Rumors Among the Heather (26 page)

“It takes some getting
used to, but once ye’ve had the first cup, ye’ll be begging me for
the recipe. Even so, don’t ask, for it’s an old family secret
handed down from father to son since the first MacLaren.”

Angus saw to it
Matthew’s cup stayed full, even though he drank only one cup to
Matthew’s three. After the third cup, Matthew’s eyes began to mist
over. By the fourth cup, he was ready to call Angus his bosom
buddy. They laughed and slapped each other on the back and drank to
everyone’s health they knew or hoped to know.

“My old friend, I’ve
got some advice for you. Never, I mean never, under any
circum…circumstances trust a woman,” Matthew slurred. He leaned
across the table and looked Angus in the eye. “They’ll do you in
quicker than a Campbell. They’ve got no heart and no conscience.
Ruthless is what they are.”

“Me lad, are ye just
finding that one out? Ye ken what’s wrong with ’em, don’t ye? For
one thing, they’re way yonder too smart. And they’re even sneaky
about that. You take a man, he just comes right out and lets ye
know he’s smarter than ye, but not a woman. Hoots, toots! They try
to make ye think you’re the smart one, then they outsmart ye and
twist everything you say to use against ye. They’re a worthy
adversary, that be true,” Angus said, shaking his head. He held his
cup up for a toast to women everywhere. “God love ’em,” Angus said
with a loud voice.

Matthew broke in with
“Hear, hear!”

He and Matthew clinked
their cups. Angus spilled half of his before he could get the cup
back to his mouth. He appeared to be feeling his punch also.

Both men sat quietly
trying to figure out exactly what Angus had said. They both agreed
it was profound, and that Angus’s mind bordered on genius for
coming up with these pearls of wisdom. Matthew tried to stand and
quickly lost his balance. He fell to his knees and could not move.
Angus bent over and helped him back into his chair.

“I have to go. I have
to find Julie. Where’s my nephew? You’ve got to help me find him. I
can’t remember why right now, but I know I have to find him. Not a
moment to lose. And, and Ribble, now there’s a good fellow, a man
to ride the river with if ever there was one, but where is he?”
Matthew sat puzzled beyond reason. Before long, he closed his eyes
and lost his battle to slumber.

Matthew slept for one
whole day and night. Ribble sat by his side when he awoke. His head
pounded without mercy, and his tongue felt like it wore a wooly
jacket. He could almost get one eye open, but the light hurt his
eyes. He thought he had been wounded until he remembered the punch.
He tried several times to sit up, but it took Ribble’s help before
he could regain his balance.

“Where’s Angus?”
Matthew spoke in a whisper while holding his head in his hands. His
head pounded and his stomach churned, but with Ribble’s help, he
managed to get to his feet. He started to speak again but stopped
when he had a chance to look around him. The whole camp was
deserted.

“That scoundrel
purposely made sure I was drunk and left us here. How long have
they been gone?”

“Today would be the
second day,” Ribble said. His valet appeared to be as disgusted as
Matthew felt.

Matthew pointed toward
the small river running by the camp, and Ribble helped him down the
bank. He bent down to get a drink of water and lost his balance,
pitching headlong into the icy, rushing stream. He floated
helplessly, forcing Ribble to wade in and fish him out. The soaking
refreshed Matthew enough for him to walk back to camp without
Ribble’s assistance.

When Ribble offered
him food to break their fast, he could not eat anything. Just the
thought of food sent him running into the bushes. The next morning
Ribble forced a cup of strong coffee down him. After he drank the
coffee, Matthew began to feel a little more human.

Unassisted, he walked down to the river and washed
his face. They saddled up without talking and headed for Aberdeen.
“Did you know she was going to have a child?”

“Aye.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She wanted to tell
ye, but ye were captured, and there was no way. Afterwards, seems
like ye dinnae want to know.”

“Whose child is
it?”

“Ye talk like ye’re
daft. Whose do you think it is?” Ribble sneered.

Matthew could see the
flash of anger in his eyes, and he had no desire to fight with him
again.

“You think it’s mine.
I say it’s Hamilton’s,” Matthew insisted stubbornly.

