Chapter Four #2
“Anna!” Moira called, rearing her horse to a stop and dropping down to help her friend. Her skin was heated under Moira’s palms.
“Christ,” Errol snapped, jumping off his horse to help his sister. “Why did ye no’ say aught sooner?”
Moira rolled her eyes, but she could see the worry reflected in Errol’s brown orbs.
He did a quick check of Anna’s body making sure that she hadn’t broken any bones.
Anna’s eyes fluttered opened. “Why have we—” she grasped her stomach and turned to the side, expelling what she’d eaten early.
Robbie jumped back from where he was standing beside Anna to avoid the remnants of her retching. He moved to his horse and returned with a small square of linen for Anna to wipe her mouth.
“We need to turn back,” Robbie said to Errol.
“Nay!” Anna called out, her head snapping up. “I feel better now. ’Twas just something I ate that didnae settle well.”
Moira wasn’t convinced. Her skin was a bit gray in color. Fina was rubbing her back, trying to comfort her, but Anna shrugged her off as if she didn’t want the attention.
“I am well. I assure ye. Let us continue on.”
Errol and Robbie exchanged glances and Moira kenned they were contemplating on whether they should turn back or not.
“Errol MacLeod, we will continue on this journey as planned,” Anna stated, her voice sounding surprisingly strong.
Errol sighed and helped her atop her horse afore turning to Moira and doing the same. His large hands closed around her waist, sending heat through her body. She looked at him to see if he’d felt the same, but his jaw was set firm, and as soon as her bottom settled on her horse, he was gone.
Robbie helped Fina and Seema before sitting atop his own horse once again.
“Ye do ken that yer sister is unweel and should return home?” Robbie asked.
Errol’s eyes jumped from his cousin and back to his sister. With a defeated sigh, he kicked his horse into a trot.
Robbie threw an irritated look back to them afore hurrying to catch up to Errol.
An hour later, they had to stop for Anna to vomit again. This time it wasn’t only Anna. Fina dropped to her knees as well. Both of them emptying their stomachs.
Robbie was right. Moira was irritated that she agreed with the man, but he was right. Clearly, there was something amiss with Anna and Fina. They needed to be home so they could see the healer and get a tisane to stop the roiling of their stomachs.
“We should go back,” Moira said to Errol. “Traveling willnae help them.”
“I agree,” Errol said, his brows drawn down in concern as he assessed his sister’s pale skin and the way she clenched her stomach.
Fina was experiencing the same symptoms.
“Nay,” Anna called out, her voice still surprisingly strong. “Fina and I will return. Ye and Errol must go forward,” she insisted. “’Tis yer only chance to solve the riddle.”
“I cannae possibly leave ye,” Moira said.
Anna shook her head. “’Tis I that is leaving ye. As ye said afore, ye doonae have a lot of time to spend searching for yer treasure. Ye must go on. Robbie will escort us home.”
Errol stiffened. “I cannae take Moira alone. Her father and her brothers will have my head. Hell, our father will have my head.”
“Dinnae be silly,” Anna answered, waving her hand weakly in dismissal. “Ye will have Seema with ye and besides, time is of the essence. I will take care of father, and the Hart’s will be none the wiser when she returns with the treasure.”
Errol squeezed the bridge of his nose and Moira held her breath as she waited for his response.
She approached Anna and clasped her hand. “I shouldnae leave ye when ye arenae well. What kind of friend would that make me?”
“One with a mission. Ye are so close, dinnae let me be the one to stop ye. I will be cheering ye on from MacLeod Keep and will be the first one to greet ye upon yer return.” She squeezed Moira’s hand in encouragement.
“Truly, ’tis naught but an unsettled stomach.
Fina and I had the same food when we broke our fast, mayhap it was spoilt. ”
Moira had a hard time believing that she and Fina both ate spoiled food, or that it was even a probability.
“Go. Ye are wasting the day. Robbie will take good care of us on our journey back.”
In answer, Robbie harrumphed but nodded.
Errol opened his mouth to say something, but Anna held up a hand and stopped him.
“Go,” she demanded. “I shallnae say it again. Ye both have my blessing. We will be fine.”
Finally, after more discussions back and forth, the two parties split and went their separate ways—Anna, Robbie, and Fina back to MacLeod Keep, and Moira, Errol, and Seema headed deeper into the trees.
Errol’s mouth was a thin line as Moira urged her horse forward to catch up to him and settled into a rhythm beside him.
“I dinnae ken if ye have thought about how to get to the first location on the map, but there seemed to be a path through a copse of trees. It should lead us right to it.”
