by Alisa Adams
You never know what you have ’til it's gone, she thought sadly. She went up behind Ella, put her arms around her, and kissed her hair. “Everyone has todie sometime,” she sighed. “We never know what God has in store for us.”
Marion said thoughtfully, “The man that you brought here, Vanora, did he kill all those bandits?”
“Indeed he did,” Vanora answered. “I could not believe my eyes. As you saw, he was a very gentle giant, but he seems to be a monster when roused. I would not have liked to be one of those men, but at least their end was quick, which was more than they deserved. I tried not to look, but it was difficult not to. We came past their corpses on the way back – or what was left of them.
“It was horrific. I cannot describe to you exactly how bad, or you would be sick. Rory got out to see if he could find anything that would tell us who they were but there was nothing.”
She got up and went out of the window, looking out at the gray day to distract herself. It was early October and the days had already shortened. The harvest was being brought in and she thanked God that she had a capable estate manager. His name was Daniel McKay, and he usually worked under John Weir’s supervision; indeed they were close friends and had been for years. They had grown up together, and John’s father had taught Daniel his job. He was now part of the family, and the girls called him Uncle Dan. However, he had been out of the village visiting a sick friend for the last week, just when Vanora needed him most.
Daniel was the only person who remotely resembled a family member. Apart from her sisters, she had no one and no idea how to organize a funeral. Her grandfather had taken pity on the young boy when his parents died and trained Daniel to be an estate manager, so he was easily capable of doing something as simple as arranging a funeral.
News of the laird’s early death had spread around the village and surrounding area like wildfire, and Vanora knew that every young laird and the sons of older lairds would be beating a path to her door soon.
Sometimes I wish I was just an ordinary girl, she thought. Then some young farmer’s son could fall in love with me and we could live in a little cottage like Rory’s. She smiled at the thought, wondering how many farm girls would love to be in her position.
“They will expect me to marry,” she said grimly. “Otherwise goodness knows what will happen to us. I do not want to, not at all, but it is my duty.”
“Please do not marry someone awful and ugly, Vanora,” Marion begged.
Vanora sighed, turning her beautiful eyes on her sister. “I will try not to, Marion, but I may have no choice.” She paused, then went on. “If worse comes to worst, I could send you to the Sisters of Mercy in Oban. I hear that they are very good to the girls there.”
“No!” Marion and Ella cried together.
“I promise you, we will run away first,” Marion warned, her blue eyes darkening with anger.
Vanora nodded slowly. “I will think of something,” she said grimly. She had friends who would help her if she asked, but these solutions would be her very last resort. She wanted the family to stay together.
Now she tried to turn their minds to lighter topics. “Father is not with us anymore, but that does not mean we have to stop living too. Soon mourners will begin to arrive and pay their respects, and we must be ready for them. Until then, let us play chess, visit the horses, and do all the things we usually like to do. I have asked the cook to make honey cakes as a treat. Go to the kitchen and get them!”
The sisters hugged each other and Vanora, and she knew that it would not be long before they recovered their high spirits again.
Daniel McKay arrived the next day. He was a little square, middle-aged man with a thatch of thick gray hair and small brown eyes. He was the same height as Marion, who was still growing, and Vanora towered over him. However, he exuded an aura of strength and dependability, and Vanora was immensely relieved to see him.
He rushed into the parlor and practically threw himself into Vanora’s arms. “Oh, my dear, dear girl,” he cried dramatically. “I have been so worried about you since I got your message! How are you? How are your sisters?”
Vanora drew away from him and held him at arm’s length. “I am coping, Uncle Dan, and so are Marion and Ella. We are all well.”
Daniel was gazing at her with sympathy, his brown eyes gentle and concerned. “Let us talk,” he suggested. He took her hand and they went through to his study and Daniel ordered them both a glass of mulled wine.
“I always think mulled wine is the most comforting drink there is,” he said, smiling. Then his voice became businesslike. “Now, I think we must discuss the immediate future. Mrs. Kerr will have to teach you some of the skills you need to run a household; after all, you will be doing it when you marry someone eventually.”
“That is a good idea,” she agreed, nodding. “It will take my mind off Father too. Being busy always helps to ease pain.”
“Indeed,” Daniel agreed, nodding. “And I will do everything I can to help you. You need only ask.”
“One more thing, Uncle,” she said hesitantly. “I know that I have to marry too, but I would like to have some say in the choice of the man. I do not want someone old enough to be my father or as ugly as a wild boar. I will likely have to have children with this man, so when you pick someone for me please allow me to refuse him if I do not like him.”
Daniel nodded and smiled at her. “Of course, my dear,” he said kindly. “I would never force you to marry someone you did not like. But it will not be for a good while yet. You need time to grieve.”
Just then, the wine arrived, and Vanora went to put more wood on the fire. She had never wondered where her fuel had come from before, but now she knew, and it gave her a warm feeling of pleasure to know that she was helping her friend Rory earn a living.
