Highland Secrets (Cree & Dawn)

Cree raised his hand with a sharp snap. “You are not going with me, Dawn, and I will not say it again. The decision is final. It is done. You will remain where you are safe—here at home.”

Dawn yanked her hand out of her husband’s and shook her head vehemently. She tapped her chest hard and pointed to him, letting him know it was not done. She would go with him, and nothing would change that.

Cree stood so fast that his chair toppled over. “Enough, wife! You will not go with me on this journey.”

Dawn turned her head away, fighting back tears.

Cree felt a tear at his heart, sensing his wife’s tears. Only when she was with child did she cry easily. He turned to Old Mary and demanded, “Make her see reason.”

Old Mary shook her head. “I cannae, for Dawn must go with you on this journey.”

“NAY!” Cree shouted.

Old Mary stayed firm to her word. “She must, my lord, or all will be lost.”

CHAPTER 2

“You will remain by my side at all times,” Cree ordered, riding alongside his wife.

Dawn pointed to Beast, sniffing the ground not far from her horse.

“I am well aware you have Beast to look after you,” Cree said.

The large dog’s head went up at the sound of his name and Dawn smiled at the snow that covered his nose.

“At least he can alert me if you need help,” Cree said with a nod to the dog who abruptly returned to sniffing the ground. “Until I can determine even the slightest thread of what goes on at Clan Strathearn, you will stay close.”

Dawn tapped her chest, pointed to Beast, and pressed two fingers together. She pointed to Cree, then herself and shook her head and shrugged.

“I suppose I cannae be with you all the time, but I can be with you most of the time and the other times you will remain extra vigilant,” he ordered, fearful she could be snatched away from him.

She nodded and patted her lips.

“Your word I trust. It is the things that somehow wind up happening to you that ah dinnae trust,” he said, recalling the endless situations she had gotten herself into.

She smiled and it lit her face and brought delight to her eyes.

It amazed him that her smile continued to lighten his heart and that his love continued to grow for her. He had been adamant about her not joining him on this journey, but Old Mary’s words had settled the debate. Now that she was with him, he was glad she had come along. He would have missed her far too much. Still, though, he worried over her safety.

Dawn tapped her chest, pointed to him, then to the village in the distance and crossed two fingers that she pointed at him, then at herself.

“Aye, we will work on this closely together,” he agreed, it being a good way of keeping her close.

His wife had a quick mind which would hopefully help solve this mystery, thus make for a swift return home. He glanced over her swathed in a fur wrap, a fur-lined cloak beneath that. He drew his horse a bit closer and leaned over to pull up the hood of her cloak. “The snow brings colder air with it. You need to stay warm and remember the precious bundle you carry.” His eyes went to her stomach, buried somewhere beneath all the fur.

She slipped her hand beneath the fur, smiled, and nodded.

He need not have reminded her. He knew she would do nothing that would bring harm to their bairn.

They rode on in silence, Dawn keeping watch as they drew closer to the village. She was surprised to see the keep appear as if it sat tucked in a forest, trees having grown thick around three sides of it. A keep was meant to sit in a more open area, so that no surprise attack could take place. The cottages themselves sat scattered around the keep, some close and others at a distance even from one another, at least viewing it from this distance, perhaps it would prove different when closer.

The keep itself was not overly large and the battlements lacked sentinels. Why would that be if people were disappearing? Even the snow should not keep the sentinels from their posts.

Dawn loved the snow. It always brought a smile to her face thinking of the fun Cree and she had playing in it with the twins. However, this falling snow and gray skies brought no smile to her face. It actually brought a sense of sadness to her, as if the beauty of the fresh falling snow was swallowed by the misery that seemed to encompass the area.

She turned anguished eyes on her husband and shrugged.

“I feel it too—despair,” he said and worried there was more to Chieftain Newlin’s problem than he had told Cree.