Highland Protector Read Free Page A

and he is one who cannae abide nay kenning the truth, cannae e’en think of letting a person suffer for a crime he, or she, didnae commit. Once she tells her tale, he will see at least the hint that there is something amiss and be on the trail like the best of hunting dogs. Believe me, from all I have heard, no guilty mon wants Simon Innes on his trail. And, aside from the fact that Innes is a mon who will be compelled to find the truth, how could he turn our lass away? Those big blue eyes of hers and all. I almost feel sorry for the mon.”
    “Why?”
    “Because our Ilsabeth will turn his life inside out.”
    “And that is a good thing?”
    “It was my salvation when ye did it to me, love. Mayhap it will be his.”

Chapter 2
    “Sister?”
    Ilsabeth looked at the little boy who had just stepped out of the shadows cast by the thick trees at the edge of her small camp. She had known that he was there but had to admit it had been mostly luck that she had. He was obviously accustomed to, and skilled at, hiding from people. What he did not appear to be accustomed to was a full belly. He was all skin and bone covered in dirty rags. She suspected he had been orphaned or cast aside and sighed. She had stopped to prepare herself for the final steps of her journey, to decide just what she should say to Simon Innes when she rapped at his door, and not to have fate present her with yet another problem.
    It could be a harsh world for children, especially those no one wanted or who had been left orphaned and alone. If she could, she would take them all in, but the lack of time to find them all and an empty purse made that an impossible dream.
    Her family, both the Armstrong and the Murray sides, did their part to help such children and she had to be satisfied with that.
    “Aye, laddie, what can I do for ye?” she asked, and immediately felt a stab of guilt for lying to a child, for allowing the boy to think her a nun.
    “I was wondering if ye would share a wee bit of your food with me sister.”
    “Your sister? Nay ye?”
    His fair skin blushed so red she could see it beneath the dirt smeared on his thin face. “Weel, I wouldnae say nay to a wee bite, if ye would be so kind. But, ‘tis the bairn what needs it most.”
    Judging by the boy’s height and the clarity with which he spoke, Ilsabeth wagered the lad was at least six, if not older. Lack of food could easily have halted his growth, however. That meant his sister probably was little more than a bairn.
    She nearly cursed aloud. It was a poor time for her to stumble across a pair of foundlings. There was danger dogging her heels. Yet, she could not leave them starving at the edge of town as they had so obviously been doing. Sir Simon Innes was just going to have to understand that.
    “Fetch the lass and come sit by the fire. I have enough for all of us,” she said.
    The boy ran back to the trees and tugged a tiny girl out from behind one. As the pair walked toward Ilsabeth’s small fire, she studied them closely. It was clear to see where most of what little food the boy had found went. The little girl wore ragged clothes but there was only the faintest hint of hunger’s sharpness in her angelic face. Thick redgold curls and big brown eyes were enough to melt the hardest heart. Ilsabeth hoped Sir Simon did not prove her wrong about that for, unless the boy told her they both had kinsmen somewhere, these children were now hers.
    “Your names?” she asked as she handed each of them some bread and cheese.
    “I am Reid Burns and this is my sister Elen,” the boy said as he helped the little girl eat her food, breaking it into pieces small enough for her to handle.
    “And why is it that ye are wandering about here in the wood, and ye have near starved, Reid?”
    “Our mither died and the mon she lived with tossed us out of the wee cottage he had given us. He said that he only let us stay there because my mither was warming his bed, but now that she was gone, he needed