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hand to race back to Eric’s side.
    “I’ll remember you, Dobbie Caskie!” Eric shouted at the boy’s retreating back. “Best you be looking over yer shoulder!”
    It all felt like some horrible nightmare. “I canna believe the lad would—” Jeanne began.
    “Believe it,” Eric interrupted. “Perhaps in the future, you won’t be so critical of my suspicions. Unfounded or otherwise.”
    Eric turned away from her, leaving her to stare into the darkness that had swallowed any sign of the boy.
    “Bollocks,” Eric growled from behind her. “The little whoreson has made off with the better share of our provisions.”
    No wonder he’d stuffed so much of the food into one sack when he’d helped to clean up. He’d already known what he planned to do.
    “Well, we’ve no choice now.” Eric stood facing her, hands on his hips. “We’ll return to Castle MacGahan at first light.”
    “No, we won’t.” Not as long as she had breath in her body. “Thanks to yer clever training, we still have yer horse. There’s no reason for us to turn back.”
    “No reason?” Eric’s voice rose in pitch. “Who’s brainsick now? Do you ken how much longer it will take us? We’ve no enough food left to carry us to the coast, let alone home again.”
    “Go home yerself, then, if you want. I’ll walk to the sea if I have to. I swore an oath and I mean to keep it.”
    The shadows hid Eric’s expression, but she had no need to see it. His mumbled swearing told her all she needed to know. He didn’t agree with her, but he wouldn’t desert her, either.
    This might be a setback to their plans, but she wouldn’t allow it to prevent her from keeping her promise to Eymer.

C hapter F ive
    Heavy clouds blanketed the sky all the way to the horizon as their path ascended up the great mountainside. Jeanne buried her face in the furs covering Eric’s back, holding tightly against the winds that buffeted their progress.
    Their stops were more frequent today, owing to his horse having to carry the both of them, but she couldn’t be upset about that. Not when it meant more time to walk around and stretch her legs. Not when it meant spending her day so close to him.
    Early this morning, riding pressed up against him as she was now, she’d given up the last vestiges of hope that she’d ever be able to exorcise him from her heart. And though they’d likely never cross paths again after their quest came to an end, she’d decided to give herself this time of pleasure being close to him. In her imagination, for at least the next several days, he could once again be her Eric.
    “We’ll rest here for a bit,” he said over his shoulder. “There’s some small shelter from the wind up against the rocks and there’s water.”
    Once Eric had dismounted, he lifted his arms to help her down. “Stay close,” he cautioned, leading his horse back down the incline to the water.
    Jeanne pulled her woolen tightly around her, sorely missing the fur that Dobbie had taken with him. She placed a hand to her neck and stretched. The bundle of her most precious belongings strapped to her back was responsible for the ache in her shoulders, but a short walk to stretch her limbs would help.
    Small patches of snow lay in the shadowed spots and she watched her feet to avoid slipping on them as she made her way up and around the rise toward the peak. Bushes, wild and tangled like a miniature wind-ravaged forest, stood between her and the spot she had her sights set upon. Carefully she made her way through them, stopping a couple of times to free her cloak from the thorny grasp of the undergrowth as she climbed.
    Only feet from the edge of the summit, she tightened her cloak against the bitter wind and dropped to her knees to admire the view. Mountain peaks stretched out in the distance, cupping a lake-filled valley below.
    When she heard a noise behind her, she assumed Eric had followed.
    “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked, turning with a smile to find