During the day, the men vied for Nora’s attention and took turns with offers for her to ride with one of them. The men were acting quite strangely. She shrugged their odd behavior off to the fact that they were Highlanders.
Elise refused to ride with anyone other than her Sir Daniel. Nora apologized to the man repeatedly. Daniel would simply smile and say it was his pleasure.
John was not as insolent and angry as he had been in the beginning. Nora could only hope that it meant he was at the least, coming around to the idea of a brighter future. She knew it would take far more time for him to adjust to their new lives. After all, he was probably just as afraid of it all as she was.
The next night they had camped inside a very dense copse of trees. The men had made a lean-to large enough for Nora, Elise and John to sleep in.
By the third night they were happily on Clan Randolph lands and were given safe haven by a farmer and his wife. While Nora and the children were allowed to sleep in the upper loft of the farmer’s tiny home, Wee William and his men slept in the barn.
By the fourth day, Nora’s black eye was no longer swollen and puffy. It had turned a very ugly shade of green. However the exhaustion and weariness from travelling left dark circles under her eyes. While she tried to maintain a sunny disposition, she continued to remain quiet. She also did her best to ignore all the attention the men were showing her.
The sun had thankfully made its presence known and began to warm the air and melt the snow. Still, it was not enough to erase the bone-tired weariness or warm Nora’s frozen extremities.
The children had seemed far less bothered by all the riding, walking, and living out of doors. Hopefully they would soon arrive at Wee William’s home. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand what Elise happily referred to as their grand adventure.
Wee William’s efforts at trying to seem uninterested or unbothered by the way his men were behaving were valiant. It had taken monumental efforts on his part not to crush the skulls of the idiots who were making no good attempts at hiding their motives. For days now, he had sat idly by as he watched his men make utter fools of themselves.
Seven of the nine men were unmarried and unattached. There were bonny lasses back home waiting with giggling anticipation for the return of a few of them. Those men were looking forward to that day as well.
The remaining four, however, had tripped over themselves trying to gain Nora’s attention. All of it to Wee William’s abject consternation. He wasn’t sure if Nora was too naïve, too worried over her future, or too exhausted to notice the men. Either way, she seemed unmoved by their displays of kindness.
Finally, they had reached beloved MacDougall land. They would happily be inside the walls of Castle Gregor soon enough.
They were making camp by a small loch when the foolish men started in again. Wee William’s patience had worn to a fine fragile thread. He was doing his level best to hold his tongue and keep his temper in check. But their behavior was grating on his nerves.
“Are ye warm enough, Lady Nora?” Phillip had asked, as he walked toward her carrying a fur.
Nora looked at him as though he were daft. She was sitting next to the fire, bundled from head to toe in three heavy furs.
The men were baffling creatures. She could not understand why they were behaving so oddly. It was all becoming too much.
“I believe three furs should be sufficient, Frederick.” She answered as politely as she could.
“I be Phillip, lass.” The young man smiled thoughtfully at her. “Frederick is the ugly one with the warts on his neck.”
Elise was sitting beside Nora and she giggled at Phillip’s insult of Frederick.
“Would ye like more rabbit, Nora?” Daniel asked as he held out a stick holding what remained of the four rabbits they had caught earlier.
It was all she could do not to wretch at the thought of more food. “Nay, Daniel, I’ve had more than enough. Thank you kindly though.”
Daniel looked at Phillip and smiled cheerfully. “Did ye hear that, Phillip? The lass remembers my name. I wonder why that is?”
Phillip’s face darkened as he cursed at Daniel in their native tongue.
Before Nora knew what was happening, an all out brawl broke out. Phillip, Daniel, David, and Frederick were rolling around on the ground in front of her. She jumped to her feet and pulled Elise to safety behind a boulder. John refused to budge from his spot by the fire, wholeheartedly enjoying the unseemly display that was taking place before him.
Black Richard and Rowan stood with arms crossed over their chests, next to Wee William. Tall Thomas and Garret stood on either side of them, shaking their heads.
They spoke to one another in Gaelic apparently unbothered by the fight taking place just feet from where they stood.
Nora was appalled. She stomped toward Wee William and pulled on his arm. “Aren’t you going to stop them?” she asked, clearly upset with all of them. He gave her a look that questioned her soundness of mind.
Rowan shook his head. “Best to let them fight it out, lass.”
Nora let out a sharp breath. “What on earth are they fighting over?”
Black Richard chuckled. “Ye truly have no idea?”
“No, I haven’t! ’Tis why I asked the question! Please, make them stop!” The more time she had spent with this band of men, the less she understood them or their odd ways.
The men turned their attentions back to the grunting, cursing bodies that were now one big heap of dirt, sweat, and blood.
Realizing her pleas had fallen on deaf ears, she decided she should at least make an attempt to bring the fracas to a halt. Besides, they were terrifying Elise. The little girl was hiding behind the boulder, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. They couldn’t hear her crying over the din of the fighting.
“Gentlemen, please, stop this instant!” Nora yelled, clapping her hands as if she were trying to get a dog out of the garden. “I say stop this instant!” Her pleas went unanswered as well as unnoticed.
