As if she just digested what he said, she asked, “Isna Gabriel and Bryce going with ye? What about Charlie?”
“Yes, they are coming. I will meet them half way to the McArylls. I sent a missive to Gabriel.”
“Did ye? I’d had hoped to give him something for Meghan.”
“I used yer messenger,” he said with a smirk and she laughed. “The other messenger wasna here and I needed Gabriel to be apprised of my decision immediately.”
“Alright.”
“As for Charlie, I’ve spoken with him. He will stay here as a watch.”
“‘Tis an honor for him, I’m sure” she said sarcastically.
“Aye, it is,” Charlie said smiling, walking over as he came into the great room. “I guard the laird’s greatest treasure and my deceased good friend’s daughter. It is an honor for me.”
Andie smiled warmly at Charlie. “See, Gavin. I will be taken care of with Charlie here.”
“I know my darling,” Gavin said, kissing her on the lips. Charlie wished Gavin a good battle and left.
“Riley, come here,” he yelled to his son who ran by.
“Yes, Papa?” He was breathing through his mouth and carrying a worm.
Gavin squatted down to Riley’s height. “Riley, I am leaving now and willna return for a fortnight. I have a verra important duty for ye.”
Riley’s chest puffed out. “Yes, Papa, I can do it!” he said eagerly.
“I know ye can. I want ye to be with Andie, alright? She grows large with yer sister-” at Andie’s clearing of her throat, he added, “or brother. Andie is in a verra delicate condition. Can ye make sure for me that she doesna strain herself and that she remains safe?”
Riley stood taller and nodded his head, imitating the warriors he’d seen. “Aye, Laird.”
Gavin wanted to laugh but Andie gave him a stern look. “Verra well then, my little warrior. But, ‘tis Papa, nay Laird, alright?”
Riley smiled and nodded. “Yes, Papa.”
Gavin straightened and ruffled Riley’s hair. He leaned down and gave Andie a kiss. This was how life should be, he thought. Being with my lovely wife, my beautiful son, and soon-to-be-born bairn. He walked towards the door. Every step was difficult to take, for it left behind his family.
Andie watched Gavin walk towards his waiting men. She felt a cramp and yelled out, “Gavin!” She saw him turn to her and she quickly masked the pain as it ebbed away. The fear and worry she saw momentarily on his face told her what she needed to say.
“I love ye.” She smiled at him.
He smiled in return and said, “I love ye.” He quickly turned around, bringing his hand to his abdomen. He felt a mometary stab of pain.
Leaving my wife not only played an emotional toll, but a physical one as well, he thought, as he walked over to his men who were readying to leave.
Chapter Seventeen
“The snow is unrelenting,” she whispered, huddling closer into the cloak. The active baby kept somersaulting in her womb. She rubbed her tummy in an effort to calm the anxious baby.
“It is, isna it, Andie?” Riley asked, excitedly.
She looked down at Riley and passed her hand down over his head. He’d been a Godsend through these last two weeks since Gavin’s absence. Two weeks- hadn’t Gavin said he’d be back by now? She missed him, worried about him, and yearned for him. During these difficult few weeks, Riley had been there for her, bringing her water and small items, as well as keeping her company.
Why hadn’t he returned yet? Was he in danger? She remembered the snow that fell the day after Gavin had left. It had been harsh, but not as harsh as today. The snow would have slowed them down. Now, two weeks later, the snow was unforgiving again. She shivered, praying that he would come home soon. The bairn-
She gripped the window harshly, gritting her teeth. Her nails scraped and broke against the ledge. The cramps were frequent but shortlived. They made her anxious, though. She couldn’t get through the birth without Gavin. She had a horrible foreboding premonition and it was like nothing she’d ever had. It felt as if something horrible was going to happen. Tears gathered around her lashes but she quickly blinked. She didn’t want Riley to worry.
“Papa will be home soon,” he said, placing his small hand in her left one.
She smiled down at him. “I know, Riley. Ye are such a good son.”
A mixture of perplexity and hope crossed his features. “Ye think of me as a son?”
She moved her right hand from the window to her belly. “Aye, of course I do. I love ye, as if I birthed ye.”
