Free Sins of the Highlander by Connie Mason Page A

she realized that he topped Rob by half a head, and the MacLaren was a very tall man. His ugly face split in a snaggletoothed smile that might have terrified her if she hadn’t lived through the events of the last few days.
    “What are ye doing in the forest instead of waiting for us by your boat?” Rob asked.
    “Well, ye’re no’ there yet, are ye, and ye said ye would be,” Angus said. “I thought ye might need some help. Where’s Falin?”
    “Halfway home, I expect. We ran into a spot of trouble with a wolf pack.”
    “Ach, I thought I heard the demons early this morning.” The big man turned to Elspeth and bowed. “And ye must be the Lady Elspeth. Angus Fletcher, at yer service.”
    “Ye know me, Mr. Fletcher?”
    “Aye, but only by hearsay, ye ken. Robbie said ye’d be making this trip with us, but he didna mention ye were so comely.” The big man’s hairy ears blushed rosy red. “We’ve no lasses near so pretty as ye hereabouts. I’d be beholdin’ to ye if ye’d call me Angus.”
    This giant was the first person she’d met since Rob abducted her. Elspeth decided to take a chance.
    “Sir…I mean Angus, ye seem a gentle soul. I dinna know what your friend has told ye, but if ye would truly help a lady, then know that I have been taken against my will by Rob MacLaren,” she said, taking care to hold the gap in her skirt closed as best she could. “A boon I beg ye, please. Return me to the bosom of my family, and I promise ye’ll be rewarded for it.”
    Angus glanced at Rob and then back at her.
    “Weel, Robbie lad, ye’re no’ a liar. She’s a lady, right enough. Talks a fair treat, aye?”
    “Talks a lot, ye mean,” Rob said sourly. “And she’s cast a shoe and needs to be carried. D’ye think ye could manage it, Angus? I’m fair done in just carrying myself.”
    Without another word, Angus scooped Elspeth up, not slinging her over his shoulder as Rob had, but cradling her in his beefy arms as if she were a bairn.
    “Now wait a moment, Mr. Fletcher—”
    “Angus,” he corrected.
    “Angus.” There was no point in antagonizing him if she wished to convince him to come to her aid, so she wouldn’t complain of the way he carried her. It was certainly better than the undignified way Rob had, slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of meal. “Doing the MacLaren’s bidding is no help to me.”
    “Och, I canna go against Rob. I owe him a debt, ye see.”
    “My father will see your debt paid if ye help me.”
    “I owe Robbie for a life, ye see, and no one can pay that debt but me. I know ye’ve had a miserable time of it, what with the wolves and all,” Angus said, “But I expect ye’ll sing a different tune, my lady, once we get ye back to my house.”
    “Oh?” That sounded vaguely threatening. “What’s at your house?”
    “Weel, since the pair of ye canna have broken your fast, I expect ye’re right sharp set. I’ll fry up some of the good haggis and see if the hens have left us some eggs.”
    Just the thought of a hot breakfast made Elspeth’s mouth water.
    “And while I do that, ye can…weel, not that ye need it, mind”—Mr. Fletcher’s cheeks pinked above his beard—“but if ye wish it, I suppose I could heat some water for ye to have a bath.”
    At the mention of the word “bath,” Elspeth decided she could forgive Angus Fletcher anything.
    Even refusing to help her get away from Rob MacLaren.
    ***
    Rob stripped off his filthy clothes on the loch’s shore and left them in a pile as he walked to the water’s edge. He squatted down and splashed himself all over, sucking a breath over his teeth at the cold.
    Normally, he’d have skipped a bath in this weather, but Elspeth was getting clean somewhere inside Angus Fletcher’s cluttered, wattle-and-daub two-story home. He didn’t want to smell like a boar pit beside her.
    The sun was moving steadily across the southern sky. He’d hoped to be sailing across the loch by this time, but they’d missed