by Fiona Faris
Lorraine and Maxwell had not spoken after the incident. Initially, they had ignored each other and then, their schedules had not permitted a conversation. Lorraine missed her brother. She hated the fact that she had allowed someone else to cause a fight between her and her brother who had always had her back.
Even though he had seemingly taken Daividh’s side, Lorraine excused it. Apparently, he was not all bad. One could be a terrible friend and an excellent ruler. She was glad that his family ruled the clan as they did. She simply had to understand that there could not be a friendship between them.
When Lorraine walked into their quaint house, Maxwell was seated, waiting.
“Max…” she said, unsure about how to begin the conversation.
Maxwell cocked his head to the side and after a bit of silence, he sighed and walked to his little sister. He gave a her a warm hug and placed a small peck on her cheeks. She sighed with relief. He had forgiven her.
“I am glad ye want tae talk tae me again. ’Tis been a rough while without me best friend,” Maxwell said.
“I am sorry. I should nae have quarreled with ye.”
“I should have listened more tae ye,” Maxwell argued.
“As I should have. ’Twill nae happen again, aye?”
“Aye. Truce?” Maxwell extended a hand that Lorraine took with a grin.
“Ye are from the market?” Maxwell asked after their hug.
“Aye. Ye?”
“Laird Daividh,” he said guiltily.
“’Tis fine,” Lorraine said. “That he behave miserably tae me doesnae mean that he is a bad laird,” she said, “I do nae mind yer friendship. I am curious but I will nae dally. ’Twill be fair if ye dae nae meet here. I do nae want tae see him.”
“Because he angers ye?”
“Aye,” she lied. She could not tell him that it was because she felt a pain in her chest each time she saw him.
“Would ye nae tell me what he did?”
“’Tis of little consequence.” She shook her head.
“Aye, but like ye, I am curious.”
The pair sat comfortably in their chairs.
“How about a trade?’ Maxwell offered.
“A trade?”
“Aye. I cannae tell ye all. But I will tell ye what I can tell ye about my meetings with him.”
Maxwell proposed a deal too sweet for Lorraine to ignore and so, with a sigh, she caved. “’Tis a bit of a complicated issue. I told him a little about me, Father, why I wear breeches.” She gestured down to her breeches. “I thought he would be a good friend, ye ken. I mean I doubted but he began to prove me wrong and the day I let my guard down, it proved rubbish.”
“What happened?” Maxwell prodded.
“I overheard him talking to that soldier he is always with.”
“Glenn?”
“Aye, I think so.”
“Go on.”
She looked away and began to speak. “Well, he said I was falling for him and didnae stand a chance against him. Then he told his friend things I had told him. Things about nae wanting to rely on a man; private things.” She looked up at her brother. “It may nae be big tae ye but I told him those things in confidence. He had nae right to tell another.”
There was silence and then Maxwell spoke. “I see why ye are so angry.” Maxwell nodded quietly.
“Ye dae?”
“Aye.” He nodded again. “’Twas most unfair of him.”
Lorraine smiled. She had feared he would trivialize her anger. She should have trusted him more than that, she realized.
“However, there is more tae it if ye want tae hear.”
“Aye. Tell me.” Lorraine placed her hands on his.
“When men secure the attentions of a woman that they are most proud of, they brag. If they have been able to secure a peck, they will speak of two pecks.”
“That is horrible.” The color on her cheeks deepened.
“Aye,” Maxwell agreed, “’Tis nae a good thin’. But ye should ken that it is nae done in jest. ’Tis a thin’ done when a man is most proud of having yer attentions.”
“But we are just friends,” she argued.
“Dae ye have many friends? Nay. He would have been the first and he was obviously proud of it.”
Lorraine squinted in confusion.
“It does nae excuse the thin’ he did, sister. But ye should ken why. He is most proud of yer attention. ’Tis good that ye have let him know of yer displeasure. It should nae happen again. But do nae waste a good friendship for it.”
Lorraine grew quiet, thoughtful.
