Page 39 of Laird of Flint
No one knew who she was.
She had the coo.
And tying up the Boyle brothers would keep the Viking occupied long enough for her to flee with Hamish.
It was tempting to retrieve his axe and keep it for herself. But she was a woman of her word. Besides, he was a Rivenloch warrior. While he might eventually lose interest in tracking a common cateran, he’d likely follow her to the ends of the earth to get his precious weapon back.
Nay, she’d proceed as planned. Just her and Hamish and the journey ahead.
Without the rope, she had to coil her fist in the thick hair of Hamish’s neck to guide him. It wasn’t ideal. The rope would have given her greater control. But she knew he would stay close. He would sense the slightest shift in her bearing and follow her without question.
With a whispered prayer for safe travels, she guided him onto the path through the mountains.
Centuries ago, a crack in the rock had widened into a deep ravine running alongside the narrow trail that traversed the stony slope. As the path progressed, the steep shards of slick, moss-covered walls grew taller on one side and deeper on the other. Anything dropped into the chasm was gone forever. Anything and anyone.
Stray lambs sometimes slipped into the ravine. Now and then, an unwary traveler stumbled and fell to his death. Children were warned away from the path. Still, every few years, some drunken lad lost his life trying to negotiate the path blindfolded on a dare from his fellows.
But tonight, the ravine’s treacherous nature made the route the perfect choice. No one with an ounce of sense—no one but intrepid Carenza—would attempt to take a great beast like Hamish through the perilous passage. And more importantly, no one would ever try to bring him back.
Containing the Boyles took longer than Hew anticipated. There was no loyalty lost between the brothers. One was perfectly willing to flee while his sibling was captured and tied to a tree.
Eventually, Hew chased and tackled the second brother and managed to secure them both. Then, annoyed by the bearded one’s incessant caterwauling about freezing to death, he tore off a piece of the lad’s leine and stuffed it into his mouth.
But now, the lady and her coo were long gone.
Still, he wouldn’t give up. The Boyles might not have recognized who she was, or even that she was a lass. But he knew. Which meant someone else would eventually find out. If news spread that the daughter of Dunlop was reiving her father’s cattle, it would bring shame upon her and her whole clan.
On the other hand, he’d promised he wouldn’t turn her in.
There was only one thing to do.
He blew out a determined breath, loping toward the spot she’d disappeared, pausing only to retrieve his axe.
There was a primitive footpath nestled against the mountain which led away from the field. That was where she’d been headed. It must be where she’d gone.
She couldn’t travel very quickly with a coo. There was a good chance he could catch her before she got too deep into the mountains.
Increasing his pace, he moved swiftly from the wide moonlit grassland to the narrow shadowed path. The trail sloped abruptly upward. But as he climbed, the mountain on his right rose even more steeply.
The moon, hidden now behind the mountain’s peak, provided no light. Only starlight illuminated the path, which constricted more with each step.
On his right loomed a sheer face of rock, carpeted with moss and fern.
To his left plunged a crevasse as black as peat. How deep it was, he couldn’t tell.
But the narrower the trail became, the higher it rose and the darker it got, the more he worried about Lady Carenza.
Had she really come this way with the great beast?
Did she realize how dangerous this path was?
As if to prove his point, his heel slipped on rubble, scraping perilously close to the edge of the abyss. A taunting trickle of pebbles dribbled down the side, fading far below.
“Shite,” he muttered in disgust.
Was this how his life would end? Would the fierce Sir Hew du Lac fall to his death, not in battle, but on a mountain pass, chasing after a lass with a coo?
He managed to regain his footing and braced himself against the wall.
