Page 37 of Highlander’s Curse (The Daughters of the Glen #8)

Twenty-eight

C ome on now, up with you. We’ve miles to cover this day.”

Abby stretched, each of the pebbles and sticks on the hard ground beneath her making its irritating presence known.

“I finally feel sorry for that princess with the pea in her mattress,” she muttered, rolling to her knees.

“What’s that you say?”

Colin appeared to have been up for a while. He’d packed up their campsite and laid out a small square of cloth beside her, with a hunk of bread and some dried fruits arranged on it.

At the moment, she’d give her right arm to see a cup of coffee there in the mix.

“Nothing.”

Colin had to feel worse than her. The last time she’d checked before falling asleep, he’d still been wide awake. Her whole hallucination about seeing Jonathan Flynn in the shadows had pretty much ruined any decent sleep for either of them

He bent to pick up her blankets, shaking them out before rolling them into a neat little bundle. “We need to put some speed under us this day.”

“I’m up for it.”

Assuming her head didn’t explode from caffeine deprivation. Of course, that was something she was going to have to get over if she ended up stuck in this time.

“Not going there,” she muttered to herself as she leaned down to splash cold water on her face.

Biting back a groan, she made her way over to her mount and climbed up on his back. She’d ridden horses all her life and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. But there was a big difference between a couple hours on horseback for fun and a full day on horseback for transportation.

“I’ve a sister who lives no too far from here. Maybe half a day’s ride. I’m thinking it best we take you there.”

Colin spoke without looking at her as if he half-hoped by not making eye contact she’d be more likely to fall for his line of crap.

“You said yourself we’re already in a race with time to reach your friends. Besides, if I didn’t choose to stay behind with people who at least knew where I came from, what makes you think I’d stay with this sister of yours?”

He shrugged, looking back before he spoke this time. “A day in the saddle. A night on the ground. It’s no so pleasant. There are dangers out here to be sure, wife.”

She’d love to tell him where he could put his dangers and that wife stuff, if only she had the energy. As it was, she hadn’t any to spare.

“Forget it. If this is because of what I thought I saw last night, you don’t need to worry about me. I was just exhausted and imagining things. We go on together.” The stiff back he presented her told her more than any words could. “So which way does your Spidey sense tell us to head this morning?”

“My what?”

His look of confusion was almost adorable enough to make her forget how miserable she felt. Almost, but not quite.

“Never mind. Which way to your friends this morning?”

“You’ve decided, then?”

She nodded her answer. “Hey, even if he really had been out there, I can’t imagine any place I’d feel safer than with you.”

He’d been quite formidable as he’d gone into warrior mode last night.

On his horse now, Colin stilled, his eyes searching hers before he closed them. A light seemed to radiate up from his face, flowing out in all directions before focusing like a laser and streaming directly ahead of them.

“This way,” he said, leading his horse off in front of her.

She tried to blank her mind, to lull herself into some sort of automatic pilot that would allow the hours to pass quickly.

Good Lord, this was only Day Two.

She should have gone right to sleep last night instead of gabbing for hours, but she’d really wanted to know how they were going to find these friends of Colin’s.

And then when he’d opened up and began to tell her about his encounter with the Faerie Queen, there had been no way she was going to stop the conversation and just go to sleep.

Colin wasn’t much of a talker, and he didn’t strike her as someone who easily shared personal details of his life. That he’d decided to share some of those with her had made her feel closer to him. For a little while there, it had almost lulled her into believing he really cared about her.

Of course he’d gone and ruined it all this morning by trying to convince her to let him abandon her at his sister’s house. Though, thinking about it now, his attempt had seemed almost halfhearted.

“Yer no much of a morning person, are you?”

How long they’d been on the road when Colin at last slowed enough to ask his question, she had no idea. What she did know was that between the heat and the pounding she was taking on the horse, she was in no mood for any attempt at light conversation.

“I’m a great morning person when my morning is anything even remotely resembling civilized. Anyway, I think we left morning quite a ways behind us.” The rumble of her stomach as much as the sun in the sky assured her she was correct.

“We can stop for a short rest and a cold meal if you need to.”

