Castle Blackstone 02 - The Rogue by Sandy Blair

Author:Sandy Blair [Blair, Sandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 148269607X
Publisher: Winn-Hampton Press
Published: 2013-02-27T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

When the door slammed in his face and Birdi, back rigid, disappeared into the night, Angus jumped to his feet. What had he done? Said? “Augh, women!”

He wrenched open the door, expecting to find Birdi standing before the croft, back to the door, arms folded across her chest, mouth in a firm line, as he’d seen Lady Beth pose whenever she was really annoyed with Duncan. Instead he found naught.

His own annoyance forgotten, he strode out and scanned the road for her. Nothing. No Birdi, just black and gray shadows that came and went under the light of a reiver’s moon. One—thanks to fast roaming clouds—that offered just enough light to see where one set a foot down, but not enough to be seen by.

Where the hell had she gone? He shivered as the wind kicked up off the loch, pictured what she wore, and cursed again.

She knew no one here save for Kelsea and her da…That’s it. She went to see Wee Angus. And she’ll, nay doubt, catch the flux in the process. He strode toward Fraser’s croft.

The trail of peat-rich smoke rising from the Fraser chimney, the warm light peeking out from behind closed shutters, eased his mind considerably. At least she was warm. He knocked.

Fraser answered. “MacDougall, come in. Come in. We were just talking about ye.” He smiled as the door swung wide.

Angus, feeling the idiot for worrying for no reason, stepped over the threshold. His gaze swept the room. Finding only Kelsea and the babe by the inglenook, his heart stuttered. He told himself to remain calm—that Birdi had to be close at hand but his hands began to sweat.

“Has Birdi come by?”

Fraser’s brow furrowed. “Nay. I’ve not seen her since I brought yer sup. Why?”

“My apologies for disturbing ye.”

Angus left a bemused Fraser and Kelsea in his wake and raced to the Boar’s Head Inn. He couldn’t imagine why she’d go there, but it was the only other place he could think of that she was even the least familiar with, would feel comfortable walking within given her limited sight.

Back hunched, he pushed through the first and second doors and came to an abrupt halt. The tavern room was still crowded with shouting and grumbling men, the air heavy with the scent of sweat and stale ale, but it held no Birdi. Cursing, he shouldered his way through the crowd, ignoring the men who hailed him, hoping she’d sought refuge—from what he still didn’t know—at the back of the room where the shadows were deepest.

No Birdi.

He’d run out of logical places to look, and the clan’s talk of the marauding Gunns did naught to relieve his anxiety.

Should he raise the alarm, send the men out looking? She’d pitch a hissy if she’d simply gone to relieve herself…Ah, that’s it. He blew out a breath. She’s not gone, but only relieving herself.

He turned to go and came nose to nose with Ian MacKay, an old friend and knight he hadn’t seen in years, not since they fought side by side in Burgundy.

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