[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Lysander agreed, but no sooner had he climbed into the wagon than Catarina locked him inside.
"Cat!" he snapped angrily, rattling the door so fiercely that Nora half expected him to wrench it from the
hinges. "Release me. I hate it when you do this."
Cat smiled impishly at her and wiped her hands in triumph. "Ready to find out about this man?"
"Absolutely."
United in mischief, the two of them made their way to the stable to find Viktor, Bavel, Pagan and Ewan
in there all alone, looking sour.
"Maybe we're early?" Viktor said hopefully as he and Bavel walked around the last stall.
"Maybe we were duped," Bavel added. "Maybe he had no intention of ever paying us."
Ewan's reasoning made the most sense. "Or maybe he saw us arrive and is hiding."
Viktor nodded. "That is most likely it. Bavel stay here, and let us look about and see if we can find him."
Ewan loosened the ropes on his hands and handed them to Bavel.
Catarina stood up as the men passed by.
Ewan's face darkened dangerously as he saw the two of them there alone.
"Where's Lysander?" he growled.
Catarina didn't even flinch at his tone or fierce demeanor. "Back of the wagon. You men are ever easy
to trap when a woman knows how."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Ewan didn't appear to appreciate her words. "What is it with you locking people inside your wagon,
Catarina? I think someone should set fire to it."
Catarina gasped. "Don't even say such a thing. That wagon belonged to my grandfather and his father
before him."
"Aye," Bavel said." 'Twould be bad luck to lose it now. Their ghosts would haunt us forever."
Ewan apologized, and then the men left her and Catarina alone. Verbally at least.
They did, however, accompany the women to let out poor Lysander, who chastised the women greatly.
"Next time, Cat," Lysander growled, "I swear, father or no, I'm taking a hand to your backside for that."
Catarina made a rude noise at him.
Ewan ignored their sniping and deposited the women and Lysander in a small pub before he went back
to help Viktor, Pagan and Bavel search for the unknown man.
The little room was crowded with people coming and going. There were four serving wenches and a
heavy-set man who kept ordering the women about.
They went to sit at a table in the rear corner that had just been cleared.
A buxom blond woman paused as they neared the table. She had the old dishes from another table
balanced carefully on a large serving tray. "No offense, my lord and ladies, but if you're needing food,
one of you'll need to follow me to order it. We're dreadfully busy and equally short-handed. But you
shouldn't have to wait too long for your meals."
Lysander followed after the woman to order their food, and while they waited for his return, Catarina left
Nora so that she could attend to her personal needs.
Nora sat alone at the table. She watched two men break out into a fight and saw the owner toss both of
them out the door. The luscious, rich smell of baking bread and roasting meat filled the air.
It was enough to make her stomach rumble.
Lysander held up his hand to her to signal that he would be right back.
Nora waited patiently while the room's conversations buzzed loudly in her ears.
Until one sentence rang out more loudly than the others&
"What are you doing here?"
Her heart stopped at the voice behind her. It was a voice she knew all too well. One that made her
blood run cold and her heart pound in trepidation.
Nay, it couldn't be&
Turning around, she saw Ryan MacAren standing between her and the faded wood wall. His dark
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
brown eyes were furious. His light brown hair was swept back from his face, and he looked none too
pleased with her.
"What areyou doing here?" she asked him angrily.
He didn't answer her, either. "I swear, woman, you never do as you're told. You should have been on
your way home by now,not here ."
She frowned at his angry, commanding tone. "What the devil are you talking about?"
"Get up." He took her roughly by her arm and hauled her to her feet.
"Let go of me!" she snapped, trying to pull free.
He refused to.
Nora grimaced as he pulled her roughly through the crowd. She slapped at Ryan's hand, but still he
refused to loosen his grip.
"What has possessed you, Ryan? Have you gone mad?"
"Silence, Nora. I'm in no mood for your talk, and there's no telling what I might do to you if you don't
hold your tongue. One day you're going to learn to keep your mouth closed and to listen."
Suddenly Ewan was there, in the middle of their path to the door, his eyes dark and deadly. "Release
her."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]