“Then ye’re an idiot,
and there’s no hope for ye,” Ribble said with growing
annoyance.

“What makes you so
bloody sure?”

“For one thing I know
the lass, and I know what she did for ye. She risked her life is
all. If’n ye could see past yer jealousy, ye’d ken it too. Hamilton
wanted her, that’s for sure, but she dinnae want naething to do
with him. She’s a woman of honor, and she deserves better than
either of ye,” Ribble snapped.

“I don’t know what to
believe. Hamilton said she turned me in, and he as much as said
they were lovers.”

“Of course he said
those things. He wanted her, and he tried everything he could think
of to get her. When he couldnae have her, he dinnae want anyone
else to have her, let alone ye. He had spies on the island, and
they were watching when she went to meet you. They signaled
Hamilton, and he laid the trap. Why, I don’t ken, but she still
loves ye after all ye said to her and after all the trickery.”

Ribble’s words gave
him hope and at the same time depressed him. Could it be possible
all he said was true, and Julie really did love him? And he had
another question that needed answering. “What trickery? You keep
babbling about something that makes no sense whatsoever,” Matthew
growled loudly, his patience wearing thin and his headache getting
worse.

“She heard about how
yer grandfather and some of yer ancestors used to take village
girls to the church in the dead of the night and pretend to marry
them. Both of us went to the church and looked through the records.
There was no record of yer marriage. We don’t have to be hit with
boulders to know what ye done,” Ribble finished with a
self-righteous look on his face.

“Is that what all this
is about? There isn’t a record in Gairloch because I couldn’t take
a chance of having somebody find out we were married. I was trying
to protect her and Ian if everything went wrong, which it did. The
record is in Dumfries where my friend’s church is. I did marry the
lady in question,” Matthew said in exasperation. Realizing what a
comedy of errors they had been through, he said, “I suppose now
it’s too late after what I’ve done and said.”

“Well then, there is
no time to dilly-dally. I think we should let the lady in question
decide,” Ribble called over his shoulder. He mounted up and headed
toward Aberdeen.

Matthew quickly
followed, but he did not see how he could bridge the gap between
him and Julie. His words came back to haunt him as he remembered
each insult he’d heaped on her with shocking clarity. His motives,
he knew, would not bear the light of day. Because of him, she was
alone, pregnant, and unprotected. His mood grew blacker the closer
to Aberdeen they traveled.

The sun rose high in
the sky as Julie stumbled out of the wilds and caught her first
glimpse of Aberdeen. Wearily, she shielded her eyes from the sun
and saw what looked like a city of silver. Bone-weary and weak with
hunger, she could not believe her eyes. Relief washed over her.
Feeling like John the Baptist coming out of the wilderness, she
rubbed her eyes and looked again. The sun reflecting off the
granite buildings in the distance instilled the illusion of
heavenly magnificence. Her heart pounded and feeling overwhelmed,
she urged her horse onto the road to search for a signpost or a
traveler who would tell her how to find Stonehaven.

She had traveled
almost a mile before she came upon a farmer bringing back his empty
cart from the market. “Pardon me, sir. Could you tell me how to
find Stonehaven?”

The farmer ignored
her, urged his horse to go faster, and continued on his way. She
passed two more people and like the farmer they ignored her also.
The next person appeared to be a peddler. He carried a pack on his
back, which banged and clattered with all manner of things hanging
from straps.

“Please, could you
give me directions to Stonehaven? I’ve traveled many miles,” Julie
asked again, not expecting an answer.

The peddler paused and
looked her over critically. “What’s that ye say, laddie?”

Julie wanted to shout.
It was the first human voice she had heard in over a week. “I’m
needful of directions, sir. Could ye direct me to Stonehaven?” she
repeated.

She did not trust the
shifty cast to his gaze, but he took the time to stop and talk, and
she was too tired to be choosy.

“I’m a peddler, ye
ken. Time is money, eh?” the peddler said while he scratched his
chin with its stubble of several days’ growth of whiskers and
twisted his face into a pucker.

She hedged, “I dinnae
have much money, sir. I’m on me way to find my sister. How much for
a piece of that blue ribbon there? She’s got right pretty
guinea-gold hair.”

