“I cannae see her,” Harcourt grumbled as he searched the crowded market for some sign of Annys.
“Joan said she was here, that she had seen her near the ribbons,” said Nathan, pausing to smile and wink at one of the younger women selling ribbons. “That woman usually kens right where her lady is at all times.”
“True. She does keep a verra close watch on the lass. Doesnae trust that fool Adam. Nor do I. Too much anger, e’en hatred, in the mon. Aye, greed and envy as weel. I believe he sees Lady Annys as the reason he isnae sitting in the laird’s chair right now. As if David was too witless to ken what he wanted and what would be good for the people of Glencullaich.”
“Sir David was a verra learned mon, wasnae he?”
“Aye. And he ne’er stopped trying to learn more. He stirred a greed within me to do the same.”
“Your kinsmen prize learning from all I have heard. Did they nay teach ye that?”
Harcourt chuckled. “They did. They still do but young lads are nay always interested in such things. I was too busy learning how to wield a sword and woo the lassies. But, David read to me whilst I was trapped in bed healing from my wounds. Nay only clan histories or bards’ tales, either, but learned books, ones that taught ye something aside from who sired whom or who sighed after whom. I discovered I liked it e’en when what he read left me with as many questions as it answered. I gained a hunger to find those answers. It hasnae hurt me none.”
“Nay,” agreed Nathan, “and that hunger has certainly helped ye at Gormfeurach.”
The sound of a brief scuffle from within the dark alley to his left caught Harcourt’s attention. He stepped closer to the opening but heard nothing else. Instinct was urging him to go down there, to get a closer look into the shadowed part where it sloped down toward the burn running alongside the village.
“Something wrong?” asked Nathan, stepping up beside Harcourt and peering down the alley.
“Thought I heard something,” Harcourt replied, “but ’tis quiet now.”
“Yet ye remain as taut as a bowstring.”
“Gut is telling me to go and have a look.”
“Then let us go and see if your gut is right.”
Annys struggled as hard as she could in the grasp of her kidnapper. He cursed her when her heels slammed into his shins. Although it was muffled a little, she was certain she recognized the man’s voice. She could not believe Sir Adam could be so utterly witless as to try to drag her out of her own village in the middle of market day. And, if it was not him, it was someone he had sent after her, for there was no one else who would be interested in abducting her.
All her struggling finally succeeded in altering his grip on her just enough to allow her to slam her hip into his groin. It was not as telling a blow as one could make with a fist or a shod foot, but it still served its purpose. He let her go, instinct and blind need causing him to cup his privates. He cursed her for a bitch with a ferocity that was chillingly familiar. Annys did not waste any time looking at her captor, but started to run back toward the mouth of the alley. She glanced back once to see that her captor and his two companions, the lower halves of all their faces covered by cloth, had abruptly halted their pursuit of her, turned, and run. Then she ran into something tall and hard.
She staggered back only to be grabbed by the arms. Annys tensed, preparing herself to fight some more, and looked up into the face of her new captor. Sir Harcourt stared down at her, anger and concern tightening his fine features. She was so relieved, it was difficult to keep standing. She just wanted to curl herself into his strong body and hold on tight.
“Are you harmed?” he asked.
“Nay,” she replied, determined to hide her embarrassment over her brief weakness, and then found herself quickly set aside.
“Stay here.”
Before she could object to being ordered about as if she was some soldier under his command, he and Nathan ran after the ones who had attempted to abduct her. Annys sighed and shook her head as the sound of hoofbeats echoed in the distance. There was little chance of catching anyone. Harcourt had no horses near at hand to give chase. Realizing she was right back where she had been caught, she slowly approached the trapped cat.