Chapter 23 #2
“Come on, then,” she murmured, nodding. “Let’s go after them. Let’s get Laurie back.”
MacCrimmon Keep fell away behind them. The man and the girl hadn’t taken the path leading away from the keep; the men at the gate had been clear about that.
They’d gone left, climbing up a steep slope and disappearing into the trees.
The little girl had been struggling, one of the men said, but the man taking her slowed his steps to match hers, pulling her along behind him.
They had described him well, and now Creighton knew who to expect.
He paused at the edge of a particularly rocky ridge and looked back.
Hunter stood at the base of the hill, giving orders to his men.
Nora only went a little way down the slope, climbing steadily upward with her fingers gripping the green turf.
She looked up, maybe sensing his gaze, and their eyes met.
Heat tightened Creighton’s chest. Now wasn’t the time for that. He turned away, keeping his face impassive, and continued upward.
The hill suddenly leveled out, and the trees pulled back to show a green, moss-covered plateau.
Beyond the next row of trees, he had been told, was the cliff.
A person had to be cautious. The ground simply dropped away, a rocky slope all the way down to the boulders below.
In the past, people had fallen from that cliff, wandering in the dark, believing they had more space before the edge than they actually did.
I willnae die like that. I cannae let it happen.
There was no time to waste, of course, but Creighton could not afford to rush forward. He had no idea what was waiting for him.
Tentatively, he stepped through the trees. Voices drifted from just ahead, and his spine tightened.
“Wait! Creighton, wait for me!”
That was Nora. Calling out like that was a mistake, of course.
Anything could be waiting ahead. He paused, glancing back over his shoulder.
She would be struggling up the last part of the climb, a rough, rocky slope that was all shale, with no handholds or footholds to speak of.
For every step forward, a person seemed to slide two steps back.
It wasn’t an easy climb. He imagined her scrambling upward, pouring with sweat, desperate to reach Laurie, praying that it wasn’t too late.
Briefly closing his eyes against this image, Creighton turned his back.
This is me problem to deal with.
Besides, if Nora were part of this situation, she might get hurt. And that thought… Best not to think about that.
Creighton pressed on, walking carefully now. Moving through the forest silently was a knack. A person couldn’t simply put their feet carelessly. That would lead to crackling leaves and snapped twigs. No, that wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t do at all.
The line of trees was thin. Creighton paused at the edge of daylight, watching it sparkle through the trunks. Beyond was a small strip of greenery, and past that was nothing. Sky. Empty sky, and a terrible drop below.
A man sat on the edge of the cliff with his back turned. A small girl sat beside him, both close enough for the man to rest a broad hand on her back if he wanted. Place and push.
Creighton’s stomach knotted up. A lump lodged in his throat, and he swallowed it down resolutely.
“See that?” the man was saying. “That’s a falcon. They call it a bird of prey.”
“Prey?” the little girl answered. Laurie. Of course, it was Laurie. Creighton rested a hand on a nearby tree trunk to steady himself, fingers pressing into the bark.
“Aye, prey. See, birds like a falcon daenae just eat insects and wee mice. Nay, a bird like a falcon eats other birds.”
“Other birds?”
“Aye. Just small ones. Wee robins, sparrows, little birds like that. Nae other birds of prey, ye will notice. Nay, a falcon kens which target to choose. Often, the poor wee bird doesnae ken what’s hit it. But do ye ken what the birds do, if they see a falcon hoverin’ above it?”
“What?”
“They dive. There’s nay sense in tryin’ to fly faster than the falcon—they cannae.
Some very fast birds can evade the falcon, but nae many.
That’s a tricky game. So, they dive. Down they go, faster and faster.
They tuck in their wings and fall to the ground.
Once they’re low enough, it’s easier to hide from the falcon.
They scamper into the undergrowth, getting where the bigger bird cannae follow. They’re clever creatures.”
“Oh.”
There was a brief silence after this. The man leaned forward, peering down over the edge of the cliff. With a rush of nausea, Creighton realized that they must be sitting with their legs dangling over the edge.
“We should play a game, ye and I,” the man continued, as if the idea had just occurred to him. “We can play at falcon and sparrow. See which one of us reaches that wee pool at the bottom first, eh?”
Laurie leaned forward, tentatively. “It doesnnae seem very deep. And it’s a long way down.”
“Ach, we’ll be fine. Shall we try it? A fun wee game before we go back to the keep. Unless…” he paused, head turning toward the forest. “Unless we have a wee spy watchin’ us. Is that ye, Creighton?”
Laurie made to get up, to move over to the trees, but the man’s hand shot out, clamping around her upper arm.
There was no sense in hiding. Creighton stepped out of the trees, meeting the man’s gaze squarely.
“Dallas,” he said shortly. “Expectin’ me, were ye?”