Highland Hero

by Hannah Howell

Adair looked toward Donald as the youth stumbled into the hall, yelling for him. He had come home from Jamie’s wedding feeling a little sorry for himself. There was a woman he had chosen for his wife, but fate and nonsense seemed to want to keep them apart. All he asked was that she cease all this talk of magic. He did not see that that was so very much to ask. Since his mind could not seem to cease chewing over the problem until his head ached, Adair almost welcomed this alarum of Donald’s. It might keep him too busy to think, at least for a while.

  “Wheesht, are we being raided, lad?” he asked as Donald’s father, Robert, halted the youth before he stumbled right into Adair.

  “Och, nay. I dinnae think that would worry me as much as this does.”

  “What has happened?”

  “Mistress Kerr spent her daughter’s wedding stirring people into a frenzy. She kept saying the Keith women had ensorcelled her daughter, stolen her away with their magic.”

  “The woman got married. Most all the village was there. Are there really any fools who would heed her?”

  “With their heads clouded with ale fumes, aye,” Robert replied.

  “Mayhap ye should have let the Keith women bring the ale as weel as the food,” said Donald.

  “And what good would that have done?” demanded Adair.

  “Weel, their ale mixed together with their food, and there wouldnae have been anyone Mistress Kerr could stir up with her talk. I mean, their food makes people happy, aye?”

  “Aye,” Adair agreed a little reluctantly. “So, I suppose I best hie to the village and try to beat some sense into a few fools.”

  “They are nay there.”

  Adair felt a chill seep over him. “Be quick about it, lad. Where are they?”

  “Headed to Rose Cottage. I tried to stop them, e’en gave away a few tarts I had saved for later, but that only stopped a few. So I felt I best come here and tell ye about it. They were carrying torches, and Mistress Kerr was saying it was time to be rid of that witch’s source of power. I just dinnae understand it. The women and their food dinnae hurt anyone. If ’tis magic, ’tis a verra peaceful sort.”

  “I should have done something sooner to shut that bitch’s mouth,” snapped Adair as he stood up and marched out of the hall. “I will be taking six men with me, Robert. Ye and Donald must see to their replacement at their posts.”

  “Aye, laird,” said Robert.

  “I will get your horse,” Donald said, even as he raced toward the stables.

  “Though it would be more pleasant about Duncairn, I think it wouldnae be wise to kill Mistress Kerr,” drawled Robert after Adair bellowed orders to the six men he had chosen to go with him.

  It surprised Adair that he could do so, but he laughed briefly, and was sure that was what Robert had intended. That moment of lightness had eased the murderous strength of his fury. The very fact that, even for a brief instance, he had considered killing a woman, made him even angrier with Joan Kerr, for she drove him to such dark thoughts. If there was any evil in Duncairn, it rested in Joan Kerr’s heart and mind.

  “I willnae kill the woman,” Adair said. “It was but a brief, pleasing thought. Nay more. I would like to banish her from my lands, but that might hurt Anne, and she is a good lass. Howbeit, I think I do have a way to steal the sting from that adder’s tongue.”

  “Ye do?”

  “I do. It, too, will hurt Anne, so I may nay use the weapon. ’Twill depend upon how hard that woman pushes me.”

  “She will probably push ye verra hard.” Robert held out an apple. “ ’Tis one from the garden that fool woman seeks to destroy. I doubt it will still your anger for ’tis a righteous one, but it may help ye gain some control o’er it.”

  Adair took the apple and stared at it. It would help. He could not deny that truth. The food from the garden had eased his nightmares, soothed his pain, and taken away his guilt. It had even roused the spirit of his gentle mother in his mind and heart. What grew in the garden at Rose Cottage was not just unusual, not simply a product of rich soil and good water; it was magic. He had fought that truth because he did not understand it, and that troubled him, made him uneasy. Well, he mused, Mary Keith was right—sometimes there were things that could not be explained and one just had to accept that.

  He took a bite of the apple even as he mounted the horse Donald brought him and felt a sense of calm seep through his veins. It did not banish his fury, but it gave him the strength to think clearly despite it. That only confirmed his growing conviction that he had been wrong, that, in a small way, he, too, had given in to the fear of the unknown. The food did not change him in any way. Something in it simply reached out to soothe a person’s pain or sorrow, to calm agitation and fear. Strange as that was, there was no harm or evil bewitchment in it.

