by Alisa Adams
And Swan could get through her retching spells without either of the men knowing.
Then they readied their horses for the last of the journey to Brough.
6
They continued north and then west, and finally they came to the peninsula of Dunnet Head. The bogs became fewer. The sun seemed to leave a golden cast over everything, giving the landscape an ethereal glow.
They rode through great swaths of beautiful purple heather which stretched far and wide and grew up into rolling hills and down the other side like a stunning purple, pink, and green carpet that blew softly in the breezes.
The peninsula was still heavy with peat, but the ground was firmer and the grasses greener, blowing constantly with the salty sea breeze.
Swan, Neely, and Kaithria looked at each other and smiled as they drew in deep breaths of the wonderful smell of the sea.
Towards the end of the afternoon, they had almost reached the tip of Dunnet Head. They were coming towards the most northern part of Scotland.
Brough.
They stopped as one. No one had to call halt. The sight that met their eyes made them all stop.
They sat on their horses looking at what they could see of the top of the castle, just off in the distance. The lone turret was blackened, its stones jagged and uneven from the destruction of the fire.
Steil was the first to urge his horse forward, his eyes never leaving what was left of Brough Castle.
Neely nudged Teeth on, following Steil at a distance.
The others waited, respectively, knowing Steil would need a moment when he arrived at what was left of his home.
When Neely reached the castle, Steil was off his horse, walking around the debris at the base of the castle.
Teeth sniffed the air, his ears up. He nickered softly, happy to be home. The stone stables were relatively still intact since they were separate and far enough away from the castle not to have been burned. The stone walls still outlined some of the paddocks for the horses.
Neely led Teeth and Ben Nevis over to a paddock and took their saddles and bridles off and turned them loose to go have a roll in the grass. She found a wooden bucket and was happy to find fresh water in the well for the horses.
She walked slowly down to her old cottage, giving Steil privacy.
Afraid to hope that perhaps her da would be there.
Her cottage was just as she left it, though dusty and filthy with what the ocean breezes constantly blew in. She cleaned what she could and when she grew tired, she left.
There was no sign that her da had been there.
When she walked back up to the castle, the others had arrived. They had turned out their horses as well and fetched them water and oats. Rabbit seemed very at home, grazing alongside the horses.
It was growing dark now as she glanced around for Steil.
Keir and Kaithria had gone into the castle with a lantern and were poking around.
Neely saw Cat and Swan; they were cleaning the stables with another lantern.
Those were the lanterns they had brought. There were no other lanterns lying around. So who lit lanterns here at Brough that people reported seeing? Neely wondered.
There was only one beach that was accessible at Brough. The rest of the shoreline around the peninsula was all cliffs. She followed the steep path down to the beach. It was growing even darker as she walked onto the lighter sands of the beach. She could see the angry white tips of the almost black waves as they crashed loudly onto the shore. She looked left and right for Steil, thinking he had gone for a walk along the beach.
She looked again at the dark, frothy waves. The sea was angry and volatile this evening as the tide rushed in. Much too dangerous for any fishing boats to be out there, Neely thought to herself, as she watched a particularly tall wave crash down with a thundering boom onto the beach. She looked again, out beyond the massive waves.
She thought she had seen something out there. Her breath caught. There it was again.
“Steil!” She hadn’t realized she screamed it out loud. But any sound was overwhelmed and deafened by the thundering of the waves crashing ashore.
She ran towards the retreating wave, trying to get closer, calling again.
It was him! Steil was swimming out, further out, into the rough sea.
What is he thinking? Neely thought in a panic. The firth around the peninsula was known to be deadly, for the tides were fast and violent, and the waves huge.
Neely did not waste any time. She kicked her boots off, then her skirt, until she was wearing only her chemise. She threw her boots and skirt and blouse up the beach, out of the reach of the waves. Then she turned back to the dark, angry waves and took a deep breath. I can do this. She was terrified of the dark water and those violent waves. But she would do this. She thought of Swan singing through her fears. Neely sang a song to herself.
And dove under the first wave.
The wave pushed her back and rolled her over and around but she kept kicking with her legs, pulling herself up and forward with her arms. She breached the water and gulped for air, just in time to see the next monstrous wave about to descend down upon her head. She gulped in another breath and dove through that wave as well, and the next and the next. Each time she came up she looked around for Steil.
Neely swam on, hoping she was swimming in the right direction. She had fought past the waves, but beyond them, the swells were enormous. Some even had white caps as well and were moving fast, the backs of them turning into hulking, hunchbacked, towering monsters the closer they reached the shoreline.
The sky was fully dark now, but a soft moon lit the water and she could see swathes of black seaweed and other debris churned up in the water. A patch of it swirled towards her and she pushed it away with a shiver of fear. She felt an overwhelming panic envelop her there in the dark night and the blackness of the water.
She took a calming breath and let the swells lift her up as she looked all around her. Her arms moved through the water to keep the floating, churned up patches of sea debris away from her. Her legs and feet treaded the water rapidly beneath her as she spun this way and that, looking for movement out beyond her on the surface of the water.
