Highland Rake Read Free Page B

certain. But others say he is different."
    "Mad?" she asked. That's all she would need was to be married to a madman.
    Once she reached the corridor to the servants' quarters, she moved quickly down the narrow winding stone stairs and was soon at the landing. She glanced back, saw no sign of her pesky brother, and stalked toward the kitchen where she pilfered a loaf of bread and filled her flask with mead. Then she left through the servants' door that led outside. Everyone was busy with their daily chores, so none seemed to notice her as she made her way across the inner bailey. The greatest difficulty would be taking her horse from the stable.
    She hoped if anyone had been watching her, they would only think she was drying herbs and plants for future use, stocking up for the winter to come. It wasn't unusual for her to do so, although it was a wee bit early for gathering all the herbs.
    As soon as she entered the stable, she smiled brightly at one of the lads grooming a horse. "Can you saddle my horse for me?"
    He bowed quickly, stammered an, "Aye," with a belated, "my lady." He began to ready her horse.
    As quickly as he could, he had her horse saddled and offered to help her mount.
    "Thank you," she said sweetly, climbing onto the saddle, then kneed her horse toward the gates.
    She walked her, afraid to stir much interest as a group of men was moving toward the gates, either going to the village or working their fields. A man driving a wagonload of barrels headed out also. Outside the curtain wall, several men were working on repairs to the stone barrier. Guards were always posted along the wall walk, and she was certain they'd watch her as she headed beyond the outer curtain wall and see which direction she was going.
    She wanted to head straight for the shepherdess's croft, but there were no plants she could harvest to use to heal the sick or wounded in that direction, so the guards might wonder where she was going and someone might try to stop her. Instead, she took a round-about way to the forest where she would normally collect plants. By then she was too far out of the guards' view for them to see where she was truly headed.
    Since her uncle would be away for several more days, Alana would have no trouble seeing to the woman and returning before he knew any better. If her uncle had been in residence at the castle at the time, the guards might not have made the mistake.
    Fearing her uncle might learn of Alana's defiance, she did not take a maid with her. She was afraid he would punish a maid accompanying her as well. Besides, her favorite maid, Turi's daughter, Brighid, was ill this morning. Alana hadn't been able to determine what ailed her. She hoped that whatever she had was not something that was catching among their people. Still, she couldn't imagine how Odara and the maid would have come into contact since they lived so far apart, and she didn't remember seeing the shepherdess at the keep recently.
    She had nearly reached the woods that fringed a blue loch when she saw a lad racing across the glen. "Hey, you, Kerwin! What are you about?" she called out, thinking the boy might be able to help her since he did not appear to be helping anyone else.
    The boy stopped, turned, and gaped at her, his strawberry curls touching his shoulders, his brown eyes wide.
    If Odara could not tend to her sheep, mayhap the lad could, if he was not needed for chores. Since he did not seem to be doing them anyway…
    The lad ran toward her then. "My lady," he said, then gave her a clumsy bow.
    "Are you done with your chores?" She was surprised that someone as old as he, looking to be about eight, would be through with them this early, and was more than likely avoiding them.
    He frowned, flushed a nice shade of red, and said in a low mumble, "I was helping my brothers, but one shoved me in the pig's pen. They threatened to toss me in the loch to clean me up after they finished the chores."
    He did smell like he had been wallowing in