Highland Savage Read Online Free Page A

was alive? From the brief look she had gotten of the man he had obviously needed a long time to heal, but that only explained why he had not returned to Dunlochan. It did not explain why he had left her to grieve for him as he must have known she would. The possible answers to that question, which slipped so insidiously into her mind, were chilling and she quickly shook them away. Lucas knew her, knew her very well. He could not possibly believe she had had anything to do with the attack upon him.
    Seeing Old Ian up ahead, Katerina quickly reined to a halt and dismounted. She resisted the urge to help Lucas when she noticed the slight awkwardness in his dismount. Turning her whole attention to Old Ian, she handed him the reins to her horse, William swiftly doing the same.
    “I heard the mon had returned,” said Old Ian after studying Lucas closely for a moment.
    “Aye, and gave Ranald yet another chance to kill him,” said Katerina and then she grimaced. “’Tis why we had need of ye tonight. I hope we didnae pull ye away from your meal.”
    “My woman will keep it warm for me. Get ye gone now ere those swine catch sight of ye.”
    Seeing that William had already begun to brush away their trail with a leafy branch, Katerina nodded. “As soon as the pursuit has ended someone will come to fetch these beasties.”
    “Nay trouble. I have feed enough. Godspeed.”
    “And to ye, too.”
    Even as Old Ian led the horses away William followed, brushing away the trail left behind them. Knowing he would catch up to her, Katerina silently waved to Lucas to follow her and began to jog toward the old kirk that had become one of her hiding places for far too long. Only once did she chance a look at Lucas to make certain he had no trouble in following her. There was an odd hitch to his gait but he moved quickly and showed no signs of pain. They would be able to savor their reunion later.
     
    Lucas was impressed by the group’s actions. Multiple trails for an enemy to follow, people readied to hide the horses, trails brushed away, and utter silence for mostof the time. He realized these people had been at their work—whatever that work was—for quite a long time. It was also obvious that they had the full support of most of the people of Dunlochan. Lucas had the feeling he had become involved in something far more than simple reiving, something that may have even been behind that attempt to kill him. If they were just reivers, he had to wonder why they stayed so close to the ones they raided and fought with. It was that alone that made him think it was all something far more complicated and more dangerous than simply raiding for food and coin.
    His eyes widened as they approached a ruined stone kirk. Lucas glanced back at the man who trotted along behind them dragging a branch to disguise their trail. The man’s gaze was fixed upon the kirk whenever he was not glancing around, looking for any hint that their enemy had found them. It seemed they were indeed headed for that roofless stone building. He held silent, reminding himself that these people had snatched him from Ranald’s murderous grasp with an awe-inspiring skill, and had, thus far, revealed meticulous planning in their every move. Such people did not choose hiding places too obvious or too difficult to defend or escape from.
    The moment they entered the kirk, his two cloaked companions stopped and Lucas joined them in taking a moment to catch his breath. His leg throbbed with pain but he forced himself to ignore it. Glancing around, Lucas realized the kirk was an ancient one and built to last for a very long time even without a roof. The stone walls had been decorated with a vast array of carvings that were obviously Christian yet carried a lingering flavor of paganism. Lucas watched as the larger of the two men moved to a shadowed corner and pressed his palm against the face of what looked to be one of the twelve apostles and pushed hard. A grating sound assaulted