Kemp: Warriors in the Snow (Arrows of Albion Book 6) by Lunn Jonathan

Author:Lunn, Jonathan [Lunn, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2022-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Reid pulled back a corner of the fleece to reveal the face of a dead man, his pallid, grey-green face frozen in a grim rictus of agony. ‘God damn them!’ he said. ‘God damn them to hell!’

‘You knew him?’ asked Sir Archibald.

Reid let the fleece fall back into place. ‘Aye. Michie Liddell. He was a good man.’

‘You think the Englishmen we’re chasing did this?’

‘Who else would do such a thing?’ said Nixon. ‘They must have spent the night here.’

‘Whit did he ever do to them?’ Reid wondered out loud as the three of them emerged from the croft. The rest of the men waited outside on their hobbies.

‘When did the English ever need a reason for their plunderings and butchery?’ Nixon swung himself back astride his own mount.

Reid wiped his lips on his sleeve. ‘Michie had a wife.’

‘They took her with them?’ asked Archibald.

Reid studied the footprints leading away from the croft. If there were any footprints amongst them small enough to belong to a woman, they had been trampled over by the men at the rear of the file. He climbed on to his hobby’s back. ‘There’s nae sign of her in the croft, and I dinnae see any other tracks leading away frae here.’

‘They’ve taken a woman with them?’ exclaimed Sneith. ‘What for?’

Nixon eyed him with amusement. ‘Whit d’ye do wi’ a woman when ye get her alone?’

‘It’s nae good asking this bloodless gelding whit to do wi’ a woman, Rab,’ said Reid. ‘Ah reckon he prefers the company o’ men, if ye ken whit Ah mean.’

‘By my faith!’ exploded Sneith. ‘You’ll pay for that insult, you viperous caitiff!’ He rode his horse at Reid and tried to punch him. Reid caught him by the wrist, staying the blow, and the two of them struggled until their horses shied apart. Sneith was pulled out of the saddle and Reid, relinquishing his own grip too late, was pulled down after him. The two of them rolled over and over in the snow until Nixon ordered Howk to dismount and pull them apart.

‘You must learn to govern your temper, Sneith,’ growled Archibald. ‘We Scots will never defeat the English if we spend all our strength fighting one another!’

‘Forgive me, Sir Archibald! But he deliberately provoked me—’

‘Aye, and you let yourself be provoked. Now hold your tongue.’ The knight turned to Reid. ‘How far ahead of us are they, would you say?’

‘Nae more than an hour. And they’re on foot.’

‘Then Ah suggest we get after them!’ Putting his heels back, Nixon led his men down the road leading towards Yarrowdale.

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