Cree turned a scowl on the man for speaking so bluntly in front of his wife, especially when he saw that her face had paled. “Now that you saw this, wife,” he said in a whisper, “you will go wait a distance away.”
Dawn was about to agree since her stomach refused to cease churning, when she realized that there was a substantial amount of blood pooled around the dead man’s head. She tapped her head and pointed to the dead man.
One look and Cree knew what she meant. He left her side to squat down and turn the man’s head to one side.
Dawn cringed, seeing the side had been brutally smashed in. Her husband said what she was unable to.
“A demon would not bother killing him before ripping out his heart. No demon killed this man.”
“Then why is his heart missing?” Newlin asked.
“A good question, Newlin,” Cree said, having no answer, and spotted Henry waiting not far away and sent him a nod, then stood. “Get the body back to the village, Newlin. We will talk there.” He returned to his wife’s side and walked her away from the bloody scene, concerned that she still appeared pale. “Are you feeling all right?”
She opened her cloak, patted her stomach, and cringed a bit.
“Your stomach is uneasy?”
She had seen the exchange between her husband and Henry. He had something to tell him or show him and she would not let her roiling stomach interfere.
She nodded, then held two fingers not far apart letting him know she suffered only a little bit of an uneasy stomach, when in actuality it was more than a bit. She was sure it would calm now that she was away from the tragic scene.
“I will keep my talk with Henry brief,” Cree said and after Dawn nodded, he went to the tracker to hurry and see what, if anything, he had found.
Beast remained by her side, no doubt sensing she did not feel well, and she felt a bit better when he sat and leaned his thick body against her leg, letting her know he was there for her. She kept focused on her husband and Henry, not even stealing a glance at the men as they prepared the body to take back to the keep. However, she was curious if anything might lay beneath the man that might reveal even the slightest clue to what may have happened to him.
Cree caught a glance of his wife now and then as he spoke with Henry, wanting to be done quick since he knew that her stomach probably suffered more than a bit unease.
“It is difficult, my lord, with the snow and numerous footfalls of the warriors who surround the dead man. However, I did manage to find the print of a footfall, the snow light in a particular spot. The strange thing is that it sits within a larger print, which tells me that a man of reasonable size was here as well as a person of a lesser size and light in step.”
“Not both at the same time, one following in the other’s step?” Cree asked, seeing his wife make her way to the bloody spot now vacant of the dead man’s body.
“Nay, the one track is fresher than the other.”
“You weren’t able to follow it and is there a chance it could be the dead man’s print?”
Henry shook his head. “Nay, I was lucky to find what I did, the snow devoured the rest of the tracks, though if the snow melts soon and no more snow follows I might be able to pick up a trail. The dead man has a smaller foot and besides the print leads away from the dead man.”
“Let me know if you find anything. Tell no one else of this,” Cree ordered, anxious to see what his wife was staring at with interest.
“Aye, my lord,” Henry said with a quick bob of his head.
Cree shook his head when he saw his wife ready to stoop down to examine the impression the dead man’s body had left in the bloody ground.
“Stay as you are, Dawn!” he ordered, annoyed when she turned, and he saw that her face appeared paler. Concern replaced his annoyance when she reached out to him, and he realized she was not steady on her feet. As soon as his arm went around her waist, she leaned against him. “You were to stay put,” he scolded annoyed at himself for allowing her to view the dreadful scene.
Dawn took a deep breath, her husband’s potently pleasant scent helping to calm her churning stomach. She kept her face against his chest when she pointed to the ground.
“I care how you are feeling not what is on the ground,” he admonished, his worry growing.
She patted his chest, then sniffed it, smiled, and patted her stomach.