Conall: The 93rd Highlanders, Book Two (5 page)

Avril came out of the hut
with a steaming kettle and filled Conall’s mug first, giving him
and Brodie one of her rare smiles. Well, they used to be rare. Now
that Conall was with her, she smiled more often. Softer smiles,
happier smiles. She was warm and fed, and the soldiers left her
alone. Conall was good for her. Now Graeme had to divide his stare
between them. Her hair gleamed gold in the sunlight next to his
flame. Prettiest hair he’d ever seen on both of them. She was
wearing a new plaid shawl over her coat. He’d helped Conall find it
for her. As he watched she tugged it one-handed up over her
head.

“
So, what do
you know about Mrs. Scott?” the young captain next to him asked
quietly. He had only arrived in camp a week ago. Graeme looked over
and frowned when he saw the lascivious way he was watching Avril.
“Is she available? If Fletcher is off, I mean.”

“
No, she’s
not available,” Graeme bit off, offended on her behalf. “She’s with
Fletcher because she cares for him. She’s not a whore.”

The captain shrugged, not
taking his eyes off her. “In my experience, if they’ll spread their
legs for one man for favors, they’ll do it for another.”

Graeme sat up and scowled
at the little bastard. He had at least ten years and twenty stone
on the little shit. “She doesn’t spread her legs for money, you
damned idiot. And you’d best not be repeating such slander unless
you want to find yourself beaten into a bloody pulp.”

“
By whom?”
the captain asked with a raised brow. “My father is intimately
acquainted with the Duke of Argyll. I don’t think anyone would risk
laying a hand on me.”

At that ridiculous
assumption, Graeme laughed out loud. “Laddie, you don’t know me,
and you don’t know the Fletcher brothers. We’d all dare and not
give a shit. So you best be keeping your eyes, your hands and your
big mouth to yourself when it comes to Mrs. Scott. Do you
understand?”

“
Are you
threatening me?” he asked incredulously. “I can have you brought up
on charges.”

“
You’re
welcome to try,” Graeme told him, standing. “But I’m a hero of the
Thin Red Line at Balaclava, boy, and they’d have to see me sticking
the knife in your ribs before they so much as slapped my wrist.” He
stretched and looked around the camp. “There are all kinds of
accidents that happen at war. I’d hate for you to be the victim of
one.”

“
And why
should he be the victim of an accident?” Hamish Fletcher said
menacingly from behind him. The young captain grew pale.

“
These young,
inexperienced officers,” Graeme said, staring at the young captain.
“They don’t know how things work here yet. He’ll figure it
out.”

“
Let’s hope
he does,” Hamish agreed. “Perhaps an extra duty or two would help.”
He gestured with his head. “Go and see the quartermaster and tell
him I sent you.”

The captain’s eyes had
narrowed angrily. “Yes, sir,” he said as he stood up, insolence in
his tone if not his words. “My father is going to buy me a
promotion soon. Before long you won’t be my superior
officer.”

“
I’ll always
be your superior, boy,” Hamish said dismissively. “Chances are you
won’t live to see the promotion anyway.” He waved him away as
though he were a pesky fly and Graeme hid a smile.

“
You
shouldn’t watch them like that,” Hamish told him quietly a moment
later. “Not when others are around.”

Graeme froze, his gaze
locked on Conall and Avril. “What do you mean?” he asked calmly,
taking a sip of the drink in his hand. Just then Avril looked his
way and raised the kettle in inquiry. He shook his head with a
smile that she returned before she went back into the
hut.

Hamish sighed before
answering. “I know. I know what you’re feeling.”

Graeme’s heart was
pounding in fear. Would Hamish denounce him? Reveal his secret? “I
don’t understand,” Graeme said, his voice rough.

“
I
know
,” Hamish repeated
fervently.

Graeme looked at him then
and shock turned him immobile as he finally understood what Hamish
was telling him. “How?” he asked, not really sure what he was
asking or how to ask what he really wanted to know.