  Seeing that his men were ready, Adair rode out of Duncairn. He had to reach Rose before she could be hurt or her cherished garden destroyed. The fear he felt over her safety brought him to yet another realization. He loved her, loved her with all his heart, soul, and mind. Now he understood what his mother’s voice had whispered in his mind the night he had decided he would have Rose. As long as he decried the magic at Rose Cottage and demanded she turn her back on it, he would never really have her. He was asking her to give up something that was a very large part of her, something that had helped to make her the woman he loved.

  Suddenly he did not care about what the magic was or where it had come from. He did not even care if Rose brought it into the heart of Duncairn, so long as she came to him. Spurring his horse to a greater speed, he prayed he would find her unharmed so that he could tell her of the changes in his heart and mind.

  The moment Rose Cottage came into view, Adair signaled his men to halt and dismount. It was tempting to just ride into the midst of the torch-bearing crowd and scatter them like rats, but he knew that would not really solve the problem. A confrontation was long overdue. As he strode toward the garden gate, he saw the crowd begin to move forward, and hoped he could control his temper long enough to make the fools see sense.

  Chapter 10

  “Hold!”

  Rose clasped her aunt’s hand and thanked God as the tall form of Adair pushed through the crowd. Half a dozen of his men followed, turned, and stood between their laird and the crowd, their hands resting on their swords. She gave Adair a weak smile as he stepped close and looked her over.

  “Ye are weel? Unhurt?” he asked, briefly glancing at her aunt. “Both of ye?”

  “Aye, Adair,” Rose replied. “They were trying to burn the garden. I ken Aunt and I wouldnae have been able to stop them. Nay alone.”

  Adair looked over the crowd. He was pleased to see that several people already looked uneasy, even embarrassed. Even as he prepared to speak, he saw Lame Jamie, Anne, and young Meg hurry up, cudgels in hand, to push their way through the crowd.

  “Nay alone, my bonnie Rose,” Adair said.

  “Are ye hurt?” demanded Meg, running over to Rose and then turning to glare at the crowd. “Fither, ye can start knocking heads now,” she said to Lame Jamie, who lingered near the battered gate to the garden, Anne at his side.

  Reaching out to give Meg’s tousled hair a light tug, Adair said, “I will deal with this, brat.” He bowed to Lame Jamie. “I commend your father for the speed with which he came to the aid of the women, however. ’Tis good to ken that nay everyone has had all their wits addled by the rattling tongue of a bitter woman.” He did not need the way everyone looked at Joan Kerr to tell him she was the one behind this madness. She stood to the fore of the crowd, as stiff and fierce as any commander, unaware that the loyalty of her troops was already beginning to fade.

  “Those women bewitched my daughter, setting her against me,” Joan Kerr snapped. “Anne has ne’er disobeyed me, yet one visit to this accursed cottage and Anne thwarts all my wishes.”

  “How old is Anne?” asked Adair.

  “Three and twenty.”

  “Far past the age for her to cut free of your apron s
trings.”

  “She married against my will! She walked out of my house and went to that man!” Joan Kerr pointed at Lame Jamie.

  “I should think that, when the lass is three and twenty, ye would be glad she has found herself a husband. Lame Jamie has a fine cottage, a good living, and is my second cousin. Most mothers would be dancing with joy o’er such a fine match.” He lightly poked Meg when she stuck out her tongue at Joan Kerr, but the soft chuckles the girl’s impertinence stirred told Adair he had muted that accusation.

  An eerie howl drew everyone’s attention. Geordie was walking toward the crowd holding a writhing, hissing Sweetling by the scruff of the neck. Rose moved to help her cat, but Adair grasped her by the arm and held her back. Lame Jamie was already striding over to the youth, cudgel in hand.

  “I got one of the witch’s familiars,” Geordie said, then cursed and dropped the cat when Jamie rapped him on the back of the head with the cudgel. “The beastie got away! Didnae ye hear the evil noises he made and how fierce he was?”

  “Ye were near to strangling the poor animal, ye half-wit,” snapped Jamie. “He was fighting for his life. Where did he go?” Jamie looked around. “Is he hurt?”

