The Highlander's Maiden

by Carole Archer

  They had a long trek across the Highlands, but instead of appreciating the beautiful scenery, Colleen stayed on the cart and barely noticed what was going on around them. When Harvey was not with her, Colleen would take out the book of Irish fairy tales the kind hearted William had given to her and she would smile as she flicked through the pages and dreamed of home.

  Eventually, after a couple of weeks of travelling, they reached Edinburgh where Harvey had his second base. Harvey told Colleen that the Highlands was his best trading ground and they had sold almost all of their stock, so they would re-stock the cart before they headed into the north of England. Colleen curled up into a ball on the floor of the cart.

  Harvey shook his head. “This was a bad idea,” he told Richard, as he climbed down from the cart. “I know she must miss her sister, but I’m doing the best I can to make her happy.”

  Richard nodded and as Robert helped Harvey to load the cart, Richard climbed up onto the seat and lifted a struggling Colleen onto his lap. She screamed and kicked out at him, shouting “put me down”, but Richard held her firmly until her struggles finally ceased. As he gazed into her eyes and said “we all care about you, we know you’re missing Kaitlyn but you’re being absolutely impossible to live with,” the pent-up emotions Colleen had refused to let go came flooding out.

  She clung to Richard as she told him that she missed Kaitlyn so much and feared she would never see her again. Richard hugged her tighter. “She’ll be OK, I promise, and so will you. If Kaitlyn was here I’m sure she’d be making the most of this opportunity to travel and appreciating the beauty all around her.”

  Colleen looked up at him and sighed, smiling as he brushed away her tears. “Now come on, put a smile on that face and start to help out around here. You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not. You might as well try and enjoy it.”

  Colleen smiled and nodded, hugging Richard once more.

  When Harvey and Robert had finished loading the cart and said they were ready to go, Richard squeezed Colleen’s hand encouragingly, before jumping down and joining Robert at the front of the cart.

  Harvey sighed as he climbed up beside Colleen and was startled when she flung her arms around him. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I know I’ve been a pain to live with, but I really do miss Kaitlyn so much. We hadn’t even got over Daddy’s death when we were torn apart,” she told him.

  Harvey nodded understandingly.

  “I want to go home so much,” she told him, “but I realise I can’t, at least not yet, so I promise that from now on I’m going to try harder. If Kaitlyn was here she would seize this opportunity with both hands and really relish the experience. When we’re reunited again I want to have loads of stories to tell her,” she smiled.

  Harvey hugged her tightly as he sighed deeply.

  Colleen smiled at him as she sat down beside him on the cart. “I will start to help out with the cooking now too,” she promised.

  Harvey smiled at her. “That would be good. You could try to help when we’re trading too. It’s good fun, seeing what you can get in exchange for the mead.”

  Colleen frowned. “I thought people paid you in cash.”

  Harvey shook his head and smiled. “No, some people do, but others don’t have any money, so they offer us mainly food or clothing, or whatever else they have. It can be fun bartering with them to see how much we can get. You should try it. You might enjoy it.”

  Colleen shook her head. “No, I couldn’t do that, but I promise I’ll try to be a little less grumpy and more helpful.”

  Harvey smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s about time,” he told her, kissing her nose. “I was beginning to think we had ‘grumpy Miss Colleen’ for the duration of our travels.”

  Colleen grinned and hugged him, promising that she was going to start having some fun and make the best of her situation.

  Over the next few days Colleen was good to her word and stopped sulking. She started to enjoy herself and there was a real change in the atmosphere aboard the cart. They travelled down through the lowlands of Scotland, stopping in Berwick where Colleen watched Harvey trade with the villagers. They came away with an abundant supply of food and also some cash.

  Colleen noticed that Richard and Robert had managed to trade a couple of bottles of mead for a bottle of whisky and she giggled as they lay under the cart that night and passed it between them before they both passed out drunk. Colleen picked up the bottle, which only had a bit left in the bottom. She took a swig and immediately pulled a face, spitting out the vile tasting liquid and rushing to get a drink of water.

