Highland Chieftain (6 page)

“It wasnae just that. He got the lads when they were little. May weel have gotten them off the street. What did they have? With him they had a place to sleep and food to eat. A powerful temptation. All they had to do was avoid his fists.”

“And as Colin said, they had nowhere to go anyway,” she murmured.

“Aye, so why leave. And, they had you.”

“Oh, I dinnae think they thought on that much.”

He decided not to argue with her about that. She could not see how she had become a mother to them all. Instead he turned her in his arms so that he could kiss her more thoroughly.

Bethoc gave herself over to his kiss. She hated to admit it, but it was why she had come. She had missed the feel of being in his arms, of the sheer delight she got from kissing him. It was a delight that lingered in her thoughts long after she left his side. By the time he pulled away she could barely catch her breath and she rested her head against his chest. It pleased her to hear his heart pound and his breathing was also harsh, as if he too was having difficulty.

Callum rubbed her back and Bethoc smiled. It was nice to just lie curled up beside him and be soothed. She did not really need soothing but enjoyed it too much to move. Finally, however, she had to sit up, for time was passing and she did not want to get home after Kerr had returned. The man asked too many questions when she did.

“I have to go,” she said as she climbed off the pallet.

“'Tis still light.”

“I ken it but if I come in after Kerr has come home he pesters with questions I cannae answer. He has already accused me of slipping away to meet with a mon. I dinnae trust him to keep ignoring that now.”

“Nay.” He dragged himself up off the pallet. “It would be best if ye dinnae get in any trouble o'er this. What have ye told him?”

“That I am keeping a close watch on some berry bushes so that I might harvest some of the berries before the birds do.”

“Clever.” He gave her a quick kiss.

“That may be but I dinnae think he will believe it for verra long.” She grimaced. “And I am nay the best of liars.”

“No shame in that, just rather inconvenient at times.”

She laughed. “Oh, aye. Verra inconvenient.”

He leaned against the inside of the cave opening as she moved some of the shrubs, enjoying how she looked. When she stood up and picked up her basket, he grasped her by the hand and pulled her up against him. She felt right there, in his arms.

“Ye would run off without giving me a kiss?” he teased. “Coldhearted woman.”

Bethoc laughed softly and gave him a kiss before slipping free of his hold and hurrying off down the path. She always felt so much lighter and happier after she had spent time with him. It was something that should probably bother her but she would not let it. One day soon he would have to leave and return to being a laird, a man far above her touch. For now, she intended to thoroughly enjoy what she could share with him.

By the time her home came into view she lost a lot of that happiness. Bethoc felt a weight settle over her and sighed. It was not what one should feel when coming home. She straightened her shoulders and went forward. There was no other choice.

To her relief, her father was not home. Colin played quietly in the corner with a happily babbling Margaret. She hurried over to give the little girl a hug.

“Are the boys still working?” she asked Colin.

“Aye, and I should be helping them.” He frowned toward the door but made no move to join the others.

“Soon, Colin. Ye didnae have anything broken that I could find but it was bad. Everything was bruised and that takes time to heal.”

“I ken it. Do ye e'er think there has to be something better than this?”

“All the time,” she answered as she hurried over to start their supper. “It is out there. Some day we will be free to seek it. But I dinnae think t'will be all that much different from what we do now, just in a different place with different people.”

When he just murmured in reply, she turned her attention to what she needed to have to make a meal. She did believe they would have something better. Some days it was all that kept her going. It just seemed that they had to have something better than working themselves into exhaustion only to watch Kerr Matheson drink and gamble the earnings from their labor away.

Briefly she considered asking Callum but hesitated to do so. She had the feeling he would offer her something out of charity and that was not what she sought. She and the boys could work. They needed to have something they could work at, something that would put the profit in their hands instead of Kerr's.

As she worked she thought over how to put the question to the man. He had been out in the world in a way none of them ever had so she was sure he would know better what their chances would be of getting, perhaps, a small farm they could work. Bethoc got lost in the thought of it and only partly took note of her father's arrival.

“Hey! Are ye e'er going to put that on the table?” Kerr yelled.

