（外文电子版资料）Roberts, Nora - Rebellion.doc

Rebellion Nora Roberts MacGregors - book 4 Prologue Glenroe Forest, They came at dusk, when the villagers were at their evening meal, and the peat fires sent smoke curling from the chimneys into the chill November air. There had been snow the week before, and the sun had beaten down and then retreated until the frost had set hard as rock under the bare trees. The sound of approaching horses rang like thunder through the forest, sending small animals racing and scrambling for cover. Serena MacGregor shifted her baby brother on her hip and went to the window. Her father and the men were returning early from their hunting trip, she thought, but there were no shouts of greeting from the outlying cottages, no bursts of laughter. She waited, her nose all but pressed against the window glazing, straining for the first signs of their return and fighting back her resentment that she, a girl, was not permitted to join hunting parties. Coll had gone, though he was barely fourteen and not as skilled with a bow as she herself. And Coll had been allowed to go since he was seven. Serenas mouth became a pout as she gazed out through the lowering light. Her older brother would talk of nothing but the hunt for days, while she would have to be content to sit and spin. Little Malcolm began to fuss and she jiggled him automatically as she stared down the rough path between the crofts and cottages. Hush now, Papa doesnt want to hear you squalling the minute he walks in the door. But something made her hold him closer and look nervously over her shoulder for her mother. The lamps were lighted and there was the scent of good, rich stew simmering over the kitchen fire. The house was neat as a pin. She and her mother and her little sister Gwen had worked all day to make it so. The floors were scrubbed, the tables polished. There wasnt a cobweb to be found in any corner. Serenas arms ached just thinking of it. The wash had been done and the little lavender sachets her mother loved so much w