The Eternal Highlander Read Free Page A

Bridget silently drew up her skirts, tucking them firmly into the rough belt made by the cloak tied around her waist. It all made for an odd lump at her waist and hips, but it freed her legs for running, and she knew she would soon be running for her life.
    Even as she sheathed her knife and took a step back, one of the thieves saw her and cried out. There was nothing she could do for Nan now. It was time to save her own life. Hissing in fury, she turned and bolted back into the depths of the woods. One thing she could do well was run. Bridget prayed she could run fast enough and far enough to escape the men now thrashing through the forest behind her.
    Curses and shouts from the men pursuing her cut through the quiet of the night she had savored only moments ago. The moonlight she loved helped her find her way, but it also helped the men chasing her. Bridget wished it was a dark night now, one filled with deep shadows, for she would have had some advantage then. Few could find their way in the dark like a Callan.
    A pain was beginning to grow in her side by the time Bridget realized the trees were thinning out. The ground she ran over was becoming thick with stones and slowly rising. She had no idea how long or how far she had run, only that the men chasing her must be blindly tenacious to still be at her heels. The only reason she could think of for their unexpected determination to catch her was a fear that she could find someone to hunt them as they now hunted her. It was a sweet thought, but she began to fear such justice would elude her. As trees gave way to shrubs, heather, gorse, and rocks, she knew she was reaching the end of her race.
    When she reached a place that was flat and clear, Bridget stopped to study what lay ahead of her. It was all uphill from this point and she cursed. Most of it looked like an easy climb, but she already shook with exhaustion. From the time of her first bleeding, she had been increasingly restricted in her activities, pulled into training to make some man a proper wife. Such training did not prepare a woman for a lengthy fight to stay alive. Her body could take no more without a rest and there was no time for one.
    Bridget turned to face the way she had come. She could hear the men and knew they would soon draw near. She hastily collected up a pile of rocks. It was a pitiful collection of weapons she drew around her, but she had very good aim and might get lucky. If nothing else, she could make the men suffer a little before they got her.
    “There she be!” cried one of the men as he stumbled to a halt only a few yards away, panting loudly.
    “Aye, here I be.” Bridget threw a rock, catching the man in the chest and knocking him onto his backside. “Stay back,” she warned, picking up another rock as the man’s companions stumbled up to him.
    “Now, lass, we mean ye no harm,” said the largest of the men.
    “Just how dull-witted do ye think I am?” She got ready to throw another rock. “Ye didnae chase me all this way just to introduce yourselves, I vow. Aye, and your blades still stink of the blood of my people.” She threw her rock, catching another of the thieves on the side of his head, sending him to his knees. “Leave me be. Fly away like the thieving carrion ye are.” She picked up another rock, never taking her gaze from the men.
    If the way the men were glaring at her was any indication, her defiance infuriated them. She had not routed her attackers, only made them more dangerous. Inwardly, she shrugged. Dead was dead and she had no doubt in her mind that they intended to kill her. Quick or slow, now or later. They had to kill her because, left alive, she was a noose about their murdering necks. She was cornered. They knew and she knew it. The only thing in doubt was whether or not she could take some of them down with her. Bridget intended to do her best to make her death cost them dearly.
    “Now, lass,” said the big man, “we intend only to hold ye for