“Of course, I was just making certain t'was done.” She placed the pot on the table and watched him spoon out a large serving for himself as the boys sat and waited.

And that was why her mother got lost in her dreams so often, she thought. It was what she had to do to escape a deeply selfish, angry man and the ugliness in her life. It was an effort to bring herself back but Bethoc did, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was not a happy place she returned to but she knew she had to be here. The boys needed her to stand for them, to be here in body and in spirit. Someday, she mused as she doled out a share of what was left to all the others, this man will rule us no longer.

Chapter Six

“Why are we back here?”

Uven frowned at Simon. “Because this is where he disappeared.”

“I ken it but we have already been here, several times.”

“True but the fact that it has been a month of hunting and we have found naught makes me think he ne'er left this place.” Uven frowned as he stared at the river and searched the bank carefully. “We have ne'er found a body, no horse, no word of him at all. Havenae found any sign of the boy, either. 'Tis as if they were all just swept away.”

Simon ran his hand through his hair. “Weel, people have gone missing before.”

“True but there was almost always something one could find e'en if ye ne'er found the person. Just something that let ye ken the person had been in that spot at some time.” He looked around. “Where did Robbie go?”

“Said he saw something odd up on the hill,” Simon answered and Uven looked up the hill to where Robbie stood staring at some dying bushes. “There he is, studying the area round those bushes it appears. Wonder what he has found?”

A few moments later, Robbie rode back down the hill and faced them. “We need to have a look up there. I am thinking there is a cave and, if I am judging it aright, someone has been up to it recently.”

“A cave? That would be a fine place to hide if one was injured.” Uven dismounted and took his mount's reins in hand. “I think we should walk up to it. Secure the horses at the base.”

“It is a narrow path, true enough,” said Robbie as he also dismounted. “Uneven, too. So watch your step.”

By the time they reached the brush hiding the entrance, it was easy to see what it was. Uven cautiously moved the covering as Robbie and Simon stood beside him with swords at the ready. Then he drew his own sword and stepped inside, needing a moment to see clearly in the dim light. Callum sat next to the wall grinning at him.

“Took ye long enough,” said Callum, laughing as his friends marched over to clap him on the shoulder. “Heard Robbie sniffing around and almost called out but decided I should wait in case ye were fleeing someone.”

“Had no one chasing us. Didnae ken what we would find,” said Simon.

“Ah, aye, they broke my leg, the bastards, but, weel, I am healing now.”

“If we are to stay here for a while, I think we best move the horses,” said Uven.

“I will do it,” said Robbie, and strode out of the cave.

“How did ye find the cave?” asked Callum.

“It wasnae hard once we followed the path. The brush set there is good when ye see it from afar but nay perfect up close.”

“That willnae please Bethoc,” said Callum quietly.

“Ah, a lass.” Uven rolled his eyes. “Why am I nay surprised?”

“'Tis nay what ye think,” protested Callum. “And cease talking like I am a young Payton when we both ken I am not, nay e'en near to being so. She pulled me from the water, dragged me up here and I wasnae in a state to help much, and has worked to fix my leg.”

Uven studied his leg. “Did a good job with what was at hand. Can ye move at all?”

“A little. I begin to be able to put a little weight on my foot but it could be a month or so before I can claim I am healed or go without some sort of bandaging on my leg. The bone is setting but isnae done yet and ye didnae want to cause it more injury by using it too soon.”

“That poses a bit of a problem but I suppose we could spend the time looking for the boy. Ye cannae go anywhere without the lad and he could be in some danger.”

“Nay. Ye dinnae need to. I ken where he is. Bethoc has him. The house is nay the best place for a lad but 'tis better than being stuck here with me and I having no way to protect him.”

“What is wrong with the house?”

“Father has a heavy hand.”

“Should I fetch him? We can protect him,” said Simon.

“Nay, he is safe enough. No one kens where he is and that is the most important thing at the moment. There is naught to cause them to look at that house, either,” Callum said.

Robbie returned and Callum watched him carefully put the brush back. “Hope ye did that right. She will notice and, if 'tis wrong, it will frighten her.”

