Callum and Angus had been searching nearby, in hopes they would come across wherever Gregor may be kept. Angus had wanted to question the men, but Callum was concerned that would lead them to killing Gregor or refusing to share his whereabouts. He had tried to track them, but so far anytime he had done so they went only where they had said they were going to, which was most often hunting, trapping, or down to the pub.
He sighed as he pushed open the door to Sarah’s house, and stopped instantly. “Ladies! My apologies, I—”
“Oh no, come in Callum.” Maisie stood in the centre of the room, absolutely beaming in a long white gown. “What do you think? Charlie had the fabric in his store and Sarah is so smart with the needle, she brought it together for the wedding.”
“You look absolutely beautiful, Maisie,” said Callum, bending low and kissing her hand. “Gilbert is a very lucky man.”
He took a glance at Victoria. She was staring at her friend, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“Victoria, whatever is the matter?”
“Oh nothing at all! She is such a beautiful bride. I simply love weddings. Now you must go, Callum, as I don’t want you to see the dress I will be wearing until Maisie’s wedding day. I know there is no reason for you not to, but I would like to be able to surprise you with something. Now go!” She gave him a little nudge with a laugh.
He took the stairs up to their room, but her words resonated with him on the way. She loved weddings? She was practically crying at Maisie in her wedding dress. And she had been married in borrowed shoes and no undergarments, with strangers as witnesses.
When Victoria came to their room some time later, Callum was sitting up in bed, stripped down to his breeches as he waited for her.
Victoria softly shut the door, then leaned against it. She took in the sight of her husband, his strong chest atop the muscled abdominal that tapered into a vee. Sighing wistfully she said, “I’m so excited for her, Callum. She deserves happiness again. And this wedding will be such fun.”
“Victoria,” he replied, extending his hand out to her. “I stole your wedding from you. You never had the opportunity to wear the beautiful dress or to have Sarah see you walk down the aisle. Ye didn't have the flowers or the church or any of the wedding rituals that, I realize from my sister, young women dream about. I never gave it any thought. Your wedding night was spent in the woods!”
She pulled her hand back, then crawled on the bed, kneeling overtop his legs and cradling his face in her hands. “How can you be serious about this? Callum, you gave me everything I could have wanted. Because of you I was set free of the binds that had held me since my father passed. You gave me hope again. And I loved our night in the woods — truly I did. In fact,” her eyes gleamed and the corner of her mouth curled up, “perhaps we should try it again sometime.”
His face had relaxed during her speech, and he pulled her against him, curling his arm around her and hugging her chest in to his neck. “We should, should we? I think I could likely arrange that.”
“The day after the wedding?’
“Sure Victoria, the day after the wedding.”
Laughing, they tumbled together onto the bed.
Saturday, Maisie’s wedding day, brought absolutely beautiful weather. The sun was a brilliant ball of light, a shining backdrop to her fitted white dress, complete with a beautiful lace bodice. Victoria helped Maisie lift her skirts high off the dusty ground to keep them clean as they walked down the steps to the carriage.
Victoria smiled as she felt the soft satin of her own dress rustle around her ankles. She was in love with the sky blue material, a color Sarah said was the perfect compliment to her complexion. A single braid adorned the waistband of the dress, offsetting a simple bodice and three-quarter length sleeves. Callum, Gilbert and Charlie helped Maisie, Archie, Sarah and Victoria into the carriage, before climbing aboard themselves. As Charlie sent the horses clomping down the street toward Lebret, Victoria closed her eyes, angling her face toward the sun’s shining light as she held her hat in place and leaned into Callum’s arm, wrapped securely around her waist. As they left the dust of town, the fresh air of evergreens and elm trees filled her senses and she basked in the beauty of it all.
Callum was taken in by beauty of a different sort. While no one could deny that Victoria was a looker, it wasn’t just her face that made her beautiful. It was her spirit. Like the way she was right now, enjoying the moment and soaking up all it offered to her. She just let everything go and lived in and for the moment. It made her face radiate the happiness she was feeling. Like as if she soaked in the brilliance to let it shine back out.
She opened her eyes and met his, her mouth cracking into a mischievous grin. She quickly caught the seriousness of his gaze, and her smile faltered as she picked up on his mood. They shared an intense stare, oblivious to the others around them.
“Callum, are you all—”
She was stopped mid sentence as the carriage came to a jarring halt in front of the chapel.
“Here we are,” said Charlie in his usual jovial manner. The moment between Callum and Victoria was broken as they all began to disembark.
“My goodness,” Sarah said to herself as she gathered her skirts and made her way towards the church. She hadn’t missed the intense tension that had overtaken the carriage. “Whatever is happening between those two, they better determine what they’re about soon. Too many feelings there.”
She soon forgot all about Callum and Victoria’s relationship as she stepped in the doors of the small chapel. The six of them assembled around Father John, who beamed at them as they gathered in the comfortable space in front of the altar.
“Wonderful to have you back,” said the priest, smiling at Callum and Victoria. “And may I say how ‘appy I am to marry the two of you, Maisie and Gilbert, today.”
