Never Never by Susan Kiernan-Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

were tied to a bush. Gavin’s horse had pulled free. He peered into the woods and tried to hear voices. The perspiration beaded up on his forehead.
    There. A woman’s voice, light and snatched away on the breeze. Mike tied Gavin’s horse and his own to a sapling, then plunged into the woods.
    â€œFi! Gavin!” he called. “Where are you?”
    He stopped and leaned again a birch tree to listen.
    â€œDa! We’re over here!”
    Thank the saints . Mike jogged in the direction of Gavin’s voice. The branches whipped back and slapped him in the face. There was no path through here but now he could see bushes bent and broken along the way.
    He saw them in the clearing. Two figures. His throat tightened.
    There should be three figures.
    Fiona stood next to Gavin, her hand over her mouth. Declan lay on the ground, his eyes blinking up at the sky.
    â€œWhat happened?” Mike said as he reached them. He knelt by Declan and touched his hand. Declan turned to look at him. It was then Mike saw the blood-drenched rag held against Declan’s chest. “Jaysus! What happened?”
    â€œTwo blokes,” Declan wheezed, closing his eyes.
    â€œWhere? In the woods?”
    Declan’s face whitened and he nodded.
    â€œWe need to get him back to the wagon,” Fiona said.
    Mike braced himself against a tree for leverage and pulled Declan into his arms. Gavin helped lift from underneath until Mike had a decent grip.
    â€œJust clear the way for me,” Mike grunted. Fiona bent back the bushes in front of him.
    â€œHe said he got turned around,” Gavin said. “The bastards must have watched him go in the woods. They hit him, then went friggin’ mental when he didn’t have anything of value on him.”
    Mike focused on getting Declan out of the woods without dropping him.
    â€œTook…took me sgian-dubh ,” Declan gasped. “The one you gave me, Mike. I tried to…I tried to…”
    â€œHe tried to get it back,” Fiona said briskly. “So they used it on him.” She glanced at Mike but her eyes went to her husband’s wound.
    God! Were they in the woods this far?
    â€œI’ll get the horses,” Gavin said as he sprinted away.
    Mike’s arms were screaming from Declan’s weight. The last thing he wanted to do was fall to his knees but he wasn’t entirely sure he could make it all the way to the road.
    â€œStop and rest, Mike,” Fiona said.
    â€œJust clear me a path,” he panted, his sweat cooling on his skin, his legs on fire with every step.
    Up ahead he saw Gavin mounted up. He heard the sound of rain hitting the forest treetops but none had yet to fall on them.
    â€œWe’re there, Mike,” Fiona said, putting her hands under Declan’s body. Even that little help made a difference and Mike knew he had the strength to make it the rest of the way.
    â€œI’m so sorry, Mike,” Declan said, tears beginning to stream down his face. “So, so sorry.”
    Gavin rode into the ditch and through the first line of trees. Mike felt him grab Declan under his arms and pull him slowly into his lap on the horse while Fiona pushed. Declan groaned. The sudden loss of weight on his arms made Mike stumble and he put a hand out to steady himself against Gavin’s horse.
    â€œYe got ‘im, Gav?” he asked breathlessly.
    â€œAye, good and solid. Meet you at the wagons.” Gavin turned his horse down the road. By the time Mike emerged from the woods Fiona was already mounted and trotting after them.
    Mike looked around, wondering if the blackguards who’d stabbed Dec were still around. The road was silent except for the fading clip-clop of Gavin and Fiona’s horses and the patter of the rain on the road.
    While he hadn’t had time to get a close look at Declan’s injuries, he could tell by the amount of blood down the front of him that it wasn’t good.
    Not good at