The Bride Hunt Read Online Free PDF

to contain the flames.
    A weak moan from Roger’s direction drew Anvrai’s attention. He lowered himself to one knee beside the young knight, pulled him up by the arms, and tossed him over his shoulder.Wincing with the pain in his side, Anvrai decided ’twas too minor an ache to signify a broken rib. But the wound in his shoulder burned like the brimstone of hell.
    “You cannot carry him!”
    “Aye. I can.”
    “But your ribs! I saw the way they beat you!”
    “I am well enough, Lady Isabel.” Surprised that she would fret over him, Anvrai quickly realized her concern was for Roger. She was afraid he would drop the boy.
    Anvrai led the way out of the enclosure, and when he would have headed straight for the hills, Isabel stopped him with one hand upon his arm. “We must go to the boats,” she said.
    “What boats? Where?”
    “This way.” She pointed in a direction opposite the village. “They brought us across a wide lake in a boat last night. It’s the way we should go to get back.”
    Low hills obscured Anvrai’s view of the lake Isabel spoke of, but he now knew he’d not been entirely mistaken about the voyage on a ship. Getting on the water was a much better plan than running into the hills. They should be able to put miles between themselves and the village before the Scots realized they were gone.
    And the most fortuitous part was that it would not be necessary to carry Sir Roger forany great distance. The young man could continue to sleep in peace in the hull of a boat.
    Anvrai followed Isabel’s shadowy form since she seemed to know the way. And because the sway of her body beckoned him.
    Even with an injured foot, she moved with an alluring feminine grace. Anvrai thanked God for the rapidly fading light, making it nearly impossible to see the fullness of her breasts or the curve of her hip. And he prayed that it did not rain. Moisture would render her chemise transparent.
    “Can you pilot a boat, Sir Anvrai?”
    “I’ll manage.”
    Roger groaned and started to stir, but Anvrai held on to him and kept moving. He focused his full attention on following Isabel and keeping his balance with Roger’s weight upon his shoulder. She moved quickly in spite of a pronounced limp. Anvrai did not know what had happened inside the cottage, or how she’d escaped, but he could not ask her at present. Mayhap he would never ask…’twas not his concern.
    His task was to get them away from their captors.
    The lake came into view in the gloaming, and Anvrai could hear the gentle lapping of the water. Isabel turned, and spoke quietly. “There is a pier, with several fishing boats moored to it.None of the boats are very large…I—I’m not sure which one we should take.”
    Anvrai knew little of boats. ’Twould be a challenge to steal one of these and get it out on the water in the dark. But he intended to manage somehow. “We’ll take the one farthest out.” That way, they would not need to navigate around the others and would be out in the open water much sooner.
    They stepped onto a long wooden quay where several currachs were tied. A number of the boats were small, and Anvrai hoped they would find one near the end that would hold the three of them and be navigable as well.
    He walked to the edge of the quay and lowered Roger to the ground. “Now would be the time, boy,” he said, tapping him on the face. “Come ’round. You’ve got to climb into the boat.”
    Roger took a deep breath and groaned, then looked up at them. “Isabel?”
    “We’ve got to hurry, Roger,” she said. “They’ll soon be after us.”
    Anvrai helped Roger to a sitting position.
    “What happened? How did we get here?”
    “Questions later,” Anvrai said. “Can you climb into that currach?”
    “My head…” Unsteadily, Roger got to hisfeet. Anvrai and Isabel supported him on each side and managed to get him into the boat. Isabel followed, then Anvrai. After cutting the mooring line with the sword he’d taken, Anvrai