Free Stolen Vows by Stephanie Sterling Page B

wistfulness in her tone.
     
    “Well I was planning to,” he said slowly.  “Just to stretch Fiad’s legs,” he added, giving the horse an affectionate slap on the rump.  “But if ye want me to ride with ye -” he began carefully.
     
    “Oh, nae!” Isla said quickly, too quickly. 
     
    Roan swallowed a smile.  His chest was once again infused with warmth.  “I was just going to give him his head for a couple of hours and then hop back into the cart with ye,” he said, turning to check the girth, although he could imagine the blush that would be coloring his wife’s pretty face.  “I dinna think ye want to arrive at Erchlochy Castle on yer own?” he said calmly.
     
    “Nae, I -” Isla stammered.  “I dinna…” she took a deep breath.  “Thank ye, Roan,” she murmured.  He shot her a smile and nodded, still grinning to himself as she wandered out of the stable.
     
    ..ooOOoo..
     
    Roan loved the feeling of freedom that came with riding a horse at full pelt down the empty highroad.  He was, guiltily perhaps, thinking about nothing other than the raw power he had at his command.  Fiadhiach gave an enthusiastic whinny and threw himself into the gallop, rounding the next corner only to pull up short.  If Roan had been less of a horseman he would have been unseated, as it was, he surveyed the scene before him and cursed. 
     
    A large Scots Pine had fallen right across the road, completely blocking the way. 
     
    It was lucky that he had been riding ahead of the carriage. The wagon would not have been able to stop after it rounded the corner.  Roan couldn’t quite account for the searing pain that sliced through his heart at the thought of Isla frightened or injured.
     
    He gave his head a fierce shake and swung himself back up into the saddle, kicking the horse back in the direction of the approaching cart.  He only had to canter a little way before spotting them, calling to the driver to stop as he explained what had happened.  Before he could stop her, Isla had alighted from the bench and was standing on the roadside looking up at him expectantly.
     
    “I thought ye said the roads would be clear!”
     
    “I thought they would be.” Roan sighed. 
     
    It would probably take hours of tedious work to get the tree moved.  He doubted they would reach Erchlochy Castle before nightfall, and they had travelled too far for him to send Isla back to the inn.
     
    “Will ye be able to move it?” she asked, looking remarkably unperturbed. 
     
    “Aye,” Roan said instantly, although he then glanced at the driver, who gave a silent nod before informing the MacRae warrior that they had rope and an axe, and between the two men it shouldn’t be too difficult a task.
     
    Isla listened intently to their discussion.  “But it will slow us down?” she asked.  “Quite considerably?” 
     
    Roan frowned as he listened to her, was it his imagination, or did she sound hopeful ?  He supposed that he couldn’t blame her.  He certainty hadn’t enjoyed his time at Castle Cameron.
     
    “Depends,” shrugged the driver, in answer to Isla’s question, and that was all he said on the matter.
     
    Isla hopped back into the cart, feeling better than she had done since leaving the Three Oaks, at the thought of her reprieve.  It would only be a day, but surely that was something?  She had a little more time to think of a story to explain her marriage to Roan in a way that might save her from being hated.
     
    Roan and the driver stood next to the fallen tree and planned their attack. “If we can hack off the branches, then we should be able to tie a rope around the trunk and have the horses pull it clear of the road,” Roan said and picked up the axe that was stowed in the back of the wagon.
     
    There were two men, and only one axe, so they rotated chopping duty (although Roan seemed to be doing more than his fair share), while Isla sat on a nearby tree stump, close to the horses, and