“Frighten her?” asked Simon.

“She fears the men who did this to me have found me. They were, are, looking for me. She has already confronted them once.”

“They came here again?” asked Robbie.

Callum nodded. “Think the fools suddenly realized they had nay bothered to see if I was actually dead, that they had just assumed I was. Probably suspicioned they might have erred after they lost the boy. Suspicion they think I have taken him again. A logical assumption.”

“How did they lose the boy?” asked Uven as he hefted a jug of cider, took a sip, and filled a tankard with some.

“Her father took him. She doesnae ken how, only that he showed up with the boy. But she did say the mon is acting unstable. Goes out every night. Mayhap he fears they watch him.” He glared at his leg. “I can do naught about it, naught to hunt down the men who threaten Cathan. Naught to make certain she doesnae get caught in the midst of all this and hurt.”

“Then someone needs to find out where these men are.”

“Aye, now give me some of that cider.”

As they drank, they planned how and where to hunt down the men who were such a threat. It was edging toward midafternoon when his friends finally left. Callum found himself relieved. This was about the time of day when Bethoc came round. The anticipation he felt made him both smile and shake his head.

It was not because she had saved him or tended his wounds. He did not believe it was even how she was treated at home. Although his life was dedicated to helping those who suffered such things, that mostly was a concern for children. Bethoc was no child and he had no knowledge of her brothers, nothing to tell him they were in bad need of a protector. Callum had to decide if what he felt was just a lusting or more before too much longer. She was not a lass one idled away a few enjoyable hours with. Bethoc was a lass you either left alone or married.

* * *

Bethoc took a careful look around before hurrying up the path. Half the way up she paused and stared at the ground. For a moment she could not understand what troubled her. Then she gasped. Someone had recently used the path, several someones in fact. Her heart suddenly pounding with fear, she raced up to the cave, tossed aside the brush, and rushed inside. To see Callum sitting there, calmly writing something before he looked up at her in surprise, nearly brought her to the floor.

“What is it, Bethoc?” he asked, and started to get up.

“Nay, no need to stand.” She hurried back to the entrance, looked around carefully, and pulled the brush back against the opening before walking back to him. “Someone had used the path and I feared they had found you.” She was struggling to rid herself of the feeling of panic that had overtaken her.

He reached out, grasped her hand, and pulled her down beside him. “It was my friends.”

“They found you?”

“Aye. Seems Robbie noticed something and came up the path to have a closer look.”

“I wonder what he saw. T'would be good to ken what was odd,” Bethoc said as she began to unpack the food she had brought.

“I will be sure to ask him when he returns. Um, where is wee Margaret?”

Bethoc grimaced. “Colin has her again. He swore he would ne'er leave her alone and made me leave her behind. It still feels odd to nay be carrying her weight. And I am trying to nay think about her. 'Tis best if there is some separation now that she is growing older.”

“But ye probably willnae stay long, either. Like last time.”

Bethoc leaned against him. “Foolish. I ken it. Colin is a good lad and she has obviously decided she likes him. Yet all I can see is those four wee babes and think on how, if I hadnae been there for her birth, there could have been five. I must teach myself nay to cling to her with the idea that I am just keeping her safe.”

He turned her face up to his and brushed a kiss over her mouth. “Ne'er think on what-ifs, lass. What if I turned right instead of left, I might nay have been caught. And beaten. And had my leg broken. For everything that happens there are many what-ifs. They dinnae matter. Ye were there and she has lived to be a fine little lass who demands kisses on her forehead for being a smart lass.”

She laughed and nodded. “True enough.” She lightly patted his broken leg. “I think I have come up with a better way to wrap your leg and will bring the things I need on the morrow if I can.”

“This serves. I can now put some weight on it. Just a wee bit, enough to make moving about a lot easier, but I ken it will get better.”

“Aye, but what I have planned will serve better, I am certain of it. It will hold it more firmly. Although, as ye say, ye are healing nicely.”

“Will it make it easy to ride with?”

“Ah, aye.”