Errol’s gaze slid to hers. “Why would it be so straightforward? For certs if it were that easy, then the treasure has already been uncovered.”
Moira rolled her eyes and chewed on her fingernail as she thought about what he said. “Dinnae ye think it would be well-kenned if it had been found? ’Tis promising treasure untold and a Hart family legacy.”
Errol scoffed. “No’ if it was someone other than a Hart that found it. Would ye go around yelling to the world that ye found a MacLeod treasure?”
She blew out an exasperated breath. He had a point, though she would never admit it and give him the satisfaction.
Retrieving the map from the bag she’d looped over her shoulder, she studied its contents. “We should be arriving soon, aye?” They’d been riding for what seemed like hours. Her bum was sore. She needed to relieve herself and stretch her legs.
“Can we stop for a few minutes?”
“Why?”
She sighed. The man was obtuse.
Handsome, but stubborn. Though she would never confess to either.
“If ye must ken, I need to attend to personal matters. I am for certs that Seema must as well.”
“I thought ye said we should be there soon.”
“I didnae say that actually. I asked ye. Which ye ignored, by the way.”
“Fine. But be quick about it. I dinnae want to spend the night outside if we can help it.”
Moira and Seema made their way past some young saplings. A boulder offered privacy from Errol, though he was paying them no attention.
“Ye mustnae push him so, my lady. Do ye forget that he is doing ye a favor by agreeing to this journey?”
“Nay, but he can be more accommodating, dinnae ye think?”
Seema shook her head and held back a giggle. “Both of ye are going to butt heads this whole journey.”
“Why do ye say such a thing?”
“’Tis easy to see. Ye both are too similar. Ye shall see. I fear this will prove to be a verra long journey indeed.”
A branch snapped in the distance and Moira froze, her gaze sweeping to Seema. “Did ye hear that?” She whispered.
Seema nodded.
Moira scanned the trees. She couldn’t see aught out of the ordinary. She stood and ran her hands along her skirts to smooth them.
“’Tis more than likely an animal. Mayhap a deer. They blend into the trees so well.”
“Aye,” Seema agreed. “Let us return to Mr. MacLeod just to be safe.”
When they emerged from the woods to where Errol waited by the horses, he held out a skin to Moira. “Ale. Ye should drink something,” he remarked.
She accepted and took a long pull from the skin afore handing it to Seema. Her maid took a small sip and returned it to her. Handing it back to Errol, she said, “Thank ye.”
“Ready to continue?” He asked gruffly.
With a sigh, she rolled her eyes and nodded. His reaction was as if they had just spent hours in the woods, putting them dreadfully behind schedule.
They rode on in silence, Errol’s jaw set stubbornly.
She didn’t understand why he was acting the way he was.
He was getting half of her treasure after all.
*
It would be so easy to pluck the women off from his current vantage point. They had no awareness of how close to danger they were. Even easier as they would be caught unawares in a vulnerable position.
But now wasn’t the time and he had to choose his actions wisely. Attack when it would be most advantageous to him and most detrimental to them.
Thankfully, the traveling party had been cut in half. With the MacLeod wench and her maid being overtaken by some ague that made them continuously upchuck, it really put them out of him having to fash about them. They would not cause any trouble.
And now that they’d returned to MacLeod Keep, he could concentrate on the three left.
Errol was posing a problem though. The man was a keen tracker. He kenned exactly when someone followed. When someone was near.
His eyes were always trained on the woods. Watching.
His ears were always tuned into the land and trees surrounding them. Listening.
The two women talked nonstop as if they hadn’t a care in the world. Which was good for him. Their incessant babble acted as a buffer to any missteps he took.
But, more than once, he’d attracted Errol’s attention.
Even with how careful he’d been, he’d made mistakes.
Like getting too close to the women right now. He could hear them as they relieved themselves. The soft trickle falling onto the pine needle covered ground.
He’d made the mistake of not paying attention and stepped on a twig. It cracked loud enough for them to give pause. He’d froze, afraid to even breathe for fear that they would see him.
They didn’t though. Instead, believing they were perfectly safe, they likened the noise to a roaming animal and moved on.
Something his father would have done.
“I will keep our secrets. No one will ken about what our family has done,” he whispered.
It had been a secret that they’d kept safe for generations. Passed down through the years.
But none of them were aware of the treasure hunt that had been hidden away. A hunt that alluded to sins of the past, he was sure. He needed to stop Errol and Moira from reaching the last clue. It would ruin everything.
He’s lucky that he’d caught wind of their conversation when they spoke of what she’d found and their plans to uncover it.
He couldn’t let that happen.
Refused to let it happen.
Last in their family or not.
Their secret would die with him.