The next morning Daniel met in secret with a man he had hired to do a job for him that required a set of very specialized skills. In a country that had spent a long time at war with a foreign power, hired killers were easy to find. There was a surfeit of desperate ex-soldiers with families to feed who had no chance of finding other employment. A laird was a wealthy man, and this one had been a sitting duck, so Daniel McKay had a wide selection of men to choose from, and he thought he had chosen the best.
Obviously, he had not.
“So what do you have to say for yourself, you eejit?” he yelled. “Four big men against one man and a wee lassie?” He took off his belt and whipped Calum Patterson’s back with it. “You should be ashamed of yourselves! What happened to the big soldiers? Did they run away like scared rabbits? Answer me!”
The tall man yelped and cowered back against the walls of the tumbledown cottage where their rendezvous was taking place. He was quite sturdy, but somehow always managed to look weak. He had been depending on his income from Daniel McKay to help his mother and his large family since his soldier’s wages were not enough, but he knew that now they would have to tighten their belts a bit more.
“I dinnae know sir,” he replied as he rubbed his stinging back as best he could. “I wisnae there, but they have disappeared. Not one of them came back tae tell me what happened. It is a mystery!”
“You do not think they could have been killed then?” Daniel asked suspiciously.
Calum shook his head firmly. “No sir,” he replied. “I went into the woods a wee while later but I couldnae find any sign o’ the lass, and nae sign of my boys either.”
“Who lives around there?” Daniel asked, his eyes narrowing. Calum’s eyes darted to the door as he saw the other man running the belt through his fingers again.
“Only a woodcutter, sir,” he replied. “He is a big man but I dinnae think even he could kill four armed men a’ by himself.”
Daniel was silent for a moment. “Did you take a good look?” he asked, with a touch of suspicion in his voice. “Tell me the truth, Patterson, you weasel. I will know if you are lying.”
Patterson hugged himself and began to tremble. “I did
the best I could, sir,” he answered in a tremulous voice. “I was alone. I couldnae search the whole forest.”
“Watch your tone when you speak to me!” Daniel shouted viciously, as he gave Calum another lash of the belt. He screamed, “You will address me with respect!”
“Yes sir,” Calum whispered. “I will sir.”
“Now...” Daniel’s voice lowered to a conversational tone and Calum relaxed a little. “Because I am a reasonable man and because you did kill the laird, I will give you half what I owe you. If you find out what happened to those other pieces of slime I will give you the rest. If you somehow manage to kill Vanora Weir I will give you a handsome bonus. Do you understand?”
Calum nodded his head frantically, then Daniel took out his money pouch. He took out half of their agreed amount and tipped it into Calum’s hand.
“Thank ye, thank ye, sir.” Calum was cringing, pathetically grateful.
“Just in case you think of running away,” Daniel said grimly, “take this to remind you.” His eyes gleamed with a sadistic light as he whipped Calum with the belt once more. “I will be staying at the castle on Weir Brae, so you will see quite a lot of me since you work there. Come and see me.”
Calum scuttled out. He was in agony, and all he wanted to do was run as far away from Daniel McKay as he could. However, at least he had some money to feed his children now, but oh, how he hated McKay!
Having put the fear of God into Calum Patterson, Daniel felt very pleased with himself. The job was half-done, but the mission could still be accomplished; it would just have to be done a different way, that was all.
So Vanora Weir wanted to marry a handsome husband? Hah! Vanora Weir would do as she was told and learn to like it, and if she did not, it was none of his concern.
With that thought, Daniel set off back to the castle again, his mind working on a myriad of devious plans. Some day he would be Laird of Weir Brae Estate, then he would have both power and riches. It would not be overnight, and it would not be easy, but to a man of his intelligence, it was a certainty.
6
Rory had thought little about anything else since he met Vanora. The first time he had looked into her fascinating silver eyes, he had been bewitched. It was not love, of course—he had left all that behind with Elisaid—but he could see her in his mind’s eye when he wanted to divert himself from the mundane tasks of the day.
He laughed out loud as he thought of it, nearly chopping one of his toes off in the process. The log he was cutting would have taken most of an hour for anyone else to chop, but he had done it in fifteen minutes.
It was almost time for him to deliver the wood to the village and the castle, which he also supplied. He was, however, going to forgo the pleasure of his regular tipple with Brian, since he had something urgent to do. He had asked the local priest, Father Grant, to help him write a letter to Vanora to see if she still needed his help as a bodyguard and asking her to send the reply to the priest.
It came almost at once, and Father Grant brought it to his cottage. Rory greeted him delightedly.
“Father!” he cried, beaming. “You did not have tae come a’ the way up here!”
Father Grant patted his rather tubby waistline. He was out of breath and his round cheeks were rosy with exertion, but he was laughing at his own expense, as he usually did. “I need the exercise, lad,” he puffed. “God has seen fit to bless me with an excess of flesh, and much as I thank him for his gift, I fear that he has erred too much on the side of generosity.”
