Free The Heather Moon by Susan King Page A

smiles and turned to scan the hills.
    She looked along the earthen road, which split a hundred yards from where they sat. One fork would take her to Half Merton and familiar surroundings. The other road would lead her to Rookhope and the unknown, with a man she did not wholly trust.
    But her father seemed eager to trust him, and especially eager to see his daughter go with him. She sighed, knowing exactly why Archie liked the arrangement.
    Now that he knew William Scott was not wed, her father probably planned to offer her hand in marriage to him before long. She frowned, fisting her left hand, feeling the slight sting of the healing cut on her wrist. She could not tell anyone the secret that she carried.
    Even if William Scott was a loyal Borderman—which she knew he was not—he would never prefer a half gypsy to the ladies of the court, who had beauty and refined manners. She fervently wished that her father would hold his tongue, but she was sure that he would pursue the matter and distress all of them.
    Sitting there, she made an impulsive decision that would serve both her father and herself—at least for a while. She looked at William. "I intend to stay with my father," she said firmly. "Farewell, William Scott. Thank you for the escort." She turned her horse to head for Merton Rigg.
    William reached out a swift arm to snatch the bridle. "You'll go home in two weeks," he said firmly.
    "I'll go home when I will!" she replied.
    His blue gaze was sharp. "You'll come with me now."
    "Och, let the lass go to Half Merton for a bit if she likes," Archie said. "We needna tell Jasper, hey? We'll have a good supper, and ye can ride to Rookhope wi' her later."
    "Nay, Da," she said. "I want to stay at Merton."
    "He's given his word to keep ye, and he will."
    "Da, how can you—"
    "Hush!" Archie said brusquely. Tamsin stared, for her father rarely scolded her. "She'll need her gear," Archie told William.
    "Lassies like their baubles and things. Let her get what she needs, and have supper wi' us before ye go on to Rookhope wi' her."
    "I do need my gear," Tamsin said quickly. At Merton, she could dig in her heels and stay. Even if her father insisted she go to Rookhope, she could appeal to Cuthbert and his mother, her great-grandmother, who also lived at Merton. A little time under the scrutiny of Cuthbert and Maisie Elliot might render William Scott eager to escape on his own.
    If she had to, she would slip away and seek her gypsy kin, she thought, determined to stay out of Rookhope's dungeon.
    "Gear? I thought gypsies traveled with naught but the clothes on their backs and the cleverness in their souls," William said. He looked at her and lifted a brow.
    "There's another reason I want ye to come to Merton first," Archie said. "If ye will have the keeping of my bonny unwed daughter"—Archie emphasized the words, and Tamsin shot him a dark scowl—"for a fortnight, she will need a companion. 'Tis proper, see ye. I'll send someone from Merton along wi' ye."
    "Oh? Who might that be?" William asked.
    "My uncle, Cuthbert Elliott, or my own granddame, Mother Maisie," Archie said.
    "Cuthbert and Mother Maisie are both far too old to sit in a dungeon for a fortnight," Tamsin said. "Cuthbert is threescore and ten, and Maisie is nearly another score older."
    William lifted his brows in surprise. "I wouldna expect them to ride with us to Rookhope. Let them stay at Merton."
    "But they're still sprightly," Archie argued. "They wouldna be much of a bother to ye. Tamsin needs someone there to see that all is proper, see ye."
    "Your lass is safe with me. I willna disgrace her," William said, his previously friendly tone hardening. Tamsin saw his jaw clench, saw his eyes flash, blue and hard. "My mother and sister are at Rookhope. They can act as Tamsin's guardians, if you think she needs protection from such as me."
    "Nah, nae protection," Archie said. "Just witnesses."
    "Will you make your mother and sister spend time in the dungeon to keep me