First Down

by Paula Mabbel

  “It’s beautiful,” she said a little quietly as her father watched the many dancing expressions on his daughter’s face.

  “Aye, lass,” he agreed with a nod. “You should go and have some fun, before the sun comes up and calls this merriment to an end.” He gestured for Sophia to go out into the valley and explore.

  She gulped as she looked between the busy crowds and her father. She had been dreaming about the day she would be old enough to come to one of these meetings. They happened every year between all the clans in the highlands and they were talked about all year, until the next one. Sophia’s father had always told her that she was too young to go, but this year he had finally relented.

  “It’s much busier that I thought it would be,” she said with a nervous look.

  Her father chuckled and raised his hand to her back. He brought it down with some force and Sophia found herself winded. “You’re not afraid are you, daughter?” he asked her with mischief sparkling in his eyes.

  “I’m never afraid,” Sophia said as her nose wrinkled.

  “So you claim, but yet, here you stand.”

  Sophia huffed loudly and turned away from her father. He was winding her up on purpose. She knew that he didn’t really think that she was afraid, but that didn’t matter. Sophia had her pride and she wasn’t about to let that get stomped on. “I’ll see you in the morning, father,” she said, as she started to walk out into the busy crowds, which seemed to flow around the valley like water.

  “Aye, you will, lass,” her dad called out. “If you see your brother, you tell him I’m looking for him,” he added as Sophia became just another head in the crowd.

  Sophia tried to hold her own against the moving crowd, but she found it impossible. She realized that if she had any hope of getting anywhere, then she would need to follow the natural flow of people instead of fighting against it. She walked slowly behind a large woman who was stumbling from side to side.

  “You look lost?” A voice said from beside her and she turned her head to see who it might belong to.

  Sophia took a moment to really take in the guy standing beside her. He looked a little bit older than she was, but not much. He was tall with broad shoulders and tight muscles that seemed to ripple even when he was still. “I think everybody is lost here?” Sophia said quickly when she realized that she had been staring at him without speaking for far too long.

  “Aye, lass, you might be right,” the guy said with a flicker of a smile.

  “Can I help you?” Sophia asked, when he had dropped quiet but had made no effort to walk away.

  “Perhaps,” the guy said with a smoldering smile. “What’s your name?” he asked her.

  “Sophia,” she said quickly.

  “Is that Sophia of the northern clan?” the guy asked her, and for a moment something flared up in his eyes and then disappeared quickly.

  “Aye,” Sophia nodded. “And you?”

  “I’m Jamie,” he said quickly.

  “There must be many Jamies,” Sophia said thoughtfully, “so what clan might you be from?”

  “I think that might be better left a mystery,” Jamie said with a grin, and then he reached out and took Sophia’s hands in his own.

  “What are you doing?” Sophia asked him in shock.

  “We’re getting out of here.” Jamie’s deep blue eyes sparkled wildly.

  Sophia nodded, but she didn’t reply to him. She just followed the feeling of his hand pulling on her, as they dodged and dived between the moving crowds and then finally made it out into a spot of shadows that had been left unlit.

  “Are you having fun?” Jamie asked her.

  “I think so,” Sophia nodded.

  “Shouldn’t you know for sure?” Jamie asked her with a bemused look.

  “Well, I’ve only ever been here this once and I’ve just been dragged away from the party,” she explained. “So, I’m not sure how I’m feeling yet.”

  “Good point,” Jamie said, and then he laughed. “I just thought you might want a little bit of breathing room.”

  “Or you thought that you would have a better chance with me if we were alone,” Sophia said, because she wasn’t stupid and she had no intention of leading Jamie to believe that she was.

  “Perhaps,” Jamie said with a small nod. “Do you think that my plan worked?” he asked her as he stepped forward and closed the distance between them.

  Sophia could feel the heat from his breath as it landed on her cheeks. The sensation caused goose bumps to rise up on her skin and she rubbed her arms quickly, so that they would go back beneath the surface again. “I don’t know,” Sophia said with a little teasing in her voice. “How badly do you want it to work?”

  She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, as it listened to what she was saying. She had never been so forward before. She had never snuck into the shadows with a guy before either, but this was her first adult party and she wanted to have some fun.

  “Oh, so very badly,” Jamie said, his voice low and pained.

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to put that to the test,” Sophia said with a small, sly smile. “If you really want me as badly as you say you do, then meet me in two days on the top of the purple hills.” With that, she walked quickly back into the crowd.

  *******

  Jamie walked back into his clan’s settlement and headed straight for his tent. He wasn’t sure whether anybody had seen him with Sophia the night before, but he knew that if they had, it wouldn’t be long until he found out about it. The fire in the middle of the camp was already roaring into life, as some of the early risers fed it from the great wood pile that they had spent much of the summer collecting, but Jamie refused to even look in their direction as he walked passed.

  He reached his tent and pulled open the flap. He walked in without paying very much attention to his surroundings and then jumped, as a shuffling noise behind him told him that there was already somebody in the tent. “Hello?” Jamie said as he turned around and saw the clan leader sitting on the edge of his bed.

  “Jamie,” the clan leader said with a serious voice.