Rory threw back his head and laughed heartily at that. “He has given me a wee bit too much an’ a’!” he agreed, patting the top of his head.
“I would not mind a bit of that,” Father Grant said ruefully. “Anyway, I have your answer from Lady Weir. She asks if you can come tomorrow at about noon. I answered for you. I hope you do not mind, but I said that you would agree to that.”
“Thank ye Father.” Rory smiled. “That is fine. I never learned tae read, but I know naebody else that does either.”
“I can of course,” Father Grant’s kind gray eyes smiled at him. “I can teach you, if you like.”
“I would love tae read,” he replied, smiling. “But I have tae earn a livin’ Father.”
“Think about it.” He patted Rory’s shoulder. “God bless you, Rory.”
“And you, Father,” he said. It was a lovely idea, he thought, but he could not see the point in it. Then he thought again...opportunities would open up for him if he could read, and he did not want to be a woodcutter or even a bodyguard all his life. He decided to take up the challenge.
As soon as he was inside the castle, a servant looked him up and down with a slightly turned-up nose, but Rory took one intimidating step towards him and he scuttled off to find Vanora. A number of housemaids passed him and gave him admiring glances, but the guards and the male servants all hurried past him without looking. It always made Rory smile inside when this happened. That was one advantage of being tall.
Presently, Vanora came rushing out to meet him, her face alight with happiness for the first time since her father’s death.
“Rory!” she cried. “I am so glad to see you here!”
She was wearing black from head to foot, but Vanora was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and her silver eyes were shining as she looked up at him. He would have loved to hug her, but since that was never going to happen, he bowed to her instead and gave her his widest smile.
For her part, Vanora was overjoyed. If Rory had but known it, he was her hero. He had saved her life and kept her safe, and he had not accepted a penny of payment for it. He had rescued her because it was the right thing to do, and he had done it at severe risk to his own life.
“I have come tae take ye up on yer offer to be yer bodyguard, milady,” he told her, and the deep rumble of his voice sent a thrill through her. “If ye will still have me, of course.”
Vanora looked into the gentle brown eyes then let her eyes wander down his face to rest on his lips before she realized what she was doing. She tore her gaze away from them and breathed a deep sigh of relief. “You are a godsend,” she said, lowering her voice to a murmur. “Yes. A hundred times yes. Come and sit with me.”
Rory had dressed in his best clothes, but he was acutely aware, as he had been last time, that his clothes were shabby compared to everyone else.
Seeing his look, Vanora took his arm and pulled him along behind her. “I do not care how you are dressed,” she said firmly. “We need to have a long talk and you are going to have some more of my wine. Please do not argue with me.”
He laughed. He had not seen her like this before, and he liked it very much. He allowed himself to be tugged into the parlor where Vanora ushered him into a seat and poured him a very large goblet of wine.
“I confess I am extremely surprised to see you after your very definite refusal of my offer,” she said, her tone one of puzzlement. “Why did you change your mind?”
“I gave it much thought, milady,” he replied. “I dinnae want tae scare ye, but I think ye dae need some protectin’, and I think I am the man tae dae it. I am very”—he looked down at himself a little self-consciously—“big.”
“I think you are the right man too,” she answered, smiling. “But what about your wood cutting? Do you not want to keep that as a source of income?”
“Aye, milady, I do,” he replied. “But I cannae see any way o’ keeping the two things goin’ at the same time.”
Vanora thought for a moment, and a little frown gathered between her eyebrows. “If we can arrange for someone to take over your cottage, keep the woodcutting side of things going, and come to some arrangement about money, would your mind be at ease then? I know you do not want to leave your home unattended.”
He sipped thoughtfully for a moment, and she watched the way his big hand wrapped itself around the goblet, almost enveloping it. Indeed, she was afraid he was going to crush it, but they were obviously gentle, like the rest
of him. She imagined that they must be very rough too, with the kind of work that he did. Then she went on to think about what it would feel like for those big hands to lift her into the air. They were so large his fingers would go right around her waist and touch each other.
She had been completely lost in her thoughts and she did not realize he had said something.
His deep voice broke into her daydream. “Milady?”
Vanora jumped. “Forgive me, I was miles away. What did you say?”
“I said I will find somebody I trust tae help me,” he replied.
“Of course, of course,” she said, flustered.
Just then, Vanora’s two younger sisters came in, and both smiled delightedly when they saw him. Both had taken a liking to him in the way that young ladies do—with a kind of innocent adoration. Marion, especially, was besotted with him, and now they both came to sit with him, one on either side.
“Are you married?” Vanora asked, hoping she was not prying. She felt that she had a right to know about him, considering that he would be looking after her, and by extension, Ella and Marion, every time they left the castle.
“I was married,” he said sadly, “but my Elisaid died eight years ago.”
“How?” Vanora asked, then realized she might be stirring up an old heartache. “If you do not mind me asking?”
He shook his head. “No, milady,” he replied. “I realize ye need tae know a bit about me. She died o’ measles, an’ I miss her every day. She was a wonderful woman.”