  Harvey laughed and took the empty bottle from her. “It’s an acquired taste,” he told her, holding his arms out to her and smiling as she jumped onto his lap and hugged him. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she whispered. “Thank you too for not spanking me when I was so badly behaved. No-one could have blamed you,” she added, kissing him gently on the cheek before immediately falling asleep in his arms.

  Harvey smiled. “Oh, you don’t know how close you came to finding yourself across my lap, young lady,” he whispered to the sleeping girl. “Another day or two of your tantrums and I’d have given you a good reason to be sulking,” he added.

  The next day Colleen was up bright and early. She had watched Harvey light a fire and cook their breakfast the previous day and she tried her best to remember what to do, before he finally joined her and helped her to get the fire started before leaving her to cook the eggs and black pudding they had received as a trade the previous day.

  This isn’t too bad, she thought, feeling proud of herself when Harvey, Richard and Robert praised her on the breakfast she had made. She was used to the maids at home making breakfast, but it was good to have a go at it herself. She was very keen to get back on the road and she now started to enjoy watching the changing scenery as they travelled through mountains, hills, valleys, woodland and farmland.

  After the first few days, when Colleen did nothing but complain about the dowdy clothing she was wearing and having to sleep outside, she suddenly stopped complaining and started to appreciate the beauty of the places they visited.

  They met some interesting people and Harvey was pleased to see her making more of an effort and seeming to really enjoy her time with them.

  They passed into England and travelled through Northumbria, stopping off at a few small towns. Colleen had watched the men trading for a few days now, staying close to Harvey, but occasionally she wandered away to see the sheep. Kaitlyn would love this, she thought wistfully, wondering what her sister would be doing now, imagining her in the farmyard feeding the chickens and milking the cows.

  Later in the day they stopped in the Northumbrian town of Allendale. Harvey warned Colleen that she should stay close and not wander away. “We do a lot of trading here, but it is a lawless and troubled town and I need to keep you safe,” he warned. Colleen nodded and listened with interest as he pointed out the fortified farmhouses which he told her were called ‘bastles’. “They were constructed to protect the residents and their livestock from raiders,” he told her.

  “The townsfolk also mine lead around here,” he told Colleen, who listened with growing fascination.

  I can’t believe I’ve been so bad tempered since I arrived. I’ve missed out on so much already, she sighed, climbing down from the cart with Harvey and helping unload the bottles of mead.

  Colleen was delighted to watch Harvey, Richard and Robert trading and she finally plucked up the courage to have a go herself. She returned to Harvey moments later proudly carrying a live lamb.

  Harvey stared at her in disbelief. “Colleen, what on earth are we going to do with that?” he asked, laughing when she told him she had intended to get lamb for them to eat for dinner, but the trader seemed to have misunderstood her and had given her a live lamb.

  Harvey quickly intervened and was relieved when the trader took the live animal back and gave Colleen what she wanted. The trader winked at C
olleen and she giggled, realising he had only been teasing her.

  “I thought we maybe had to kill our dinner ourselves,” she told Harvey seriously, as they loaded the cart and headed on their way.

  Harvey raised his eyebrows in amusement. “And you would have killed that little lamb and cooked it for our dinner?” he asked.

  Colleen pulled a face. “No, but we could have kept it as a pet,” she suggested, giggling at the look of horror on Harvey’s face.

  The next day they headed into Tyneside and Washington where Colleen delighted in watching the horse drawn carts pulling coal towards Newcastle. Harvey shook his head in exasperation as Colleen excitedly ran towards the men loading a cart with coal. She was clutching a bottle of Harvey’s mead, which she traded for a single piece of coal. She held it out in her hand and gazed at like it was a precious jewel, before tucking it into her apron pocket for safe keeping. “At least she’s happy,” he said to Richard, as Colleen ran towards them smiling brightly. Harvey immediately took out his handkerchief and wiped coal dust from her hands and cheeks.

