Knight Moves: Merriweather Sisters Time Travel (Merriweather Sisters Time Travel Romance Book 2) by Cynthia Luhrs

to take on and off by herself. She knew; she’d tried it one night. Looked like she’d be sleeping fully clothed, especially since she couldn’t make a fire. She pulled her necklace out, holding the charms in her palm. The necklace had belonged to Aunt Pittypat. It was a heavy gold chain with four charms. There was an emerald, a diamond, a sapphire, and one gold charm in the shape of the unicorn.
    Melinda tucked it back under her shirt for safekeeping. There was a stream nearby where she refilled the earthenware jug she was carrying. It seemed like they were always passing a small stream or other body of water. Kind of like a medieval water fountain. She’d washed under the fabric as best she could. The salted beef she’d eaten for dinner tasted sort of like beef jerky. It was filling but made her thirsty.
    Resigned to being cold, she curled up in the cloak and sent up a prayer that horse wouldn’t run off. She wrapped the reins around her legs, but had no doubt if the horse wanted to leave, he could.
    “Leave me alone. I’m sleeping.” Melinda woke slowly. She was having the most decadent dream. In it, she was in a huge white bed, surrounded by pillows and eating a bagel with cream cheese and lox. And drinking hot chocolate while the latest Daniel Craig movie played. In the dream, someone brought her a Bloody Mary. Before she could take a sip, the dream crumbled. She was cranky on the best mornings, but this took the cake. Melinda opened her eyes and glared. “What?”

Chapter Sixteen

    Three men stood in front of Melinda. One of them held the horse’s reins in his hands.
    “You have got to be kidding me.” She wanted to groan. Not again. “Drop the reins and leave now and I won’t turn y’all into toads.”
    Two of the men crossed themselves, and she resisted the urge to laugh. She needed them to be afraid of her so they would go on their way. She didn’t have time for this. Blackford Castle and Lucy were within her grasp.  
    Apparently the third man wasn’t afraid of being turned into a frog. He barked orders to the other men. They grabbed hold of her as she struggled, screaming and kicking. Her foot made contact with one of the men’s noses, and she was gratified to hear the crunching sound. A copper smell filled the air.
    Good. She hoped she’d busted his nose. Satisfaction coursed through her. But it was short-lived. They threw her over the back of the horse, leading him down a path toward the rocky beach. The horse bared his teeth to bite. One of the men yanked hard on the reins and the animal settled down.
    “The horse belongs to Lord Falconburg. You better leave him with me. If I don’t return with him soon, he’ll come looking.”
    Two of the men looked nervous until their leader shrugged. “Lord Falconburg will have to catch us first, lady.”
    She looked at each face, memorizing what they looked like and what they were wearing. If she survived and James didn’t kill her for losing his best horse, she wanted to be able to tell him what the thieves looked like. Wanted to be there when he caught them. Was she becoming a barbarian? Melinda never considered herself prone to violence, but ever since she’d arrived in the fourteenth century, where she found herself thrust into one situation after another, she’d changed her mind. And right about now, as angry as she was, she’d cheer when James skewered them like big ole shish-kabobs.
    They were all wet from the spray striking the rocks. At the base of the cliff where the water met the shore, they led her around a group of rocks and into what looked like a passageway or cave. You wouldn’t know it was there unless you were right on top of it. The entrance was tucked into a corner of the rock. Were they smugglers?
    Inside the dark cave, one man lit a torch. For a moment she envied him and opened her mouth to ask how before she remembered she was not a guest but a prisoner. The dim light cast shadows on the stone walls. On the back wall she