She took a step closer to the mass of fighting men so that they might hear her better. “Please, stop this foolishness now!” she yelled.
Phillip had loosened himself from Daniel’s grip panting and covered with sweat. His lip was cut and a trickle of blood ran down his chin. He had no idea Nora was but a step away from him. He took a step backward and in the process knocked Nora to the ground. Apparently he hadn’t noticed her because he immediately jumped back into the melee.
With great speed, Wee William moved in, scooped Nora up and carried her away just as Frederick went flying through the air and landed on the piece of earth she’d had just occupied.
There could be no doubt with Wee William’s level of anger. It was plainly evident by the harsh scowl his face bore. In three strides, he reached the rock, and set Nora upon it.
“Are ye hurt?” he asked, as he looked her over for signs of injury.
“Nay,” she muttered, more surprised over the strange expression on Wee William’s face than bothered by any injury to her backside.
Wee William let loose a low, furious growl before turning back to his men.
It would later be told that the sound of his deep voice had travelled to the ends of the earth and back in the length of two heartbeats and that the earth shuddered from its boom.
“Enough!” his voice thundered. The men, who only moments ago had been hell-bent on inflicting as much damage on each other as they could, stopped immediately. All eyes turned to Wee William as he stood next to Nora. Elise stopped crying and scurried up the rock to take refuge with her sister. She was far too frightened to cry.
“All of ye, come with me now!” Wee William’s eyes blazed with fury as he stomped away from the group of men. Nora could have sworn the earth shook with each step he took. Frozen in place, she was too terrified to move. She shuddered as she pulled Elise tighter to her bosom.
All at once the men were on their feet. Looking rather deflated, as well as nervous, they foll
owed Wee William into the woods. Curious to see what punishment Wee William might inflict upon the young men, Rowan and Black Richard shrugged their shoulders and fell in behind. John was fast on their heels.
Wee William had walked a good distance before he stopped abruptly and turned to face his men. They all stood frozen in place and waited. John looked as though he was anticipating a good tongue lashing to come from Wee William and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“John! Go back and watch over Nora and Elise!” Wee William’s voice warned that he’d brook no argument from the boy. John was no fool and decided it best to do as he was told, even though he would have much preferred to stay and listen.
Once John was out of earshot Wee William began. “I have reached the end of me patience! Ye’ve all been actin’ like men who’ve never laid eyes upon a woman before! Yer behavior is completely unacceptable and I’ll have no more of it!”
He began pacing back and forth. At first he thought he’d be able to handle his feelings and emotions while his men bent over backwards to woo Nora. He had nearly choked more than once on his own jealousy. For days, he had remained sullenly quiet while he watched each of these men try to win her affection.
With each smile, each glance, each offer of food, blankets or a walk in the moonlight, his jealousy and anger grew. He could take no more and he certainly would not allow them to fight over her.
He stopped suddenly and turned his attention back to his men. With his feet spread wide, he crossed his arms over his chest and eyed each of them before speaking.
“I claim her as me own,” he told them. It was a statement of fact and the tone of his voice warned there would be no argument over it. All eyes grew wide with astonishment and not one could find the strength or courage to speak.
“From this day forward, she is mine. Ye’ve been warned. If any of ye so much as look at her with even a hint of a smile in yer eyes, I’ll run ye through.”
He didn’t give any of them time to question, needle, tease or otherwise speak. He left them alone and headed back to the camp.
The men stood with mouths agape as they watched Wee William walk away. The day they thought would never come had finally arrived. After a moment, all eyes turned to Rowan. He was the only one smiling.
Without a word, each man begrudgingly walked up to him and each placed five groats in his open palm.
“How did ye ken it?” Black Richard asked as he handed over his own losses.
Rowan smiled as he opened his sporan and dropped the coins in. “’Twas simple, Black Richard. I’ve seen that look before.”
Black Richard’s brow furrowed. “What look?”
“Och! Ye canna see the way Wee William looks at the lass?” He clicked his tongue as the last of the coins fell into the pouch that hung at his waist.
Black Richard shook his head. “All I’ve noticed is that he has looked angry and ill at the same time.”
Rowan laughed as he slapped his hand on his friend’s back. “Aye, Black Richard. When a man looks that way -- angry and ill -- as well as lost, dazed and confused, ye ken he’s a man in love. ’Tis the same look we get when we go into battle, and the same look of a man going to the gallows. He kens that he be lost and he has no idea what to do about it!”
“How did ye know he’d claim her before he shaved his beard?” Black Richard asked.
“That was easy, lad. When he said he didna care if the others wooed the lass, I kent the moment he said it, ’twas a lie. The man is completely besotted with her, though he fights with himself over it. I kent there would be no way he could stomach the others falling over their feet to impress the lass. And the fear in his eyes was verra clear.”
Black Richard balked at the notion. “Fear? I’ve never kent Wee William to be afraid of anything or anyone in his life!”
Rowan laughed again. He gave Black Richard a friendly slap on his back. “Aye, but we’ve never kent him to be in love before!”
Wee William returned to the camp and walked directly to Nora. She was trying to comfort Elise who was inconsolable.