There! Neely spotted Steil. He was lit by the silver of the moonlight in a patch of water. She felt a surge of relief. Neely quickly changed the direction she was going and kicked towards him.
Neely swam with all her might. One of Swan’s songs was raging in her head again, urging her on with a strength she did not know she had. She sang it in her mind, in time with her strokes.
She kilted up her green clieden,
An after him she gaed.
I learnt it in my mother's bour,
I wish I had learnt it weel.
That I could swim this wan water,
As weel as fish or eel.
Neely rested another moment, treading the water as she caught her breath, stifling an exhausted sob. She let the swells lift her up once more. As she was lifted, she screamed out Steil’s name, calling to him as she watched as he continued to swim farther out. Away from her.
Neely stifled her panic. If she kept going she would not have the strength to swim back in. She knew this. She was tiring now, her arms and legs feeling heavy in the cold water. She stifled back the fear and the sobs that were pushing against the back of her throat.
Then she took a breath and swam after him.
Steil swam with all the rage and frustration that was within him. His strong arms fought the waves like they were his enemies. His arms and legs pounded through the black water and fought through the waves and swells as if to say, “Go ahead, take me!”
His home was naught but black char. The crofters' huts were in ashes. Nothing was left.
I should have died in those battles. Not my men. They had homes, families waiting for them. But they will not return. They died. And I survived.
With nothing left for him.
It made no sense. Fate was ever a cruel and fickle thing.
He thought he heard one of his mates scream his name. It came again, and then again. The heartrending, grievous cries as they died in his arms on the battlefield that had been haunting his dreams.
It came again. He stopped, treading the water as he turned about. It was a high-pitched voice. His brows furrowed as he stared into the darkness with only the stars and moon to give any light onto the sea.
There!
A white arm, waving to him.
And then his name again.
He stared, struck. Neilina?
She called his name again, her voice weakening as she tried to stay afloat, swimming towards him, but the swells were picking her up and pushing her away.
Steil focused on her with unrelenting intensity as he kicked off through the waves towards her. His strong legs pounded through the water furiously, fighting against the swells that were pushing and pulling her away from him.
“Neilina!” he shouted in a strong voice. “Neilina!”
A swell picked her up and spun her away. Steil saw the panic in her eyes as she tried valiantly to turn back and swim in his direction.
“Swim, Neilina! Swim to me!” he commanded.
“Steil—” she tried to call out but was gasping with exhaustion. “I cannae— ” A wave picked her up, its white foam taking her under.
Steil swam furiously, scanning the waters, looking desperately for where she would surface. Finally her head shot out of the water as she gasped and gulped at the air.
She was tiring, Steil could see that. Brave girl that she was, she was still trying, though her movements were becoming weak and heavy.
“Hold on Neilina, hold on!” he bellowed as he stroked powerfully towards her.
And then at last he reached her, throwing his arm around her waist and pulling her to him. He lifted her up to his chest and cradled her there, so that the next wave would not take her under or away from him.
“That way.” He nodded towards the dark shore. “I have ye. I’ll not let ye go. Let the waves bring us in. It’s gaunnie be fast and violent the closer in we get, so hang on!”
She looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. She pushed her long hair away from her face. It swirled around him, wrapping him in its silken tresses, as if to bind them together.
Steil kicked hard, holding her with him. He knew he was in for a fight with the sea to bring himself and this brave, annoying girl back to shore.
* * *
.
7
The waves crashed into the shoreline, tumultuously, one after another, their crests high and raging with angry, white foam.
Neely clung to Steil’s waist, holding tightly, while his arm wrapped like a steel band around her. Together they were swept up, high into the foaming, spewing, crest of a wave, and then were thrown down with such incredible power and violence that it almost knocked the breath out of them. They were slammed into the sand and rocks and shells on the bottom, rolling and spinning, their legs tangling together, resisting being pulled apart, away from each other, as they fought the pushing, dragging power of the water and struggled back up for air.
Neely could feel Steil’s powerful legs kicking to the surface. She kicked as well, fighting the next onslaught of the very next wave so they could gasp for breath before the next one pummeled them back under.
Again and again they were thrown closer and closer to the shore, until finally Steil got his footing and half carried, half dragged Neilina out of the surf. They lay spent on the wet sand. Their arms and legs intertwined as they lay facing each other, breathing hard and painfully.
They stared into one another's eyes as their chests heaved for air.
“Neilina,” Steil gasped. He rolled her over to her back, his eyes glinting in the moonlight, raking over her body to make sure she was not injured. He rested his forehead on hers, then reached up to hold her face tightly in his hands. He breathed heavily, still trying to catch his breath. “If something had happened to ye...” he said hoarsely.
Steil did not finish the sentence. He slammed his mouth down on hers, kissing her savagely. Like the turbulent surf they had crawled out of. Like the curling waves and froth of the sea foam in the moonlight. With all the life he had in him.
