Marti Talbott's Highlander Series, Volume 5 Read online

  “What could the Widow Kennedy do?”

  “Well, she could tell if there is to be a child in your future. She knows all kinds of things. Edana would have my hide if she knew, but I went to see her once. Edana said mother told her soothsayers are not of God. I was very young when I went and at first, I was terrified. But the Widow Kennedy is a nice old lass who means no harm.”

  “How could she tell if I am to have a child?”

  “Easy, she reads the stars, the fire flames, and the rings in the water when a drop falls into the bowl. I wanted to know if my mother was in heaven, you see. She read the water rings and assured me she was.”

  “Oh, she is a Seer. Does she have potions too?” Dolee asked.

  “I saw bottles on her table, but I do not know what they are for. It is out of the question anyway, she lives very far from here and I doubt any of the men would take us. Besides, my sisters would never allow me to get that close to our old home, and without me, how would you find her?”

  “You could tell me how to find her.”

  Nessa wrinkled her brow and thought about that for a moment. “I suppose I could. Would your husband take you?”

  “He wants children as much as I do.”

  “You must tell him to be very careful when he crosses Kennedy land. They are not pleasant.”

  “Where exactly is this place?”

  “Well, first you must go south and then east. The land of my father is beyond the Kennedy hold and is without many trees.” She stood up, scraped dead leaves away with her foot until she got to the dirt on the ground, and then drew a map with the end of a stick. “Perhaps you should go east first and then go south until you get beyond Kennedy land.”

  “How will I know when I have passed Kennedy land so I may turn south?”

  Nessa shook her head. “I am not sure. Perhaps you could ask for directions from one of the lasses. My father has vast herds of sheep and everyone knows him. We used to shepherd the sheep and I do not miss it one little bit. It is very hard work and the sheep are always getting lost. Edana was good at it and so was Slava, but I hated it.”

  “But if we find your father’s home, from there where do we go?”

  Nessa shifted her eyes from side to side. “Well, let me see. The widow Kennedy lives in a cottage on the top of a hill. From our land you must go farther east past the loch and I believe it is three or four hills more.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “Two days to get there and two back, at least. Maybe more if you go around the land of the Kennedys, and of course, you must. You must avoid that clan as best you can. But Dolee, it is very, very far away.”

  Dolee lowered her excited eyes and stared at the ground. “I will ask my husband.” Then she smiled. “About your problem, I can see no other way but to force Ros to notice you.”

  “You think I should kick him in the shin?”

  This time Dolee’s smile was genuine, “I have a better idea. First, you must watch him when he is with Emily. If they are betrothed, then you must not interfere. But if you find that he does not seem that interested in her, you should proceed.”

  “How do I know if he truly prefers her?”

  “Watch to see if he looks into her eyes or just glances at her face. If he touches her often other than in a helpful way, then he is smitten with her. If not, then she is the one who is smitten and he is perhaps just being kind.”

  “And if he is just being kind, what do I do?” Nessa asked.

  “Then you will be where he is as often as possible, but you must not be too obvious. When Emily is with him, go talk to her. Ask her advice, compliment her or tell her a story...anything to get his eyes away from her and on you. But be sure all your attentions are paid to her. If she suspects you are interested in him, she will not let you get near in the future.”

  “Do you think it will work?”

  “Perhaps and perhaps not. But it is worth a try. You must be very shrewd.”

  “So you are saying I should ignore him?”

  “Aye, talk to her, let him look at you and pretend not to notice. If he is interested, you will know soon enough.” Dolee slowly stood up. “We should get back before Neil sends the lads to look for us.”

  “Aye.” Nessa nodded and started back through the trees. “At first I did not like being so protected. It seemed someone was always coming to see to my safety. But now I find it very comforting. It is good to know that if I fall someone will soon find me and help me get home. The forest can be a frightening place in the dark.”

  “Indeed it can.”

  Nessa held a branch back until Dolee caught up with her and passed. “How old are you?”

  “I am one and twenty.”

  “You do not look that old.”

  Dolee giggled. “Thank you.”

  “How did you know Camran was the one for you?”

  “He told me so.”

  Nessa couldn’t help but laugh. “I have not heard that one before. Were you difficult?”

  “Worse, I was witless. I did not understand why he was befriending me and in the beginning, I believed that was all it was—friendship. Now I am convinced I could not breathe without him.”

  CHAPTER III

  AS SOON AS THEY WERE out of the forest, Nessa hurried away to start watching Ros and Emily. But Dolee lingered and slowly walked through the glen. Perhaps God sent Nessa to her with the answer after all. It would be very odd for God to send her to a seer, if in deed soothsayers were not of God, but who was she to question God’s methods?

  Once that question was resolved in her mind, she began to make a plan. It was clear Camran would not take her—he forbade her to take any more potions. None of the other men would take her either, not if Camran forbid it. She would have to go alone but she was not concerned. Dolee was a MacGreagor and she had been taught how to survive. She could indeed manage the journey all by herself and be back in four or five days at the most.