  Jamie took a moment to examine the look on the leader’s face. He was scarred from many battles fought, and his green eyes always seemed to carry an internal anger about them. Jamie was sure that he had never seen the man relax, and he was certain that relaxing was the last thing on his mind in that moment.

  “What can I do for you?” Jamie asked with curious eyes. He thought back over the times that he had spoken to the leader before. He could only ever recall doing it twice and it was never a full-blown conversation, so the fact that he had been waiting in Jamie’s tent for him was putting Jamie on edge.

  “You were seen last night,” the leader said without any further explanation.

  Jamie felt his eyes close slowly as he realized what was happening. “Aye, I spoke with Sophia of the northern clan,” he said honestly, because there was no point at all in lying.

  “Aye,” the leader said, “and what did you find out from her?” he asked Jamie with furiously inquisitive eyes.

  “I found out nothing other than her name and clan alliance,” Jamie said with a stiff shake of his head.

  “Don’t lie to me.” The leader’s tone was full of warning.

  “I speak no lies. We only spoke briefly before she left,” Jamie said.

  “Did she know who you were?”

  “No,” Jamie said with a small shake of his head.

  “Have you arranged to meet her again?”

  Jamie weighed his options. He didn’t want to tell the leader about the meeting that she set up. He didn’t want to put her in danger. “I haven’t.”

  “Lies!” the leader shouted, and the fury was all the emotion left in his face. “You think that I do not know what was said?”

  “She isn’t the enemy; I don’t want to see her in any harm,” Jamie said quickly because he knew of the leader’s bloodlust.

  “Well then, that will work out quite
nicely,” the leader said as a sick kind of enjoyment spread across his face. “Because it isn’t her we’re going to hurt. It’s you.”

  Jamie tried to back out of the tent, but it was useless. The other clan members had already been informed about the leader’s plan, and they were waiting for him.

  “Why are you doing this?” Jamie asked with wild eyes, as the first punch landed on his stomach and pushed all the air out of his body.

  “Well, we need her to believe that we’ve turned our backs on you. We need her clan to believe that you are on their side and then, when they do, you are going to bring all of their secrets back to us. Do you understand?”

  “What if I refuse?” Jamie asked as another heavy punch landed on his stomach. A splintering feeling told him that they’d cracked his ribs in the process.

  “If you refuse, then we kill you right here on the spot. You don’t have to worry about pretty little Sophia, though. I’ll take care of her,” the leader said with a sickening smile.

  “You won’t lay a finger on her head,” Jamie roared with anger.

  The clan leader laughed cruelly. “You’re getting awfully worked up about some whore that you hardly know.”

  Jamie could feel the anger raging inside of his stomach. He wasn’t even bothered about the punches anymore. He didn’t care that he was being held back, whilst his clan beat him black and blue. All he cared about was making sure that Sophia was going to be okay and that the clan leader didn’t get away with what he was planning.

  “Fine,” Jamie said finally. “I’ll do it, but you must give me your word that Sophia will come to no harm, now or ever.”

  The leader looked as though he was thinking it through. “So, you will trade her clan’s secrets for her protection?” the leader asked to make sure that he had it clear.

  “Aye,” Jamie said with a pained look as another fist hit him, but this time it missed his stomach completely and went straight into the bridge of his nose.

  “Then you have a deal,” the leader said, as he turned and walked away from the beating.

  *******

  Sophia could already see the purple hills, and her excitement was growing. She hadn’t told her father about the meeting she’d had with Jamie, but she had told him where she was going and he’d had no problems with that. The purple hills were a little over a mile away from their clan’s settlement and one of Sophia’s favorite places to visit.

  In spring they came to life with hundreds of thousands of wild flowers that filled the air with a light floral fragrance. In summer they turned a deep purple color as lilacs grew from every space available. The hills weren’t purple anymore, though; the long hand of autumn had reached out and cleared the open space of its flowers, leaving only green grass and dirt behind.

  Sophia walked up to the top of the hill and she looked out over the horizon. She had no real idea whether Jamie would even show up, but she had this feeling deep in her stomach that her time had not been wasted. She scanned the open country in front of her for any signs of movement. She stopped short when she saw someone stumbling close to the hills.

  She raced down the hill with very little thought for herself and came to an abrupt stop at the bottom. The man who was stumbling was still some distance away, but Sophia could tell from the tired way that his feet dragged across the ground that he was hurt. She didn’t wait for him to reach her, but instead made her way over to him.

  “Are you okay?” she called out when she was close enough. “Are you hurt?”

  “Aye,” Jamie said as loudly as he could muster.

  “What happened?” Sophia asked in surprise as she realized that the man beneath all of the swelling and bruising was Jamie.

  “It’s a long story,” Jamie said as he let his legs go from under him, so that he could sit on the ground.

  Sophia watched with a worried expression as he fell to the earth with a thud. “What has happened?” she asked him again. “Who has done this to you?”

  “It was my clan, lass.” Jamie spat out what looked like a dangerous amount of blood.

  “They’ve hurt you,” Sophia said with confused eyes.

  “Aye, lass, they have.”

