Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) by Cassidy Cayman Read Free Book Online Page A

great-grandmother, who looked so like ye I almost walked right up to her.”
    Piper gasped. He’d been traipsing all over time these past months, and she’d been torturing herself to stay away from the book. What a hypocrite!
    He must have seen her beginning to stew because he drew her close to him so she was almost in his lap.
    “I didna make the decision lightly,” he said, an uncomfortable look creeping over his face.
    She remembered what he’d said to her when he first arrived. Even after all the confusion that ensued, she couldn’t believe they were just getting to it.
    “You said you were glad it wasn’t too late,” she said, studying his face for his reaction. He swallowed and seemed to grow even more uncomfortable. “And who stabbed you?” she demanded.
    His face relaxed. “Oh, that,” he said, waving it off.
    “Yes, that,” she said. “What happened?”
    His brow furrowed. “Has there ever been a battle here on this land?” he asked.
    She thought about all the history she’d been reading since she got here and shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not that I know of.”
    “Well, I arrived too early again on my third attempt and was set down in the middle of a fight. It was near dark so I couldna see who they were, but there were at least twenty men having at it with swords and dirks, by the edge of the woods.”
    “Yikes,” Mellie said. “Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time.”
    “Aye, that is exactly what happened, lass.”
    “You got stabbed in some random skirmish you showed up in?” Piper asked, full of suspicion.
    He nodded vigorously. “More of a slash than a stab, though,” he said. “I hied off into the woods and tried one last time to reach ye. I certainly had enough blood to do it, and was in a fair bit of pain. I did want ye so, my love. It was late when I arrived and I made my way up the secret passage I knew from last time, hoping I’d got it right. I’m thankful it worked, as I may have died had it not.”
    “You may have …” Piper’s chest constricted and she blinked back tears, burying her face in his neck.
    He patted her on the back. “I’m here now, and we shall make everything right.”
    Before she could come back to her wits enough to ask what it was that needed righting, there was a tremendous crashing sound from the kitchen.
    Someone was yelling, the door banged shut and she heard pans clatter to the floor. They all got up and ran, nearly colliding with one of the stable boys halfway to the kitchen.
    “Miss Piper,” he cried, wild-eyed with fear. “The stable is on fire.”

Chapter 6

    Mellie called the volunteer fire team, but by the time the rattletrap water truck got there they had mostly extinguished the blaze themselves.
    Lachlan had fearlessly charged into the barn to free the horses, while Piper and the stable lad found a hose and sprayed at the flames.
    The fire hadn’t raged long when the boy, who had been out on the hill trying to follow a trail he believed belonged to a wolf, had finally given up and straggled tiredly back to the barn. He was hoping he might get something to eat and was going up to the kitchen when he smelled the smoke and heard the frightened screams of the horses.
    When the firefighters finally arrived and took over, they all stood out in the yard, trying to figure out what happened. The barn was completely modernized with a state of the art sprinkler system that should have gone off at the first whiff of smoke.
    The stable lad was bereft, and went out into the enclosure to make sure none of the horses were hurt, and to give them all pats and carrots.
    “How could it have even started?” Piper asked.
    The fire had been quickly contained, and there was minimal damage, but the horses would have to spend the night outside until the smoke could be cleared.
    “There shouldn’t be anything inside that would go up like that,” she said.
    The stable lad had gone inside and was throwing the windows open. She could hear