In that moment, the desire to be connected with this alliance of intrepid men and women consumed him like never before.
“Where is your mount?”
“About three miles back, sir.” The boy glanced over his shoulder. “I thought I’d been spotted so I left him there and ran all this way.”
“You ran?” Running would draw attention. It was the boy’s first mistake. Allowing a grin to ease up his mouth, William extended the large bag toward the boy. Whispering, he gazed down at his freckled friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Run only if you must. ’Tis more prudent to out-wit the enemy, than try to out-run them.”
The gentle sound of humming filtered through the trees followed quickly by a quiet, dainty footfall against the leaf-covered ground. William lunged for the boy and pulled him behind the nearest tree, shielding the rest of him with his own body.
Who came in the wood this time of day?
He squinted as the sound neared, searching wildly until his gaze found the source and his stomach lurched to his throat.
Not twenty feet away, Anna strode through the trees, holding a basket in her hand as she glanced at the ground. The shawl around her shoulders, strands of hair straying from her cap, the sun on her face—she’d never looked lovelier.
William clenched his fingers around the bag still in his fist and his biceps flexed. If she saw him with the boy she would ask questions. And questions would only bring them closer to the precipice of discovery. Something neither of them could risk.
William breathed slow with long ins and outs, but the boy behind heaved heavy breaths, oblivious to how even a sound could change the course of their future.
Keeping his gaze upon her, William willed her to turn and walk home with every pump of his pulse. Yet she did not. She stopped, a smile lighting her face as she crouched to the ground, tugging at several plants and placing them into the basket.
Go, Anna. Go home.
William glanced behind. The boy flung him a questioning look and William answered with a finger at his mouth.
“Good day, miss.”
What in heavens name?
William’s blood went from hot to instant boil. A soldier, tall and well-muscled, stood with cocked hip at the other side of the wood, not ten yards from Anna.
William looked from the boy to the soldier. He’d been followed.
Anna jumped to her feet, face ashen. She clutched the basket to her middle and retreated a step. “May I help you, sir?” Her voice wobbled and William leaned forward. If the man even thought of touching her…
The soldier pointed to the basket with a smile. “What are you gathering?”
She didn’t answer and her posture shrunk. ’Twas not the same reaction she’d had to the soldier at the creek, but then again, that had been a thin, weak boy, while this man was a giant. That, and William had been near. Only this time, she believed William was far from her rescue.
Thank the Lord he was not.
From behind, the boy tugged on William’s coat. William shot him a pinched look and the boy nodded.
Continuing forward, the redcoat motioned in a wide circle. “Have you…have you seen a boy pass by here?”
Anna shook her head.
“Nay?” The man continued to move closer. “A beautiful woman like you would certainly not lie.”
She froze, stopping even the slight up and down of her shoulders as she breathed. “Nay, sir. I would not lie.”
“Of course.”
William’s legs burned with the urge to lunge and tackle the seething enemy. The soldier was too close. If he reached out he could grab her. Glancing down at his feet, William spied a large stone and crouched to retrieve it. He captured the boy’s gaze and mouthed silently as he counted on his fingers.
One, two, three…
With a swift swing of his arm, William hurled the stone to the opposite side of the wood. A loud smack cracked through the trees and the soldier whirled, scanning the opposite side of the forest.