He reached forward with his hand, gently wiping away the stickiness from my face. He had no cloth, save his kilt, but he seemed more worried about cleansing the blood from my face than the ick factor of getting it on his hands. “No, it didn’t hurt before and it only hurts a little now. It’s already about stopped bleeding I think. It’s not a deep cut.”
He crouched down so that he was eye level with me and continued to gently wipe away my face. By the time he reached the slash, it had stopped bleeding entirely.
“Ye’re right, lass, and I’m glad for it. Sit here a moment, I’m just going to wash this off.”
He jogged over to the water’s edge, and rinsed his hands. Before returning to me, he met two horses who were headed in his direction. Gathering their reins, he walked them to my side and patted both gently. “They were worried for ye too, lass. They ran to your aide as soon as they heard yer screams. Now, what was it that ye were saying in the water? Did I hear ye mention, Bri? Do ye know her, lass?”
The relief at hearing Bri’s name was instant. I couldn’t have been more pleased. If he knew her, she had to be close. “Yes, I do, and I need to speak to her right away. Where is she?”
“No here, lass. She resides at Conall Castle and is married to me cousin, Eoin.”
So much for relief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s what Morna said too, but she said that I would find her by throwing the damn rock into the pond here. Not that I believed her but I at least thought she was around here somewhere.”
He crouched down once more, worry evident on his face. “Morna Conall? She’s been dead many years.”
I stood, angry as ever. He did the same and, although he towered over me, I rammed my fingers deep into his chest. “Look buster, I’m sick of this crap. Morna is alive and well, unfortunately. Not that she’s going to stay that way for long. She’s the one that brought me here, and she told me that I would find Bri. If Bri’s not here, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You are going to walk around to wherever you keep cars around here, get one, and you will be taking me to wherever Bri is, right this instant.”
He didn’t budge as I pushed on him. Staring down at me, amusement danced in his eyes, “I doona know what a ‘car’ is.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to the horses. “Fine! Then get me on one of these bloody horses, and we’ll ride there.”
“Did ye say ‘bloody’ lass? Are ye from England? Ye doona sound English?”
“No, I’m not from England! I’m from the States. I don’t know why I said bloody. I’ve never said it before in my life. I’m tired, my entire body hurts, and I’m ready to get out of this episode of The Twilight Zone.” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard to keep from crying. I hated that every time I got this angry, I felt the need to cry. It immediately made me seem less forceful.
He walked up to me and hesitantly tried to wrap his arms around me in comfort, but I jerked away.
He exhaled loudly in surrender and when he spoke, his voice was sympathetic. “I’m verra sorry I’ve upset ye, lass. It wasna me intention. What’s yer name?”
I sucked up my sniffles and tried to steady my voice. “Mitsy, and yours?”
“Baodan. Now, I believe that ye know Bri. By the way ye are going on about her, I have no doubt. I will take ye to see her but I’m afraid I canna do it right away.”
A new voice answered him, and I turned to see another man approach. He was striking in the most unusual of ways. His hair matched my own in color and he was tall but didn’t move as smoothly as Baodan, each step forward reserved and slightly hunched. His lips were large and one corner of them pulled, his voice exceedingly deep.
“No, brother, ye doona need to take her anywhere. Ye can leave her in me charge, and I will see her to Conall Castle meself.”
Chapter 8
“What?” My voice broke, and blood ran to my face so quickly I thought my head might burst from the pressure of it. Enough was enough. “I’m not staying in anybody’s ‘charge.’ I haven’t joined your crazy role-playing, cult circus, so don’t try to pull that load of bologna on me!”
I continued to scream, but neither man listened to me as they stared down one another. Finally, Baodan reached out and grabbed me firmly on the shoulder, pushing me soundly down into a sitting position on the bench. “Sit and hush. Doona say another word. Eoghanan needs to explain himself, and I canna hear him with yer screeching. Just calm down, lass.”
I tried to stand but his hand still pressed on my shoulder. He was strong as a bull and I would go nowhere unless he allowed me to, but surely he couldn’t keep me from talking. “Calm down? Are you crazy? You’re both acting like I’m some sort of object!”
“Did I no just tell ye to hush? Would ye like me to gag ye, or will ye cease speaking on yer own?”
I crossed my arms and stayed silent, he was obviously serious and I had no desire to be muffled.
He faced the other man and, by the way he was staring at him, I got the impression he was nearly as angry as I.