Free Highlander's Rescue A Cree & Dawn Short Story (Cree & Dawn Short Stories Book 4) by Donna Fletcher Page A

the field from daybreak till almost dusk and when I came home, you were wrapped in a blanket, sleeping in the cradle that I once slept in. You were a good bairn, slept more than you cried.”
    Wintra gathered strength from her brother’s words and some of her worry faded.
    “Where is Dawn?” Cree asked.
    Torr eased his wife’s head down as he spoke. “There is a problem with the other woman and she is helping.”
    Dawn stepped out of the other room as Cree left Wintra’s room. When he saw her brow wrinkled with concern, he held his arms out to her and she hurried into them. He held her close, nothing more, he simply held her. She needed his strength and he would give it to her, for she was worn down from giving her strength to others. He had learned that about her when they had first met and it had never changed. She did what she could for others and always would.
    After she had not moved for a few moments, he thought she had fallen asleep in his arms. She always fell asleep in his arms at night in bed and he would not have it any other way. If she slept now, he would hold her until she woke, but she stirred and stepped away from him to speak slowly with her hands.
    He understood her clearly. “Margaret does not do well.”
    Dawn went to gesture again, but Wintra’s scream stopped her and she hurried around her husband and into Wintra’s room.
    Cree did not go to his sister, since Dawn had that well in hand. He went to Margaret’s room and stood just outside the door. He watched the woman thrashing around in pain on the bed.
    Cathan walked over to him, the worry in her eyes far worse than what he had seen in his wife’s eyes.
    “It does not go well,” Cathan said.
    Two agonizing screams erupted from both rooms and Cree worried that death stalked the keep this night.

Chapter Eight
    Cree looked out over the battlements at Hugo’s camp below. It was quiet, troops having bedded down for the night. Not that he trusted they would stay that way. Hugo was battle wise and he probably suspected that Cree’s warriors were on the way here and he would have to strike before they arrived or taste defeat.
    How long Hugo would wait to make his move is what troubled Cree. Would he strike before sunrise or wait until first light? Either way, if Sloan did not arrive by that time, he would have to keep Hugo and his men from entering the keep until Sloan got here. How he would do that with a handful of warriors and servants that had few skills with weapons, he was not sure. But he would find a way.
    The young lad was quick to pledge his fealty to Cree. “I will fight to the death for you—”
    Cree did not let the young warrior finish. “Death wants nothing to do with me or those who serve me. Ask Tannin there,” —Cree nodded at the man standing not far from the young warrior— “He will tell you that we have been through worse than this and lived to fight other battles as we will this one.”
    Cree heard Tannin laugh as he began detailing one of Cree and his warriors exploits.
    Something Cree never did was admit defeat no matter how dire the situation. If warriors lost hope in battle, they lost the will to survive and once that was lost so was the battle and one’s life.
    As much as it seemed they would not defeat the troop of warriors outside these walls, Cree held strong to victory. Besides, unlike other battles, he had his wife with him in this one and he would fight the devil himself to keep her safe.
    He turned to go make his rounds throughout the keep and almost collided with Torr. “My sister?” Cree asked anxiously.
    “She is doing well, if anyone can do well suffering such horrendous pain,” Torr winced.
    “I remember well the pain Dawn suffered when she birthed the twins and I promised myself I would never touch her again.”
    Torr laughed. “I am thinking the same.”
    “Make no promise you cannot keep.”
    Torr laughed again and stretched his arms above his head, as if he was trying to reach for the