Chapter 20 #2
She took a deep breath then nodded. Together they walked back to Angus and mounted up. Pulling the big horse around, Ronan urged him into a canter, heading south to where his people waited.
He only hoped they weren’t already too late.
THE WIND WHIPPED STRANDS of hair loose from Elodie’s braid as Angus climbed steadily across the open uplands.
She had lost all sense of time. The night had blurred into dawn, dawn into morning, and morning into an endless procession of heather, rock and rough tracks.
Every muscle in her body ached from riding, and exhaustion sat behind her eyes like a weight, yet somehow she remained wide awake.
Adrenaline. It was the only thing keeping her upright.
She shifted slightly in the saddle, unconsciously leaning back until she felt Ronan’s solid warmth behind her. His arm tightened around her waist.
“Are ye all right?” he asked quietly.
She nodded. “Fine.”
That wasn’t true, of course. She was terrified. Strung out. Worried sick about Faye, Sarah, David and the others. But she was free of the Murdochs and Ronan was with her. Somehow, that made everything bearable.
His heartbeat was slow and steady against her back, completely at odds with the frantic pounding of her own. She found herself matching her breathing to his without even realizing she was doing it.
A dangerous, impossible thought crept into her mind.
What if they just...kept riding? What if they didn’t turn south?
Didn’t go to Ronan’s lands or face his brother?
What if they just kept going, disappearing into the hills, just the two of them?
Right now she wanted that more than anything in the world.
But she knew it would never happen. Ronan would never abandon his people.
That was why she loved him. And in truth, she would never abandon them either.
Because somewhere along the way in this crazy journey on which she found herself, they’d stopped being just Ronan’s people and become hers too. She sighed softly.
“What is it?” Ronan asked.
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled wryly at him. “I was just wishing the world was a simpler place.”
He rested his chin briefly against the top of her head. “Aye. That would be nice.”
By mid-morning they had climbed onto a broad sweep of upland where the moor seemed to stretch forever beneath an enormous sky.
Here Ronan reined Angus to a halt and pulled him around to look back the way they’d come.
The dogs, eager for a rest, flopped to the grass, tongues lolling.
Elodie could see for miles, the lonely empty stretches of land stretching back all the way to a hazy horizon.
Ronan stood in the stirrups and shaded his eyes with one hand. Elodie did her best to follow his gaze but could see nothing but open moorland and broad valleys covered in trees.
Then suddenly Ronan stiffened. A low growl escaped him. “Damn it all.”
Elodie’s heart leapt into her throat. “What is it?”
He lowered himself back into the saddle and pointed. “There.”
Elodie followed the line of his outstretched arm and squinted into the distance. At first she could see nothing. Then something caught her eye. Movement. It was so far off she could barely make it out but she thought she saw dark figures threading their way over the distant hills.
Her stomach tightened. “Is it them?”
“Aye. The Murdochs have picked up our trail.”
“How far behind?”
“Closer than I’d like. We need to pick up our pace.”
Without another word he turned Angus and urged him onward. It was nearly noon when a ridge they’d been following suddenly fell away before them, giving a broad view of the sweep of land below.
And in that sweep of land, Elodie saw the people from the Steading.
They’d left the road just as Ronan had instructed and were instead following a rough path through the hills, barely more than an animal track.
They’d stopped moving and dozens of people rested beside the track.
Some were eating. Others were lying down, exhausted.
Several of the wagon horses grazed nearby.
Elodie let out a sigh of relief. “We’ve found them.”
From the tense set of Ronan’s shoulders, he was obviously not relieved at all. “We shouldnae have found them,” he muttered. “Not this soon. They should be much further along than this.”
He nudged Angus in the ribs and sent him trotting down the hillside towards the camp, an excited Bran and Skye overtaking them and racing ahead.
Alerted by the dogs, everyone turned. People began standing, smiling in relief, calling out greetings. Ronan barely acknowledged them. His eyes swept the group, his expression grim.
As they reached the camp, Faye came hurrying over, wiping her hands on a rag. “Ronan! Elodie! Thank the lord ye are both safe!”
Ronan didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Why have ye stopped?”
Faye frowned at his curt tone. “Because folk needed rest.”
“Ye’ve only been traveling a few hours.”
“We’ve been traveling all damned night!” She gestured towards David’s cart. “The wounded needed tending. The youngsters and elderly needed sleep.”
“They can rest tonight, when we’re safe.”
“They need it now.”
“They canna have it now!” Ronan snapped. “The Murdochs are right on our tail! Do ye think they will care one whit whether the oldsters and the young ones are tired? We have to get moving now!” His voice cracked like a whip.
Faye blinked. “The Murdochs are following?”