Highlander's Redemption: The Sinclair Brothers Trilogy, Book Two by Emma Prince Page B

house or at least a shed, but she all she saw was
more untouched forest even as they halted in front of the rocky protrusion. She
shot Garrick a questioning look, but then she noticed that he had stopped right
next to the towering exposure of rock. Several dead trees had fallen against
the rock, and ferns and other small plants had sprung up on top of the logs,
creating a small covered crawl space between the rock and the leaning tree
trunks.
    She felt her eyes
grow wide as Garrick helped Burke to the ground and got him scooted into the
covered nook. She had never had to work in such conditions before. But then
again, she thought, trying to shake away her shock, she had never been whisked
away by Highland warriors before either. She would just have to make do.
    She approached the
little shelter and knelt down next to Garrick at the opening. There appeared to
be just enough room for her to scoot inside and work on Burke’s leg under the
cover of the dead logs and regrowth over them, which was good because even
though the sky was clear to the east where the sun was near rising, dark clouds
were moving in from the west.
    Setting these
thoughts aside, Jossalyn let herself become totally engrossed in the task at
hand: Burke’s leg. She unwrapped the cloth that covered the wound, and forced
herself to suppress a gasp. The gash was deeper and longer than she had thought
when she assessed it in the dark earlier. Garrick didn’t bother covering up a
low curse.
    “That bad, eh?”
Burke said, trying to lighten the mood, though he spoke through slightly
clenched teeth.
    “I’ve given myself
worse with my fletching dagger,” Garrick said wryly for Burke’s benefit.
    Ignoring them
both, Jossalyn pulled her satchel from across her body and began digging in it.
    “Fetch me some
fresh water,” she said to Garrick, still rooting in her bag for her sewing kit
and the yarrow she would need when she rewrapped the wound.
    By the time
Garrick returned with a full waterskin, Jossalyn had already laid out what she
needed. She poured water over the wound, washing it of blood so that she could
see it clearly. At least it had been made by a sharp sword, she thought grimly.
The cut was clean, so the skin had a better chance of healing. She threaded her
needle and took a deep breath, steadying herself.
    “Hold him still,
please,” she said to Garrick. He leaned into their shelter as much as he could
and placed one large hand on Burke’s chest and his other arm across his legs.
    Blessedly, the sun
had just cracked over the horizon, and a beam of light somehow managed to
filter through the trees and into the opening of the shelter to illuminate the
interior. Without hesitating and risking losing the light, Jossalyn bent
forward and began stitching the wound closed.
    At the first tug
of the needle, Burke jerked and groaned, but Garrick kept him almost completely
immobile, saving Jossalyn from misplacing a stitch. She worked quickly to save
Burke from more pain, but kept the stitches tight and in line. She had done
this enough times to trust in the steadiness of her hand.
    When the last
stitch was in, she tied off the thread and turned to the cloth bandages and
yarrow she had laid out. Normally she would have boiled the yarrow and soaked
the bandages in it to help stop the bleeding and heal the wound, but there was
neither the time nor a fire to do that, so she settled with crushing the yarrow
and spreading some of its paste and juices on the inside of the bandages. Garrick
helped her lift Burke’s leg so that she could wrap the bandage around his thigh
several times.
    She had felt his
eyes on her the entire time she worked, but it wasn’t until the bandage was
securely tied that she allowed herself to register his stare. She was worried
that she would find him glaring at her, or looking at her suspiciously, as if
she might hurt Burke, but when she met his gray eyes, they penetrated into her
with a dark intensity. She wasn’t sure how to read