rebellious Mistress J.”
“The fearless and iron-stomached Doctor Annie.” They shared a laugh, and then Jenny pushed up from the table to embrace her friend. “Write to me.”
“I will.”
“And I’ll see ye soon. I’m due for a visit.”
“Aye. My brothers will be glad to see ye. Especially Graham.”
“I’m no’ marrying Graham.”
Annie laughed. “I ken, but I dinna think he does yet.”
Jenny smiled and hugged her friend again.
“Go on, now, back to your croft, back to the dangerously handsome soldier,” Annie teased. “I’ll send word when I reach home.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I dinna think he is handsome.”
“Perhaps ye’re not feeling well?” Annie held a hand to her forehead and tsked.
Jenny batted her hand away. “I’m perfectly fine. Go on with ye. And thank ye for all of your help.”
“I’d do anything to help the cause. I only wish I could help more.”
“Someday I fear ye will.”
“We must all do our part.”
When Annie had gone, Jenny pulled the map from her bodice, running her fingers over the ink-etched lines, memorizing the way in, the corridors, the Xs that marked where the guards were most likely to stand on watch. The map was detailed, much more so than she would have expected from a prisoner. Then again, she was grateful Toran seemed to have memorized the entire fortress.
If she was going to go to the croft, now was the best time to make her escape, before her mother woke. Jenny hurried through the tunnel, running through the motions of changing her clothes and exiting through the tunnel. As she crossed into the forest that stood between the castle and the croft, she paused at the sight of fresh ax marks in a tree.
What in the world? She reached for the marks, running her hands along the newly cut bark, feeling the freshness of the grooves. Instantly, Jenny was on high alert. No one was supposed to be cutting trees here—which it didn’t appear anyone had. Only great gashes in the trunk.
She listened for unusual sounds that would signal the intruder’s whereabouts. The rush of birds from branches. A squirrel scurrying up a tree and out of sight. The slight whistle of the wind rustling tree limbs. She sniffed, taking in all the scents around her. Pine, oak, grass, scents of animals, and the freshly chopped bark.
No flames. No cooking. None of the foul stenches of outlaws that seemed to permeate for miles.
So why would one chop wood, if not to fell a tree or light a fire?
She didn’t like that someone had been on this route. Nothing else gave a hint of passersby, outlaws, or—worse still—dragoons. Even so, she pulled one of her daggers from her boot, clutching it in her hand as she continued silently, stopping every so often to listen.
With her instincts on high alert, every little sound had her jerking toward it. If not for her tight control, several forest animals might have been skewered, along with several branches and even the occasional gust of wind.
The trek to the croft took nearly twice as long as normal as she doubled back a few times, just to be certain she wasn’t being followed.
She spied the front of the croft in the distance and two shadowed figures moving about the outside. Jenny edged closer, keeping her steps silent. At all times she had two men on duty to guard the dwelling. To remain inconspicuous, the men on guard acted as crofters going about their normal daily chores and duties.
However, at night this was a little more difficult. Her men were instructed to sit or hide in their watch posts, not walk around.
The closer she drew, however, the less fearful she was, for she recognized the guards. Jenny quickened her pace, no longer worried about stumbling on dragoons.
At her approach, one of the men looked up from chopping wood and nodded. John, she recognized, touched the tip of his cap. “Mistress J.”
Jenny nodded in turn. “Any news?”
“All quiet.”
“There was an ax mark in a tree about halfway between here and Cnàmhan Broch. Were any of the men chopping any of the trees beyond the croft border?”
John wrinkled his brow and shook his head. “Nay.”
Jenny didn’t grimace on the outside, but she most certainly did on the inside. This was not good. “Keep your eye out. I saw nothing else, but ’tis a warning all the same.”
“Aye, Mistress.”
Jenny left him to go inside, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the crofting house. The two small windows had the curtains pulled back to let