Legacy Read Online Free Page B

in the eye, for I was as tall as he was. 'I said to release that man.'
     
    The one called Garth spoke up. 'Hey, Parsons, why don't you hold her there for a minute? See if she talks to me like that. Looks to me like she needs those teeth of hers loosened up some.'
     
    Suddenly I realized what an insanely foolish thing I had done. These men would not hesitate to hurt me. And if they found out who my father was, they would probably expect Brad to reward them ...
     
    '. . . not too quick with that,' Parsons was saying. 'Just pitch me over that whisky. Let's see if we can't persuade her to tell us what she's doin' up here.'
     
    He grabbed my arm again, hard, making me wince, while Garth prepared to throw the whisky bottle.
     
    What happened next occurred so swiftly that I remember it only as a blur of events. Suddenly the man called Shaw lashed out at Garth with a kick that took him by surprise. Garth staggered, and then Shaw kicked him in the belly, knocking him down, and made a running leap into the saddle of one of the horses. As Shaw struggled with the ropes on his wrists, Parsons pushed me down in the grass and dashed after him.
     
    Now, I thought. Now was the time for me to get to my own horse and ride away from here!
     
    I picked myself up and stumbled back behind the cover of the spruce trees. The needles hurt my face, but I pressed on, running through the forest as fast as I could, through the slippery pine needles on the forest floor. If I got to my horse, I could circle around to the road that I knew led up to Brad's mansion from Grampian. Once I was on that road I could head straight into town, then head for home.
     
    No. I would have to take the horse back to the stable first. Otherwise, there would have to be explanations. Would I see Steven at the stables?
     
    My toe caught on a root and I nearly fell flat. As it was, I stumbled against a tree, and one of the stubby, bare branches around the lower part of the trunk poked into my side and made me gasp with pain. Watch where you're going! I thought angrily. Get to the horse first and then away from here. Then you'll have plenty of time to think.
     
    I got my bearings again and set off. Up ahead I could see my horse's silhouette through the trees. It was right where I'd left it. Just a few steps more and then I had the reins in my hands and was steadying the horse to mount.
     
    But I panicked when I heard someone ride through the trees close behind me. I gave a little cry and began to run, even though my lungs ached and I knew I didn't have the strength to get very far.
     
    Then behind me I heard a voice, and suddenly everything changed. 'Hey, hold on there, Catherine! Hold on there! Where do you think you're off to?'
     
    I turned and looked up into the dark, handsome eyes of Steven Graybar. Quickly he had dismounted and was at my side, supporting me as I began to grow faint again. Suddenly I realized how disheveled I must look by now. I could feel my cheeks grow warm with the flush of embarrassment. He was asking me what had happened.
     
    'I . . . need to catch my breath. One of your father's men attacked me back there, and I had to run away.'
     
    I leaned against Steven and told him about Shaw. Slowly I began to feel that I was safe again. Surely Steven would protect me, even though we had quarreled, even though I could not do what he had demanded.
     
    When I had finished speaking, Steven's brown eyes hardened as he looked off in the direction of the castle. For a moment he seemed lost in another world far away from the woods where the two of us were standing.
     
    'That bastard Brad.' Steven called his father by his first name, behind his back and to his face, as well. 'I swear he'll pay for it.'
     
    When he looked back at me, his eyes were warm with feeling. 'Why do they have to drag us down with them? If only they weren't so damned foolish, we could . . .'
     
    I knew he was talking about my father and his, and about the feud that still kept Steven