A Healer For The Highlander

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This could not happen again.

Chapter Six (#u9395dc2f-8b29-5217-aaa3-1b63620cc54c)

Three days passed and Davidh found the sense of distraction growing. Anna had not returned to the village since their encounter which saw him running off to the keep. Though Robert said nothing about his lateness that day, others whispered. And not all of the comments were meant in jest. With things still unsettled among the various factions in the Cameron clan, the last thing he needed to be was less than attentive and less than consistent in his duties.

When the last chief’s perfidy and betrayal had been uncovered, the clan broke apart. Gilbert’s supporters fled, unwilling to wait for their own guilt to be exposed and to pay for their part in his sins. Though Robert was the legitimate, pragmatic and reasonable choice to replace him, some elders and others well respected in the clan wondered if the man who’d served in silence to protect his own secrets could be trusted to lead them now.

Robert’s choices and decisions since taking the high chair were closely watched and examined for weakness or ill judgement. That included his own selection of who to command the warriors while Struan took over as steward. In the months since, and with the support of the powerful chief of the Chattan Confederation, Robert had made progress in re-establishing trust in the treaty that had been put in place between them.

Still, the laird did not need his commander to look unprepared or unready to train and manage all the warriors of the Cameron clan. For the last three days, Davidh had thrown himself into his duties. Knowing that Colm was improving, he remained at the keep from morning until dark.

He worked with his men in the training yard, he assigned guards and others to do needed repairs to the buildings in the castle and elsewhere. Though they might not have wanted to do it, such work strengthened them and their endurance and was a useful way of accomplishing both.

And no matter how exhausted he felt himself, thoughts of the green-eyed healer kept him from sleep. Like some callow youth who’d never had experience with a woman, his mind turned her words and every action over and over again, keeping him from rest. So, on the fourth morning after their walk, Davidh decided to seek her out. With Colm healthier than he’d been for months, he believed the boy could make the journey out to the falls. If he tired too quickly or easily, Davidh would turn back.

With the ready excuse of a lack of those leaves for making the vapours and some coin to pay for her supplies in hand, he walked to Suisan’s to retrieve his son. Not ten paces from the door of his house, he almost slammed into a woman walking towards him.

‘Good day and my pardon, Lilias,’ he said as he grabbed his neighbour to keep her from falling. ‘I did not see you there.’

‘Good day, Davidh,’ Lilias said. She regained her balance and he released his hold. ‘Ye seem to be in a hurry this day. Is something wrong with the boy?’

Though he did not have time to waste if he wanted to get to the falls and back before dark, Davidh did not wish to be rude to a woman who had stepped in many times to help him care for his son.

‘Nay, Colm is doing well,’ he said. Smiling then at the thought of how well he was, Davidh nodded. ‘There has been some improvement of late. But,’ he said, gazing past her towards the smithy, ‘I am taking him to the healer now.’

‘Everyone has been expecting her to return here,’ Lilias said. ‘Is it wise to take him so far?’

There was an unfamiliar glint in Lilias’s gaze and Davidh could not tell if the woman was questioning his judgement or just curious. He shrugged.

‘That is another reason I go. She has not been seen in four days. The village boys have not caught sight of her near the falls. Robert extended his protection to her and...’ He did not lie so much as lead her to believe this was part of his duties.

‘Would ye come to supper upon yer return from the falls then? ’Tis been a long time since we shared a meal, Davidh.’ Lilias smiled. ‘And bring the boy. I have a stew cooking and there will be plenty.’

Davidh stopped and stared at the woman. He’d never noticed the primping and preening before, yet there it was right in front of him. It might have been a long time since he courted or wooed a woman—hell, it had been—but he recognised what she was doing now. As she twisted a loose lock of hair around her fingertips, he understood that she was flirting with him.

‘My thanks, Lilias. I do not know when I will return or if Colm will feel up to a visit.’ He fought to keep his impatience under control as he reminded himself, again, that she had done him and his son many kindnesses. As had many of the villagers. ‘I must go.’