  “He is weel, Jamie,” Rose replied, feeling her cat trembling against her leg.

  Adair looked down and saw Sweetling’s rump and tail sticking out from beneath Rose’s skirts. “Wheesht, such a fierce demon.” He heard a ripple of laughter go through the crowd and quickly looked up to grin at them, drawing their attention and hoping no one else saw that yellow paw slip out from beneath Rose’s skirts to nudge Sweetling’s backside underneath.

  “How do ye explain this garden?” demanded Joan Kerr, her voice shrill as she realized her allies were rapidly deserting her.

  “Rich soil and plenty of water,” Adair replied.

  “It takes more than that to make it grow e’en when others fail.”

  “Iain,” Adair called to a burly, hirsute man he strongly suspected was an ally of Mary’s, and the man quickly stepped forward. “Ye are considered a skilled farmer, aye?”

  “I believe so, m’laird,” the man replied.

  “Rose, get a handful of earth to show the mon,” Adair said and frowned when she shook her head.

  “I cannae move,” she said. “Sweetling and Growler are wrapped about my ankles. Lady and Lazy cower under Aunt’s skirts.”

  “I will get it, m’laird,” offered Meg.

  “Take some from the bed where the peas grow,” instructed Rose as Meg hurried off.

  A moment later Meg held out a handful of dirt for Iain. The man took it into his own hand, inspecting it closely, even sniffing it. Adair was not sure what some of the things the man did tell him, but Iain’s eyes grew wider and wider.

  “Wheesht, ye could grow anything with ease in dirt this fine.” He looked at Rose. “Do ye add things to it? I think I can smell fish.”

  “Come round in the morn, Master Iain,” said Mary, “and we shall be verra glad to tell ye what little we ken.”

  “The water,” began Joan Kerr.

  “Here ye are, Master Iain,” said Meg, who had already fetched the man a small bowl of water.

  Iain sipped the water, swished it about in his mouth, then spat it out. He sniffed it, swirled it in the bowl, and stared at it as he trickled a little over his fingers. Finally, he drank the whole bowl full.

  “Sweet, clear, and I dinnae feel any change coming o’er me,” said Iain. “I am nay growing a tail, am I?” he asked and winked at Rose.

  That brought a few crude jests from the others. Iain strode back to his laughing sons and gently clapped each of them offside the head. Joan Kerr stared at the crowd and clenched her fists. No one stood near her now.

  “Fools! Cannae ye see how she has bewitched your laird?” she shrieked.

  “Mither,” protested Anne, but words failed her, and she shook her head.

  Adair saw a few people waver in their retreat and frown at him. They had come here to root out evil at the behest of a distraught woman. It was obvious they hoped for some hint that they had not been made complete fools of.

  “Ah, weel, mayhap there is some truth in that,” he said, and winked at the men before taking Rose’s chin in his hand and turning her face up to his. “How could any mon look upon this bonnie face and nay feel a wee bit bewitched. Eyes the color of the sea and skin like rich, sweet cream.” He grabbed a handful of her hair, held it up, and slowly released the strands. “And I challenge any mon here to tell me this bounty isnae enough to steal a mon’s wits. I willnae praise all her beauty, for I dinnae wish all ye fools leering at my bride.” He put his arm around Rose’s slim shoulders and kissed her cheek before returning his gaze to the crowd.

  “Aye, mayhap there is a wee touch of magic here, mayhap the land is blessed in some way. ’Twas certainly blessed to fall into the tender care of the Keith women. I challenge any of ye here to tell me of someone hurt by a Keith woman. They have been here for as long as a Dundas has been laird, yet ye cannae tell me of any evil done by any one of them, can ye?” He nodded when many of the people shook their heads. “But ye can tell me of a hand always extended to help, of no one being allowed to ken the cramp of hunger as long as there was e’en one leek left in this garden ye sought to destroy.

  “Go home and I will try to forget that ye endangered the lives of the lass I love and her kinswoman.” He felt Rose start beneath his arm but kept his gaze upon the crowd. “I will also try to forget that ye let the poisonous lies of a bitter woman turn ye against women who have been naught but kind and generous.”

  “Lies? I but tried to—” protected Joan Kerr.

