Free Hidden Jewel (Heartfire Series) by Jennifer Strong Page B

Ragamuffin, indeed , he thought wryly. 
    Dismounting with a suddenness that made him jump and duck behind a bush in surprise, the girl/woman tugged gently at the reins, nickered softly, urging the horse to follow her over to the cool, flowing water at the edge of a small glade already scented by the roses that grew wild about the place. Peering out through a break in the leaves, Micah watched as she balanced nimbly on one foot, then the other, removing the short leather moccasins. Even her tiny feet were that weird blue color, as if she were lacking enough oxygen. Her slim ankles were ringed with anklets that matched  wide bracelets he had noticed earlier on her dainty wrists; though covered with mud, they sparkled just enough to draw the eye. Stepping silently onto the wet grass growing up wild along the bank, face lifted skyward, eyes closed, she raised her arms straight out, level with her shoulders, and began to turn slowly, stopping at each point of the compass; her lips moved soundlessly in the still morning air. He had seen her father and mother do something similar during the weeks he and Jacob had lived at Hidden Jewel when they first arrived in the Smoky Mountains, though he'd been too shy to ask exactly what they were doing. It was none of his business, after all.
    Moving with graceful ease, the girl took the few steps to the stream and stepped in, eyes trained downward, watching for sharp stones. Despite a decided nip in the air, she was dressed in a sleeveless brown top that came to just below her breasts; the vee shaped neckline ended with a criss-crossed lacing down the cropped bodice that moulded the shirt to the buxom globes, tied just tight enough to expose the lighter skin of her cleavage when she bent down to drink from cupped hands. She wore a short kilted skirt, the muted colors of a hunting tartan blending in with her surroundings so well that it almost seemed to Micah as if she might disappear completely into the dense forest of Wilderdeep if he so much as blinked. Hiking the skirt up high on muscular thighs, a rather unnecessary precaution, she waded into the knee deep water, churning up dirt and old leaves with her toes as she walked, spraying sparkling water droplets up into the air with the carefree motion as she moved toward the drop off that led into the pond.
    He watched her in utter fascination, wondering why she had stopped there when she was already so close to home and plenty of heated water; his unspoken question was answered a moment later when she dove, clothes and all, into the cool depths of Rosewater. Emerging almost at once, muddy water streaming down her back and arms, her face, from the long, long lengths of her hair, she sat down on a flat rock near the bank and began to wash the grime from her face and arms with a wet handkerchief and a bar of soap he'd not noticed before. Her eyes were closed, the motions of her hands causing a thick, foamy lather as she scrubbed the dirt from her head, down her body; even her clothing revealed their natural color after she dove again, and once more, staying under long enough to fully rinse herself the third time. Micah couldn't take his eyes off the water, stared at the blue-tinted scum floating on the surface of a pond he and Jacob swam in almost daily. It seemed a long time before she climbed back out, wringing out the thick ropes of hair with quick motions.
    A redhead ... he sighed inwardly at the unusual sight. Aside from Annie Mackintosh, there were few true redheads hereabouts; he found the idea quite stimulating, the proof of whom she was burning brightly with the tardy sunlight. Brushing damp locks back from her face with her fingertips, the curls shimmered like wild flames as she moved, drawing Micah’s eye to small gold and silver hoops in her tiny earlobes that matched a somewhat larger one pierced through her navel; a thin chain around her neck disappeared enticingly beneath the bodice of her blouse; no longer mud brown, it had