Marti Talbott's Highlander Series, Volume 5 Read online

  Haldane put both hands over his ears to block out the sound and turned to Lasha, “Now what do I do?”

  “Water! The MacGreagor said...”

  He rushed to the water bucket, happily found it full and as soon as Lasha opened it, he headed out the door. Outside Ena’s back was to him, the sound of the ringing iron prevented her from hearing his approach and he managed to dump the full bucket of water on her head before she had the slightest inkling.

  Slowly, she dropped the baton, shoved her soggy hair out of her face and turned to face him. Completely stupefied she could not find the right words to say, “How...? I mean...I am the mother of your...”

  “Aye and my son will sleep much better when you have stopped that constant bellowing.”

  “I do not bellow. Besides it is your fault I am unhappy.”

  “I give you all that I have, Ena.”

  She bit her lip and looked as though she were about to cry, “You do not love me, you never did.” As hard as she tried, she could not make the tears come. Ena decided to let her rage show instead and her voice steadily began to rise to match her irritation. “I should not have married you, you are a...”

  One of the men handed Laird Haldane a new bucket of water and when he looked, the searchers were back and the whole clan was watching him. He drew in a deep breath and steadied his resolve. “Ena, there will be no more of your yelling and no more unkind language!”

  She narrowed her eyes and began to clench her fists. “You would not dare...” Before she could finish her sentence, he dumped the second bucket of water on her head.

  Even slower this time, she shoved the wet hair away from her face with both hands. She thought to wipe her face with the hem of her plaid, but when she looked down, it was just as wet as her face. Only then did she think of something else to say but it was too late; her husband had already gone back inside and slammed the door.

  It was then she noticed the looks on the faces of the rest of the clan. They were not laughing, but most were smiling as if to say she finally got what she deserved. She glared at one or two and soon the courtyard was empty, which left her all alone and dripping wet.

  AT SUNSET AND AFTER two of the most peaceful hours the clan had enjoyed in months, Laird Haldane went back outside to find his wife. He found her sitting on a log at the edge of the forest just beyond the village, and he could tell she had been genuinely crying. As soon as he helped her stand up, he pulled her into his arms. “For the life of me, I cannot understand why I love you so, but I do.” He kissed her tears away and then kissed her passionately. “Are you truly that unhappy?”

  “Sometimes, but I do not always know why.”

  “Ena, the laddie needs a happy home. Shall we not give it to him?”

  She nodded and then went back into his arms.

  COWAN MACGREAGOR HAD not gone directly home. Instead, he stayed in the forest near the Haldane village and watched. Something told him it would be long into the night before he stopped thinking about Lasha’s dimples, her kiss and the way her hair smelled of wild roses.

  He was pleased when she came back outside and began to wash his plaid. He had forgotten the cloth and now he had a good excuse to come back. Cowan was not very far away when the Haldane approached Lasha at the creek, yet he was too far to hear what they talked about and in the end, it did not appear to be anything serious.

  The MacGreagor was also in the forest not very far away when Haldane’s wife received her two buckets of water. Later, Lasha came back outside to see if the wash was dry which afforded him one last look at her. By then it was getting late and he needed to get back before Neil sent men to look for him.

  He rode hard and just before the darkness fell, he dismounted in the MacGreagor courtyard and went to tell Neil about his encounter with the Haldane. The MacGreagor great hall was filled with the usual people for the evening meal. It included Neil and Glenna, the children, and Thomas and Julia. When Glenna insisted Cowan join them, he quickly consented. The bowls of mutton stew looked very enticing and smelled wonderful to a man who had forgotten to eat a noon meal.

  The more Cowan talked, the more both Glenna and Neil noticed his mention of someone named Lasha. Once was normal. However, the mention of a woman’s name repeatedly was a clear indication that the man was smitten. Neil exchanged knowing glances with his wife and waited until Cowan finished describing Ena’s two buckets of water. He laughed and was about to speak when Thomas spoke instead.

  “Is Lasha married?” Thomas looked from the shocked expression on Cowan’s face to an identical one on Neil’s. “Have I misspoken? You said she has dimples and I find I fancy dimples on a lass.”

  Any other time Cowan might have enjoyed discussing the attributes of a woman with dimples but since it involved Lasha, he somehow found the question annoying. “I...”

  Julia rolled her eyes, “Do not be put out, Cowan, my brother prefers women with dimples, women without, women with any color of hair or eyes, and women of any size and shape.”

  Thomas looked as though he was giving the matter deep and serious thought. “It is not true; I have yet to prefer a lass with gray hair.”

  Finally, Cowan realized it was a joke, and the next move was his. He glanced at Neil and then stared at Thomas. “At least that is taken care of.”

  “What is taken care of?” asked Neil.

  “I hoped you might hold a feast and invite the Haldane, but I could not think whom you might choose to act the village idiot.”

  Glenna and Julia erupted in laughter, Thomas frowned, Neil grinned and slowly Cowan’s lips curved into a smile.

  CHAPTER IV

  AFTER THE EVENING MEAL and after Thomas, Julia and Cowan went to their respective beds, Neil and Glenna were about to retire to their third-story bedchamber when Ben burst through the door. With beads of sweat on his brow, Ben paused for just a second to catch his breath. “Alison is in labor!”

