Free Much Ado About Highlanders (The Scottish Relic Trilogy) by May McGoldrick Page A

about to let the weapon go. He tried to stay afloat and avoid smashing into the boulders. Suddenly, he could no longer see her.
    “Kenna!” he shouted over the roar of the water.
    Urgency seized him. He knew she was a good swimmer. That much he’d learned when they jumped off the cliff at the abbey the day before. But neither knew what the next bend in the river would bring. She could bang her head against a rock and go under.
    “Kenna!” he shouted again, swimming with the current and scanning both shores for some sign of her.
    The river became narrower and deeper, and he felt himself drop down a number of levels. Where the current passed between large rocks, the flow of the water was stronger and faster.
    With its roots pulled loose from the bank, a tree stretched across the river ahead. He was relieved when he spotted a slight figure holding on to the very end of one limb.
    “Kenna!” he shouted, gliding in long strokes toward her.
    She turned and stretched out a hand toward him. The water was pushing him away from the tree. In a moment he’d sweep past her. He swam across the current, trying to close the distance to her. But the river had a mind of its own, pushing him away.
    “Stay there! Work your way to the shore,” he shouted as the water carried him past her. “I’ll find you.”
    To Alexander’s dismay, she let go of the tree and disappeared beneath the surface.
    “What are you—” The breath was knocked out of his body as he slammed against a large boulder. He felt his left arm go numb as his shoulder struck another half-submerged rock beside it. He hadn’t been watching, hadn’t seen it coming. He was nearly on top of another boulder and he winced, awaiting the next smashing blow.
    “Don’t worry. I have you.” Small arms wrapped around him from behind. She stretched her legs out, planting her feet against the boulder and pushing them away from the obstacle. “Lean against me. I’ll pull you to shore.”
    Alexander was relieved to have found her. At the same time he wanted to laugh out loud. He coughed out a mouthful of water.
    “
I’ll
carry us to shore,” he corrected. “I’m saving
you
.”
    “Say what you will,” she cried in his ear. “But let’s not waste any of your strength. If you panic, I’ll have to drown you and go off on my own.”
    Alexander heard her grunt as she managed to swing him around and wedge the two of them against another fallen tree limb. He glanced toward the shore. There appeared to be an eddy beyond the tree. They were not far from the water’s edge.
    He turned in her arms. “Hold on to me.”
    “I am holding on to you,” she shouted. “If I let you go, you’d probably crack that thick head of yours on one of these rocks.”
    “Have it your way. I’ll hold on to you.” He looped one arm tightly around Kenna’s waist and used the other to work his way along the tree toward the shore.
    Alexander’s shoulder throbbed. The two of them managed to work together until their feet touched the riverbed. A moment later, they dragged themselves out of the water.
    Once ashore, Kenna sank to her knees on the muddy bank. Alexander reached for his belt and found the sword still attached.
    “You can drop that weapon.”
    They looked up. A soldier stood a few steps away, short sword raised.
    He turned his head, calling to someone beyond the line of trees. “Over here, lads. Come see what the river coughed up for us.”

Chapter 8
And in her eye there hath appeared a fire.
    Kenna could see one man, but how many more were beyond the trees? Jumping back in the river no longer seemed a viable option. The soldier was too close.
    By the Virgin, she wouldn’t allow the English to take them. Still on her hands and knees, she stole a glance at Alexander. His expression told her he had no intention of surrendering, either. His hand moved to the hilt of his sword. She reached for the dirk and gathered every ounce of strength left in her body. She leaped for the