Highland Hunger Read Online Free Page B

together.” She realized she had finished her stew and was just thinking of asking for more when he took her bowl and refilled it.
    “Nay, I can understand that. He kens your strengths,” he said as he handed her back the bowl. “Two of ye could cause him and his men a great deal of trouble. It would be a lot more dangerous for his men to e’en open the cage door.”
    “I thought that was the way of it, too,” she said between bites. “Wee Alma took a piece out of his leg when he stepped into the bairns’ cage to take their blood. He sends two men in there now.”
    Raibeart waited until she had nearly finished the second bowl of stew before asking, “So Allana and Madeleine held the attention of the guards?”
    “They did. They started arguing, hurling insults that had the guards all laughing and urging them on. Then the guards yanked Allana from her cage and threw her into Madeleine’s. They wanted to watch the women really battle each other. Allana had said they would, but I was still surprised to see that she was right.”
    “Two lasses tussling, skirts flying up, legs bared, mayhap a bodice ripped away? Aye, men would watch.” He grinned when she gave him a look rife with feminine disgust. “So was there a tunnel you could use?”
    “There was, which is why I am here now. It was easy to see that it had not been used for many years, but it was still passable and it led to a place near the edge of the burn that runs along the south side of the keep. I moved as fast as I could, getting in and out quickly, but it was still a very close run race. The guards were already dragging a cursing Allana back to her cage.”
    “Why did ye nay just flee when ye had the chance? Why risk them seeing ye coming back into the dungeon?”
    “I couldnae leave the others. I needed to talk with Allana and the rest before I did try to leave them. There might have been some way for all of us to flee, even though I hadnae seen one. Nay when there are always four guards and only I was let free of the cage.” She set her empty bowl down and sighed. “I hated to leave them. I am certain they will suffer for it.”
    “Ye were their only hope of getting help. Are ye certain none of them are the reason those men found ye so quickly?”
    “Verra certain. I am also certain they didnae find the way I got out, either. I should have had enough time to get clear of the area, for the women were going to distract the guards again and, as I said, they didnae watch me all that closely, for they were guarding the only ways out as far as they kenned. The fools probably think I made some spell. Either my absence was discovered far too soon or someone caught sight of me as I slipped out of the bolt-hole near the burn. There was a cleared area I needed to cross. And there is always the chance that the laird or some of his men chose that time to come down for more blood and realized I was gone when they began to dismiss the guards. They ne’er let the guards stay when they come for blood.”
    “And ye are certain ’tis only the laird and his five closest men who ken about the blood?”
    She nodded and idly rubbed her cheek. “The laird doesnae trust anyone. I am nay sure he even fully trusts those five men. And once he discovered our blood could heal him, strengthen him, I believe he even ceased to trust the one he used to send our kind to. He must believe that that mon had already learned the secret and wasnae sharing it with any of the others who hunt our kind down.”
    “ ’Tis likely he is right to think that. What of the other people of Dunmorton?”
    “Some bad, some good, just as it is in most places. There are nay so verra many of them for the land is poor and the laird rules with a harsh hand. Many have left to try to find a better life elsewhere, even his two sons. The laird liked to boast on how he would probably still be hale and strong when his ungrateful whelps died of old age.”
    “So, there may only be six men we will need