She did not like to think of him leaving, which was foolish. The man could not remain captive in a cave so that she could visit him now and then. He was a laird, after all, and must be eager to get back to his lands and his people. He had a rich life somewhere else he needed to get back to. Now that his friends had found him, he would gather up Cathan and go as soon as he could ride. Knowing that, she settled against him, enjoying the closeness that would soon be gone. She tried not to think on how much she would miss it.

“Ye could come with me,” he said, shocking himself for a moment, then realizing it was what he wanted. “Ye and all the others.”

“Ye cannae take eight others with ye. E'en with your friends, there isnae enough room. And what would ye do with eight strays plus Cathan?”

He idly wondered why he was not relieved that she obviously saw his suggestion as no more than a kindness. He should be. It was a large responsibility to take on and he had enough of those. Nor was he sure of just why he was so reluctant to say thank ye and walk away from her.

“I have a lot of strays at my keep. I collect them,” he added, and smiled.

She leaned back a little and frowned at him. “Ye collect them?”

“Aye. When I was a child I swore I would always protect the wee ones. I was a child of the streets after my mother died. A feral boy, Payton called me, and I was certainly that. Got taken up by an evil mon and, at eleven, was close to being killed because I was getting too old and too rebellious, but the mon's wee wife saved me. She got me and several others out of there and got Payton to help us even while she was still wet from her husband trying to drown her. Fool forgot she could swim.

“Ye wonder on how I understand what is happening. Weel, I lived it, Bethoc. And so much worse. If not for Payton and Kirstie I would be long dead.” He gave her a quick kiss when he saw the sadness she could not hide. “But I survived and have done verra weel 'til now. I found my true family and my grandfather turned out to be a laird. My father was his only son. It saddens me that my father was killed but at least I ken he had handfasted with my mother first so I wasnae a bastard cast aside like too many are.”

“So ye were legitimate? That must have eased your mind.”

“Nay at first for I didnae ken the worth of it, but, aye, it did. Grandfather and I got along weel and I ended up living with him. He died a few years ago and I was his heir. So, I am now a laird. 'Tis an odd thing to get accustomed to. Cannae forget where I began so am often astounded by it.”

She smiled. “I suspicion ye are a verra good laird and none care where ye began.”

“T'would seem so. I do wonder at where your mother began. She was at court, after all, when she met Brett so she must have come from a good family, one with standing enough to be invited to court.”

Bethoc frowned. “I have little knowledge of her beginnings. There were things said from time to time that implied she had married beneath herself, or wouldnae have if she hadnae been with child. I think my father may have been paid to take her as a wife.”

“What was her maiden name?”

“I dinnae ken.”

“She ne'er told ye?”

“Nay but that may be because she felt her family was lost to her. Also, my mother was nay weel. She could, weel, drift away a lot of the time. Ye could see her eyes go cloudy and then there was no talking to her. Or, if ye tried, her answers made no sense. I used to fear I would become like her but then, weel, I realized she was just broken and I didnae ken how to fix her.”

“Sometimes it cannae be done. The dreams are so much better they cannae leave them to face what life really is. I have seen it happen. Sometimes what is broken stays broken.”

“I ken it and she did, right up until she birthed Margaret and then, for one bright moment, she was clear-eyed and fierce.”

“She had someone she needed to save.”

“Aye, I suppose that was it.” She did not say that she often wondered why her mother had never felt the need to save any of the rest of them, why it was only Margaret who had awakened her enough to fight for the life of her child. “I had best be on my way,” she said as she stood up.

Callum stood up as well, and as quickly as he could, then took her by the arm. “Ye said Colin was a good lad,” he said as he pulled her into his arms, liking the way her hair just lightly brushed the underside of his chin. “There is nay need to run home and ye ken it.”

“Aye, I ken it, but 'tis hard. I have been toting her around, sleeping with her at night, and playing with her most of the day for o'er two years. Ne'er apart. It will be a while before I can do so with ease.”

“I ken it.” He brushed a thumb over her lips and watched her eyes turn a dark blue. “Just a moment more,” he whispered, and kissed her.