“One farthing will do
nicely. Have ye got that much, laddie?” The peddler eyed Julie with
a calculating glance.

Feeling self-conscious
under so much scrutiny, she felt in her pockets until she found a
coin. She was afraid to take out her purse. If the peddler knew how
much money she had, he would ask for more. Julie opened the palm of
her hand with the coin in it to give him a glimpse. When he reached
out for it, she pulled her hand back quickly at the last
moment.

The peddler looked at
her in surprise. “First, how do I get to Stonehaven, and second,
the ribbon, peddler.”

The expression on his
face changed from blank innocence to guile. The craftiness written
across his face made it plain he would have taken her money without
giving anything in return. He had probably duped other young boys
before Julie without too much trouble.

“All right, all right,
ye’re a smart one, ain’t ye? I could use a lad like ye. A feller
like yourself with some guidance from me, we could make a team of
it. What say ye?”

“I said where’s
Stonehaven, and my ribbon and no tricks, peddler. I’ve got brothers
bigger and smarter than me ta home who wouldnae take kindly ta
their brother being cheated,” Julie said with a mischievous
grin.

“No need to get testy.
It seems an honest man gets nothin’ but abuse. Here’s yer ribbon.
Turn at the next road to the right beside a graveyard. Stonehaven’s
a day’s journey south from there once you come to the Causey
Mounth,” he said tersely with his hand out.

Julie gave him the
coin and urged her horse along. She had no desire to waste any more
time or spend any more of her money in the presence of the peddler.
She would have liked to ask him if he knew her aunt, but something
told her it would not be wise. The less he knew of her business the
better.

She rode as far as she
could that day, before watering and hobbling her horse to let him
graze through the night. She burrowed a hole in a stack of fresh
cut hay and lay down to rest. Her hideaway felt warm and dry. After
the dampness of the mountains, she had lost all hope of ever being
warm and dry again.

The next morning,
after the sun woke her, she went down to the stream to wash as best
she could. She had run out of food two days ago, so she would go
without food again today. She drank as much water as she could to
try and settle her grumbling stomach and ease the light-headedness
plaguing her. Her bones ached and every now and then a chill
attacked her body. Too tired to continue and too stubborn not to,
she prepared to leave.

Julie found her horse
lying down. “Come on, Pokey. Get up. It’s not that much farther.
Then we can rest and get some proper food. Please get up. I know
you’re tired and I am too, but it can’t be that much farther.
Please,” Julie begged while tugging at the reins. “Don’t you want
some water? It might be a long time before we find another stream.
There’s nice green grass dripping with dew. Wouldn’t that be
tasty?” Julie urged.

He refused to drink
and did not appear interested in eating this morning. Once up, he
seemed willing to go on so Julie mounted him, and they started down
the road again. They had only gone a short distance before he went
down on two legs and soon collapsed under her.

Julie urged him to get
up, and after several tries he did finally get up on wobbly legs.
She knew his legs would not carry him far. Slowly, she walked him
into the shade of a nearby tree. She patted his nose and talked
soothingly to him.

He nudged her softly
and neighed before he collapsed again. He stretched out on his side
and quietly lay there, breathing raggedly. This time Julie knew no
amount of urging would get him up on all fours. He had carried his
last burden. He breathed a deep sigh of release, and then he was
gone. She patted his head and sat beside him for a while. She hated
to leave him where he lay. He deserved better, but she could do
nothing for him now.

“You were a good
horse, old friend. Thank you for the miles you’ve given me,” she
said sadly. She patted his head one last time.

Julie got to her feet
and started walking. Steeling herself, she did not look back. It
would do no good. She plowed on unsteadily as her eyes blurred with
tears for her gentle steed.

At sundown, she
arrived in Stonehaven much the worse for wear. She asked some
children who were playing near the outskirts of town where Lady
Catherine Blair lived. They directed her down a tree-lined lane
toward the sea. When she thought her legs would not carry her
another step, she saw the words “Pari Passu” on a huge gate across
a drive. Unconsciously, she noted the words meant “together” or
“with equal step” as she stepped through the stile.