‘Another night, then?’ Lilias said, stepping out of his path. ‘I hope the boy keeps well.’

Davidh nodded and strode away. His horse was at the smithy since Jamie had repaired one of the horse’s shoes. Jamie called out a greeting as Davidh walked to the cottage and found it empty. Jamie shouted to him and Davidh looked down the path towards the well near the centre of the village. Suisan and Colm were walking from the well and Davidh could see that his son carried a bucket.

And he did not have to stop and put it down once.

And he talked with Suisan as he walked.

Davidh could hardly breathe himself as he watched this new Colm approach. Every day saw a step towards health. Every day Davidh’s hopes rose in spite of Anna’s warnings about the true nature of Colm’s affliction. He had just been so sick for so long that this improvement, even if a temporary respite from the worst of it, seemed a godsend.

‘Papa!’ Colm called out as he noticed Davidh. ‘Look! Look!’

Colm shifted the bucket into both hands and began trotting towards him. He wanted to urge him to slow, but the expression of sheer joy on his son’s face forced him to remain silent and watch. When his son reached him, half of the water in the bucket had sloshed out. Davidh laughed as he crouched down and pulled his son into a hug.

‘Papa, I carried it all the way,’ Colm said. Suisan reached them and took the bucket.

‘Aye, he did,’ she said, never mentioning the lack of water in the bucket now.

‘How do you feel, Colm? How is your chest?’ Davidh placed a hand on his son’s chest and back, a way he could feel the strength or weakness of his son’s ability to draw breath.

‘I am fine, Papa. Suisan said so. And so did Mistress Mackenzie.’

‘Mistress Mackenzie? When did she visit you?’ Davidh stood and looked at Suisan.

‘She came very early this morn, Davidh,’ Suisan explained. ‘You’d barely ridden away before she knocked on my door.’

Anna had been here? Had she waited for him to leave before seeing to Colm?

‘She said she was in the middle of many things at the cottage, but wanted to bring some supplies for Colm and some of the others in need.’ Suisan gestured to the basket sitting by the doorway that now held trinkets and wrapped bits that were payment for Anna’s help. The woman shrugged and put her bucket down next to it. ‘Colm and I saw that everything was given out.’

He was both disappointed and elated at the same time. That his son was strong enough to walk the length and breadth of the village made that hope within him grow. And yet, Davidh was not pleased that Anna seemed to come and go without seeing him.

‘Did she speak of her return? For I had planned to seek her out.’ Davidh nodded at his son. ‘I thought we could ride out to the falls since the day is a fair one and Colm seems much stronger.’

His son reacted as he thought he would and Davidh had to caution him not to wear himself out before they rode. Soon, Davidh, Colm and the basket for Anna were on their way north, to the end of the loch and on to the falls. He kept the horse from galloping and held his son before him, protecting him from the worst of the jostling along the road.

They rode most of the way in silence, but as they approached the falls Colm began questioning him about them. Davidh spoke of his times as a boy when he and his closest friend Malcolm would try their best to climb the slippery rocks, as Tavish and countless others had, and their failures. When they arrived before the deep pool that captured the flowing water before sending it south to the river, Colm stilled and stared at the falls as they rose overhead.

‘’Tis a long way down.’

‘Aye,’ Davidh said. ‘Tavish is lucky that he broke only his foot and not every bone in his body. Let that be a warning to you and your friends about the danger here.’

He doubted his words would work any better than those of his own father all those years ago. The boys Davidh grew up with spent every possible moment out here trying to make their way up the falls once word of the witch spread. Rumours tied her abilities to the illness the cattle suffered one summer. Other stories spoke of her curses...and of the love philters she could make.

Malcolm had gone looking for one of those.

‘So, how do we find Anna?’ his son asked.

‘’Tis a secret path and I must have your word of honour that you will not share the way with anyone. Not your friends. Not anyone.’ Now that someone lived above, it was for her safety as much as anyone seeking her.

