The sun took forever to move across the sky, and playing with the children made Catherine homesick for Nathan and Nora and the boys. She ate more indescribable food for lunch, and after an even scarier supper, she went for a walk with Ian to settle her stomach. He led her up to a cemetery surrounded by a white, weathered fence and stopped in front of a headstone.

“This is my son’s grave,” he said softly. “James. He was my fourth child, after Maura and Niall and Megan. He died six years ago, Gwyneth told me, in a hunting accident.

His horse fell while he was chasing a stag, and James broke his neck.”

Catherine squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You have another daughter named Maura? Will I meet her?”

“Nay,” he said, pointing beyond the fence. “She died when she was only seventeen.” He looked at Catherine and suddenly broke into a smile. “This Sunday after church, we’re going to extend the fence around her grave and bless the ground she rests in.”

“But why wasn’t she buried in here?”

“Because it was thought she killed herself,” he whispered fiercely, shaking his head.

“And we were forbidden to lay her in hallowed ground. But I’ve since learned it was an accident,” he added, squaring his shoulders. “She was running away to marry Robbie’s father when she fell through the rotten ice of theloch. It was a tragedy, not a sin.”

“She was going to marry Michael MacBain?”

“Aye.” He continued their walk, heading out of the cemetery and back onto the path. “It’

s a long story, Catherine. Let’s just say it’s the reason the MacBains and the MacKeages are at war. But I can right our wrong now and restore the peace.”

“You can do that without exposing where you’ve been for the last thirty-five years?”

“Aye. I’ve come up with a good story. I’ll tell them that when we were captured—

tenyears ago—I had a chance to talk to Michael and learn the truth.”

She squeezed his arm as they walked down the path toward his hut. “I’m glad Robbie brought you home.”

He patted her hand in the crook of his elbow. “Aye,” he said with a sigh. “But not nearly as glad as I am, lass.”

She was just about to say something else when three young men barely out of their teens stepped into their path and all started talking at once. Ian immediately pushed Catherine behind his back and spoke to them in rapid, spitting, and angry-sounding Gaelic.

“Run to Gwyneth,” Ian suddenly said, pushing her away.

Catherine didn’t bother to ask what the boys wanted but turned and ran down the lane when two of them sprang toward her. She darted between huts, scattering chickens and avoiding laundry lines and playing children.

She finally started to pull away from them when one of her pursuers suddenly shouted in surprise. Two minutes later, the other one grunted, tripped, and smacked into the wall of a hut.

Catherine kept running, unsure where the third boy was. She would have made it to Gwyneth’s house if a dog hadn’t started chasing her. She tripped and almost fell flat on her face, but for the strong arms that caught her and swept her off her feet with a laugh.

“You’re safe,” Robbie said, crushing her against his chest and continuing down the lane at a more sedate pace. His mouth was turned in a frown, but his eyes were smiling.

“You were about to get your second, third, and fourth marriage proposals.”

“What?”

“You’re a prize, Cat. You saved Ian from the English, and there isn’t an unmarried warrior around who doesn’t want you to be the mother of his children.”

“Oh, for the love of—Phew! What’s that smell?” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Good heavens, it’s you! Have you been rolling in manure?” Then she remembered she was mad at him. “Put me down,” she snapped, wiggling to get free.

He set her on her feet with a laugh and tucked her hand through his arm, holding it firmly. “I may have to marry you just to keep the warriors away.” He stopped so that she would look up at him. “Unless you’re expecting to wake up anytime soon, Cat, it’s the only way to keep you safe here.”

“Did you find the tree?”

“Nay. But I did find where Cùram’s been staying. And I felt the energy of the tree, but I couldn’t seem to pin down its exact location.”

“You couldfeel it?”

He started walking again, keeping her hand tucked in his. “Aye. There was enough energy humming through the air to power an entire city.”

“Was it near Snow Mountain? Did you see the landslide that dammed up the river?”

“Aye, and I’ve already spoken with Niall about last night’s raid.” He stopped them again. “It was about a month ago that the landslide happened. And Daar thinks that’s when Cùram hid his tree, once he realized Daar was looking for it.”

“How did Cùram know he wanted it?”

Robbie started them walking again, waving his free hand at nothing. “Who knows? He’s supposed to be a young, cunning, powerfuldrùidh.”

“And Mary wasn’t any help?”

“She showed me where he’s been living. Anyone else would have missed it. He’s disguised it well.”

“But you didn’t see Cùram?”

“Nay,” he said, stopping them outside of Gwyneth and Ian’s hut. “I’m not joking about the wedding, Cat. It will still take me several days to find that tree, and the attempts to steal you for a wife won’t stop until you’re caught.”

“But don’t I have to say ‘I do’ or something?” she asked, wrinkling her nose and stepping away from his smell. “Doesn’t the marriage have to be consensual?”

“Not really. If your reputation is compromised, Niall can simply force you to marry.”

She took another step back, not from his smell this time but from the gleam in his eye, and shook her finger at him. “I’m not getting married,” she said with a curt nod, just to show she meant it. “Not even in my dreams.”

“Not even to someone you think you love?” he asked, matching her retreat with a step of his own.

“I told you that was a mistake,” she said, eyeing the lane and judging her chances of escaping.

But to where? That was the problem; she had no place to go. Her only hope was to wake up now. But when that didn’t happen and when Robbie read her intent and lunged toward her, Catherine turned with a squeak and took off down the lane.

Darn it, this washer dream, not his. She was not marrying Robbie MacBain just to fulfill his silly fantasy.

“Come here, you little cat!” he shouted as he ran after her, his voice sounding more amused than mad.

Within minutes, she left the village behind and was powering up the mountain path they’d traveled down just yesterday. Was it only yesterday? It felt like a month ago!

The sun had finally set, and the trail was deeply shadowed by the stingy light of dusk.

She could hear Robbie behind her, growing less amused and more angry every time he called her name. She kept looking for another path that turned toward the village, so that she could backtrack to Ian’s hut and be waiting for Robbie when he finally gave up the chase. It would serve him right for her to best him again, after locking her in her room last night.

Catherine nearly missed the narrow trail to her left. She grabbed a tree and spun around it, then darted up the even steeper path, only to slam straight into a huge horse that was more startled than she was. She fell backward with a yelp of surprise when the horse reared up, but large, bruising hands grabbed her before she could hit the ground and lifted her up, away from the flying hooves.

Her back was slammed against a hard, smelly chest, and she got dizzy when the horse she was sitting astride spun and started galloping up the path. Catherine slapped at her captor, but he simply tightened his beefy arm and squeezed the air out of her scream.

She heard shouts behind her and the sound of metal striking metal, and Catherine gasped at the realization that there was a swordfight going on back down the trail and that Robbie was right in the middle of it.