Taken by Storm by Danelle Harmon Page A

around so that he could stare into the stallion’s dark eye, but Shareb jerked away, his ears flat back.
    “He’s not fine, he’s in pain! His leg hurts, Dr. Lord, and you must do something!”
    “I can’t find anything wrong with him to do anything about , my lady.”
    “But he’s lame !”
    “I can see that.” Colin stared at the stallion’s leg, then, frowning, walked around to look at it from the front.
    “Well?”
    He straightened up, and stared into the stallion’s eyes.
    Shareb turned his face away, and hid it against his mistress’ chest.
    “There’s a coaching inn just up the road,” Colin said. He unhitched the stallion and picked up the shafts of the chaise. “You lead him. We’ll stop, give him a rest, have something for lunch. If he’s indeed injured, I should find some swelling by the time we return.”
    “What do you mean, if ? Of course he’s injured, look at him!”
    But Colin didn’t reply.
    He was beginning to suspect that Shareb-er-rehh was a hell of a lot smarter than he’d given him credit for.
    And—after looking at that long, aristocratic leg—not at all the gait-horse her Ladyship proclaimed him to be.
    # # #
    The coaching inn, a rambling, whitewashed building with a sway-backed roof, was nestled in a bed of daisies, grass gone to seed, and shrubbery through which two robins chased each other with merry abandon. Roses made pools of scarlet against the walls and sills, and a sign in front swung gently in the breeze, proclaiming the establishment to be the “Hungry Horseman.”
    “Oh, good,” Ariadne said, breathing a sigh of relief. “It has windows.”
    Pulling the chaise while the horse limped along beside him, Colin followed her gaze. An ancient hound slumbered on steps splashed with sunlight, and a mare with one hind leg propped beneath her was tethered just outside. Upon noticing Shareb-er-rehh, she turned and whickered softly.
    Up went Shareb’s head, and his ears along with it.
    “Windows,” Colin said, as the stallion began to prance and blow and arch his neck. “I should think the food would be of more importance than the windows.”
    “Oh, no, Dr. Lord. It has to have windows. I have to be able to see Shareb-er-rehh from inside. What if someone should try to steal him?”
    “I daresay they’d lose their fingers in the attempt.”
    “Oh, stop!” she said, playfully. “I told you, he’s a very sweet horse, just angry because you denied him pastry and ale. Now come. Let’s get something to eat. My treat, of course.”
    She went on ahead of him.
    “Uh . . . my lady?”
    “Yes?”
    “If you wish your ruse to succeed— “ Colin rubbed his jaw, and looked thoughtfully at her shapely legs. “Try to not walk so . . . well, try to walk like a man.”
    “Like a man?”
    “Your hips, my lady. They—tend to swing a bit.”
    “Very well then.” She let go of Shareb’s reins. “Shall I walk like this?” Apishly hunching her shoulders and letting her arms hang stiffly at her side, she walked awkwardly toward the stairs, where she turned and shot him a look of high amusement.
    “Never mind,” Colin said, putting the shafts of the chaise down and taking the stallion’s head. Stiffness clawed through his leg as he led a protesting Shareb-er-rehh a safe distance away from the mare and looked for a place to tether him. “This is never going to work.”
    “Yes it will, I shall make it work.” She glanced at Shareb-er-rehh, and her face lit up with excitement. “Look, Dr. Lord! Shareb’s not limping any more!”
    “Yes, war wounds tend to disappear when there is a fair lady to impress.”
    His comment went right over her head. “We’ll stop here for a nice, leisurely meal and maybe when we come out, Shareb will be all better. Come along, Doctor!”
    Colin tied the stallion, casting a dubious glance over his shoulder to check the animal one last time as he went to join Ariadne. Shareb-er-rehh caught his glance, and lifted his left front leg to show