  Colleen conversed good-naturedly with the pit men as they finished their long shift down the mines and Harvey sighed as she traded a few more bottles for a few more lumps of coal.

  “They looked like they needed a drink,” Colleen told him, when Harvey said they were supposed to be selling the goods, not giving them away. As Colleen proudly added the pieces of coal to the pile of goods they had acquired that day, Harvey couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her innocence.

  He glanced at Richard and Robert, stashing a bottle of whisky they had just traded his mead for. He grinned as he whispered to himself: “They’ll be drunk under the cart later after drinking that. I guess Colleen’s doing no worse than they are.”

  Harvey laughed. “As long as we’re all well fed and I make enough profit to keep up my production of the mead, then everything is fine. Why shouldn’t we all pick up a few treats along the way?” he said to no-one in particular.

  The following day, at Colleen’s insistence, they travelled along Hadrian’s Wall, heading for its starting point at Wallsend. She was thrilled when Harvey once more shared his knowledge with her, telling her that the wall dated back to Roman times and spread right across the country from North Shields to Cumbria.

  “I wish we had time to travel all the way across it,” she sighed wistfully.

  Harvey smiled and put his arm around her. “Not this time, but maybe in the future we could do that,” he said, grateful when she smiled and did not argue with him.

  Colleen jumped down from the cart a few times, running alongside the wall, giggling as she lay down beside it and reached out to touch the stones. “I’m hiding from the English,” she told Harvey, as he smiled down at her.

  “You’re on the wrong side of the wall,” he told her, “they’ll be able to see you”.

  Harvey laughed as Colleen climbed over a low part of the wall and ran along the other side, occasionally dropping to the floor and hiding from them. She continued this game for quite some time and Harvey smiled as she reappeared each time after only a few seconds.

  Colleen appeared to be tiring but still continued her game, and Harvey smiled brightly as he climbed down from the cart and crouched down behind the wall. Colleen squealed with delight when she popped up from the other side and saw Harvey was not on the cart. She jumped across the wall and quickly found him, giggling as she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight. “Thank you,” she told him, “this is so much fun.”

  Harvey smiled and helped her to her feet. “You look exhausted,” he told her. “Would you like to get back on the cart yet?” he asked.

  Colleen giggled. “No,” she squealed, jumping over the wall and running ahead.

  Smiling brightly, Harvey jumped back up onto his seat on the cart. “I wish I had her energy,” he said to Richard and Robert, who laughed heartily as Colleen continued to run ahead, hide behind the wall and jump out as they approached her.

  Eventually exhausting herself with her game, Colleen shouted for Richard and Robert to stop the cart and let her get back on. She climbed aboard and sat beside Harvey, almost immediately falling asleep with her head against his shoulder. She was so exhausted that she didn’t even wake when they settled down for the night and Harvey lifted her from the seat and lay her down, covering her with a blanket.

  “Goodnight,” he whispered, kissing her cheek and smiling.

  The next morning Colleen greeted Harvey with a hug and a kiss. He was up early and had already prepared breakfast when she got up. “I’m starving,” she told him, realising she had missed dinner the night before.

  Harvey smiled. “You exhausted yourself with so much fresh air and exercise,” he told her. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you,” he added, handing her a huge plate of breakfast.

  After a hearty breakfast they headed down to Newcastle and after finishing a very successful morning’s trading, they headed down to Sunderland where Colleen had another go at trading, getting some salt this time, as well as some ribbons for her hair that she’d spotted in amongst the man’s goods.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” the man told her, as he handed over the ribbons and salt in exchange for a bottle of mead.

  Harvey laughed when another trader told Colleen he wanted more than one bottle of mead for the eggs he was offering her. She walked back to the cart and returned to him moments later, handing him a lump of coal and taking the eggs from him. The man stood open mouthed as she walked away, before he laughed loudly at the cheek of the young woman.

  Colleen looked at Harvey and smiled. “I know he wanted a second bottle of mead, but he should have said that. He just said he wanted more than one bottle of mead so that’s exactly what I gave him.”

