Page 79 of Intrigued By A Highlander

“Dru!” one man shouted when he spotted her, then rubbed his nose as she got closer. “Good, Lord, you don’t stink anymore!”

“It’s been too long,” another called out.

“You saw me four moon cycles ago, Quim,” Dru reminded the oldest of the four brothers.

Quim stumbled to his feet, swaying as he raised his hand and tried to point directly at Knox without much luck. “Who’s he?”

“My husband… Knox.”

Knox felt a catch to his gut, hearing the pride in his wife’s voice.

The four cheered.

One of the brothers raised his tankard, “Good for you, Dru.”

“Thanks, Fyfe,” Dru said, seeing the youngest brother was the least drunk of the four of them, which wasn’t saying much.

Another swayed where he sat as he warned, “You better take care of our lass, or you’ll answer to us.”

“He treats me good, Olin,” Dru assured him.

“He better or he’ll have the four of us beating on him,” the last four of the brothers said.

“Not necessary, Atley. My husband does right by me and keeps me safe,” Dru assured again.

Quim almost toppled over as he lowered himself to the ground. “Join us. We’ll drink to your marriage.”

“Got those barrels of ale from the monks, did you?” Dru asked with a nod at two small barrels close to Quim.

“They were happy to part with it,” Fyfe said.

“Of course they were,” Dru said with a chuckle, knowing full well the brothers had stolen the barrels.

“How do you fellows know my wife?” Knox asked.

The four turned silent.

“We don’t speak about that,” Quim said.

“It’s no one’s business,” Olin added.

Fyfe nodded. “It’s enough we call her friend.”

“No one would believe it anyway,” Atley said.

Dru shook her head at her husband, warning him not to pursue it.

Knox let it rest, though he would ask her later.

“We can’t linger,” Dru said. “We need to be on our way shortly but tell me if you know who may have placed a bounty on Autumn’s head.”

Knox admired the way his wife approached people for information without revealing the information she was actually looking for.

Quim shook his head. “No one knows. Whoever it is has remained anonymous.”

“Not a word of speculation of who it might be?” Dru asked, knowing the brothers liked to linger in talk to see what they might learn before divulging anything, and they always divulged—at least to her they did.

“You would think so,” Fyfe said, “but no word of any kind has been heard.”

---