Highland Secrets (Cree & Dawn)

“I could only surmise, but perhaps he grew weak and needed a body and now switches until he finds the one he likes. It would explain why no tracks have been found… a ghost would leave none.”

“What then would happen to those whose bodies he stole?” Cree asked, not believing a word of it, but then he had seen some strange things so who was he to say it could not be?

“That I do not know,” Flora said. “What I wonder though, is something that no one has given enough thought to—what if those missing simply walked away of their own accord?”

“Are you saying the ghost lured them away?” Cree asked.

“It would be easy to blame it on a soul-thirsty ghost, but what if it was a person who lured them?” Flora said.

Dawn shrugged and her eyes widened in question.

“I ask what my wife would… why? Why would someone lure them away?”

Flora shrugged. “Search for the answer to all the possible questions, the myths’ purpose, and you will find yourself on a road to discovery.”

“What nonsense are you spewing now, Flora?” Newlin scolded, the man hurrying to the table. “And you are to remain silent until Auda says otherwise, and for once will you please obey me?”

Flora smiled. “Nay, Uncle Newlin.”

Newlin looked at her dumbfounded, his own voice failing him.

Cree hid his smile as did Dawn.

“A bargain, Uncle Newlin,” Flora said. “You grant me permission to wed a man of my own choosing and I give you my word that I will speak little, for I have not the nature to remain completely silent.”

“It shall be for the whole time you remain here, though I will be diligent in presenting you with good prospects,” Newlin said, thinking good fortune had turned his way.

“I also will be diligent in presenting you with possibilities,” Flora said.

“Aye, I am all for anything that will see it done quickly,” he agreed with a shake of his finger at her. “It starts now.”

Flora nodded, her smug smile claiming victory and having Newlin stomping off mumbling to himself. She looked to Cree and Dawn and whispered, “Going to rest.”

Cree watched her hurry off, suspecting rest was far from her mind.

Beast stretched himself awake from where he lay by the hearth and gave a soft bark.

“When it snows, ah cannae be sure if he needs to go out or if the snow summons him,” Cree said.

Dawn let him know with a gesture that she wished to go outside as well.

“It snows. It is no weather to walk in,” Cree said.

Dawn held two fingers close together.

“A short walk?”

She nodded eagerly.

Cree could not deny her. She was always busy at the keep, rarely sitting throughout the day, something she was doing frequently since their arrival here.

“You will not let go of my arm,” he ordered as he stood.

Dawn agreed eager to enjoy, if only for a short time, the snow. Her earlier chill had vanished replaced by a sense of confinement she needed to shed. It could have been brought on by her time in the dungeon with Stuart or simply being away from home where it was safe to do as she pleased. Whatever it was she needed to escape it.

One step outside, the cold stinging her face, the fat snowflakes falling down on her, and she felt a sense of relief. She hugged her husband’s arm as they walked, hoping their time outside would not be too short.

Beast ran around in the snow, dropping down and rolling in it, digging his snout in drifts to toss the snow caught on the tip of his nose up in the air. His playfulness made Cree think of the twins.

Her husband voiced her thought. “The twins would be right there joining in with him.”

She nodded and smiled, her heart heavily missing her bairns.

“A moment, my lord,” one of Cree’s warriors called out.

“Stay right here. Do not move,” he ordered and was pleased his wife nodded, not that he wouldn’t keep an eye on her as he talked with his warrior.

Dawn was happy to stand with the snow falling around her and watch Beast enjoy himself. If she was not with child, she would join him in play. She smiled as he buried half of his big body in a snowdrift.

For some reason, she turned away, her glance going to the edge of the nearby woods, and she blinked a few times not sure of what she saw. Was that a young lass standing there?

The snow made it difficult to see clearly. But after a few blinks and a steady focus, Dawn saw that it certainly was a wee lass. She was young, far too young to be alone, with dark hair, and not dressed nearly warm enough to be out in the snow.

Dawn turned to Beast, thinking he could go after the lass while she alerted her husband. But he had disappeared under the snowdrift. She looked to the lass again before turning to her husband, hoping to get her attention with a wave—but she was gone.