“Do ye nae want to ken what we have spoken about?” Maxwell asked her, after minutes passed by in silence.
“Sorry,” she apologized for her wandering mind, “tell me?”
“Apparently, he is putting together a small team to work closely with him.”
“A team?”
“Aye. A team of trusted fighters.”
“Tae fight?”
“Aye.” His pride seeped from his words.
“Are ye off yer head? ’Tis too dangerous.”
“I am a man now, Sister.” He laughed in a carefree way that scared her.
“A man is nae immune tae death.”
“’Tis wrong tae be so negative.” Maxwell rolled his eyes at her.
Lorraine said nothing. She had nothing to say to him. Her word would be saved for Daividh. “Alright,” she said and turned away.
The knock at the door turned her away from her plotting. She walked to it briskly and threw it open.
A little girl who looked to be about four held a wet kitten in her hands. The poor thing looked half dead and Lorraine knew it would be an uphill battle to save it. The girl was dressed in a small calico dress and had her hair in pigtails.
“Oh, dear,” she took the kitten from the girl and cradled it in her palms. It had ginger fur, a pink nose, and the biggest black eyes she’d ever seen on a kitten.
“What’s yer name?” she asked the girl.
“Macy,” she replied, revealing two missing front teeth.
Lorraine knelt on one knee. “Alright, Macy. Where did ye find our kitty here?”
The kitten was cold, frozen, but that was not all that was wrong with it. However, the cold was killing it.
“I found him in the trash when I was playing. He looked sick and dirty and I washed him. but he would nae move anymore.”
That had been a mistake, as cold affected kittens severely. She looked to her brother who was standing a few paces behind them and sighed. Her plans would have to wait.
“We need a fire if we are tae save it,” she informed him. “Stay here,” she said to the little girl, “I’ll get a shirt and then my brother will take ye tae yer home.”
The little girl nodded, relieved.
She rushed back into her chambers to search for a shirt she no longer wore.
The knock on the door stopped her in her tracks and Lorraine sighed. Now, who could it be?
“Maxwell?” she called.
“I’m goin’” he called back.
Lorraine found the shirt she sought and pulled it from under her the box where it was. Carefully, she wrapped the kitten in the shirt. It was growing weaker and the time they had to possibly save it was growing slimmer.
“Maxwell, would ye help us-”
She paused in her tracks. At the entrance to her house stood three men – instead of the one she had left there – and a little girl.
Daividh looked at Lorraine with the small kitten cradled in her hands. Maxwell nodded to her.
“’Tis what I spoke of, milord. She will need me if she is tae save its life. Then I would need tae return the little one to her parents.”
“Take the little one to her parents then. Glenn will proceed without ye for today. I will offer her any help she needs,” Daividh said, looking her directly in the eyes.
Lorraine wanted to argue but stilled it. Even more than her dislike for Daividh, the life of the kitten and the little girl’s safety mattered.
She looked to Maxwell who was looking at her for confirmation and nodded with a small smile. It warmed her heart to know that he cared about whether she was comfortable with the arrangement.
Without any more time to waste, Lorraine rushed out the door and to their barn where they saved the wood that Maxwell cut up for them.
“Dae ye ken how tae start a fire, milord?”
“I am a warrior, Lorraine. A fire is child’s play.”
True to his word, in less time that most would have taken, Daividh started the fire.
With pieces of wood that were around, Lorraine made a small encampment and placed the frozen kitten in the middle. As the heat warmed it up, she massaged its limbs and gently, willing warmth into them.
After several minutes, she muttered under her breathe and turned to Daividh. “Do ye think ye could dae this? I need somethin’ inside me house.”
Daividh took over massaging the kitten’s limbs as Lorraine rushed inside and reappeared shortly after with a kettle, milk, roots, and a small sack.
Daividh looked at her and for the first time that evening, they made eye contact. “Ye really have a root for everythin’, dae ye nae?”