With the solemnity of a man taking Holy Orders, Colm nodded his agreement. Davidh lifted him down to the ground, dismounted and tied the horse to a tree there. Then he crouched down and told Colm to climb on his back—it would be the easiest way to carry him up the steep path. Soon, they were headed to the copse of trees that hid the entrance to the cave and the way up the falls.

It was a slower pace than when he climbed alone, but soon he took the last few climbing steps and stood at the top of the falls not far from Anna’s cottage. As he approached it, the door was open and no one seemed to be within. She must be working in the field she called a garden. The last time he’d seen it, it was much too big to be called a garden.

‘Anna!’ Colm called out over Davidh’s shoulder. Reminded that he yet carried his son, he bent down and let the boy off his back. ‘Anna.’ He scampered towards the woman who was on her knees, digging at something in the dirt. ‘Papa brought me to see you.’

She jumped up at his words, quickly rubbing the dirt from her hands and taking him by the shoulders. She knelt before Colm and touched the back of her hand to his cheeks and forehead. She thought him ill. She’d told Davidh to seek her out if he worsened.

‘Anna, he is well,’ Davidh said, walking to them. ‘He is well.’

The worry did not leave her gaze immediately and did not dissipate until she listened to his breaths and studied his face. She stood and shook out her skirts to remove the dirt she’d collected on them while kneeling there in the field.

‘When you had not returned to the village, I wanted to make certain you were safe up here alone.’ The explanation sounded suspect even to his own ears, but she nodded.

‘I saw this one just this morn,’ she said. ‘But I appreciate having my basket back.’ Davidh had forgotten about the basket his son now held out to her. ‘What are these?’

‘They are...’ he began. ‘Tavish’s mother sent the cheese. The bread is from the baker and his wife. The thread is from Mistress Cameron—the one they call “Peggy”. Oh, and Old Ranald said you can have his needles and threads when you come down next since he willna be using them.’ It all came out of him in an unstopping burst of words and gestures as he explained each and every little thing in the basket and who’d sent it.

‘My thanks for bringing me such treats,’ she said, smiling as she held the basket closer. ‘Though I could have got these when I visited next.’

‘The baker’s bread would have been stale,’ Colm said.

‘They like to pay their debts promptly,’ Davidh added.

‘Ah. I had not thought on that,’ Anna said.

‘More than that, they wanted you to have something for your care and kindness to them.’

She smiled then, first at his son, then she raised her gaze to his and he saw tears shimmering there. Had she not thought those who’d benefited from her treatments would respond like this? Mayhap that was not how it was done in the place where she’d lived before? It mattered not, for she was here now and this was how they would thank her. And in other ways.

‘Do you need help there?’ he asked, trying to change their conversation. The plots of land laid out were covered in overgrown weeds though he knew there must be some plants within the brush and leaves that she wanted to save and cultivate. ‘I could send some of my men to take care of the heaviest work.’

For a moment, she looked as if she would refuse. Then, she stood back and turned away, putting her hands on her hips, her lovely hips, and stared out at the work before her. ‘But you would have to tell them how to get up here.’

‘I could let them try to climb the falls, but I suspect there would not be many willing to do that.’

She laughed then. She turned to face him and let out another burst of merriment that made him smile, as well.

‘You jest!’ she said, nodding at Colm who stared at him as though he spoke a language he did not understand.

‘Of course I jest. I will have them swear an oath as my son did before showing them the way,’ he offered. ‘One that will make them shrivel and die if they reveal the truth.’

Now it was Colm who laughed and Davidh swore he would do whatever was necessary to make such a sound a regular occurrence for his son. He wanted the smile that lit his face now to remain there for ever and the pain and suffering never to return.

‘You did not have your son swear to such a thing!’ She rushed to his side and shook her head. ‘He is too young for such a vow.’ She mussed Colm’s hair up again, something she liked to do each time Davidh saw them together. It was a natural thing to her. As though she understood lads his age.

‘You are under the laird’s protection, Anna. In truth, no one will bother you or they face Robert’s judgement.’