  JUST AS DOLEE INSTRUCTED, Nessa took every precaution not to be obvious while she watched Ros with Emily. He was not holding Emily’s hand and that was a good sign. However, when they turned up the path between the new cottages to walk toward the pastures, she could no longer see his face. How was she to know if he was looking into Emily’s eyes or just glanced at her?

  Nessa had no one to walk with and that made following them ill-mannered. She followed anyway for a little while, but Ros did not seem to look at Emily at all. They appeared to be talking, but he did not even glance Emily’s direction. Another good sign, Nessa hoped.

  If only she could think of something to ask Emily, but nothing came to mind. This was not going to be as easy as she thought. Exasperated, Nessa stopped, turned and went back to the courtyard.

  Several of the children were playing hide and seek and when one wanted to hide behind her, she stood still. The little girl grabbed Nessa’s plaid and held on long enough to peek around her. Then she rushed off to find a new hiding place. Nessa stayed for a little while longer to watch the comings and goings of others, but there was nothing very exciting to watch

  She needed to go see the cobbler and since she could not watch Ros, it seemed like a good time. There was a time when the men were at her door often to ask her to walk with them, but with all the English women there now, she was not as bothered with them as before. Ros, she noticed, was never among the men wanting to court her, and perhaps that was what caught her attention.

  Just outside the cobbler’s cottage, she stopped short. Come to think of it, if he were betrothed to Emily she would have heard about it. There was no such thing as a secret in the MacGreagor clan.

  “What?”

  Nessa smiled at the aging cobbler. “Forgive me, I did not realize I was talking aloud.”

  “If you have come for new shoes, lass, you have come too late.”

  “I was afraid of that. Could you perhaps mend it?” She took hold of his arm, lifted her right foot and turned it so he could see where the stitching was coming loose on
the side.

  “Aye, that I can do. Come inside, sit at my table and take your shoe off.”

  Nessa did as she was told and then watched him work. First, he removed part of the old stitching and then dipped his needle and fine leather thread in hot beeswax so it would slide through the holes easier.

  “Have you heard the news?”

  “What news?” she asked.

  “One of the guards heard about it and came straight away to tell Neil. The king of England executed four more lads a fortnight ago. They were accused of the murder of the old king, but some say he should have executed himself as well. Everyone suspects he was behind it. I say he has rid himself of all who might witness against him.”

  “Executed how?”

  The cobbler looked her in the eye and then turned his attention back to his mending. “It is not for a pretty lass such as you to know how.”

  “Do you think the English will attack us?”

  “They might try, but we will stop them. The Scots want no part of the English.” He finished the last stitch, tied the knot and cut the ends. “There, that should do it.”

  She took the shoe, put it back on, tied the laces and stood up. “Thank you.” She leaned over, put her cheek to his and then hurried out the door. Perhaps by now Ros and Emily were back where she could watch them. Besides, now she had something to talk to Emily about—the English.

  DOLEE WAS BEING UNUSUALLY quiet and Camran noticed. Now that Neil halted the work, Camran’s fingers were beginning to heal and he was glad for the rest. But Dolee’s silence was beginning to worry him. “What is it, love?”

  She sat across from him at the table washing vegetables in a bowl of water and cutting them up to put in the pot for their evening meal. “What is what?”

  “You have not said a word since you came back. Are you unwell?”

  She smiled. “Nay, I am very well, save for the headache that plagues me occasionally.”

  “Does a harsh winter worry you?”

  “A little, but I have you to keep me warm.”

  He put his arms on the table and leaned forward a little. “Neil says we should consider living with others if the wood begins to run short. It would be tiresome, but it is a sound idea. The clan would use only half the wood that way.”

  “Tiresome indeed. Will he decide with whom we are to stay or will you?”

  “I will, but not without your agreement. There are some we do not get on with so well as others.”

  “Whom would you consider? We could stay with my brother and his family. I am certain he would welcome us.”

  “Aye, but you do not get along with his wife.”

  “I could manage it for a while. Besides, I adore my brother and he gets on well with you.”

  “That he does.” Camran watched her set her knife down and rub her right temple. “Have you taken the medicine from the willow tree?”

  “Aye, my headache should go away soon.” Always when she had something on her mind, it made her head hurt and this day she had a lot to think about. She was caught in a repeating circle of wanting to go to the Widow Kennedy for help and being afraid to go alone. For a moment, she wondered just how furious her husband would be if she went against his orders. But she reasoned that if the news from the widow was good and once she told him the reason, he would forgive her.

  “I could rub your back.”

  Dolee smiled. “Aye, but it is the middle of the day and every time you rub my back I somehow end up without my clothes on.”

  “But your headache goes away.”

  “True.” He had a gleam in his eye and never had she denied him, even in the middle of the day. So she carefully set her work aside, went around the table and slipped into his lap. She kissed him and when she felt him begin to pull the back of her shirt out of her belt, she giggled. “That is how my undressing always begins.”

  Camran buried his head in the curve of her neck. “I can hardly rub your back any other way.”

