Read The Heather Moon for Free Online

sipped awkwardly, turning his head. The bandage, wet with blood, slipped over his brow. Tamsin attempted to adjust it with one hand, while Archie slid sideways along the wall.
    "Da!" she cried, catching at him.
    "Eh," he mumbled. William dropped to one knee beside her and took her father by the shoulders.
    "Armstrong," he said. "Archie Armstrong."
    Archie grimaced. "Eh... let me sleep...."
    William shoved some straw into a makeshift pillow and helped Archie lie down. He lifted the man's eyelids, slapped at his cheeks gently, and received an irritable response. "He just needs rest. He'll be fine," he told Tamsin.
    Tamsin tugged at Archie's bandage. "I need to tend to this again," she said. "I made poor work of it before." She pulled at the tucked end with her bare fingers.
    "What's wrong with your other hand?" William asked. "Is it hurt? Here, let me do that." He took over the task of loosening the bandage.
    His touch was warm and gentle. Tamsin snatched her fingers away as if his had been flame. At the same time, she dropped her left hand out of sight.
    "My hand is fine," she said stiffly.
    William unwrapped the bandage, revealing the swollen, split lump on Archie's brow. He sopped at the blood with the bandage. "We'll need another cloth."
    "My shirt's hem will do." With her right hand, Tamsin began to unfasten the hooks that closed her leather doublet.
    "Let me help," William said, touching her wrist. She batted his hand away. "Your other hand is obviously hurt—"
    "'Tis fine," she snapped. William raised a brow and turned back to press the wet cloth to Archie's wound.
    Tamsin resumed her task. One by one, the hooks flew free as she worked them, fast and capable, accustomed to using one hand. Her doublet fell open, and she pulled at the tucked hem of her linen shirt. "Use your dirk to cut a strip," she told him.
    He did, tearing a long piece which he wrapped and secured the strip around Archie's head. Tamsin removed her leather doublet and handed that to William, who shoved the garment under Archie's head for a cushion.
    "He should be fine," William said, as Archie began to snore. "Just make certain that he sleeps sound and isna faint. Poke him now and again to awaken him."
    She nodded, knowing that her father could slip into unconsciousness with such a head wound. Shivering, she tucked her arms around herself. "I'll stay awake the night."
    William knelt beside her. "Listen to me," he said. "I do not agree with imprisoning women. But this is Musgrave's house, and all I can do is make sure that blankets and food are given to both of you. Now let me see your injured hand."
    "I am not hurt." She tucked her gloved hand under her arm.
    "You lack the use of it," he said. "Was it hurt in the raid?"
    "Nay," she said. She was not about to show him, or anyone, her small, misshapen hand.
    "As you wish," he said. "I might do the same myself."
    She did not reply, rubbing her arms in the chill.
    "You're cold," he observed calmly.
    She glanced down. Through her pale linen shirt, she could see—as he must have—her globed breasts and taut nipples. She crossed her arms there and gave him a sour glance.
    William loosened the pewter buttons that fastened his brown woolen doublet, drew it off, and held it out. "Take this."
    She hesitated, then slipped her arms into the sleeves. The garment was still warm from his body. He lifted the doublet over her shoulders and fastened the button on the high neck, then proceeded to the next one, and the next.
    She let him work his way down. Buttons were more difficult to manage than hooks and loops. She stayed silent, watching him as he worked.
    He was pleasant to gaze upon, his shoulders wide and his neck strong, revealed by his loosely shaped shirt. The torchlight highlighted the clean structure of his face and his glossy, thick hair. Kneeling face-to-face, she was aware of his warm, comfortable smell: smoke, maleness, and something spicy-sweet, like cinnamon.
    As his fingers worked the buttons, she felt