Page 10 of In the Hands of a Highland Bandit

“I don’t strike women or children,” he told her. “But some o’ my men are nae so picky. Have a care, hen.” He let her go. “Ye are comin’ wi me, an’ don’t argue.”

Greta looked around frantically, but there was no help anywhere. The village was, if not quite destroyed, very badly damaged, and her own house was a smoldering ruin. Anyway, everyone was too busy salvaging what they could from their own homes to bother about her. However, she said nothing. It would have been useless anyway since the man looked absolutely determined to have his way.

Presently, Liam came up to his brother, brushing soot off himself.

“How many men did we lose?” Finn asked Liam, whose face was black with soot and as angry as an approaching storm.

“Three, I think,” he replied angrily. His gaze was directed straight at Greta, who glared back defiantly.

Finn was incredulous. “How many o’ the village people?” he asked, frowning deeply.

Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. They a’ went for our horses first, an’ when our men fell off, they stabbed them wi’ pitchforks or beat them up. An’ we thought this was goin’ tae be easy!” He gave a bitter half-laugh. “Ye would think they had been ready for us.” He glared at Greta as if it had all been her fault.

Finn stared at the ground as if it would provide an answer to his questions. “Did ye find anythin’ at a’?” he asked desperately. “What about the merchant’s house?”

“They saw us off too bloody quick!” Liam answered. “We thought there were only goin’ tae be a dozen guards, but there were twice as many as that, an’ they killed another two o’ our lads. They were just about tae follow us intae the village when they were called back.”

Finn ran his fingers back through his hair. “Who have we lost?” he asked.

“Dougie, Alan, Craig, Iain, an’ Fergus,” Liam answered, sighing. “When the village men got hold of them, they cut them tae bits.”

Greta felt like punching the air in triumph, but instead, she settled for a smug smirk, which Liam saw at once. He growled and took a step toward her, but she only widened her smile to a grin and then chuckled.

Liam raised his hand to strike her, but Finn stepped between them and caught his brother’s hand, and Greta had the satisfaction of seeing the rage on his face.

“No hittin’ women,” Finn growled. He compared every woman he met to his mother, and although he had never shared it with anyone, he had always thought of them as the better of the two sexes. “That is our law, remember?”

Liam glared at him in rage. “Yer law!” he spat.

“If I see ye touch one of them in anger, ye will know what my fist feels like!” He held it up to show his brother. His hand was huge, with prominent knuckles, and looked like a club. Liam took a step back, then, with a final glare at Greta, he turned and marched away.

Finn turned back to Greta again. “Can ye ride?” he asked.

“Aye, but nae well,” she replied. “I can stay on as long as the beast is walkin’ or trottin’, but I couldnae gallop away if somebody was chasin’ me.”

This was a lie. In fact, Greta was a good rider, as capable as any soldier she had seen, having been taught by one of the gentlemen farmers’ sons when she was younger. Had he known she was going to refuse his offer of marriage, he might not have given her any instruction, so she had definitely received the better part of the bargain.

“Then ye can ride wi’ me,” Finn said decisively.

“I am nae goin’ anywhere wi’ ye!” Greta yelled, outraged. “An’ ye cannae make me!”

Finn raised one questioning eyebrow and stepped toward her once more.

She backed away, keeping her gaze fixed on his dark blue eyes.

All of a sudden, he took two steps forward and scooped her off the ground and into his arms. “I cannae make ye, eh?” he asked, before he strode toward one of the biggest horses and placed her in the saddle. “Don’t move,” he ordered.

He strode among the men to see the booty they had managed to collect. There was precious little. All they had managed to garner were the few ornaments and silk robes from the church. There was very little coin, even though they had terrorized the villagers into giving them everything they had. They had lost a total of five men, and all in all, the raid had been a total disaster.

Greta watched Finn striding angrily around his men and heard him addressing them in his deep, booming voice, informing them that Greta would be coming with them. At that moment, Liam, his brother, stepped in and confronted him.

“What in God’s name are ye doin’, Finn?” Liam asked angrily. “Why are we bringin’ that lassie wi’ us? Is it so ye can have a bit of sport? We never do that.”

Once again, Finn’s fists clenched into clubs. “Ye know that I don’t use women against their will!” he shouted.

“Then why are we bringin’ her?” Liam persisted. “She is only goin’ tae eat more food.”

“That is for me tae know,” Finn answered firmly. The truth was that he did not know himself.

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