  “Then your fingers do not hurt today?”

  He lifted his lips to hers again and kissed her lovingly. “For you, I will bear the pain as best I can.”

  She giggled again and playfully smacked his arm. “For me, is it?” Then as she always did, she melted in his arms.

  ROS AND EMILY WERE not back from their walk and Nessa found it quite annoying. She was tempted to go find them, but realized if she saw him kiss Emily, she would be devastated. It was better to wait until they came back to the courtyard. Couples rarely kissed in front of everyone in the courtyard, at least not until they were betrothed.

  Nessa looked around, spotted Millin sitting outside her cottage and went to join her.

  “My dear, I am happy for the company.” Millin got up, went inside her cottage and came back with another chair. She waited until Nessa got settled and then sat back down. “Are you well?”

  “Quite well.” The courtyard was within her view and Nessa tried not to look that direction often, but couldn’t seem to help herself. “Millin, you are an elder, do you fear a harsh winter?”

  “I have seen a few in my years, that is for sure. We always manage to survive them even when the cold brings snow and ice to the river.”

  “Ice in the river? I have never seen that before. In our old home, the weather never got that cold, not that I recall.”

  The Widow Millin MacClurg MacGreagor noticed Nessa look toward the courtyard repeatedly, but decided not to ask. As she always did, she wore her light brown hair in one long braid down her back. Shorter unmanageable hairs broken from years of braiding framed her round face and her eyes were always kind. “There are parts of Scotland like that, I understand.”

  “It is true, I have only seen snow two or three times, but it melted quickly.” She glanced at the courtyard again and still there was no sign of Ros or Emily. “Millin, why is it some lasses have a child every year and others do not have them so frequently? And why do some lasses have no children at all?”

  Millin quickly forgave Nessa her thoughtlessness. “It seems many things in life have no answer.” Nessa truly had forgotten that Millin was barren and caught her breath, but Millin reached over and patted her hand. “You meant no harm.”

  “I truly did not.”

  Millin continued, “Someday you will be asking if a lass can tell if she is to have a boy or a girl, so I might as well tell you now. Different clans have different ways, though none are completely reliable. We used to have a soothsayer living with us and she was not always right either.”

  “What did she do?”

  “Well, she asked the lass to hold out her hand. If the lass held out her right hand, she would have a laddie and if it was her left, a lassie.”

  “I see, what other way is there?”

  “Only one other that I am aware of. The soothsayer would bring a bowl of water and if a drop of the mother’s milk floated it would be a lassie, but if it sunk she was sure to have a laddie.”

  Nessa wrinkled her brow. “You do not look as though you put much faith in soothsayers.”

  “I have only known that one, but she could get me riled like no other lass. Once I accused her of trickery, and I was right too. But my husband said to let her be.”

  “Trickery? What sort of trickery?”

  “Oh my dear, that lass was a rogue if ever I saw one. She claimed she could tell the future by reading the bumps on a lad’s head. I suppose she could by reading a palm or looking at the stars, but bumps on a head? I did not believe a word of it. On the other hand, even she had a good side. She knew how to make medicine from a plant that works very well for a toothache. She even made potions from dandelions and the waybread plants. Thank goodness she showed others how to do that before she passed. I cannot think what we would do without her cures.”

  CHAPTER IV

  NESSA LOOKED AGAIN toward the courtyard and began to wring her hands. Ros was looking right at her.

  “Child, what is it?”

  “What?” Embarrassed, Nessa quickly stood up. �
��Oh, it is nothing. I was just hoping to see Emily. She went for a walk with Ros and he is back.” She nodded and hurried toward the courtyard. Then she abruptly stopped. Emily was nowhere in sight and Dolee said not to approach him directly.

  Not only that, Nessa planned to ask Emily if she was afraid the English would attack, but realized what a stupid question it was. She turned, hung her head and soon she was staring aimlessly at the ground. She raised a hand and began to rub her forehead. There had to be a more sensible question to ask, but the harder she tried to think of one the harder it was to think at all.

  “Are you lost?”

  His voice was deep and strong, his smile was warm and when she looked into his eyes Nessa feared her knees would buckle. She could not remember ever being so close to Ros and he was much taller than she thought. It took all her strength, but she finally gathered her wits and returned his smile, “Aye, lost in thought. I meant to ask Emily something, but now I cannot remember what it was.”

  “Emily has gone home.”

  “It is just as well, I cannot remember what I wanted.” She should say something else, Nessa believed, but then again Dolee said to ignore him. She couldn’t think of anything to say anyway, so she gave him a half curtsey and started to walk away.

  “Are you afraid of me?”

  Amazed, Nessa stopped and turned to grin at him, “Are you afraid of me?”

  He raised an eyebrow, “Then it was you who killed the lad who tried to take Alison?”

  Her grin turned to a frown and she put a hand on her hip, “Why Ros MacGreagor, you know the sisters vowed not to tell. You are very brash for asking.” She started to walk away again and was surprised when he began to walk beside her.