Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“He has to catch me first,” Cavell said with a hint of a smile.
“If I can find you so can my da.”
“How did you find me?” Cavell asked curiously that a small lass could do what grown men had failed to do.
“Henry is teaching me to track since I am annoyed that he locates me all the time. I hope to best him one day,” she said proudly.
“I believe you already have, but then you appear a determined lass.”
“You have not answered my question,” Lizbeth reminded.
“What do you think I am doing here?” Cavell challenged, recalling her query.
“Most likely you’re spying since you are the man who abducted William and my da’s warriors.”
“How do you know that?” he asked, surprised.
“I heard tell that a man with a scarred face was involved in the abduction.”
“Then you should not be so foolish as to speak with me instead of alerting your da,” Cavell warned.
“You, like most people, believe that because I am young, I must be unwise,” she said with a grin.
“You confront a foe that would cause you harm. Is that not foolish?” Cavell asked.
“From our talk so far, I believe you somehow know my da. If that is true, then you know what trouble you would be in if you harmed me,” she cautioned. “And you would not be so foolish to wait for his arrival.”
Cavell stooped down in front of her to be face to face with her. “I do know your da and I know how angry he is going to be with you for following my tracks and doing a better job than his tracker.”
Lizbeth grinned at that.
“You are lucky, little one, that I am more friend than foe to your da or our meeting could have gone badly. Remember that the next time you decide to follow a stranger.”
“Again, you mistakenly think me foolish,” Lizbeth said, smiling up at him. “I now know why you came here. You want to give my da a message. I will see that he gets it.”
“I gave you no message,” he said bewildered.
“But you did,” she said.
“And what is it?” Cavell asked impressed since he had come for just that reason.
“That you are more friend than foe, though he is not far off. You can tell him yourself.”
The bark of a dog confirmed her warning, and he wondered if she had heard it before he had.
“I enjoyed our talk, little one,” Cavell said with a smile.
“As did I, sir, and I do hope, in the end, my da does not have to kill you,” Lizbeth said.
“On that we agree.”
“One other thing,” Lizbeth hurried to say, “and I do not say this to be mean but to caution you. Temper your smile for it makes you appear a monster.”
“What makes you think I am not a monster?” he asked and ran off.
Lizbeth was surprised at how swift he was on his feet, vanishing from sight into the dense woods unlikely to be found since Henry had mistakenly followed the false tracks the man had left for him.
Beast was suddenly at her side and let loose with repeated barks to announce that he had found her.
“LIZBETH!”
“Here, Da!” she yelled out as loud as she could and started walking toward her da’s repeated, frantic shouts.
Cree was relieved and angry when he spotted his daughter walking toward him, Beast sticking close to her side. He scooped her up in his arms as soon as he got close enough, hugging her tight.
“I am relieved you are safe, Lizbeth, but you are in serious trouble for disobeying my orders to not go into the woods alone. And Beast does not count as not being alone.”
“I found the tracks and had to follow. I sent Beast to alert you,” Lizbeth explained.
“Not good enough, daughter,” Cree admonished.
“But I found out why the scarred man was here, Da, and I have a message from him for you,” she said proudly and did not wait to deliver it. “He wants you to know that he is more friend than foe.”
So, there was more to the abduction than Cavell had told him and that he snuck here meant there was someone or more than one man in his camp watching him.
CHAPTER 7
“If she disobeys us at five years what will our daughter be like when she is ten and five years?” Cree asked, raking his fingers through his hair.
Dawn smiled softly, gestured, then took his hand to brush off the couple of strands of hair that got snarled in his fingers.
“Aye, you are right. I will be bald by then,” he said, shaking his head. “She pays not a heed to my word and always finds a way of making her disobedience sound logical. She talks with the wisdom and wit of one that has lived far more years than only five.”