Bride of the Black Scot by Elaine Coffman Read Free Book Online Page B

and they both laughed.
     
    Just when Juliette thought she would never get off the back
of her horse, Stephen announced that they would stop for the night and make
camp.
    With a weary sigh, she slid from the saddle and collapsed
into a weak heap the moment her booted feet touched the ground. Angus, who
happened to be passing by, gave her a yank, hauling her to her feet.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    Angus walked on, saying nothing.
    “Faith! The man is as dumb as death,” Juliette said.
    “A man’s silence will never betray him,” Stephen said.
    Not having known Stephen was nearby, Juliette jumped, her
hand coming to her chest. It riled her to have him sneak up on her like that,
and she put a little venom in her words. “Neither will it gain him a friend,”
she said.
    “Dinna be so quick to judge, lass. He will be there when you
need him. What better definition of a friend is there?”
    Juliette shrugged and walked off, not liking the way she
always seemed to come out looking like a fool. She hated it…really hated it
when a man got the upper hand. His words came back to haunt her. Silence
will never betray him…
    Stephen, she thought, might have a point.
     
    A short while later, she watched one of the men called
Dougal spread tartans upon the ground for her and Edith to sleep upon. Scots
made camp in a strange way, Juliette noted and could not help commenting upon
it. “Where are the tents?”
    Dougal looked at Stephen.
    “I suppose he doesn’t speak either,” she said.
    “Only when he has something to say,” Juliette and Stephen
said in unison. Then Stephen grinned and said, “We dinna use tents.”
    “What if it rains?”
    “Roll up in your tartan.”
    “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”
    “Because you are English.”
    “Well, don’t go blaming the rain on the English,” she said,
suddenly remembering something. She frowned, staring at the tartans spread upon
the ground. “I thought the king outlawed these.”
    “He did,” Stephen replied.
    “But you are using them.”
    “Only when the English are no around,” he replied.
    As Juliette thought about that, she watched Angus disappear
into the darkness, just behind a stand of pine trees. She noticed Stephen start
off in the same direction. “Where are you going?”
    “To catch some fish.”
    “You are going fishing? Now? In the dark?”
    “The fish dinna mind. Do you?”
    “No, of course not, but fishing in the dark…”
    “You are hungry, are you not?”
    “Yes, but—”
    “Do you ever stop talking, lass?”
    She smiled. “Only when I sleep.”
    He almost smiled. Almost. “Ah, blessed relief. I pray that
is true,” he said, turning away and disappearing into the darkness, the sound
of his voice drifting back to her. “Relax, lass. I willna be gone long.”
    “Ah, blessed relief,” she echoed and heard his soft chuckle.
    After he left, Juliette sat beside the small campfire,
watching the men tether the horses, build a fire and spread their tartans on
the ground. Edith came to sit beside her, inquiring if the one called Angus
ever said anything. “Only when he has something to say,” Juliette replied. “Did
he speak to you?”
    “After a fashion,” Edith replied.
    Juliette was surprised by that. “Well, what did he say?”
    “He said I should be cropped, for I had no need of ears.”
    “Well, at least he said something. That’s a start, I think.”
    “You really think so, m’lady?”
    Juliette smiled. “Of course I do. He certainly won’t talk to
me.”
    Edith seemed pleased by that, looking in the direction
Stephen and Angus had taken earlier. “Where did they go?”
    “Fishing for our dinner.”
    “Good. I am starving to death. I was wondering if they were
going to feed us, or torture us. I have never ridden such an uncomfortable
animal. God’s teeth! That horse is nothing but backbone.”
    “Backbone seems to be something all Scots have in common,”
Juliette said.
    “Whether they be two-legged or four,”