Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series by Suzan Tisdale Read Free Book Online Page A

pained, as if he were trying to keep himself from crying.
    Nora hadn’t realized she was holding his beard with a death like grip until she opened her eyes. If it were daylight, he’d certainly see her face burn with embarrassment. She realized she would not have made a good soldier or spy, for she was terrified of heights.
    “I’m sorry, David!” she said in a very hushed and humiliated tone.
    “No worries, lass.” David let loose a sigh of relief when she finally let go of his beard. He rubbed his jaw for a moment before pushing her upright.
    Under different circumstances he might have enjoyed having the lass straddling him as she now did. But fifteen feet off the ground on a window ledge attached to an English castle was not the best place for such things.
    David sat up, pushed the window open and Nora slid into the room. David followed quickly behind and gently pulled the window closed. They took a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Soon, Nora began making her way between the pallets in search of her brother.
    From one spot to another she slipped in between the snoring, teeth-grinding, dreaming young men until she found her brother. He was asleep on his back with one arm thrown over his forehead. She knew it was John because he’d been sleeping like that since he was a babe.
    Ever so quietly, she bent to her knees beside her brother’s sleeping form. She was fully prepared for what would happen next for she’d been waking him each morn for years. Nora knew to stay away from the arm that rested comfortably on his forehead. David however, wasn’t privy to that information.
    When Nora clamped her hand over John’s mouth, she made sure to keep her head away from his hand. John was notorious for waking up swinging and he did just that. Bolting upright, he flung out his arm and the back of his hand landed across David’s nose.
    It was all David could do not to swing back or yell at the lad. Grabbing his nose, cursing under his breath, he grabbed John’s hand to keep him from swinging again.
    “John!” Nora whispered. “’Tis me Nora! I’ve come to take you away!” She waited a moment for recognition to settle in before removing her hand from his mouth.
    In the time it took for a heart to beat once, John’s tense shoulders sagged and his eyes filled with relief. “I thought you were Mad George coming to try to bugger me again!”
    Nora hadn’t a clue what he meant and supposed she had disturbed John’s dream. She noticed David flinch as he drew his dirk from his waist and glance around the room.
    “Put your shoes on, John!” she whispered.
    John did as he was told without question. He donned his shoes and grabbed his cloak that he had draped across the blanket of his pallet. Silently, he followed between his sister and the strange man who was with her.
    They paused at the door that led to the young ladies’ solar next door. Nora carefully opened it a crack and peeked inside. Thankfully it appeared all its inhabitants were asleep.
    Nora turned and motioned to John and David to wait while she slipped into the girl’s solar. She knew if any of the women in the solar were roused, they’d not become alarmed at seeing another female figure in the dark. But a young boy and a large Highlander would bring forth enough screaming to wake the dead.
    It took less time to find Elise than it had to find John. Elise was in a far corner of the room. Anger swelled when Nora saw her baby sister curled into a tight ball, wearing her cloak, the hood pulled up over her head, to help ward off the cold. Could the older women not show some amount of compassion toward such a small girl and at the least offer to let her sleep near the fire?
    Nora resisted the urge to scream at these women and instead, gently nudged Elise awake. Elise’s little eyes widened with surprise and delight. When she saw the child draw in a deep breath in preparation of a happy squeal, Nora shushed her by placing a hand across the