Page 13 of Winterset

When he was through, Nick finished the job by rolling up some herbs into a small ball and popping it into the dog’s mouth, stroking his throat until he swallowed it.

“That is to ease his pain,” he explained to the twins, whom he then set to creating a soft place with an old blanket near the hearth for the wounded animal to lie.

They helped him lay the dog carefully on the blankets, and the boys bent over the dog to admire Perkins’ work. After Anna had cleaned up and had made sure the boys did the same, Perkins dished up some of his stew for the lads, and they ate it hungrily, all the while peppering Nick with questions ranging from the operation they had just witnessed to the care and feeding of boa constrictors, a matter on which Nick Perkins allowed he had no knowledge.

They would doubtless have remained longer, except that Anna, glancing out the window, noticed how low in the sky the sun had sunk.

“Oh, my goodness, we have been here much longer than I realized!” she exclaimed, standing up. “It won’t be long before the sun is setting.” She turned and looked at the boys, guilt clear on her face. “And your brother has no idea where you are. I am afraid that your relatives will be terribly worried.”

The twins considered this, and Alex said fairly, “Yes, they will probably worry—but not as much as you would think. They are accustomed to our staying out.”

“When did you leave the house?” Anna asked.

“Sometime this morning. Around ten, I think.”

“Oh, my. They will have every right to be angry. I must get you home right away.”

Her heart quailed a little inside at the thought that she might have to face Reed again, but she had to escort them to their house. They were unfamiliar with the country and had come to Nick’s house from the woods behind Holcomb Manor, not from Winterset, so they would have no chance of finding their way back alone. Well, she told herself, she would just have to steel herself to face him—and hope that she could manage to hand them over to their sister and avoid Reed altogether.

The boys got up without demur, bidding goodbye to their new friend Nick and politely requesting permission to come back to check on their patient’s progress. Anna hustled them out the door and headed toward Winterset.

She should have taken them back earlier, she knew. Of course, she had not known at the time that the boys had been gone from their house since before noon, but, still, she should have thought…. Reed would be so worried—and their sister, too, of course. And he would have every right to be angry with her.

They had just crossed the footbridge over the stream and emerged from the trees on the other side when, in the distance, Anna saw a man on horseback. Her heart sank. It was Reed.

Beside her, the boys waved. Reed waved back, then reached inside his coat and brought out a pistol, which he fired up into the air. Then he urged his horse forward.

“There’s Rafe!” Con exclaimed, turning to look off to the west, where another man on horseback was now traveling toward them. The boys waved at him, too.

“I must say, you don’t seem particularly worried about what your brother will say,” Anna commented.

“He’ll only scold a little,” Alex assured her. “They get worried, you see, but they know we can take care of ourselves, mostly.”

“We often go off on our own,” Con added.

Anna was not as assured as the boys seemed to be that their relatives would not be furious, but when Reed pulled his horse to a stop in front of them and dismounted, his expression was more one of resignation than fear or anger.

“Well,” he said lightly, crossing his arms and looking down at the twins. “I see that this time you have managed to embroil Miss Holcomb in your peccadilloes.”

“She was great guns, Reed!” Con told him. “You should have seen her. She helped Perkins sew up a dog—and Perkins said we could have him, if we wanted, when he’s better, as he seems to be a stray—and she didn’t faint or anything at all the blood.”

“Indeed?” Reed’s eyes turned to Anna, cool and appraising.

She blushed under his gaze, realizing that once again she must look like a ragamuffin, her hair every which way and wearing her old boots and bonnet and a dress that was not only everyday, but was now dirty from kneeling beside the dog and, moreover, splotched with unappetizing stains.

“I am sorry, my lord,” she began stiffly. “I am sure you and your family must have been quite worried about where your brothers were. I am afraid I did not realize how late it had become. I should have brought them home earlier.”

A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth as Reed said, “Oh, no, pray, do not apologize. I am well aware that all fault lies with these two.” He cast a severe glance back at his brothers.

The two seemed supremely unconcerned by his stern demeanor. “You weren’t really worried, were you, Reed?” Alex asked. “It isn’t even dark yet.”

“Mmm.” Reed cast an expressive glance around at the fast-encroaching dusk. “Not pitch-black, no.” He turned back to Anna, explaining, “Con and Alex are well known for their explorations, I’m afraid. Actually, we were not overly worried, except that the terrain is unfamiliar to them. I feared that once it grew dark, they would have some difficulty finding their way back.”

At that moment the other horseman reached them, and he, too, dismounted, grinning at the boys. He was a large man, as tall as Reed, and very handsome, with tousled brown hair threaded through with golden strands, and vivid blue eyes. There was a deep dimple in his cheek when he smiled, as he was doing now.

Winking toward the twins, he said, “Well, now, got yourselves into brand-new trouble, haven’t you?”

He was the American, Anna realized, his voice soft and slightly slurred, and he sounded as if he found the entire world amusing. He looked over at Anna and swept off his hat, giving her an elegant bow. “Rafe McIntyre, ma’am, at your service. My sympathies on having gotten tangled up with these two rapscallions.”