Aidan by Elizabeth Rose Read Free Book Online

fingers if I were ye. All right then, I’ll go. But if ye are tryin’ te trick me, I assure ye yer sister will no’ live te see ye again, so dinna cross us. Do ye understand me?”
    “ If I wasna so dizzy from the whisky, I’d jump off this horse and bury yer face in the ground jest fer threatenin’ me. Now go,” she said, seeing Aidan coming out of the pub. “I dinna want him te see us talkin’.”
    Tasgall had no sooner stepped away from the horse than Aidan was mounted behind her with his squirrel on his shoulder.
    “Isna the t the gypsy man ye came with?” he asked.
    Damn, too late. He saw them talking. She just hoped he hadn’t heard their conversation.
    “Aye,” she said.
    “Where is he goin’?”
    “ Tasgall has decided te go find a new band o’ gypsies fer us te live with, or mayhap a horse and supplies anyway. He said he’ll catch up to me later.”
    “ Was he yer lover?”
    The thought of this almost caused her to retch. “Dinna make me laugh,” she said. “If Tasgall e’er tried te touch me, I’d have severed his head from his body with me dirk.”
    “Re ally? I find thet interestin’ since ye dinna seem te carry any weapons.”
    “The English guards took them from me,” she said, thinking quickly. “But I plan on replacin’ me weapons soon.”
    “With what?”
    “What do ye mean?”
    “I dinna see a sporran o’ coins at yer waist, and ye said ye just lost e’erythin’ when the English attac ked yer camp. Ye dinna plan te hoor yerself out te get them, do ye?”
    “If thet’s what ye think o’ me, Aidan MacKeefe, than let me off this horse right now, as I’ll no’ be comin’ te yer camp with ye after all.”
    “Who said we were goin’ to me camp ?” he asked.
    “Well . . . I jest assumed ye would want te get a good rest. And that ye’d want te sleep on thet stone thet gives ye guid dreams.”
    “I ne’er said the dreams were guid.”
    “But I thought ye said I was in yer dream?” She turned to look at him and his lips were so close to hers that she wondered if he was going to kiss her again. She really wanted him to. But to her disappointment, he just turned his head and looked the other way.
    “Ye were in me dream, but if it was guid or no’ is yet te be seen.”
    Effie wasn’t sure what that meant, but liked the fact that she was in his dreams, and also the fact he’d called her his dream angel.
    “So do ye have somewhere te stay, Effie?” he asked her.
    “Nay,” she admitted. “I am homeless and have no friends.”
    “Couldna ye go back te the MacDuffs?”
    “I dinna ken them. I told ye me mathair wasna a part o’ the clan, though she had the bloodright te be there. I dinna think they would want me, tho.”
    “Then ye’ll come with me te the MacKeefe camp until we can find ye a place te stay. I willna leave ye alone, as the English soldiers might come back and try te cause ye trouble again.”
    “I’d like te come with ye,” she said, as they rode up to meet Aidan’s friends. She smiled to herself thinking how easy this was going to be. She’d collect the information of where the stone was, then direct her sister’s captors right to it when they arrived. Aye, before she knew it, Coira would be free and they’d head overseas or somewhere to start a new life – just the two of them together.

    Chapter 5
     
    Making it back to the MacKeefe camp couldn’t be done in a day, so Aidan decided they’d stop and camp for the night at the north edge of Loch Lomond. The sun was just setting. The day had been hot, and they were all weary, and Aidan wanted nothing more than to wash off the dust from his travels, taking a swim in the water.
    After the horses were taken care of, and the supplies unloaded that they’d picked up at the trade fai r, Aidan continued to set up camp by tending to a fire.
    “We’re goin’ up te the bluff te take a swim,” said Onyx. “Did ye want te come with us, Aidan?”
    He wanted it more than anything, but didn’t