listening. Apparently he was going to have to remind them both of their goal. He had hired her to lure his enemy and aid his downfall, not to dally with Gregor himself. He nodded at his bundle, pulling it from her grasp. âLet me save you some time. You will find nothing there worth stealing, my dear. Just a bunch of papers and a wizened apple.â
She jerked away as if annoyed.
âSome of your customers may be fools,â he commented as he dropped to the ground, âbut I am not, and you would do well to remember that fact.â He grabbed her by the arm. âCome, let us leave before word of your escape is put about.â
When he began to march her off, she pulled away, standing her ground. âWait. Where is it that we are going?â
âFife.â He would give no more specific location than that, not until he knew he could trust her.
âFife?â Her eyes rounded again.
âYouâll be hidden away from witch hunters and resting safely within a day,â he informed her, thinking it would put her mind at rest and hush her mouth. âI have lodgings some ten miles beyond Saint Andrews.â It was there that he had taken rooms at an isolated staging post on the way to Craigduff, the village where he had grown up. He had made himself comfortable partway between his enemy and the gateway to his life in the outside world, the harbor at Dundee, where his vessel, the Libertas, would come back to collect him in six monthsâ time.
âTen miles beyond Saint Andrews,â Jessie repeated, frowning.
Perhaps she could not quite fathom that distance. He assumed she had never been out of Dundee, or if she had traveled about, knew little of assessing the distance covered. âWe will be there by sundown tomorrow.â
She would be safe and out of public view, and he could prepare her for her task. For a moment he pictured her on the bed there and had to remind himself that she was not a distraction for his own pleasure, but a lure for his enemy. Gregor had no doubt he would have to remind himself often.
Still she stood her ground. âI thought perhaps we were Highlands bound, or at least heading to the north, when you took this road. Is that not the case?â
âNo. It was only to return the borrowed garments.â He felt that might reassure her, but the news did not seem to please her, either.
âI only agreed because we were headed in this direction.âShe had her hands on her hips now and once more looked as if she thought she had been duped.
âJessica Taskill, you would do well to remember you owe me a rather large favor. I am at the mercy of the gallows now, too, since I have put myself at risk to rescue you.â
She glared at him, her mouth an angry pout.
Gregorâs patience had worn thin. âConsider this. You have no other option. You cannot go back to Dundee, not if you want to see another sunrise.â
Cursing aloud, she glared at him as if he had put her in this mess. âI will have to go back when this is done, for my savings are there. Everything I have earned this past year.â
âYou will not need your savings after you undertake this task for me.â
ââTis my money,â she shouted angrily. She appeared to want to vent her ire on him.
Gregorâs last thread of patience snapped. âTo hell with you.â
He shook his head and turned his back on her, striding off. If she wanted to risk remaining here, that was her choice.
Within moments she was hastening behind him.
He resisted comment, though the urge to do so was fierce.
âThey torture and kill witches in Fife,â she grumbled, as much to herself as to him as she walked alongside him.
âThen you must stop pretending that you practice witchcraft.â
Her head lifted and she peered at him in the gloom. âAnd there was me thinking it was one of my âfancy tricksâ you wanted me to play on this man who has upset you