Read Online The Highlander's Folly (The Novels of Loch Moigh Book 3) by Barbara Longley - Free Book Online Page A

you plot some treachery against me?”
    “ ’Tis naught but the language of the deaf I learned as a bairn. You ken I lost my hearing for a time as a young lad.” Hunter shook his head. “ ’Tis habit is all. I was just asking Tieren to take the first watch.” Partly true, at least. They would both be on guard through the night. “No treachery involved.”

    Hunter awoke with a start. Shite! He’d failed to stay awake as he’d intended. He checked to see that Meghan and Tieren were well. Once assured of their safety, he stilled himself. Listening with both his ears and his senses, he cast about for the source of his unease. Did he hear the sound of horses in the distance? Turning toward the warm glow of the fire, he spied Murray staring into the flames whilst tugging at his beard—a sure sign his friend wrestled with troubling thoughts. Rising quietly, he went to join him.
    “Cecil and Gregory have left us,” Murray said in a low tone.
    “Aye?” Hunter sat down beside him. “Och, it could have been worse. I feared Cecil would attempt some nefarious deed as we slept.”
    “I let them go without an argument. They took only what belonged tae them, and their lads went with them.”
    “Humph. We are down to the same number we set out with from Moigh Hall when we left for the continent with naught but our gear and ambition.” Not enough. Not nearly enough, considering what they carried and how they traveled. “In what direction did they go?”
    “Back toward Edinburgh, though I dinna believe they mean tae stay tae that course. There are, after all, many roads they could take along the way.” Murray shifted and rolled his shoulders. “As ye ken, Cecil’s family seat is in Dumfriesshire. Mayhap that is where he means tae go. Should I ha’ awakened you as they gathered their things?”
    “Nay. Given Cecil’s bent, ’tis best they are gone from us, though I fear ’twill no’ be the last we hear from either of them. Their armor and gear is on the way to Inverness as we speak.” He shook his head. “I’m grateful they took only what belonged to them. I thought Gregory at least would remain, though I reckoned Cecil had some plot in mind.”
    “ ’Tis nearly dawn,” Murray said, studying the eastern horizon. “Mayhap ’twould be wise tae get an early start.”
    “Aye.” He rose and gave Murray’s shoulder a squeeze. “Where is young John?”
    “My squire keeps watch upon yon hill. Let us wake the others. John can take his rest upon the wagon, since the load is considerably lighter now.” Murray stood and stretched. “Cecil and Gregory took one of Nevan’s palfreys for a packhorse, and I allowed them tae do so without protest. I want no bad blood between us lest they return with bloodshed on their minds.”
    “Fair enough. I’ll see to waking everyone. Put out the fire and recall John to camp. We’ll be off in a trice.”
    “This is my fault, isn’t it?” Meghan came up behind them, still wrapped in her blanket. “I heard you talking.” She tugged the wool tighter around her shoulders and looked to him. Her lovely brown eyes were large and filled with worry. “I’m sorry.”
    His insides knotted, and his heart took a tumble. “Nay. ’Tis no more your fault than mine. Madame Giselle is responsible, and since we now have naught but the company of my clansmen and the lads whose clans have long been allied with ours, we might speak more freely.” He reached out and tucked an errant strand of her silken hair behind her ear. Why could he not resist the urge to touch her? “Go on. See to your needs whilst we keep watch. Once we break our fast, we’ll depart.”
    It took considerably longer than a trice to get everyone up, fed and moving, and once again Meghan’s expression said much about her state of mind. Distress turned the corners of her mouth down and creased her brow. Tieren hovered close to her, and for that Hunter was glad—at least he told himself ’twas so. “Let us be off,”