Charming the Shrew by Laurin Wittig Page B

terrible sense of direction, ’twas true, but she had planned everything. If she had not let herself revel in her escape she might have watched more carefully. Perhaps she had simply made a wrong turning…but no, the loch was still beside her, so that was impossible. She had only to travel to the end of the loch, then continue on the same well-worn trail to the sea.
    The horse cropped at the sparse mosses that grew along the trail. She pulled at the reins, trying to yank his head away from the browse. He shook her off and continued eating. She dared not get caught out in a snowstorm. She must find shelter soon. Winter was upon her. She took another deep breath and tried to stay calm, never her strongest skill.
    She could turn back the way she had come, return to Assynt, but she would not. She would have to continue on and find shelter, quickly. Once she was safely out of the oncoming storm, she would figure out where she had erred and find her way to the sea. But that would come later. For now, she needed shelter, and from the looks of the rapidly lowering sky she had better find it soon.
    She pulled on the horse’s reins again, and once more he snorted and tossed his head. She prodded him with her heels. Still he did not budge.
    Snow stung her face and her temper snapped. “You addlepated horse!” She kicked him hard, pulling on the reins at the same time. The horse reacted, but not as she wished.
    Catriona flew through the frigid air and landed hard on her back, knocking the breath from her and momentarily causing the world to darken. When she could breathe again, she gingerly got to her feet, thankful the wretched horse had thrown her into the hillocks of moss and dead heather instead of onto the rocky section of the trail they had just passed through.
    She glared up at the recalcitrant animal and grabbed for the trailing reins. The horse danced backward, just out of reach. She stepped forward. He sidled to the left. She lunged. He pivoted and raced away, quickly disappearing over a rise.
    Catriona stood there, in the middle of the trail, gaping at the empty landscape. The horse had abandoned her.
    “Aaaahg!” She allowed all of her frustration and anger loose in that one screech, then proceeded to call the horse every name she had ever heard her brothers use, plus a few they had not the wit to think of.
    “’Tis quite the genteel language you speak.”
    Catriona screamed and whirled, finding herself face-to-face with yet another horse.
    “How dare you sneak up on me like that!” she said, stepping back to look up at the rider.
    The smirk that curved the man’s full lips and sparkled in his eyes was quickly replaced by a look of amused appreciation that Catriona had never seen in a man’s eyes before.
    “Are you in need of help?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling.
    The man was beautiful. He sat at perfect ease in the saddle. His shoulders were broad, his hair a rich brown, and his mouth…something about his mouth made her breath hitch and her mind fill with fluff. She tried to speak but couldn’t seem to find any words.
    “Are you hurt, lass?”
    Catriona looked away, trying to order her muddled thoughts sufficiently to reply with something other than an inarticulate gurgle.
    “I’ll not harm you,” he said.
    She looked back in his direction but chose to focus on the horse’s ears instead of the man’s intriguing face. “My horse has run off.” She was surprised at the breathless sound to her voice, which served to fluster her further.
    The appreciation slipped from his face to be replaced with concern. “Are you harmed? May I see you home, then? If you are alone it cannot be far.”
    “Nay, I…” What to say? She would not return home, for that would be humiliating and her fate would be sealed. And she knew Broc would never give her a second chance to escape.
    “We must reach shelter. I am bound for Assynt Castle.”
    Catriona shook her head, her mind racing. He was going to Assynt!