With that, he carried on with the ceremony. Gilbert smiled nervously while Maisie cried all the way through to “I do.” Callum stole a glance at Victoria, but she was entirely focused on her friend throughout.
When it was over, they all cheerfully left the chapel to celebrate with a small dinner at Sarah’s home.
When the dinner was over and the guests had departed, Callum and Victoria went to bed. Tired but filled with the spirit of the day, they slowly made love before drifting off to sleep.
Callum was pulling on his boots Monday morning when he heard a knock on the door downstairs. Waiting for Sarah’s cheerful good morning, it took him a moment to remember that she would have already left for the clinic. It was strange, living in the house of another woman, but she certainly was welcoming.
Leaving Victoria sleeping in the bed, he rushed down the stairs and pulled the door open to Mrs. Johnson. After initial greetings, she held out a package to him.
“This came for you at the boardinghouse,” she told him. “It’s all the way from Scotland. I hope it brings good tidings.”
She went on her way, leaving Callum to stare at the package, his name and address scrawled in his father’s bold, dark handwriting.
He found a letter opener, sat at the kitchen table, and opened the envelope with a mixture of dread and anticipation rolling through his stomach.
My son Callum,
It has been some time since we last heard from you. I hope and pray you are getting on well in the North-West Territories, and that you have found your cousin, my nephew, Gregor. I trust no one but you in this effort to find him and bring him home.
On that subject, Callum, I have made a decision. I am getting on in years and my body can no longer keep with the toils it requires to seek a proper estate for our clan. While I will remain chieftain in name, I require an able body to take on the physical tasks. Finlay has been of great help, but the people need to see the successor day in and day out. They are in need of a future chieftain and his wife. Mac McTavish has been to see me. It is time for you to be married to Kyla, or he will find another for her. As you know, the union of the clans is important for ou
r continued resilience.
I ask that you now come home. If you have not found Gregor by this time, I feel we must resign ourselves to the fact that he is never coming home. As devastating as it may be to not know his fate, I do not wish to lose you as well in your quest to find him.
I hope to be reunited with you soon.
Your Father,
Duncan McDougall
Callum sighed and rubbed his forehead. There was so much to explain — to his father and to Victoria. His life seemed to be split, with half of it back home in Scotland and the other here, in Fort Qu'Appelle. Additionally, he knew he could not abandon his quest to find Gregor as his father asked. His father had only hesitantly agreed to this journey, and now that it wasn’t proving fruitful Callum knew his agreement would be weighing on his mind. Kyla was another issue entirely.
The letter also caused him to admit to himself that perhaps he had not been as attentive to his duties as he should have been. He guiltily thought of the nights he’d spent with Victoria as his cousin suffered an unknown fate. With new resolve, he stuffed the letter in his satchel and hurried out the door to continue his countryside search.
Victoria woke lazily, smiling to herself as she thought of all Callum had taught her the night before. Why had she ever resisted marriage? She swung her legs out of bed, not surprised to find Callum up and gone. He was an early riser, unlike herself, a night owl. While far from the only difference between them, they seem to manage it just fine.
She threw on a wrap and went downstairs to make tea. She poured the water over the tea to begin steeping and turned to snag one of Sarah’s amazing scones when she heard a crinkle beneath her foot. She turned to see a piece of paper on the floor, stuck beneath the leg of the chair. She picked it up, and was struck by the strong scrawl that lined the pages. When she saw it was addressed to Callum, she told herself not to read it. She folded it, then set it on a side table for him. She poured her cup of tea, carried it to the table, and sat down with her newest novel, The Portrait of a Lady. Originally published as a magazine serial, Marian had told her about the book before she left, and Charlie had finally tracked down a copy for her. Interestingly, it was about an American who ran away from it all to Europe.
As good as it was though, she couldn’t get into the book. Her gaze kept flicking over to the letter that lay folded a few feet away.
Finally she sighed and gave in to the temptation. She picked up the thick parchment, and her eyes flitted over the words quickly from one side of the page to the next. She knew Callum respected his father, but she also knew him well enough now to realize that he wouldn’t give up his quest until he’d found what he came here for. Then she came to the line about Kyla. Her pulse quickened and a heat rose from her toes up to her cheeks. Why in God’s name had she never heard of this woman? Did Callum not think she may be important to mention to his wife? She had given him ample opportunity to tell her about any other women in his life. She’d asked time and again if there was anyone here or at home, and it was always a resounding no. Why had he lied? His father said in this letter their marriage was important to unionize the clans, and she knew that would mean something to Callum, particularly if it was important to his father.
She sat there in silence for a few moments more, then folded the letter back together, placed it on the table, and went upstairs to get dressed, resolved to find answers before the day was over.