  “You have to let me help you.” Sophia tried to pull him back to his feet. It took her a moment, but she managed to shift his weight onto her shoulders so that she was holding him up.

  “I’m not sure that any help can be offered,” Jamie shook his head.

  “Well, a good night’s rest surely can be,” Sophia said, and then she started to slowly walk back in the direction of her clan.

  “Your father won’t like this,” Jamie said as he realized where Sophia was taking him.

  “My father is a good man who is willing to help any person in trouble,” Sophia said with a look of shock on her face. “What leads you to believe that he won’t help you?”

  “I have been led to believe that your father is a sensible man,” Jamie explained. “No sensible man allows someone to walk into his clan without knowing where the stranger came from.”

  “Then you must tell him about your clan,” Sophia said as though it was really that simple. “You must explain to him that they did this to you, and that you are no longer safe with them. He will be sure to offer you a place with us.” Sophia sounded utterly convinced of her plan.

  “Well, we will see, won’t we, lass?” Jamie said, as he tried to pick up his pace. He couldn’t though. Every bone in his body felt as though it was splintered, if not broken in half. His clan had spent most of the day before ensuring that his injuries were real enough to be a concern and then they had thrown him out into the country with nothing but a direction in which to head.

  “Aye,” Sophia said. “I know you’re in a lot of pain, but could I ask you something?” Sophia said after they had been walking for a while.

  “Aye,” Jamie nodded his head quickly and then winced with pain.

  “You shouldn’t keep moving your head,” Sophia scolded him. “I just want to make sure that this hasn’t happened because of me,” she added quietly.

  Jamie didn’t say anything for a moment. He hadn’t considered the idea that she might work out it had been because of her. “I’m sure that it wasn’t.” Jamie said as he hobbled along.

  “But you are not certain?” Sophia asked him with worry in her eyes.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been certain about anything, lass.” Jamie said, and he tried to smile.

  “Can I ask you one more thing?”

  “Aye,” Jamie said again, but he didn’t try to nod this time.

  “Why did you pull me out of the crowd at the gathering? Was it because you knew who I was?” she asked him curiously.

  “I had no idea who you were,” Jamie said truthfully. “I only knew that you were the most beautiful girl that I had seen, and I wasn’t about to let you disappear into the night without introducing myself first,” he added softly.

  Sophia didn’t say anything. She could feel her cheeks heat up as they started to fill with color. She hadn’t been expecting Jamie to answer like that, but she was glad that he had. In the two days since she had met him, she hadn’t been able to get him off of her mind. She was glad that she wasn’t the only who felt an attraction.

  “You’ve gone quiet,” Jamie said with a little concern playing though his tone.

  “Aye, I was thinking,” Sophia said, as she stopped walking just before a group of tents. “Well, Jamie, welcome to our settlement.” She started to walk with Jamie by her side into the light, so that the other clan members could see that she had brought a visitor.

  *******

  Jamie stumbled through the open tent and landed roughly on the bed. He could hear Sophia’s quiet footsteps following him, but he didn’t have the energy to turn his head and look. Every inch of his body ached with the beating he had received the day before. His lungs felt as though they were on fire from the effort to keep them full with air. He closed his eyes for a second to try and block out the overwhelming aching
, but it didn’t work.

  “And who, daughter, is this?” Jamie heard a gruff voice ask from somewhere close to the tent door.

  “Father,” Sophia said, and Jamie could hear a slight panic in her voice, “this is Jamie; I met him at the clans’ gathering,” she explained. “He has been hurt badly and he needs our help.”

  “What clan had he left from?” Sophia’s father asked.

  “I’m unsure, father, I know only that he’s hurt and we must help him.” Sophia’s voice sounded gentle and caring.

  “You have a big heart, lass,” Sophia’s father said. “Leave me to speak with our guest and I shall call you back later if all is well.”

  “Father, I should stay with him,” Sophia argued.

  “You may come back later, Sophia,” her father said sternly.

  “Okay,” Sophia said, and then Jamie heard quiet footsteps walking away from the tent. He waited for the sound to disappear before he used up the last of his energy to turn and face the clan leader who was also Sophia’s father.

  “You have been hurt badly,” Sophia’s father said as his eyes examined the damage that could be seen without any difficulty.

  “Aye,” Jamie said.

  “Your clan did this?” Sophia’s father asked with what looked like intrigue in his eyes.

  “Aye,” Jamie repeated.

  “Did you break one of their laws? What provoked such a beating?” Sophia’s father asked.

  “I was seen talking to your daughter and my clan thought I was betraying them,” Jamie said and he listened to the sound of his own voice, to ensure that he couldn’t hear a waiver of a lie.

  “My daughter is the reason they beat you?” Sophia’s father asked with surprise.

  “No, their lack of trust was what brought them to beat me and kick me out of their clan,” Jamie said bitterly.

  “They’ve removed you from the clan?” Sophia’s father pushed him for more information.

  “Aye, they told me to never return, even if I survived,” Jamie said sadly.

  “This seems like a great shame. Can you fight?” Sophia’s father asked him as he eyed up his broad shoulders and tight muscles.