  Any other time it would have been happy news, but of the last five women to give birth, three died taking two of the unborn babies with them and Alison, the middle child of the nine sisters, was terrified she would be the fourth.

  Glenna tried to comfort him. “Do calm yourself, Ben, she will be fine.”

  Ben did not look convinced. “She sent me to find the priest.”

  Neil put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “I will find the priest; you belong with your wife.”

  Ben did not have to think about that for long. In a blink, he was back out the door. Neil took Glenna in his arms and kissed her forehead. “I am grateful you are not with child just now. The women are terrified and the lads are unreasonable.”

  “Will the lads come to place their wagers?”

  “I do not expect them to...not this time, not after two women and two babes in a row died. They fear God has not looked kindly on their wagers.”

  “But they must come. They must celebrate loudly and convince Alison all is as it should be.”

  He saw the value in her reasoning, nodded and released her. “I will gather the lads.”

  Just as he reached the door, Glenna made one more suggestion. “And find the priest but tell him not to come unless you send for him a second time. Let Alison fight to live long enough to receive the last rites.”

  She watched her husband go and went up the stairs to check on the children. Assured they were fine, she knelt by her bed to say a prayer for Alison and her baby.

  Each time a woman died, Glenna and the two midwives discussed what might be going wrong, but the circumstances were so different they could detect no clear pattern in what they ate or what they did. Some women lived and some died...it was just the way of the world. Lately however, too many of the women were dying.

  Even with the influx of English brides, the clan was not growing as quickly as Neil hoped. All the clans suffered diseases, injuries and plagues that could wipe out half and make them vulnerable to attack. Less than a week before, they got word of a terrible plague in France that was causing the people to go m
ad. Everyone prayed that plague would quietly pass them by.

  Then there was the problem with the brides. Several who did not quickly fall in love chose to go back to England. Seventeen others were still unmarried. They stayed but the men seemed in less of a hurry to court them than the women were to take husbands. It was very perplexing. At times, the lack of courting irritated both Neil and Glenna, but love could not be rushed...or at least that is what they told each other.

  Deep in prayer on her knees next to her bed, Glenna’s eyes shot wide open. “A feast? Of course!”

  IT WASN’T LONG UNTIL there was a burst of activity in the great hall. Neil tried to convince the men that the more normal they acted, the less the women would be afraid. It sounded reasonable, especially to the men whose wives were also in line to give birth. Neil broke out the boards so the men could place their wagers on the sex of the child while Walrick and Gelson brought their wives and then went to fetch more wine.

  Knowing full well no one was going to get any sleep until Alison gave birth, the wives hurried up the stairs to be with Glenna. It was the perfect opportunity to gossip about the clan’s three most important men without fear of being overheard.

  OUTSIDE HIS COTTAGE, Ben paused in his pacing to listen to the celebration noises coming from the Keep. This was his first child and he was filled with a jumble of love for Alison, pride, prayer and extreme terror. But if the other men thought everything was normal, perhaps Ben could breathe just a little easier. It helped. But then from inside the cottage Alison’s moan seemed louder and longer than the one before. Ben might have gone in to check on her, but all eight of the sisters and two midwives were already in there.

  There was nothing he could do but wait and he should be accustomed to it after waiting every spring for all the new animals to be born. But this was different. He could not help remembering how frightened Alison was, fearing she would die in childbirth like her mother. At the time he talked her into becoming his wife, he saw no reason to think she would take after her mother in that regard. But now...now that she was so near her time, he realized if she did die he would be to blame.

  IN THE GREAT HALL, the men were only pretending to be happy. There was not a married man among them who did not know exactly how Ben was feeling and few were convinced Alison would live. Something was going dreadfully wrong with the women and the men could not think what to do about it. So on this night they sat on pillows, at the table or leaned against the wall and drank their wine. Every once in a while, Neil raised his hand; the men roared with laughter or shouted something and then quieted again.

  THE THREE WOMEN UPSTAIRS had become fast friends over the months and it wasn’t the first time they spent an entire evening together. On some nights, they preferred it that way. Glenna poured each a portion of wine and then sat down with them at the small table in the bedchamber she shared with Neil. The women were as different as night and day. Glenna had brown hair that curled around the sides of her face, was tall and had soft blue eyes. Steppen’s face was square like her brother’s, her hair was golden and her eyes were dark while Jonrose also had blond hair, but her eyes were a softer brown and her smile could positively light up a room. Both Steppen and Jonrose were shorter than Glenna.

  Glenna frowned, “Lorna?”

  “Aye.” Jonrose was the mother of four with a fifth on the way and often surprised Steppen and Glenna with her keen observations. “Lorna watches the lads but when one approaches, she walks away.”

  “And you believe she is so afraid of giving birth she deprives herself of love?”

  “I can think of no other reason for it.”

  Steppen set her goblet down and let Glenna refill it. “Perhaps the right lad had not yet approached her.”

  “Perhaps. There is one lad she tends to notice more than the others.”