  Adair knew he was not concealing the cold fury he felt at the woman very well, for she paled when he fixed his gaze upon her. “Nay more, woman. Ye almost succeeded this night in destroying one of the few almost continuous sources of food at Duncairn, and ye didnae care if two innocent women were hurt or killed in the doing of it. ’Tis past time the truth was told. I was curious about your enduring animosity toward Rose and her late mother, so I went searching for answers.

  “What I discovered was that ’tis nay righteousness that stirs your poisonous whispers and accusations but jealousy, mayhap e’en envy. Ye wed a strutting vain cock, a faithless swine, and he turned his lecherous eye upon Flora Keith. ’Tis nay such a surprise. She was a beautiful woman. She would have naught to do with the fool, scorned him openly, but ye had to blame someone for his wandering eye. So ye blamed Flora Keith. And mayhap ye were a wee bit angry that she could so clearly see what the mon was and ye didnae.

  “Ye e’en held on to that anger and let it brew after ye left Duncairn with him. When ye returned ye started to spew it out, e’en carrying it on to the daughter when Flora was nay longer in your reach. I suggest ye take yourself to a priest, Mistress Kerr. Mayhap a little confession and penance will release some of that bile.” When the woman stormed away, Adair looked at Anne. “Sorry, lass. She wouldnae relent, and I needed to take some of the sting out of her words.”

  “No need to beg my pardon, laird,” Anne said.

  “ ’Twas a truth that should have been told long ago.”

  After watching Anne leave with Lame Jamie’s strong arm wrapped comfortingly around her slender shoulders, Rose realized that most everyone else was gone as well, and she looked at Adair. “Did ye mean it? I will understand if ye just said such things to—”

  Adair silenced her with a brief, hard kiss. “I meant it all. I want ye as my bride, I love ye, and, whether ’tis magic, fairies, God’s blessing, or just skilled farming, I dinnae care.”

  “Are ye sure ’tis nay the food that has made ye feel this way?” she asked, unable to completely still that fear.

  “Nay, ’tis nae the food. In truth, I decided I wanted ye ’ere I had taken my first bite of anything from this garden.”

  “Oh, Adair.”

  “When I heard that ye were in danger, I realized none of it mattered save that I love ye. That first night ye gave
me those apple tarts, I swear I could hear my mother’s soothing voice helping me to still my nightmares. As I went to sleep, I decided I would have ye for my bride, but that I would get ye to deny all this magic first. In my head I heard my mother scold me for a fool, telling me that I would ne’er hold the prize I sought unless I accepted the whole. I didnae understand until now. I love ye for all that ye are. All I ask is that, if ye decide to dance naked under a full moon, ye let me watch.” He grinned when she scowled at him even as she blushed. “So, lass, will ye have me?”

  “Oh, aye, Adair.” She brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I do love ye so. I think I have since I was a wee child.”

  He held her tightly, briefly overcome with emotion. “Ye willnae be sorry, lass.” He stepped back and held both her hands in his. “And I willnae keep ye from your garden. I ken how much a part of ye all this is.”

  Rose looked around and felt a brief sadness. For every day of her life the garden had been the center of her world, and she would miss that in many ways. It would not be a complete loss, for she could visit the garden whenever she wished to, and renew her ties to this land that had nurtured generations of Keith women whenever she felt the need. She smiled at Adair.

  “ ’Tis a part of me and I shall always need to come here, but only for a visit,” she said. “My time here is o’er. ’Tis my aunt’s turn now. She kenned this time was near and that is why she came,” she added in a soft voice, so that his men did not hear. Adair and others might be able to accept the magic of the garden, but her aunt’s feelings were another matter entirely.

  “Ah, I see. Then come, lass. We will go to Duncairn and”—he winked at her—“talk on our future.”

  A blush stinging her cheeks, Rose looked at her aunt. “I think I best stay here. We are nay wed yet, ye ken.”

  “Go, lass,” said Mary, smiling widely. “The lad told near all the village that ye are his bride and that he loves ye. Go, and I will come to see you on the morrow to help ye plan the wedding. I think it should be a grand celebration.”

  “Aye, verra grand,” agreed Adair, but when he tugged on Rose’s hand, she did not follow him. “Rosebud?”