Robert cantered up to join Father, looking somewhat bemused as he often did. It was an expression that irritated me.
"Take care." I touched his arm, surprised as always by the hardness of his muscles. There was no need to say more.
His broad face broke into a smile. "I will," he said.
I watched him fondle the ears of his horse and check the sword at his side. He tapped his horse, waved to me and to my good friend Katie Hunnam of the Kirkton and followed my father out of the great gate.
"He should not need you to wrap him in cotton wool," Mother said. I expected nothing more from her. "He should be man enough to care for himself."
"He can care for himself." I watched the line of men ride up the pass toward Brothershiel with the horses sure-footed on the wet grass and Robert near the fr
