Page 14 of Highland Steel

Rhoswen turned her head slightly, her heart still cold from what she’d learned. “We’ll bury him in the woods, right here in Scotland. Going back to England now is not an option.”

“Lass, are ye sure? He is yer faither.”

“Correction – he was my father,” she told him. “And yes, I’m sure. Now, let’s go bury him so we can get on with the mission.”

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Logan threw the last shovel of dirt over the wooden casket buried in the woods. His friends, as well as Rhoswen and her siblings watched. Blaine cried, and Newell comforted her. Rhoswen, on the other hand, seemed to have no emotions at all. He just didn’t understand it.

“Did ye want to say a few words?” asked Logan, sticking the shovel into the ground and brushing off his hands.

Rhoswen’s gaze focused on the ground where her father was buried. She didn’t say anything. For a moment, he thought she was having a change of heart.

“Say a prayer, Rhoswen,” said her sister. They’d been told that Logan and the others knew their true identities, so they no longer continued the charade.

“Aye,” agreed Newell. “You are the eldest of the three of us, so you should say the final words.”

Rhoswen was quiet for another moment, then she slowly shook her head. “We are wasting time,” she told her siblings. “I need to find that sword.” She turned on her heel and headed back to her horse with her siblings following.

“Och, the lass is a cold-hearted wench,” said Caleb once they were out of earshot.

“I’ve never seen anythin’ like it.” Ethan bent over and ran his hand over his hound’s head. “I would say a word or two if my hound died. But she didna seem to even blink, watchin’ her faither bein’ buried.”

“Take it easy on her,” said Logan. “We have no idea what she’s been through.”

“She is an odd one,” said Hawke, watching the girl and her siblings mount their horses. “Ye’d better beware of her, Logan, before ye’re pulled into somethin’ ye’ll regret.” The cry of a red-tailed hawk called to them from the sky. Hawke looked up and held out his leather-clad arm. His pet landed with grace upon it, making him smile. “Guid mornin’, Apollo,” he said, pulling a treat from his pouch and giving it to the bird. “I think Apollo is tellin’ us it’s time to get back to the rest of the clan.”

“Slink is back at the tavern,” said Caleb, speaking of his pine marten. “As soon as I get him, I’m ready to leave.”

“Me, too,” added Ethan. “I’m anxious to get home to Alana.”

“I miss Phoebe, too,” said Hawke, lifting his arm and sending his bird into the sky. “Logan, how long will it take for ye to be ready to go?”

“I’m no’ goin’ back to camp,” he told them, getting confused looks from all of them.

“Why no’?” asked Caleb. “Dinna tell me ye want to go back to the Glasgow fair because of that bonnie lassie ye saw sellin’ sweetmeats.”

“Nay,” he answered. “I promised Rhoswen I’d help her find the bandits that stole her faither’s sword.”

“What?” Ethan made a face. “Are ye daft? Why would ye want to do that? It’s none of our concern.”

“Plus, she’s a Sassenach,” Caleb pointed out.

“It seems that sword is the only way she’ll get her nephew back from Drummond,” Logan explained.

“Blethers, Logan, dinna tell me ye’re thinkin’ of goin’ anywhere near the Drummond Clan,” said Hawke. “Especially when it has anythin’ to do with a sword.”

“That’s right,” said Ethan. “Ye canna trust Drummond. Why would ye want to purposely put yerself in that position?”

“I want to help her,” said Logan, watching the beautiful woman climb atop her horse and reach up to fix her hair. Like black onyx against virgin snow, her long curls cascaded over her shoulders and settled against her chest. She wore her hair down now. Long and loose. He wondered if it was some sort of rebellious gesture, something to do with her father. “Besides, she even offered to pay me to escort her to the Highlands.”

“Well, no amount of money is worth purposely bringin’ her to Drummond’s door,” said Hawke.

“Dinna do it,” warned Caleb. “Send her and her siblin’s on their merry way back to England where they belong and let’s go home.”

Logan thought about the way Rhoswen had changed since her little argument with her father. Something had quickly hardened her heart. He didn’t know her at all, but she was no longer that same girl who begged him to help her dying father.

His longing to help the beautiful lassie gnawed at him. He needed to know more. Something was upsetting this woman so much that she acted like she wanted to spit on her father’s grave. It didn’t become her. All he wanted to do was to make her smile.