'He's got strong legs,' Douglas said. He moved closer to the fence. 'Actually he's quite sound. Did you look him over? In his mouth?'
'Yes.'
'No diseases you know about?'
'None.'
'Where did you get him?'
'Right outside of Hammond, at Finley's place. Have you heard of it?'
Mary Rose's eyes widened. 'You went to Finley's? Dear God, he only buys horses he's going to kill for the meat he sells. How much did you pay for him?'
'Twelve dollars,' Harrison answered.
'Then you were robbed, MacDonald.' Cole happily volunteered his opinion.
Douglas disagreed with his brother. 'I'm not so sure he was, Cole. He might have gotten a bargain.'
'I did get a bargain,' Harrison insisted. 'And I was extremely fortunate. If I'd been an hour later, MacHugh would be dead.'
'And that is why you would have purchased him even if you couldn't ride him.'
Mary Rose was smiling over her conclusion. She turned to Cole. 'Isn't he sweet?' she whispered.
'He's stupid,' Cole whispered back.
Harrison heard the exchange. He shrugged and then walked around to the gate. MacHugh followed him. The horse acted as if he wanted to tear Harrison from limb to limb, yet when he walked inside the corral, MacHugh gave him only a hard nudge before settling down.
He stayed meek and willing until Douglas tried to get near him. Harrison grabbed hold of the bridle and soothed the panic away.
Mary Rose's brother shut the gate behind him and walked forward. The horse immediately started fussing again.
'Stand where you are,' Harrison called out. 'Let him come to you. If you don't move, he won't hurt you.'
Douglas agreed with a nod. He stood with his legs braced apart and waited to see what the stallion was going to do.
He didn't have to wait long. As soon as Harrison let go of the bridle, the stallion came charging across the corral. Mary Rose was certain MacHugh was going to kill her brother. She wanted to scream a warning, and it took all her discipline to keep quiet. Cole was sure he could see fire in the stallion's eyes and immediately reached for his gun. By God, he'd shoot the damned thing before he'd let it trample his brother to death.
'Don't you have any sense, Douglas?' Cole whispered.
MacHugh stopped a few inches away from Douglas. He wasn't through with his terror tactics, however, and had to rear up twice before he finally decided to behave.
Mary Rose's knees had gone weak. She moved closer to Cole and leaned against him.
'You can touch him now, if you want to,' Harrison told Douglas. He walked over to stand next to the stallion. 'I told you he wouldn't hurt you. He just likes to put on a show. Are you all right?'
He added the question when he noticed how pale Douglas 's complexion was. Mary Rose's brother had to swallow before he could answer. 'You forgot to mention he was going to scare the hell out of me.'
He reached out to pat the stallion. MacHugh promptly shoved him back a good foot. Douglas let out a hoot of laughter. Then he tried again. 'Up close, I can see how fine he really is. You just have to get past the scars first. He's one of the soundest animals I've come across in a good long while.' There was grudging admiration in his voice when he added, 'You chose well.'
Harrison couldn't take the credit. 'I didn't choose. He did.'
He didn't elaborate, and Douglas didn't ask. He seemed to understand.
'He's almost seventeen hands, isn't he?-and surprisingly gentle for a stallion,' Douglas remarked.
'We've got bigger in Scotland,' Harrison replied.
'Is that where you're from?'
Harrison nodded. 'I understand you're Irish,' he said, hoping to get Mary Rose's brother to talk about his background.
Douglas looked surprised. 'Who told you that?'
'Your sister.'
The brother smiled. 'Then I guess I am… sometimes.'
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Harrison wanted to ask, but he wisely chose to turn the topic back to the stallion, for he could see the brother was already closing up on him. The flash of a smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He looked wary now.
'Don't let MacHugh fool you. He's only gentle when he wants to be. He can be deadly, especially when he's feeling cornered.'
Douglas filed the information away. 'A lot of men feel the same way.'
He introduced himself then and told Harrison he didn't mind having him come home for supper. A tenuous bond formed between the two men. Douglas 's love for all animals and Harrison 's obvious affection for MacHugh had given them something in common.
Cole had stood idle for as long as he was going to. He wasn't about to let his brother one-up him. If Douglas could get near the hellish animal, then he could too.
A few minutes later he had suffered through the same godawful ordeal that Douglas had gone through. It took Cole a little longer to get his color back.
Mary Rose wanted to be next. Both brothers ordered her to stay outside the corral.
'MacHugh is partial to women.'
Harrison 's casually mentioned remark didn't sway Cole or Douglas. They were both diligently shaking their heads when their sister came marching inside.
'She never listens to us,' Cole muttered.
Douglas thought he should defend her. 'She's got a mind of her own,' he told Harrison.
'I can see she does.'
Mary Rose stopped right inside the gate and tried not to look afraid. She wanted to close her eyes, but she didn't dare. Her brothers would laugh then, and she'd be mortified because Harrison was watching.
The stallion ignored her. She waited several minutes before she finally moved closer.
MacHugh finally trotted over to her. She patted him and cooed to him and treated him very like a baby, and he responded in kind. It was obvious he liked her scent, and he seemed greedy for her affection.
'You're going to like Rosehill,' she whispered. 'You might even want to stay with your friend, Harrison, for a long, long time.'
She knew she was daydreaming about impossible things. She'd only known the man for twenty or thirty minutes, and one of the first things he'd told her was that he was only
She peeked around the stallion to look at Harrison. Then she became a little breathless again. She couldn't imagine what was the matter with her.
She didn't believe her bizarre reaction to the man was due to the fact that he was handsome. Granted, she did find him attractive, but that wasn't what made her breath catch in her throat.
It was because he was such a nice man. It hadn't taken her any time at all to come to that conclusion. He was extremely kind-hearted as well. MacHugh was living proof of that fact.
She couldn't stop staring at him. Could an infatuation strike this quickly? All the girls at boarding school insisted that it did, but she hadn't believed their foolishness.
Now she wasn't so certain. Her brothers had insisted that eventually she would get married, and in her heart, she knew they were probably right. Yet until today, the mere possibility of being saddled with the same man day in and day out for the rest of her life had always made her feel nauseated. She wasn't feeling at all sick to her stomach now, however. Everything was suddenly different. No man had ever made her feel breathless. She thought the condition might very well be a requirement one had to suffer through when one was caught up in an infatuation.
