the bairns down, he reached for Gwyneth, but she shoved his hands away.
She hopped down with a short, “I can handle myself, Ramsay.”
“I see you can,” he said with a grin. “I was just offering a kindness.”
Gwyneth snorted, and he laughed. She was quite entertaining, though he had to contain his attraction to her around the lassies. Logan sent two men out to watch and two to hunt. “Lass, do you wish to hunt or stay with the girls?”
Gwyneth grabbed her bow and headed out after the two hunters, yelling over her shoulder, “Hunt. Can’t count on a man to get enough.”
Logan chuckled, eager to see what she could do with her bow and arrows. He knew one of Robbie’s men to be a good archer, so the challenge was on. “Ashlyn, will you and Gracie gather some sticks for me so I can get a fire going? ‘Twill be chilly tonight.”
Gracie raced outside the clearing just as Logan whistled. “Not too far, wean. I want to be able to see you.” They collected branches and twigs enough to get the fire going. Watching Gracie at work was definitely entertaining. She would find one twig, then come back and carefully place it on top of the growing pile before racing off to find another. He laughed as he watched her, but rather than suggest that she try to carry more than one at once, he said, “Good lass, you’re a great helper.” Must be she had some energy to burn from being on the horse all day. At least her rags gave her some padding to keep her bottom from getting sore. Naught seemed to bother her.
He started the fire and waved the flames to build it up, throwing Gracie’s kindling in to get it roaring, when Neil and Gilroy each returned with one rabbit each.
“What the hell, Gilroy.” Logan stared at him as he spoke. “Do you think two wee rabbits will feed eight of us? I thought you were supposed to be an accomplished bowman.”
Gilroy gave him a sheepish look. “Och, the lassies won’t eat much.”
Neil stood beside his comrade. “There aren’t many rabbits out there this time of year, Ramsay. You try your luck.”
A rustling in the trees made them all turn in time to see Gwyneth stride into the clearing with four rabbits hanging from her belt. She tossed them near the fire and said, “Do you want
Jack Lacey
Neil Gaiman
Nicola Claire
Zac Harrison
C.t. Adams . Cathy Clamp
Iris Jones Simantel
Juliet Gael
Susan Hertog
Robert D. Kaplan
Isabel Wolff