“
The doctor
at Scutari—Finn—he and I grew up together. His parents farmed my
father’s land. My father helped send him to school in Edinburgh.”
Hamish looked at the setting sun. “When I saw him in Scutari, all
the years apart faded. There was a nurse there, working with Miss
Nightingale, helping Finn. They married before I left.” He turned
and met Graeme’s stare. “They’re mine now. Do you
understand?”

Graeme could only nod.
He’d never imagined that his wildest dreams were even possible. But
here was a man living them.

Hamish shook his head and
looked down at the ground. “I can’t tell you if Connie would even
be receptive to that sort of thing,” he said, dashing Graeme’s
newly born hopes. “Nor his Mrs. Scott. But I can tell you that most
people don’t understand it and won’t tolerate it. Is that what you
want for them?”

“
You did it,”
Graeme accused him. “You risked it.”

“
I did.”
Hamish smiled to himself and looked at Graeme. “But they’re in
Scutari and I’m here. We’re still not sure what’s going to happen
when this foolishness with the Russians is over. I think the
thought of not seeing them again gave me the courage I needed. But
what happened in Scutari is a great deal different than trying it
here in camp. Isn’t it?”

Graeme watched Avril come
back out and go to stand next to Conall. She looked cold. Before he
could say anything, Conall jumped up and fed the fire, pulling her
closer to it. He whispered something in her ear and she blushed. He
must be promising to keep her warm later. That was their secret
language, wasn’t it? Graeme had heard that phrase countless times
in the past few weeks. They didn’t look like they needed anything
but each other. They certainly didn’t need him.

“
Yes.” He
agreed with Hamish. “It’s much different. I’ll try to keep my eyes
to myself from now on.”

“
It’s for the
best,” Hamish said with a trace of pity.

“
Yes, for the
best,” Graeme agreed, turning away from the sight of the lovers
before the fire.

Conall had just left
Cathcart’s Hill, having gone to the lookout there to peer through
the telescopes and see what was what. Not much had changed. The
Russians were waiting out the winter just like the British and the
French and the Turks. He was in company with a couple of Coldstream
Guards as they ambled back to their respective camps to report the
status quo.

“
So,
Fletcher, word is you’ve got yourself a little piece to keep you
warm this winter,” one of them said with a suggestive leer. “Mind
sharing?”

He stopped short. “What
did you just say?” he asked in a low, threatening voice.

“
Now,
Fletcher, don’t go getting your dander up,” the other guard said.
“He’s a fool. Always has been. Don’t know how to talk about a woman
without being insulting.”

“
Insulting?”
the first guard said. “How is that insulting? It isn’t as though
they’re married, now, is it? He’s got a cook and a washerwoman and
a bedmate without tying himself down. There’s a man I can
admire.”

“
I’m not with
Mrs. Scott for all that,” Conall denied. “She’s not my servant, and
she’s not a whore either. And if you say otherwise, you’ll be
meeting the business end of my fist.”

“
Settle
down,” the second guard said. “We’re just telling you what everyone
else is saying behind your back. No disrespect intended. I’m sure
she’s a fine woman. But I’d be careful. They’ll send her packing if
they think she’s practicing the trade here, if you know what I
mean. Sooner or later word will get into the wrong ear. There’s
more than one jealous fellow around here wishing they were in your
shoes.”

Before Conall could put
them both in their place he was hailed from down the hill. He
turned to see Dougie and Brodie heading his way, their scarlet
jackets a bright splash of color against the winter-brown
landscape.

“
Saved by my
brothers,” he growled at the two guards. “Run back to your
worthless regiment and tell them to stop gossiping like old women.
And if I hear any of you have repeated such rot about Mrs. Scott,
I’ll march over there and thrash you.”

“
You
Fletchers and your tempers,” muttered the first guard. “They ought
to lock you all up!”

Conall made a rude hand
gesture and jogged down the hill to meet up with his
brothers.

“
What did you
see?” Dougie asked.

“
Nothing,”
Conall said with a shrug. “Same old thing. Everyone freezing their
arses off on both sides of the line.”