  Both Steppen and Glenna leaned closer. “Who?”

  “Cowan.”

  Steppen smiled, Glenna did not. “Lorna waited too long. Cowan has his mind set on Lasha Haldane.” It was the first Jonrose or Steppen heard about the latest Haldane encounter and both demanded Glenna tell them every last glorious morsel at once. Glenna happily complied, pausing only long enough to pour more wine or to wait for an end to the men’s shouts downstairs. Finally, she got to her last and most important part. “Cowan suggests we have a feast and invite the Haldane.”

  “But is it wise?” Steppen asked. “If Lorna truly prefers Cowan, then she will be heartsick to see him court a Haldane.”

  Jonrose disagreed. “It is kinder to let her see it now than later after he has taken Lasha to wife and brought her home.”

  Glenna nodded, “True and if she knows now, perhaps it is not too late for Lorna to let Cowan know how she feels. It would not be the first time a lad changed his mind when he learned there were more possibilities.”

  It was settled then. The women would talk Neil into having a feast and inviting the Haldane. That meant there were plans to be made and they got right down to business. They talked about the food they would serve, the dancing, the singing and the sports the men liked to partake in. It had been a while since the woman had anything that exciting to do and all three of them were delighted.

  Suddenly, they heard Ben shouting downstairs “Alison lives!”

  Ben ran back out the door, got half way across the courtyard, turned and ran back. “It’s a laddie!”

  CHAPTER V

  WHEN HE AWOKE, COWAN was still thinking about Lasha and quickly decided to do his hunting south of the MacGreagor village again. By noon, he was doing much less hunting and a lot more watching. He watched the Haldane hunters leave, watched other men and women tend the animals and sat on a log to watch the children play, but there was no sign of Lasha. At least there wasn’t any yelling from inside the Keep either. Cowan bet it would not last much longer.

  At length, Lasha came outside.

  Earlier, Cowan noticed one of the men tie a horse in the courtyard near the Keep but he was surprised when Lasha walked to it, loaded her sack on its back, stepped up on a nearby log and then mounted. That she could ride a horse did not surprise him, but that she rode down the northern end of the Haldane valley alone did. As quickly as he could, he mounted and followed her.

  He told himself he needed to protect her but he wanted to watch her as well. Where did a woman like Lasha go all alone and what did she think about? A little while later, she answered his first question.

  Lasha halted, dismounted and walked to a rock large enough for her to sit on at the edge of the loch. As lakes go, it was small and just right for the dozen or so swans that floated on the top. She settled herself and wondered how long it would be before the MacGreagor hunter let her know he was there. Men like to think they are not easy to detect in the forest, she was aware, but somehow she knew he was near. She could not explain it, but she felt it all morning and when she looked more diligently than she normally would have, she spotted him following her.

  That was one reason she stopped. The other was to watch the swans. The pure white swans were beautiful and when they were not up-ending to search for tasty morsels of submerged plants, they floated on top rubbing their beaks and the base of their long necks together as though they were hopelessly in love. She wanted to be in love like that someday.

  That made her think of Sionn and she could not help but frown. She had no feeling whatsoever for the man and could not imagine loving him. But her brother once said women fall in love after marriage. He knew it to be true because their parents were promised and did not even meet until their wedding day. Yet their mother grew to love their father very much.

  Lasha was not convinced.

  For most of her ordinary day, she was bored with little to do and no one who really needed her. She wanted a home and family of her own, but not if it meant never knowing how it felt to be in love. What foolishness is this, she thought. Marriage to Sionn was a given and there was little she could do about it. For a moment she wondered if marriage to a man she had never
seen before might be preferred over giving herself to a man she knew she did not love. Lasha sighed.

  “Are you unwell?”

  She knew he was there, but not this close and his voice startled her. She caught her breath, quickly turned and then breathed easier. “Oh good, you have saved me.”

  “From what?”

  “From having to ride all the way to the MacGreagor hold.” He looked befuddled, which made her smile, “To return your plaid. It is in my sack.”

  At last, she let him see her dimples and it pleased him very much. “Then I am glad to save you the trouble.” He spotted a blue pebble in the dirt, leaned down and picked it up. Cowan made his way over the larger rocks until he could kneel down and wash it in the water. “I have a nephew who will be very pleased to have this rock, it is almost perfectly round.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Not yet eight. He will begin warrior training soon.” Cowan looked the pebble over once more and then slipped it into the small, cloth sack tied to his belt.”

  “All laddies dream of being mighty warriors.”

  “And all lassies dream of being queens.” He hoped she would ask him to sit, but she did not, so he retraced his steps away from the loch and then put one foot up on a small rock and remained standing.

  Lasha giggled. “I too dreamed of being the queen. Shall I confess how disappointed I was when I learned there was only one King of Scotland and he already had a wife?”

  Cowan chuckled. “I can see how that might be upsetting. Fortunately for little boys, the clans need all the warriors they can get.” She turned away to watch the swans and he remained quiet for a little while, although he was watching her more than the swans. “What were you thinking about before I came?”

  She did not truly want to tell him, but she could not think of a good lie either. “If you must know, I was thinking about the lad I will marry.”