Page 57 of The Fierce Highlander

Leora leaned down and scooped up Chief, who was waiting patiently by her feet to see where they would go next. “We are off to find, Noble, Chief.”

The pup barked as if approving of her decision and licked her face. With food and rest he had improved quickly and learned just as quickly, his head perking up any time her or Noble’s name was mentioned, being protective of them both.

Leora smiled and kissed the top of the pup’s head. “Sky would love you and be proud of me for looking after you since I was never the animal lover she is and has been since she was young. It is amazing how animals are so trusting with her, but then I always thought they could sense her extremely kind soul and knew she would not harm them.”

Chief barked and wiggled to get out of her arms. She placed him on the ground, thinking he needed to see to his duty, but hurried after him when he took off running. People moved out of his way, chuckling as they watched Leora chase after the racing pup.

He was fast and tumbled when he took a turn too sharply, but righted himself quickly enough, and he had Leora nearly breathless when he finally disappeared into one of the barns that housed the horses.

“Now I’ve got you,” she said to herself a bit breathless before entering the barn.

She stopped once inside, the overcast day not providing enough light through the partially open door to see the whole place clearly. Darkness and shadows lingered in spots as did silence, and no horses snorted or stomped their hooves.

“Chief,” she called out and heard his puppy bark and a snarl from somewhere deeper in the stable. She stepped further inside. “Come here right now, Chief!” The pup barked again, then whined and she worried that he had somehow gotten himself stuck. “What have you gotten yourself into now?” she said, moving deeper into the stable.

She jumped when the stable door suddenly slammed shut, the dark quietly consuming her. She pressed her hand to her chest, her heart racing, and gave her eyes a chance to adjust to the sudden darkness before making any sudden move. Darker shadows shifted around her, and she turned to walk to the door to hurry and open it, the darkness a bit frightening, but she stopped when she thought she heard a sound. Was someone in here with her or had she imagined the sound.

Chief whined, then let loose with a soulful, puppy howl.

“Chief, what’s wrong?” she called out and worried he was hurt.

She hurried forward to find him. Her feet caught on something, and she fell forward and quickly cushioned her head with her arm before it hit the earthen floor.

Chief was at her side licking her face and she was relieved to know he was not hurt.

“I am good, Chief, but we need to leave here,” she said a bit dazed and struggled a bit to get to her feet.

Chief agreed bouncing around her as if anxious to leave, but when she went to step forward, he jumped in front of her, barking.

“You see something I don’t,” Leora said, paying heed to his warning bark. “I probably tripped on a sack that fell over or someone forgot to move.”

She eased her foot forward and felt it, but it didn’t feel like a sack to her. Curiosity had her wanting to see what had tripped her and she eased her steps to find a way around whatever blocked her path.

“Let’s see what tripped me, Chief,” she said and when she reached the door, she swung it open so that enough light would fill the stable.

Leora froze, shocked to see the body. It was a woman’s body she had tripped over and she was lying face down. She hurried to see who it was, praying the woman was all right.

As soon as she saw the red hair, she called out, “Adele!”

She dropped to the young woman’s side and turned her over gently to make sure it was her, though she was confident it was. She gasped, shocked and upset to see that it was Adele and blood covered the front of her garments. Leora feared she was dead and leaned her face close to see if she was breathing. It was a faint breath, but she caught it.

Chief started yapping as she stood and stripped off her tunic, then dropped down beside the young woman again to press the rolled garment against where there was the most blood, unable to see exactly where the wound was located. Her hands were soon covered in blood.

She gave a hasty glance around, something she should have done before going to Adele to make sure no one else was there with them, but then Chief would have barked, alerting her if there was anyone else here.

“We need to get help. Go find Noble, Chief. Go find Noble,” she urged the pup. “Go, Chief, Go find Noble,” she urged again, not willing to leave the young lass alone, and the pup took off.

CHAPTER17

Noble had thought of waking his wife before he left their bed this morning, but she had been sleeping so soundly that he had not wanted to disturb her, especially after having woken her in the night to couple with her again.

He could not get their first time together out of his head. It was the most pleasurable coupling he had ever had, and he looked forward to many more. She had shocked him when she stood naked in front of him and that had pleased him more than she would ever know. It had also soared his desire for her tenfold.

If he didn’t stop dwelling on last night, his manhood was soon going to salute him since it was already stirring. He forced his thoughts on Finley as he walked through the village, which had him smiling. He felt for his friend. The first thing he had said to him, in a conspiratorial whisper, was to beg Noble to free him of the commanding novice, a sweet looking lass who was anything but sweet. Noble didn’t believe the novice could be that bad, but when she ordered him to leave not long after he arrived, insisting Finley needed to rest, he thought to do as Finley asked. Novice Angelica had turned a stern eye on him and wasted no time in telling him all the things that could go wrong with Finley’s wound if he did not rest and heal, death topping the list.

Noble had bowed to the novice’s wisdom and Finley’s pleading eyes followed him out the door. He had to admit that Finley looked better than he expected and if in battle he would probably be back on the battlefield by now, though if Novice Angelica was there that might prove differently. He wondered if the novice could turn the tide of battle with just one of her stern looks.

Noble turned his head, thinking he heard Chief barking. The pup was young and had yet to grow into his bark. He continued to listen and sure enough he heard the pup’s yap. He hurried toward the yapping sound.

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