He moved forward and hugged her. His head rested on her belly. “I love ye, too, Andie. I wish…I wish…” he began but was unable to finish.
“Ye wish what?” she asked, running her hands through his hair. He shook his head, obviously in embarrassment. “Come now, ye can tell me. No need to be embarrassed.”
“I wish I could call ye Mama.”
Her heart fluttered and tears came to her eyes. Damn but she was emotional these days. When Andie kept silent, Riley looked up at her and immediately stepped back with a horrified expression on his face.
“I’m sorry, Andie. I didna want to make ye cry!” he said, in a high-pitched panicky voice. “I always make Mamas cry and they always hate me,” he said, letting his own tears fall.
Andie took his hand and walked over to the bed. She sat down gingerly and told him to look at her. “Oh, Riley,” she sighed, looking at this young boy who was a mere six years old, but who had aged too soon. “Remember that other time when I cried tears of joy?” She waited until he nodded. “‘Tis the same now. I am happy. Ye make me happy. And I would be honored,” she said, her voice fading with emotion, “if ye would call me Mama.”
“Why?”
“Because I already feel as if I am.”
His smile was hesistant. “Really?”
She smiled back at him and touched his nose. “Aye, really.” He hugged her tightly, so tightly, that he felt the baby move again. “See, even the bairn is excited.”
Riley laughed and together they sat on the bed. Riley told her about what he’d heard the servants gossiping about that day. She held her tongue, not wanting to ruin this precious moment with a chastisement for his eavesdropping tendencies. So there she sat with her son listening to the gossip with one ear. The other ear was trained on hearing for Gavin’s return.
“Charlie,” Andie said, hurrying over to him. The chill in the air made her shiver. “I saw the messenger leave. What of Gavin?” she asked anxiously.
Charlie shook his head. “‘Twas nay from Gavin.”
“Then who?”
“Meghan.”
“Meghan?” Immediately, Andie grew anxious. “What? Is it the bairn? She’s nay due until a month after me. Why didna she send a letter? That’s it, isna it? She’s in labor?”
Riley stoodby listening without them knowing. He’d heard Andie’s cry of alarm and came running. He stood listening to the two.
Charlie extended his hands to cover hers. “Nay, she’s nay quite ready to give birth.”
“Thank God,” Andie said, walking over to sit with a hand on her back for support. “I canna stand much these days, Charlie, forgive me. I must sit.” After making herself comfortable, she asked him, “So what has she to say? Why didna she send a note?”
“The message is quite disturbing and I shallna inform ye of it, Andie. I promised Gavin that I would look out for ye, and I shall wait until he returns.”
“Tell me, Charlie,” she said, her patience slipping. Every moment he hesitated made her body tense. She could already feel a cramp beginning in her belly. “How could the message be from Meghan, when I didna see our messenger leave here? The messenger I saw leave was the other one that Gavin was using to communicate with Gabriel and Liam.”
“He was the only one available, apparently, or so he told me when he came.” He saw Andie’s grimace of pain.
“What has she to say?” Andie said, her voice deeper as
she felt pain in her belly. “Tell me, Charlie,” she snapped.
“She’s leaving Gabriel.”
“What?” Andie exclaimed.
He nodded. “I doona know why, but the messenger said she was packing a satchel. She said she was traveling here, sun or snow.”
“No, Charlie, ye must be mistaken! Where’s the messenger? I must speak to him,” she said, struggling to get up.
Charlie watched her struggle. “Nay, Andie. He left.”
Finally she stood and gripped the chair in pain, letting an undesired groan slip through her mouth.
“Are ye alright?” Charlie asked, slowly rising.
Andie looked at him and nodded. “‘Tis nothing, Charlie,” she whispered as the cramp passed.
“Shall I get Greida?”
“Nay,” she said quickly. “She’s said before ‘tis my body preparing for the birth.” She began thinking of her options. Meghan couldn’t be serious about traveling in this snow! “When was she leaving?”
Charlie shrugged. “From what I understood, tomorrow morn.”
“But why?” she asked again, frustrated. “‘Tis so unlike her!”
