Comyns, without interference and given the time, could raise the height of their dam as high as necessary. The granite cleft into which the outflowing burn passed was narrow with steep sides tall enough so that if their dam held, it could easily force the water of the loch high enough to cover much of the castle.
Fin was glad that he had not promised Catriona that he would do nothing dangerous by himself. He had to do what he could do to avert catastrophe.
He reflected then on the promises that she had made him. At the time they had eased his concern for her, but something about them nagged him now.
A sound diverted his thoughts. Realizing that it was a once-trickling rill ahead, now full of fresh rainwater and snowmelt, rushing downhill to the loch, he focused his mind on other sounds of the night. If he allowed his thoughts to wander again, he risked walking right into trouble.
When he reached the curve where the track forked over and around the hill near the outflowing burn, and slowed his pace, he heard a soft thud as of wood against wood a short distance to his right, on the loch.
Drawing his dirk, he stepped off the path and eased downhill through waist-high shrubs until it felt soggy underfoot. Then he crouched in the bushes to wait.
Freezing in place, mentally cursing her clumsiness in letting the raft bump the shaft of her paddle as, kneeling, she had reached with it to feel for the shore, Catriona knew that she had reached the inner curve just before the shoreline curved outward and around to meet the burn that the Comyns had blocked with their dam. She had often swum near that shoreline and knew it well. Wary now, she remained watchful.
The slope there was steep, as were most of the slopes around the loch, but she managed to float the raft near enough to grasp shrubbery and pull herself toward the granite shelf from which she often swam. The raft made a whispery noise as she eased closer, and she realized that it was scraping over other shrubbery underwater.
Kneeling as she was, she would have to sit to get safely off the raft. She did not want to step barefoot into a bush or fall into the water as she secured it. But she was in a good place. A deer trail led up from the shelf to the path around the loch.
The rain gently continued and dripped from her lashes, making her blink and wipe water from her eyes. She reached for another branch…
“Don’t make a sound,” Fin muttered from the darkness, startling her nearly into a shriek. Only by what she deemed superhuman effort did she stifle the sound in her throat. Jerking her hand back served only to make the raft tilt dangerously, but a warm, strong hand gripped her quickly outflung wrist, steadying her.
“Can you get off now?” he asked. His voice sounded quiet and calm, as if he were only inquiring about the weather or the state of her health.
James would have begun scolding at once. And Ivor would have revealed the side of him that set the earth trembling from his wrath. But Fin…
She wished she could see more than his shape, because although she knew he must be angry, she could hear nothing in his voice to tell her how angry he was.
“Careful,” he said as she used her free hand to shift her skirts out of her way and gingerly swung her bare feet off the raft to seek purchase on the granite.
“I brought your mantle,” she murmured. “And the rope from the raft.”
“You brought company, too,” he murmured as he dragged the raft ashore.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the vee-shaped wake in the loch before it registered that she had neglected to tell Boreas to stay behind.
Fin watched the dog’s silent approach, reminding himself that wolf dogs were naturally quiet animals. Even so, he wanted to shake Catriona, or worse.
Instead, he said, “I’m glad Boreas came with you, because I must leave you here—” Hearing her indrawn breath, he broke off long enough to put a firm finger to her lips, silencing her, before he added, “Just listen, Cat. Don’t speak.”
She nodded, which he thought was wise of her. Boreas, emerging from the water a short distance away, shook himself and waited where he was.
“I’m going to leave you both here, and you will stay,” Fin said, “because I must see what lies