Neely cried out, welcoming his passion. She could feel the fear and relief in his kiss and matched him with a force of her own.
She held him tightly to her and kissed him back with all the wildness and passion she was feeling in being alive, here with him, at this moment.
Her lips hummed over his as she murmured and purred and demanded more.
Steil rolled with her, bringing her onto his chest so she could breathe better without his crushing weight on her. She grasped his face and kissed him over and over again. He could not help himself; he rolled her to her back once more and greedily buried his fingers into her wet hair. He held her face still for the pillaging of her mouth from his, thrusting his tongue between her lips.
They kissed until they were too weak to do anything more than collapse on the sand, lying side by side, gasping for breath as they stared at the stars and soft moon above them.
Steil turned his head and stared at her. He rolled to his side, leaned over her, and gave her shoulder a slight shake.
“What were ye thinking?”
Neely looked up at him, still breathing hard. Her eyes roving hungrily over his face. “I was rescuing ye.” Her breasts heaved up and down. She tried to smile. “Like the Ross sisters did. They saved their men.”
“Ye foolish woman. Ye cannae barely even swim!” He blinked rapidly, trying to calm the terrifying fear in his belly.
“I know what ye…” she gasped and finally she splintered apart, letting out a sob. “I know what ye were thinking to do!” She stared hard at him, tears filling her eyes. “I couldnae let ye do that.”
Steil blinked and stilled. He lay back down on the sand and stared up at the starry night sky.
Neely leaned over onto his bare chest and looked down into his face. He could feel her tears landing softly and warmly on his face. Then she surprised him by grasping his head, her fingers tangled tightly in his hair. She shook him, banging his head against the sand as she sobbed.
“Ye glaikit mon,” she cried as she banged his head against the sand; once, twice, three times.
“Are ye gaunnie hit me with yer golf stick next while ye call me a foolish mon?” he said as he grabbed her wrists to stop her from banging his head into the sand.
“It is a golf club, not a stick,” she said on another sob.
“That’s no club, ’tis a golf stick,” he grumbled, as he used his thumb to tenderly wipe a tear off her cheek.
“Ye willnae leave us, Greysteil McKinnon,” she cried. She lowered a hand from his head to cup his cheek. “Ye have family here if ye would just look around ye.” She sniffled angrily. “Ye have to stay, ye have no choice now,” she tried to say cheekily as she smiled through her tears.
Steil could see the sparkle in her tear-filled grey eyes, see the whiteness of her teeth as she smiled tremulously at him in the dark, lit by only the stars and the soft moon.
“Why?” he growled, for he could think of nothing else to say. Because right now there was nothing but this crying woman draped across his chest with her soft hand on his cheek and her beautiful lips swollen from his kisses.
“Because I am keeping ye, that’s why,” she whispered through the tears clogging her throat. She leaned down and kissed him again with extreme tenderness.
Then she pulled back and stared into his beautiful blue eyes.
Steil stared back, studying her. “Ye cannae keep someone Neilina Eunson,” he said with a hint of confusion and doubt in his voice.
“I can,” Neely said.
“What are ye talking aboot?”
Neely wiped the tears from her face and sniffed again.
“Neely! Steil!” came a loud shout. “Are ye doon there on the beach?”
Neely froze as she stared down into Steil’s eyes.
Steil smiled up at her. “Ye need to put yer clothes back on...unfortunately,” he said, as his hands trailed down her back and to her backside.
Neely squeaked. She placed her hands on his chest and shoved herself off of him, and ran on wobbly legs to find her clothes. “I see yer things too, Greysteil McKinnon. Git yer clothes on!”
Steil got up slowly. His chest felt tight as he watched Neely pull her clothes on over her wet chemise and hurry up the path away from the beach.
Another shout came from above the beach.
“We are coming!” Steil shouted back.
8
When Neely and Steil came over the top of the path onto the grass in front of Brough Castle they were met by Swan, Keir, Kaithria, and Cat. Keir and Kaithria held a lantern up high.
They stared silently at Neely and Steely, their eyes traveling from their wet hair down to the boots they carried in their hands.
Swan stared at her brother with concern. Then she glanced at Neely’s blushing face and relaxed.
“We went for a wee swim, that’s all,” Steil said curtly, and brushed past them.
Neely cleared her throat and followed Steil, not able to meet the eyes of her friends. She knew she was blushing fiercely and her lips still felt swollen from Steil’s kisses.
They only got a few steps when Keir’s deep voice called to them. Steil turned, an eyebrow raised as he looked at his friend.
Keir nodded up to the very top of the jagged turret of the castle. There, gleaming in the moonlight, hanging off a pole, was a white sheet.
Steil’s jaw clenched. He looked back at Keir.
“We missed it when we first arrived,” Keir said. “It’s best seen from the sea,” he said meaningfully.
“It's a signal, isnae it?” Neely asked. “Do ye think me da was signaling for help!” she said hopefully. “He must be here, somewhere nearby!”
Keir and Steil looked at each other, but remained silent.
