An Earthly Knight by Janet Mcnaughton

Author:Janet Mcnaughton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2017-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Carter Hall looked abandoned. Jenny had been sure Tam Lin would be there. She sat on the edge of the old stone bench, La Rose’s reins in her hand. The freebooters had unsettled her so, she was afraid to let go. The thought that she might have made this trip for nothing was more than she could bear.

“We will have to wait a while, La Rose, to let those men go away, for I would not meet them for the world.” She sighed. “I wish we were safe at home. I should never have come here.” She pulled a white rose from a bush beside her and began to pluck at the petals.

“There you are, ruining my roses again,” said a voice close behind her.

In the half second before she could understand what she had heard, she was on her feet and facing the sound, terror driving every reasonable thought from her head. Then she saw Tam Lin. Of course. She felt shaken and ridiculous all at once.

“Is something wrong?” he said.

She nodded, still trying to catch her breath from the scare he had given her. “Freebooters. I saw them just across the river.”

He came over and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Did they see you?”

His concern comforted her. Her fear was not silly. She shook her head and explained how she had heard them at the ford and hidden.

“I would not like for them to meet you,” he said when she had finished.

She looked at him, puzzled. “Do you know them?”

He blushed. “Aye. They bring me things I need from time to time. In fact, they were coming from here when you saw them.”

“But they are outlaws. How can you trade with them?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes, you pick the lesser of two evils.”

“What does that mean? Buying stolen goods is better than stealing yourself?”

He looked surprised, but nodded. “You could think of it that way. Now, tell me, have you met young William yet?”

Jenny sat down again with a sigh. “Aye, and he wants to see me again. We are to go to see him ride in a tournament next week.”

“Swept you off your feet, did he?”

Jenny looked up at him. He was not teasing, but the contrast between being swept off her feet and what had happened was so absurd, she burst out laughing. Her relief at escaping the freebooters and her pleasure at finding Tam again bubbled up and she laughed until she had to hold her sides from the pain.

“I must seem mad,” she gasped at last.

“I prefer this to crying. Can you tell me the joke?”

She found she could. William’s indifference, which seemed such a shameful secret at home, was suddenly something she could laugh at.

“And after we sang,” she finished, “his eyes were only for the servant girl. Her voice was much better than mine, and she was pretty, but I felt shamed. He could have been nicer to me.”

“And should have,” Tam Lin said, sitting beside her. “You deserve better, lass. How is

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