Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,133

to skelp my hide,” Thomas added. “And I didn’t even want to come.”

Colyne turned to face his friends, his wrists wresting on the handle. “I told ye ye could leave,” he reminded them. “But I am not stoppin’ until I have found them.”

Thomas groaned loudly. “The treasures are not real. ’Tis just a story yer stupid and blind sister-by-law made up.”

Colyne tossed his shovel aside and lunged at the boy, tackling him to the ground. “Ye take that back!” he yelled. “She is not stupid!”

Thomas struggled to free himself, but Colyne’s grip on his tunic was too strong. “Let me go!”

“Not until ye apologize,” Colyne ground out, shoving hard against the boy.

Peter and Daniel stepped in and pulled Colyne away. “Colyne! Stop!” Peter exclaimed as they held him back.

“He didn’t mean it,” Daniel offered. “Did ye, Thomas?”

Thomas was bloody furious, but thought better of insulting his laird’s wife any further. He shrugged his friends off and began walking away. “I am goin’ home,” he declared. Peter ran after him.

“I am hungry, too,” Daniel said. “But I will not leave ye here alone.”

Even though his own stomach was growling, Colyne wasn’t quite ready to give up his search just yet. “Let me dig for a bit longer, then we can go.”

Daniel wasn’t happy, but he refused to leave his friend behind. “Verra well. But ye will have to explain it to me mum.”

Colyne agreed with a smile and a nod. “I will. Now, come, let us look for Dagda’s treasures.”

Richard was bloody angry. He’d worked in the quarry all day only to return home to find a very worried wife and two missing brothers. So instead of bathing, donning clean clothing, and having a nice hot meal, he was traipsing across the countryside in search of the aforementioned wayward brothers.

“They had been doing so well,” Rory said as he rode alongside Richard. “I pray they are well.”

“If they’re not, they won’t be by the time Aeschene gets done with them,” Richard said.

“Bah!” Rory exclaimed with a shake of his head. “She will likely hug the heathens and praise God for their safe return.”

“Ye are probably right,” Richard agreed. “But she was bloody furious with them when I left.”

Rory chuckled as he urged his horse forward over a small rise. “Are ye certain they came this way?”

“Aye, and that is one more reason why my wife was bloody furious,” Richard said. Two of the three lads who had gone with Colyne had returned only moments earlier. They were filthy, hungry, and quite upset with Colyne. Apparently, Richard’s brother had convinced the lads to go much farther than any of them were allowed to travel without an adult.

“He knows full well not to go so far away from the keep,” Richard said. His jaw was beginning to ache from grinding his teeth. “I swear, that boy will be cleanin’ chamber pots for the next year.”

Rory remained silent, not believing for a moment that Richard would keep that particular promise.

They crossed a wide-open glen, the tall grass, glittering in the late afternoon sun and swaying in the breeze. ’Twas a peaceful, calm day, but Richard’s gut began to tense. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t quite put his finger to it.

“How far away from the border are we?” he asked Rory.

“Miles away,” Rory replied, taking quick note of Richard sitting taller in his saddle. “Why?”

Richard continued to scan the horizon, but for what, he was uncertain. He’d been to this particular part of his lands countless times. But never had he experienced the unease that was now enveloping him. Something wasn’t right. Instinctively, his palm went to the hilt of his sword.

Both men remained silent, slowly making their way toward the forest ahead. ’Twas as if the entire world was holding its breath in anticipation of something ugly. Even their horses were quiet, as if sensing something ahead, hidden in that dense forest.

Richard was half tempted to send Rory back to the keep for more men, but thought better of it. Raibeart, Colyne, and Daniel were somewhere within the forest and might be in desperate need of help.

They stopped just at the forest’s edge and glanced at one another.

“I dunnae like it either,” Rory whispered.

Richard said naught. With a slow nod of his head, he urged his horse forward and prayed.

Raibeart was no match for the dozen men who had surrounded Colyne and Daniel. Instead of rushing in with his sword drawn, he hid near a felled tree, trying to size up his surroundings