“Hie yourself to the barracks, Hugh. You’ve no reason to be here.”
She waited until the rat bastard left the hall and turned to Malcolm. “You believe him?” She couldn’t keep the quaver from her voice.
“What other plausible reason could you have to be here at this hour?” His angry tone stung. “If you did no’ arrange a tryst with Hugh, then who did you intend to meet?”
Stunned by the accusation, she bit back the burning retort she longed to throw in his face. Anger surged, and her hands fisted. Fine. If that’s what he chose to believe, let him. What difference did it make to her anyway? Tomorrow she’d figure out how to make the stupid pendant work, and she’d find a way to go home where she belonged.
“I will accompany you to your chamber.” Malcolm gripped her by the wrist and tugged her toward the stairs.
Head held high, she managed to keep up with him as he pulled her down the corridor. She refused to utter a word as he swung her door open and pushed her none too gently over the threshold.
“Stay put,” he snapped, slamming the door shut.
She pressed her forehead against the wood and listened to the sound of his retreating footsteps. “You’re such an ass.” She crossed the room on shaky legs, threw herself face down on the bed and pressed her face into the pillow. All the events from the past two days caught up with her. Overwhelmed with helplessness, frustration and fear, she gave in and cried herself to sleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
Something had to give, because Alethia was tired of feeling like a manidoo-wabooz, a rabbit bolting for her hole every time a shadow crossed her path. Besides, she hadn’t had a full bath in almost a week, and the scant buckets of water Beth brought every day weren’t getting the job done.
Since the incident in the hall with Hugh, she’d made every effort to avoid Malcolm on her brief forays to search for the little deaf boy. She’d also tried everything she could think of to make the magic that had landed her here somehow work in reverse. Neither effort had paid off. Alpha-Jerk seemed to pop up wherever she went, hovering and staring at her with his mouth a straight line of displeasure. And…she was still here, firmly planted in whatever time frame this proved to be.
The only bright spot on her otherwise bleak horizon was that she hadn’t caught sight of Hugh since his attempt to molest her. Maybe he’d been sent away. One could hope.
On that hopeful note, she snatched her basket of soap and shampoo from the mantel, worrying about how long her supplies would last. She’d use them sparingly. Pausing to listen for anyone stirring in the corridor, she slipped out of her room. Alethia headed down the back stairway, darting past the kitchen, which was already bustling with activity, and slipped through the door leading out to the herb garden. There she paused to catch her breath, scanning the area to make sure no one saw her leaving the castle.
The eastern horizon barely held the hint of pink, and she kept to the shadows as she went, looking back all the time to assure herself that no one followed. After bathing and breakfast she’d search for Malcolm’s sister and beg for a weapon of some sort. If Hugh or anyone else tried to trap her in a dark corner, she’d be more than able to defend herself.
Setting her rush basket on a flat rock, she searched the shore for the best place to enter. After one more look to make sure she was alone, she stripped down to her undies and waded in. The frigid water raised goose bumps on her skin, but Lord it felt good to wash her hair. Her breath sent a cloud of steam to mingle with the fog hovering above the lake’s surface, and her shivers sent circles rippling outward.
The sun inched its way above the horizon. She intended to be safe inside the castle before too many people were up and about. One more quick rinse, and then she swam around the rocky outcrop toward shore. Her stomach dropped, and dread stole all the breath from her lungs. Hugh stood on the beach, her clothing in his arms and a cruel smile on his bruised and swollen face. Damn. Had he followed her here? She’d been so careful.
All the stress and fear she’d been living under for the past week erupted. “I would rather die of hypothermia than get out of this water for you, you knuckle-dragging, scum-sucking, waste of space!”
“You must come out eventually.” He moved closer to the water’s edge, his wicked smile growing larger. “When you do, you will pay dearly for breaking my nose.”
“I’ll break something else if you don’t leave me alone, you rat-bastard perv!” Her muscles were beginning to cramp from the cold, and she couldn’t control her shivering. Hypothermia was a very real possibility. She searched for an out and prayed someone would hear her shouts and come to investigate.