“I doona know, Andie.”
“Charlie, we must send someone to stop her! She wouldna leave her husband. She loves Gabriel. Besides, he’s been with Gavin all the while, at the McArylls. He couldna have angered her recently.”
Charlie shook his head again. “I canna send anyone, Andie. We are strained here as it is. I spoke with Shaun. He canna do it.”
“Ye spoke to Shaun?”
“Aye. Gavin’s second in command responded as I did- we are too strained here to lose any one man.”
She looked at him pensively, noticeably distraught. Charlie squinted his eyes as a thought struck him.
“Doona ye even dare, Andie McBride. I will place a guard on ye if I have to. Ye canna go to her in this weather! Ye are due to give birth in a little over a fortnight. The snow is unyielding. More importantly, I would nay be alive when ye return. Yer husband would kill me.”
She smiled at him, shaking her head. “I hadna thought about going to her, Charlie, rest easy. I worry for her. I hope she comes to her senses.”
“I’ve known her for as long as I’ve known ye, Andie. She’s like my own daughter, as ye are. Yer father was like a brother, and Bryce the same. I care for both of ye. I wish I could go, but Gabriel’s men must look out for her. I am here, and I must look out for ye.”
She nodded her head, and kissed him on the cheek. “Verra well, Charlie. Thank ye for the information and please, should the messenger return, notify me.”
“I will, Andie. D’ye need help ascending the stairs?”
She shook her head. “Nay. I’d like to climb them for once, without help.”
She left Charlie in the great room. Out of nowhere, Riley ran up to her and she smiled at him. He looked up at her but didn’t mention his eavesdropping. He knew she would chide him for it and he didn’t want to upset her. At least not after the pain he’d seen on her face when her stomach cramped. He grabbed her hand, trying his best to keep her steady.
Slowly they made their way upstairs. It took a long while, but Andie took it one step at a time.
And it would be one step at a time she’d take to reach her best friend.
Chapter Eighteen
Gavin paced, seething with barely controlled rage. One of them was lying and he meant to find out whom. It had already been a fortnight that he’d been separated from his wife. Damn it! He should have conquered Alistair and should have been home by now. Curse the damn snow that made traveling here slower. At least, though, the snow had tampered the fighting enough to have both warring lairds in the same room together.
“I tell ye I didna raid the sheep!” the McAryll laird proclaimed vehemently. His face was just as red as his hair. His green eyes blazed with fury.
The Kerr Laird scoffed with barely concealed irritation. “Ye lie old mon! Ye took my sheep! Ye disgraced my women!” His milky brown eyes were steel. The gray in his hair seemed to lighten.
Gavin looked over at Laird McKendrick. He rolled his eyes. He’d come after Gavin had informed him of his intent to travel to the McArylls.
“Ye slaughtered my men!” McAryll yelled accusingly.
“What?” Kerr said, bolting out of his chair. “Never!”
“I found five of my best men slaughtered on the border! Say ye’ve nay part of it? Hmpf…” McAryll said, standing also.
Gavin stopped in the middle of his prowl, turning away from them. Damn I need to get home soon, he thought, bringing a fist to his anxious stomach. He was beginning to feel ill. His stomach was tense and cramped slightly as of late.
“I did no such thing! Who d’ye think ye’re speaking to, making false accusations!” Kerr said angrily.
Gabriel looked at Gavin, and nodded to the lairds. They saw McKendrick stand up to place himself between the two fighting lairds.
“We can solve this without resorting to fighting again. D’ye both really ache to return to the battlefield for another eight months? How many men, brothers, sons, and friends have ye lost? Damn but ye two are stubborn!” McKendrick said in his deep, resonating voice.
“I didna raid yer sheep, Kerr. But ye slaughtered my men! Unprovoked, I might add!”
“Damn it, McAryll, I didna.”
“Then ye ordered yer men to.”
“Nay! D’ye think in my old age I want a battle?”
McAryll stopped and looked at him contemplatively. “D’ye think I want to see my small clan suffer?” he said irritably.