It proved to be a trying wait for the answers Victoria sought. The longer the day wore on, the more her anger peaked. She worked in the clinic, more abrupt than usual with patients, to the point where Sarah asked her whatever was the matter. What was she supposed to say? Oh, nothing much, I’m just going to have to return to Scotland with my husband, where I am not going to be welcomed by his father or family, since apparently he was supposed to marry another woman that would unite their clans and improve all of their lives. Sarah would be shocked. Sensing Victoria’s mood, she left to have supper with Charlie, unknowingly leaving Callum unguarded to the fate that awaited him in the ball of fury on the couch.
The moment he walked in the door, he knew he was in trouble.
“Victoria?” he said questioningly at her motionless face, to the stormy purple eyes fixated on him. “Is something the matter?”
“Tell me Callum,” she said, “when I asked you if there was a woman in your life, do you recall what you told me?”
“The truth,” he said slowly, “that there wasn’t one.”
“Oh?” she said, “no Kyla?”
It quickly dawned on him what this was about. There was only on way she could have known about Kyla. He checked his pockets, his bag, but came up empty.
“You found the letter,” he said with a sigh as he pulled a chair from the kitchen table, flipped it around and straddled it backwards, facing her.
“Yes, I found the letter,” she said, his nonchalance angering her even further. “And it contained some very interesting information. Information that, perhaps, my husband should have shared with me before we were actually married.”
“In my defence,” said Callum, “I didn't have much time. And besides —”
“Callum!”she said, incredulously, as she stood and began to pace. “I asked you plenty of times before we were married if there was another woman in your life. Not only was there a woman, but you were supposed to marry this Kyla! How are you supposed to marry her with a wife? Or were all those words about this being a lasting marriage and your ‘word is your bond’ just words? And if you did mean it, then your father wants you to come home, and to come home now, and that means that we are both going home. Which is something that, perhaps, I should be aware of. Or do you think I should just be following you whenever, wherever, like a good little wife? This is why I never wanted to be married and why I didn’t want you to marry me, or stay married to me, if you didn’t want to be!”
As she paused to take a breath, Callum intervened. He stood, clasped her wrists, and led her back to sit on the couch.
“I didn't tell you about Kyla because I’m not going to marry her. ‘Tis the plan of our fathers, and while she’s interested, I never could. My brother is in love with her.”
“Your brother?”
“Aye, Finlay. He’s in love with her, always has been. She wants nothing to do with him, but that’s besides the point. I could never betray him like that.”
“Oh.”
The pent-up fury of the day, which, she had to admit to herself was actually hard-edged jealousy, eased with his explanation and she felt slightly ridiculous.
“And your father’s request to go home?”
“I will not return until I find Gregor. I know I’m close,” he said. “But return I must once I do. Will you come with me, Victoria? I would not force you to. I never would.”
It was the first time they had truly broached the subject, that he had actually asked.
She nodded. “Yes, I’ll come with you.”
She averted her gaze but he could see the set of her jaw, the tightness of her shoulders, telling him what her words would not. She would go, however much her soul ached to stay here.
20
His thoughts preoccupied him the next morning as he made his way down to the stable, found Ansgar, and then swung onto the saddle and pointed him in the direction of the barracks.
For the first night since they were married, they hadn’t made love the night before. Victoria, feigning tiredness, had gone upstairs while he wrote a letter back to his father, telling him that his return would not be immediate, and that he would be bringing a wife back with him. He was quite pleased he would not be there when his father read his correspondence. When he finished, went upstairs and opened the door to the bedroom, Victoria had been turned to the wall, her eyes squeezed shut, but her body radiating enough tension to tell him she was awake.
He was so distracted that morning that his usual instincts didn’t pick up anything unusual on the trail. His horse was a bit skittish, but he didn’t read anything i
nto it. A few new scents on the trail perhaps.
Suddenly Ansgar reared up, and Callum grasped desperately at the reins to keep from being startled off the horse. When he convinced him to land on all fours once more, he tried to settle Ansgar and dismounted to investigate what it was that had spooked him. He jumped back himself when he saw the snake on the trail. It was coiled on the path, but he could tell it was thick and seemed ready to strike. It was unlike any he had seen in these parts so far. How did it find itself here? As he started slowly backing up the horse, he heard a crack in the dry prairie grass behind him but before he could turn he felt something hard and sharp strike the side of his head. Then everything turned black.
Four hours later, Callum still hadn’t returned. With all her nervous energy, Victoria had accomplished more in a few hours than she typically did in a few days. She had cleaned her room, the kitchen, washed all of the dishes, and prepared the laundry. Victoria was to have today off from the doctor’s office, but now felt she would have much preferred going in and staying busy. There was too much on her mind.
Victoria wanted to talk to Sarah, to tell her all that had transpired and that she would soon be traveling to Scotland, but she was working with Dr. Hampton and had much more important things to worry about than Victoria’s issues. Victoria finally decided she needed to talk to Callum again and would go to the barracks to find him herself.
Feeling a walk would do her good today, she smiled at passersby through town and then set off down the usual path to the barracks, which was becoming familiar to her. She had brought a few provisions as it did take some time to walk to the barracks and back, but it let her work off all of her nervous energy.
Quest of Honor Page 30