“
I’d hate to
be in the trenches,” Brodie said with a shudder. “I see them
carrying the poor buggers off with feet black from frostbite every
day. What a godforsaken place.”

“
Well, it’s
our place right now,” Dougie said firmly. “And defend it we will
until they say otherwise. May Nicholas rot in hell.”

“
You can
curse the tsar all you want,” Conall said. “It won’t make a bloody
bit of difference.” They walked together for a minute or two and
Conall noticed his two brothers exchanging odd looks. “Now what’s
this?” he asked, immediately suspicious. “Is there something you’re
not telling me?” He got a sick feeling. “Is it Avril? Is she all
right?”

Dougie put a hand on his
arm. “She’s fine lad, fine. But it’s her we were wanting to talk to
you about.” He cleared his throat. “Brodie.”

Brodie looked like a deer
in a trap. “Me?” he said. “Ah, that is to say, yes, Mrs. Scott. You
see, Conall, there’s been some talk.”

“
I know,”
Conall said angrily. “I was setting those two guards straight when
you called out to me. I hate that Avril’s name is being dragged
through the mud.”

“
Well, then,
do something about it,” Dougie growled in irritation. “Either marry
her, or set her aside. You’re the one that’s brought it on
her.”

“
I did no
such thing,” he denied. “She wouldn’t let me take care of her
without making her my woman in every way. She was headstrong about
it, I tell you. Do you think I wanted to bring her name
low?”

“
You could
have said no,” Brodie suggested logically.

“
And let some
other lout have her who would treat her badly?” Conall exclaimed.
“Sit back and watch another man provide for her and take her to his
bed?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it.”

“
You
shouldn’t do it,” Dougie declared. “She shouldn’t be with any man,
not here, not like this. She came here as a sergeant’s wife, a
respectable woman. She should be left in peace and we should all
take care of her until she can go home.”

“
She won’t
take charity,” Conall told him grimly. “That’s how she sees
it.”

“
Are you
willing to break off with her?” Brodie asked. “I know you care for
her.”

“
I want to
marry her,” Conall said, exasperated. “But she won’t have
me.”

That made Dougie stop
walking and stare at him in surprise. “What do you mean, she won’t
have you?”

“
I mean she
said no,” Conall said through gritted teeth. “Do I have to draw you
a picture, you thick-headed fool?”

“
Why?” Brodie
asked, clearly shocked.

“
She thinks I
only want to marry her out of some misguided sense of
responsibility,” Conall told them. “I can’t convince her otherwise.
She says she’s too old and too beneath me.”

“
Who filled
her head with that rot?” Dougie asked angrily. “She can’t be more
than a few years older, less than Mum and Father. And she’s a
fine-looking woman, we all agree. As for being beneath you, why,
you come from farmers. With a little money and land, yes, but
farmers just the same.”

“
That’s what
I told her,” Conall said. “She didn’t believe me.”

“
Then she
must not love you,” Brodie said sadly. “I’m sorry, Connie, truly I
am.”

Conall cleared his throat
and turned his head, letting the wind dry the tears in his eyes.
“Aye, that was my conclusion as well.”

Dougie clapped him on the
back and then went so far as to give him a brief one-armed hug.
“Every lad’s heart has to be broken at least once,” he said sadly.
“Sorry I am, too, Connie.”

They walked in silence
for another minute and their camp came into view. The sight of
Avril’s hut made Conall’s chest ache.

“
Are you
going to tell her today?” Dougie asked. “I think it’s best. No
sense prolonging it, and if you don’t end it now it may be too late
for her.”

Conall nodded. “Aye,
today.” He’d never imagined when he left that morning that it would
be his last waking in Avril’s arms. “But I’m not going to be far
from her. She’ll accept my help whether she likes it or not. And
I’ll not have every lowlife in Sevastopol knocking on her door.
Munro will help.” Dougie shot him a sharp glance. “What?” he asked,
suddenly feeling as though he’d been caught out in something, but
he didn’t know what. He was blushing and he didn’t know
why.