Page 39 of Desire of a Highlander

The man swallowed then nodded.

Ronan stepped back but kept the pistol trained on the man. “Go. All of ye.”

The bandits needed no further encouragement. Branches snapped and leaves rustled as they fled. Within seconds they had vanished into the trees.

Eamon burst out laughing. “Did ye see his face?”

Tam grinned. “I thought he was going to piss himself.”

Ronan didn’t laugh. He stared in the direction the bandits had disappeared. Something about all this bothered him. Deeply. They had dealt with bandits and brigands before but this felt different. Lord and Lady Murdoch? He recognized those names. They held vast amounts of land to the north. Could they be trying to use the unrest to expand their holdings? Claim land that didn’t belong to them? If that was so, it spelled trouble for the Steading.

He handed the pistol to Eamon. “Come on. Let’s get back.”

They retraced their steps through the woods but once back to the moorland, Ronan insisted they take a longer, more roundabout route home. He sent Bran and Skye ranging ahead while the others checked constantly to ensure they weren’t being followed. From now on there would be no more foraging trips outside the valley.

As the sun began its descent towards the western horizon they drew closer to the Steading and Ronan’s unease only deepened. He had spent years building a refuge here, years keeping the world’s troubles beyond the cliffs. Yet, despite all his efforts, that trouble was drawing ever closer.

How long until it found them?

Chapter 9

Elodie rolled up the freshly cut bandage and added it to the growing pile in front of her. She grabbed another piece of cloth and began rolling this too.

“Elodie?”

“Hmm?”

“I think that might be enough.”

Elodie looked up and realized that the pile of bandages had grown so big it was threatening to topple over. “Oh. Right.”

Faye was sitting opposite her at the scrubbed table in the healer’s house and the two of them had been making bandages for the last hour. Evening sunlight slanted through the open doorway and Elodie found herself glancing towards the valley entrance. Ronan and the others had been gone for hours. What if something had happened? What if they’d run into trouble? What if—

“Lass,” Faye said, laying a hand on her arm. “He’ll be fine.”

Elodie blinked. “What?”

“Ronan. He’ll be fine.”

Heat flooded Elodie’s cheeks. “I wasn’t—”

“Ye were.”

Elodie opened her mouth but then closed it again. There wasn’t much point in arguing seeing as Faye could clearly see straight through her.

“He’ll be fine,” the healer repeated.

“How do you know?” Elodie couldn’t keep the worry from her voice.

A faint smile touched the older woman’s face. “Because there’s more to our Ronan than meets the eye. He can take care of himself.”

After seeing the way he’d handled that sword, Elodie suspected that Faye’s words were something of an understatement.

Suddenly, excited shouts echoed from the far end of the village. Elodie was on her feet and running out the door before Faye had even looked up. She spotted Ronan and his group striding into the settlement and relief washed through her so strongly that for a moment she felt dizzy.

“What happened?” someone shouted to the returning group.

“We found them!” Eamon announced. “And sent them running with a fright they’ll never forget!”