Gavin moved forward then and looked at Kerr. “My clan has allied with the McArylls for generations now. My clan wouldna tolerate an alliance with a leader of a clan that would commit the distasteful atrocities that ye accuse him of now. The McArylls doona raid and doona disgrace women. I believe McAryll.”
“Are ye accusing me of lying? Come look at my land! Tell me where my sheep are. Look at my women! Look at the fear in their eyes!”
“You misunderstand, Kerr. I’ve nay doubt of what occurred, but I doubt the clan involved. Couldna it have been another?” Gavin asked, his hands twitching at his sides in annoyance.
“My women didna see clearly. Perhaps,” Kerr said with a slight incline of his head. That was all he was willing to give, but Gavin thought it was a start. He turned to McAryll.
“Did anyone see yer men slaughtered?”
McAryll shook his head. “Nay. We found them in the morn, at first light. Butchered they were. My closest, trusted friends.”
“See! My clan wasna at fault!” Kerr said.
“Then why would ye have so many allies come to yer aid?” McAryll said, obviously not wanting to let it go.
“I doona have that many allies, ye bloody arse! I accepted the aid without question.”
Gavin looked at Gabriel and McKendrick with surprise. “Are ye saying ye didna call them to aid ye?”
Kerr shook his head impatiently. “Nay! At least nay all of them. I called upon Lockhart for aid. The others that came, I assumed, were because of him, but I didna call them.”
“Let us have Lockhart answer for this. Send someone to him-”
“Nay!” Gavin said, interrupting McKendrick. “I have a wife at home who will be giving birth any moment now! This must end today. I am leaving this night.” He turned to Kerr. “Who joined ye?”
“Sutherland, Gordon, and MacRae.”
McAryll sneered. “Ye lie! He lies!” McAryll said, pointing at Kerr. “The Gordon laird is feuding with MacRae’s laird! They’d walk over fire before joining together to help a troubled clan.”
“What the bloody hell is going on here?” McKendrick whispered.
“Sounds as if this was all carefully orchestrated,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. Kerr and McAryll were still bickering. Gavin gritted his teeth at his stomach pain. He walked hastily over to the table and downed ale as if it was water.
“Shut the hell up!” he roared, marching into the
middle of the room. Everyone immediately stopped, looking at him with wide eyes. Gavin’s eyes glowed and they collectively inhaled. He could not contain his fury.
“Never seen the Dark Wolf. My Lord…” McAryll whispered deferentially.
“Quiet!” Gavin bellowed. His breath grew short from anger. He pictured Andie looking out their bedchamber waiting for him, worrying about his tardiness. He closed his eyes briefly, praying that she would not go into labor.
“‘Tis obvious that neither of ye are responsible for the atrocities ye are accused of committing. Something is amiss here,” Gavin said through clenched teeth.
“Aye, Maitland’s right. And because of this unnecessary delay, the McBrides have suffered terribly. They are the true clan in need of assistance with that tyrant Alistair acting as laird,” McKendrick said.
Gavin stopped, realization slapping him in the face like hard, cold snow. “Damn it!” he roared. He looked at the men with flared nostrils and glowing eyes. “D’ye nay see what has occurred! He began this feud between ye two to ensure that the McKendrick and I would send men to McAryll’s aid! He knew we are McBride’s closest allies, and he knew that we were also aligned with the McArylls.”
“But why?” McKendrick said.
“Aye. Why would that bastard wish for us to feud with the Kerrs? Our numbers are small,” McAryll said, looking surprised.
“Because he wanted the McBride allies unable to-”
“Come to the aid of the McBrides so that Alistair could lay a siege,” McKendrick finished. Gavin and Gabriel nodded their heads.
“‘Twould make it much easier for him, wouldna it?” McAryll asked.
“Aye, it would,” Gabriel said, looking at his brother. Gavin had separated himself from them and was leaning slightly over the table. A closer look at his face told Gabriel that his brother was in some kind of pain. He walked over to him.
“Gavin, are ye alright?”
Gavin straightened and Gabriel saw little beads of sweat on his forehead. Sweat, in the middle of winter without exertion?
To Have and to Trust (Heart of a Highlander Collection Book 1) Page 28
