Highlander's Return: The Sinclair Brothers Trilogy, Bonus Novella (Book 2.5) Read Free Page B

that he could fight as well.
    Though relations with the Sutherlands were strained,
the Sinclair retinue had been given permission to cross their lands on their
way to pledge their loyalty to Wallace. The Sutherlands were on the side of
Scottish independence, after all. Even still, the small band of Sinclairs moved
at a brisk pace over the snow-covered hills, and it wasn’t just because of the
cold.
    Suddenly all the men’s heads snapped up at the faint
sound of a high-pitched scream.
    “What the devil?” Laird Sinclair said gruffly,
wheeling his horse toward the sound.
    “Nay, father, it could be dangerous,” Robert said at
the Laird’s side.
    “We cannot let fear prevent us from doing what is
right,” the Laird replied quietly to his eldest son. He motioned for the group
of men to follow him, and spurred his horse toward the direction of the sound.
    Burke’s blood was suddenly warmer, and it wasn’t
from the increased pace of the warhorse beneath him. What could have made such
a sound? Would he and his clansmen be able to help?
    The band of Sinclair men didn’t have to travel far
through the deep snowdrifts and biting wind to discover the source of the
scream. A frozen loch emerged ahead through the flurries of snow. While most of
the surface was frozen over and still, Burke’s eye immediately went to the
flutter of movement along the nearest shoreline.
    The scream came again, and this time there was no
mistaking it—it came from a thrashing figure who had apparently fallen through
the ice. It sounded like a lass.
    Without thinking, Burke kicked his horse hard,
sending him shooting ahead of the others. His eyes were locked on the figure,
who was flailing and keening with increasing desperation. He vaguely registered
his uncle’s calls for caution behind him, but he ignored them.
    He reined in his horse just at the loch’s frozen
shoreline and flung himself from the animal’s back. Never taking his eyes from
the thrashing figure, he ripped off the extra plaids he had wrapped around his
shoulders, then stepped cautiously onto the ice.
    Just as he eased onto the iced-over loch, the rest
of the party arrived at the shoreline. Burke didn’t wait for them, though. Instead,
he moved toward the helpless lass, ignoring the sting of cold cutting through
his clothes. Again, shouts sounded from behind him, but he was entirely focused
on the flailing figure, who was now only a few yards away.
    She was struggling to keep her head above the icy
water. Her screams had turned to strangled gurgles. As Burke neared her, he
crouched, then slid his belly onto the ice to avoid breaking through himself.
The pool in which the lass swam was large, indicating that she had tried to
pull herself out, only to break off more of the icy crust.
    “It’s all right, lass,” Burke said in a low,
soothing tone as he inched himself forward on his stomach.
    Her wide, dark eyes locked on him with a look of
terror and desperation, and he felt a jolt in his chest.
    “Just swim over here and I’ll pull you out.” He
spoke as if he were trying to sooth a spooked animal.
    She struggled feebly toward him. No doubt her limbs
were turning to stone from the cold. He had to act fast if he hoped to save
her. He extended his arm, shortening the distance and coaxing her on with a
beckoning hand.
    Her head slipped a bit lower in the water even as
she strained to reach his outstretched hand. He scooted an inch closer, but froze
when he heard the deep groan of the ice beneath him.
    “Just a little farther, lass. That’s it. You can do
it. Reach!”
    Just as her head sank completely under the dark
water, her fingers brushed his. He risked lurching forward even farther.
Blessedly, instead of falling through the ice himself, he managed to clamp a
hand around her wrist and yank her toward him.
    She slid like a seal onto the ice next to him,
coughing and sputtering violently. He scooted himself farther back onto more
solid ice, dragging her by the wrist after