She briefly considered refusing just so she could show him that she could keep going as long as he could, but her growling stomach won out.

“Good. Let’s do that.”

She pulled up on her reins and slid off her horse. The earth greeted her feet much sooner and much more forcefully than she expected, buckling her knees. Only her grip on the side of her saddle kept her from landing on her butt.

Though staying on her feet would probably be smarter, she found herself a fallen log and sat down on it, amazed at how comfortable it could feel to sit without having to straddle something.

Colin handed her more of the bread, cheese, and dried fruit they’d brought along with them and she settled back, munching quietly, deciding that she was quickly developing an aversion to all three foods.

Thunder rolled in the distance and she glanced toward the sound, noticing for the first time the dark clouds that filled the southern sky.

“Think we’ll get rained on?” Soggy was what she’d come to expect from Scotland. At least it had been back in her time, though, come to think of it, she hadn’t seen a single drop since she’d been here.

Colin shrugged and finished off the last of his meal. “It would be a welcome rain. The summer has been hot and much drier than most. The sheep are suffering for it.”

“Are we headed in that direction, do you think? Toward the storm?” She wasn’t particularly fond of traveling into those lightning strikes.

“That we are.” Colin stood and held out a hand to help her to her feet. “Mayhaps we’ll get lucky with a shower today.”

Right. Lucky. The only thing she could imagine that would be more uncomfortable than a day spent on horseback would be a day spent on horseback soaked to the skin.

“No rain. Hear that, whoever controls this stuff? No rain.”

Her poor, tired leg felt like an anchor when she lifted her foot into the stirrup, enough so that she didn’t make a sound of protest when Colin fastened his hands around her waist and boosted her up onto her mount. She even managed a mumbled “Thanks.”

It didn’t take long to realize he’d been right. They were on a direct course to intersect with the storm.

Colin allowed his horse to drop back next to hers for long enough to point out what passed for rain gear in this century. “You’ve a woolen there under yer pack. If we do hit the rains, wrap it over yer shoulders and head. It’ll keep you dry for the better part.”

They hadn’t ridden much farther before the ground shook with the next peal of thunder, almost at the same time as the sky lit up around them.

“Hey,” she called, urging her horse to pull even with Colin’s. “That was really close. We need to get away from these trees. It’s a very bad place for us to be in a storm like this. Trees and lightning are not a good mix.”

The look of irritation he cast her way was well deserved, she’d admit. She realized there was little he could do but to keep moving them forward. Still, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to point out the obvious when she felt it needed pointing out.

Another crack of thunder rumbled so close by, she could swear she felt the hairs on her arm stand on end.

“This is so not a smart place to be,” she called out. “Isn’t there a house or a castle or a . . . a something around here we can go to? Isn’t there at least a—”

She bit off her words as just ahead of her he pulled his horse to a sharp stop, holding up his hand as if to silence her.

“Do you smell that?” He’d pushed up in his saddle, his head pivoting to scan the horizon in all directions.

She breathed in deeply, noticing for the first time that both their horses were testing the breeze as well.

“Smoke? Is that smoke?”

“Fire,” he confirmed, pointing behind them toward the haze gathering in the direction from which they’d come. “I’d hazard a guess the lightning has struck dry tinder back there.”

A wildfire?

“What do we do? Are there any people we should warn?” Now that she was aware of the fire, the smell of smoke seemed much stronger than it had only seconds before.

“We ride. Stay close to me and keep up. The river crossing is no too much farther ahead. Once we make it across, we’ll be safe.”

“We might be safe, but what about the people who live around here?” Surely they needed to be warned.

“There are no people around here, Abby. We’re in the middle of miles of nothing but blessed nature. Now quiet yer blethering and concentrate on keeping up with me.”

Almost before she could think, he was two lengths ahead of her.

“Ride, woman, ride!” His words floated back to her, their urgency unmistakable.

Her horse pawed the ground and jerked at his reins, not the least bit pleased with her delay.

She urged him forward, leaning low over his neck as he raced to catch up with Colin.

The trees slipped past much faster than she found comfortable, but the scent of the fire was stronger now than ever and she gave her mount his head, allowing him to go as fast as he wanted.