Tamed by a Laird by Amanda Scott

“
If
fortune favors us at all by then.”
    So far, Hugh thought grimly, fortune had shat on them.
    Determined though he had been to lay hands on Lady Easdale by nightfall, he had realized some time before that it would likely
     take longer than that just to find her trail. The main track from Annan House had revealed no evidence that the minstrels
     had followed it. Nor could he or Lucas tell if they had taken another route. With so many guests departing, hoof tracks had
     led everywhere and nowhere.
    No one at Annan House had paid heed to aught save the fact of the minstrels’ departure. One watchman said he thought they
     had gone down through the town. Another thought they had headed east toward Gretna.
    The Borders were at peace for once. The celebratory mood had continued into the night, and minstrels rarely took sides in
     disputes, anyway. So, aside from searching their carts and packs, no one had thought it necessary to keep an eye on them.
     Hugh had asked no questions about the search. But the very fact of it made it even more unlikely that the minstrels had any
     connection to the missing jewelry.
    He and Lucas had quickly learned that the company had not passed through Annan town. But no one could say they had not simply
     walked around it. They might even have stayed east of it until they met the Roman road heading north, or stayed southwest
     of it and followed the riverbank to the first ford. If the Solway tides had cooperated, they might have crossed the river
     before reaching the town.
    Despite Phaeline’s certainty that Jenny would head for Easdale, and the possibility that she might simply have used the minstrels
     as cover to escape Annan House, Hugh could not bring himself to believe that any sensible young woman—and she had looked sensible—would
     attempt to travel such a distance alone at night.
    After this careful consideration, he had decided that if the minstrels were heading for Dumfries, he and Lucas should do likewise.
    Lucas had muttered faint protest, but Hugh paid him no heed. The man had served him for years and had traveled many miles
     with him. Lucas could always find something to complain about, but he had never let Hugh down.
    They kept to the Dumfries road despite passing two roads that branched north. They found no one who had seen the company.
     As most folks were abed before darkness fell, Hugh kept going then for some time without seeing a soul.
    “Nah then, we should ’ave found someone that’s seen ’em by now,” Lucas said at last. “They be right numerous, so I’ve me doots
     they’d be quiet a-travelin’. We’ve talked to dunamany folks as live along this road, sir, but…” He shrugged.
    “Aye,” Hugh agreed. “Someone ought to have heard them. Try that cottage yonder, across that wee field. I’ll wait with the
     horses and stop anyone who comes along. But I’m rapidly coming to believe they may have taken another route.”
    “Aye, I’m for goin’ back to one of them branch roads, m’self.”
    “Try the cottage, Lucas.”
    With a nod, Lucas handed him the lead for their sumpter pony and urged his own horse to a trot, respectfully keeping to the
     edge of the field. To Hugh’s experienced eye, it looked freshly planted. An optimist, he thought, to believe that winter was
     over when one could still feel and even smell snow in the air.
    Lucas looked brighter when he returned, because fortune had smiled on them at last. “T’ woman were up all night with a colicky
     bairn,” he said. “Nae one passed by but silent travelers. However, she has a sister a-visitin’ who lives a mile north of ’ere
     on the Lochmaben road. The sister were complainin’ of a racket set up in the night by a great company of travelers—a-singin’
     and carryin’ on, she said.”
    “Can we reach the Lochmaben road from here without trespassing where we should not, or must we ride all the way back to that
     last fork?” Hugh asked him. “ ’Tis all of two miles and