A Lily on the Heath 4 by Colleen Gleason

touched the blood-soaked grass.
    She turned to see Hugh de Rigonier, along with Fleuwelling and Castendown and a contingent of other men now gathered in the clearing. Mayhap the horn she’d heard earlier had been a signal to them.  
    Still carefully holding the bundle of baby raptors, she greeted Hugh as he maneuvered over, still mounted on his horse. His arms strained to keep the massive beast under control, and she was forced to step back from the dancing hooves.
    “You are safe,” he said, looking down at her. “Praise be.”  
    “All in thanks to Warwick,” she told him. “But Piall is dead.”
    “I am aggrieved to hear that.” Hugh tightened the reins in his hand and leaned down toward her. “But you are unhurt?”
    “’Tis time to ride,” Malcolm announced. “If we mean to return to Clarendon before ’tis full dark. Nevril, you and Barth stay with Castendown and Fleuwelling and see that all the remains are buried.” He glanced at Judith. “I fear the same must be done for your man as well,” he said. “For he was attacked by the mad dogs and carries the taint.”
    She nodded, her eyes filling with sudden tears. Even worse than she’d imagined. “Aye. Though he has died unshriven, I will speak with Father Anselm about paying an indulgence for him. Mayhap there is yet hope of saving his soul.”
    Malcolm nodded, his expression softening slightly. He looked as if he were about to speak, but Hugh interrupted. “Lady Judith rides with me.” He dismounted, his feet thudding onto the ground with the jangle of chain mail.
    “Wait, Hugh,” she said as he reached for her. She hesitated, then went to Holbert. “Piall had a small cage. Mayhap—”
    “Aye, my lady. I’ll find it. Or make one,” Holbert assured her, carefully taking the bundle of birds she offered. “But now you must get you back to the keep. I smell rain in the air again, and night is due to fall.” His expression was as grim as she felt and she patted his arm.
    “Many thanks,” she told him, then swept her attention over the men in the clearing. Several of them were still digging graves for the dogs, and it would take them some time. “Thank you all.”
    Hugh lifted her onto his horse, and the beast shifted and pranced at her light weight. But she’d hardly settled on the back, riding astride due to her man’s breeches, when Hugh swung up in front of her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and prepared for a long ride back to Clarendon.
     
     
    ~*~
    Mal rode at the head of the small contingent. Dirick of Ludingdon was next to him, but they trotted along in silence. Somewhere behind was Lady Judith, sitting on the back of de Rigonier’s horse, her hose-clad legs clamped around the beast in an unfeminine manner, her arms around the man. That, Mal found, was a mental image nearly as bothersome as the one he’d had on the journey to find her. And so he trained his attention on other matters.
    They would be fortunate to reach Clarendon before sundown, but at the least they were a large enough group—as well as armed and armored—that they needn’t fear any threat from bandits or wild animals.  
    The group was less than an hour into its journey when a shout from behind caught Mal’s attention. He reined in Alpha and turned to see a cluster of his companions standing in the road. Some had dismounted and others merely gathered around de Rigonier’s horse. He could see Judith’s bright hair among the group. She was standing on the ground aback from the men, and though any other woman might be complaining or weeping about the delay, about being tired or cold or hungry…she was merely standing there watching.
    Muttering a curse, Mal directed Alpha back to them.
    “Horse threw a shoe,” de Rigonier’s squire told him as Mal and Dirick drew up.
    “Bad luck, that,” Mal said, then glanced at Judith. She wouldn’t be riding on the back of that horse any longer. He firmly squelched his rush of glee when he noticed how her