  Harvey laughed and waited until Colleen wasn’t looking before he approached the man and handed him a second bottle of mead. “She’s just learning,” he explained, refusing to take the piece of coal back from the man. “No, keep it,” he insisted, “something to remember her by!”

  Colleen happily added her eggs to their food stores as they loaded the cart before trundling on their way once more. She climbed onto Harvey’s lap and hugged him tightly.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I do miss my sister. I think about her every day, but I’m having so much fun.”

  Harvey smiled. “I’m pleased you’re enjoying it, and you’re quite a good little trader too,” he praised her.

  Colleen beamed with pride and reached into her pocket, pulling out the ribbons that were covered in soot from the lump of coal she insisted on carrying around with her at all times. She told Harvey it was her good luck charm. She brushed the dirt from the ribbons and tied them into her hair, before wrapping her arms around Harvey, laying her head against his chest and drifting off to sleep.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, back in Ireland, Kaitlyn was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Colleen had gone. She acknowledged that Colleen was not dead like her parents were, but it was little consolation when Colleen was across the sea in Scotland or England and she couldn’t see her. She might as well be dead, she pouted unhappily.

  Whereas Colleen’s days were filled with travelling and trading, Kaitlyn was stuck inside with Alroy, confined to the house apart from the rare occasions he allowed her to go out and feed the chickens or milk the cows. Since Colleen had gone, Alroy had become even stricter about her not leaving the house, telling her it was for her own safety as the English would still be looking for her sister and he did not want them to find Kaitlyn instead.

  Alroy is being so good to me, Kaitlyn thought. He can’t do enough to help me, but the only thing I really want is my sister back.

  Kaitlyn stepped out of the bath tub, which Alroy had filled for her. She rubbed herself dry and slipped her nightgown on before going into the living room with her hairbrush and ribbons.

  Kaitlyn sat on the sofa beside Alroy and looked at him. Her eyes filled with tears and Alroy wrappe
d his arms around her. “I know, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I know you miss her. I do too.”

  Taking the hairbrush from her, he gestured for her to sit on his lap. Kaitlyn smiled as he brushed her hair gently, wincing when he occasionally pulled her hair. Kaitlyn closed her eyes and thought of the nights when she had sat on her Daddy’s lap as he brushed out her long, dark hair.

  Kaitlyn sighed happily as Alroy divided her hair and started to braid it, as he had watched her do many times. When he had finished he took the ribbons from her and tied them into the ends of her hair.

  “Time for bed,” he whispered, and Kaitlyn obediently stood and allowed Alroy to lead her by the hand, up the stairs and into her bedroom. She looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection.

  It’s quite obvious Alroy has no daughters, she thought, smiling to herself as she took the two uneven braids in her hands and examined them. She grinned as she looked at the lop-sided bows he’d tied with the ribbons. He’s clearly never braided hair before in his life! Kaitlyn was tempted to undo his hard work and do it properly, but she was touched that he had made the effort and did not want to offend him.

  Turning to face him, Kaitlyn smiled. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “You’ve done a great job.”

  Alroy held his arms out towards her, pulling her close and hugging her tightly. “Oh Kaitlyn,” he whispered, tenderly kissing the top of her head. “We both know that isn’t true. I’ve made a mess and we both know it, but it’s kind of you to pretend otherwise.”

  Kaitlyn smiled and shook her head. “You’ve done a great job. Thank you,” she whispered.

  As Alroy pulled back the covers and helped Kaitlyn into bed, she wondered what Colleen was doing now.

  Alroy sat on the bed beside her and gently stroked her hair. “When you were a little girl and your parents went out for the evening, I used to read you a bedtime story. I guess you’re a little too old for that now, aren’t you?” he smiled.

  Kaitlyn grinned and hugged him. “Unless you know a fairy story that ends where the silly and foolish young Irish girl returns home safely to be reunited with her sister, where they live happily ever after in their father’s castle?” she asked hopefully.