Nora looked at him, worried and concerned over whatever may have transpired in the woods. She didn’t wait for him to reach her or to speak. “She thinks you’ve killed her Sir Daniel.”
Wee William stopped dead in his tracks. Although the thought had crossed his mind more than once these past few days, he’d never really take the lad’s life. Nor the lives of any of his friends. But he wasn’t above beating them to a bloody pulp.
“Wheesht, lass,” Wee William said as he walked toward them. He scooped Elise up and held her close to his chest.
“I didna kill yer Daniel, he’s just in a wee bit of trouble for misbehavin’ in front of ye ladies.”
Elise lifted her head and looked into Wee William’s eyes. “Do you promise you didn’t hurt him?” she asked between sobs.
A warm, endearing smile came to Wee William’s lips and spread to his eyes. “I do so promise, lassie.”
Elise wiped her nose on Wee William’s shirt before giving him a hug. “Thank you Sir William,” she said.
“What lass, do ye be thankin’ me fer?” Wee William asked as he patted her little back.
“For not killing my angel. God would have been very upset with you.”
Wee William chuckled and gave her another hug. A moment later, Elise was squealing with delight.
“Sir Daniel!” she screamed as she held out her arms for him.
Wee William wondered how long it would be before his hearing returned to the ear in which she had just screamed.
Daniel had been walking into the camp with his head hung low, but the sound of Elise’s delightful squeal made him smile. He walked toward them and took the child into his arms.
“Wee William said he didn’t kill you!” Elise said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m very glad that he didn’t!”
The look of warmth and kindness that had spread to Wee William’s face when he consoled Elise, made Nora’s heart swell and with it came an odd fluttering sensation in her stomach. She sat quietly and observed him more closely.
He was indeed a very large man. By rights, she should tremble in his presence. Good sense would dictate, just from his appearance alone, that she should be utterly terrified of him.
That was what flustered her. She was no more afraid of Wee William than she was of Elise or a newborn kitten. She felt more at ease, safer, and more cared for with him, than she could ever remember feeling.
It was difficult to ascertain if he was handsome or not, what with all the hair and that long beard that reached to his stomach. His eyes? Those she could say, without reservation, were…were what, she mused. Not quite beautiful but yet, there was something unusual and appealing about them. There were times when she felt she could easily read his emotions by looking into them. Yet others, when an invisible wall was thrown up, blocking any and all insight into what he may be thinking or feeling.
One by one the men returned to the camp looking physically no worse than when they’d left. However, a detectable silence had fallen over them and none would look Nora in the eye. She wasn’t sure if she appreciated the silence or if she should be worried. She wondered what Wee William had said to them.
It soon grew dark and once again they would be sleeping out of doors. Another lean-to was prepared for Nora and the children, yet this time, not one of the men offered to guard her while she slept.
The children fell asleep quickly. Nora lay in the dark, listening to the soft crackle of the fire and the low murmurs of the men whispering in their Gaelic. She wished she could understand the language so that she might know what they were saying. She’d been too distracted, too wrapped up in worrying over her future to try to pick up any of their melodic words.
As she lay there mulling over what she would do once they reached the safe confines of the Scottish castle, Castle Gregor, she heard a grunt come from outside her lean-to. Curiosity getting the better of her, she carefully lifted the fur t
hat served as both wall and door, and peeked outside.
There was Wee William, lying on his back between the lean-to and the fire. His broadsword was resting across his chest. Mayhap, Nora thought, it was his turn to watch over them. Or, she supposed, it was his way of keeping the men from acting so foolishly. Whatever his reasons were for being there, she was grateful.
She felt a sudden urge to scoot across the ground and bury her face in his chest and snuggle up to him. The thought surprised her to the point that she felt her face grow warm from embarrassment. Startled, she quickly dropped the fur for fear the object of her fascination would see her staring at him and read her mind. As she stared up at the darkness, her mind began to wonder to all manner of places.
Her mother had died more than six years ago and her father wasn’t about to have the kinds of conversations with her that would explain what happened between a man and woman. There had been no other women in her life with whom she felt comfortable enough to ask the many questions she had regarding that topic. Nora had gone into her marriage completely ignorant.
She’d seen sheep mating before, quite by accident of course, and supposed it might be done the same way between a man and a woman. And she had witnessed a cow giving birth and supposed again, that might be how a woman went about it.
Nora seriously doubted the things Horace did to her were the correct way of going about making bairns. It stood to reason, in her mind, that a bairn would go in the same way it came out. If that were the case, Horace had not done it correctly.
Then again, she could have it all wrong and Horace had been right and she really was barren. She had so many questions and lingering doubts and not a soul to turn to to ask. Nearly one and twenty and a widow nonetheless, she felt she was severely lacking in too many areas.
She tried closing her eyes to sleep, but when she did, Wee William’s face would pop into her mind. She wondered if his beard would tickle or scratch if she were to kiss him? Would his calloused, strong hands be gentle or harsh if he were to caress her cheek?
Where were these thoughts coming from? Mayhap Horace was right and she was a harlot! He wasn’t dead a full sennight yet and here she was having lustful thoughts of a man she’d known just as long!
Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series Page 10
