the horse. She dared not move, barely dared to breathe, lest she fall and be trampled as the horse took off in a mad gallop.
They rode for what felt like hours. The sun was perched on the horizon when the men finally slowed to a stop. Their leader, the red-haired man, stopped his horse at a dense clump of woods. Lydia was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, where she fell to her knees and gagged. One of the men noticed and removed the cloth from her mouth so she could vomit.
“Christ, Willie, she’s sick,” the man who’d helped her complained to the red-haired man.
“Get her up and walking a bit. It will clear her head,” Willie said. Then he nodded at the third man. “Fergus, let’s set up camp here.”
Lydia’s legs were freed but not her wrists. The man behind her gripped one of her arms roughly and pulled her into motion.
“You heard him. Walk, lass,” he growled.
Stumbling over the rocky ground, she tried to calm her panicked breath in hopes that it would ease her upset stomach. She licked at her chapped lips and winced as she tasted blood. Her lip was split, probably from the blow she had been dealt earlier. Her face and neck hurt, but she could handle the pain.
Her stomach finally settled, and when she and the third man returned to the camp that they set up, a new set of fears replaced her nausea. What did these men want with her? What were they going to do with her?
“Sit.” Willie pointed to the ground, and she did as he ordered. The three men faced her as they sat by the small fire, which was contained by a ring of stones.
“Give her the flask,” Willie told Fergus. Fergus passed her a leather flask, scowling as he did so. She recognized him as the one who had slapped her.
Hands shaking, she accepted it, taking a large drink. She gasped, choking. It was not water but whiskey. The men laughed at her reaction as she tried to catch her breath and returned the flask to Fergus. He took it back and handed her a flagon.
“This is water,” he said.
“Thank you,” she replied, her voice raspy. She gulped down the water until Fergus snatched the flagon from her.
“That’s enough. We dinna want you to become sick again.”
Lydia touched her wrists, which had been rubbed raw by the thick ropes.
“May I please have these removed? I won’t run away. I haven’t the faintest idea where I am.”
“See, Reggie?” Fergus snorted. “I told you she was a proper English lady.”
“Cut her loose,” Willie commanded in a deep, curt tone that sent chills down her spine. “You canna run. And if you do, we will find you, and you willna like us when we bring you back.”
Lydia nodded. She was not a fool. Running away would only get her killed, or exposed to the elements with no ready source of food, water, or shelter.
Reggie pulled a small but dangerously sharp blade from his boot and cut the ropes around her wrists. Her skin was raw and bleeding in a few places. Lydia bit her lip to hold back a whimper. These men had very little kindness in them, and they would have no sympathy for her pains, but she needed to find out what she could about them.
“Excuse me, but why did you take me?”
“For a pretty English bird like you, those fancy gents you were traveling with would do anything to get you back. They’ll pay a hefty price for you,” Willie explained.
“But how will they find me?” she asked.
“We left a note where we snatched you. It tells them where to meet us tomorrow and how much we want for you.”
They must have been prepared to take the first traveler they came upon that they could snatch up from amongst a party who dared to stop at the side of the road. It was a clever enough plan, but they had chosen poorly. She wasn’t entirely sure that Rafe and Brodie would come after her. She hoped they would, but now that Brodie was rid of her, perhaps he would be glad she was gone and think nothing more of her. What then? Would these men let her go, or would they kill her?
“Go ahead and sleep,” Willie ordered. “We’ll wake you when it’s time.”
Lydia lay down on the ground, shifting to find a position that was somewhat comfortable, which she soon learned was impossible. As she lay there,