“Aye,” Lorraine said and looked away, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
Daividh continued to massage the kitten but looked at Lorraine’s hand as they moved. He wondered if she knew how competent and put together she looked when she worked on the kitten. He wondered if she knew that she bit her lips slightly when she concentrated.
She poured the milk into the kettle and held it over the fire until it was warm. Then, she reached into the sack, pulled out what looked like a cup and poured the milk in. The cup had a funnel like mouth which would make it easy to force liquid down the throat of such a small animal. Lorraine reached for the roots and laid them on the ground. Her eyes darted around for two stones that were large enough for what she wanted to do.
Deftly, she ground a little bit of the roots between the two stones and then, took a pinch of the ground roots and put into the cup of warm milk. With a spoon she procured from the sack she carried, she stirred the mixture and then, looked up to Daividh.
“Aye, milord, I will need ye to lift it tae me,” she instructed.
Daividh nodded and lifted the kitten to her. It was still cold and there was barely any warmth in its body.
With her thumb and forefinger, she prodded the kitten’s mouth open. The poor thing was so weak that it barely fought. She looked at Daividh and gave a small smile – the first smile she had given him in ages, Daividh noted with a small pang in his chest. How he had missed her smile.
“’Tis time, milord. Let us pray it works,” she said and with that, she poured the mixture into the kitten’s mouth.
Chapter Ten
Daividh found that his heart beat a little faster than was usual. He looked to Lorraine who was pouring the warm milk and roots down the kitten’s throat. Had she managed to make him care about what happened to a kitten?
Lorraine placed down the cup and took the cat from Daividh. She held his neck in a way that made it all too easy for the liquid to go in. The seconds that followed seemed to be the longest ever and just when he was about to ask her what they were waiting for, the kitten coughed and cried out. Daividh looked to Lorraine whose features were obviously flooded with relief.
“That was amazing,” he said to her honestly, “Ye are amazing. What did ye give it?”
“A little root I happened upon. It warmed him up,” she said with a small smile. Carefully, she placed the kitten by the fire side and swaddled him in the clothes, but it would live – that much was obvious. “He doesnae need tae stay so close tae the fire anymore,” she told him, “We will leave the fire on, however. ’Twill warm the kitten and the rest of the animals. Maxwell will nae be pleased, however. ’Tis more wood for him tae cut.” She grinned up at him. Then, as though remembering that she was not supposed to, she looked away.
Together, they placed the kitten rightly, tended to the fire, and picked up the tools she had used. Then, they left the barn and Lorraine closed it firmly behind them. She left him outside and went inside to put the tools she had used away.
Daividh watched her come out, with the brisk walk she had. Unwillingly, he found himself imaging her in skirts. She would be a sight to see. Today, her long black hair was pulled behind her head in a tight bun. He liked how it made it easy for him to see her eyes clearly.
“Thank ye for yer help,” she said to him when she reached him.
“’Tis nae a bother.” Daividh knew he had to leave. She had been nice to him only because she was so occupied. If he stayed any longer, she would remember her anger at him.
“I believe I have stayed my welcome. If ye are in need of anythin’ concerning the kitten, send word,” he said, and turned to mount his horse.
“What dae ye want with Maxwell?”
“Pardon?” he turned back to her.
“Maxwell. Ye have been meetin’ too frequently and today, ye were here for him again. What do ye want with him?”
“Why dae ye want tae ken?” he asked with a small smile.
“He is me brother. I worry about him.”
Daividh nodded. That was fair. “I want him tae join a special group of men for a- un-” he thought of how best to place his words,“special task.”
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
Daividh grinned. “A man’s life is always filled with danger.”
“I want ye tae take him out. Ye have many men.”
“None that I trust.”
“I’m sure yer team will nae hurt for one man.”
“But it will.”
Lorraine put her foot down. “Will ye nae even listen to a word I am saying? I do nae want him to be in danger.”
“Are ye making a request, Lorraine?” he asked with a grin.
Lorraine paused. “Aye. I believe I am.”
“But dae enemies make requests of each other?”
“Nay.”
“Friends do, aye?”
“Aye.” She nodded.
“Dae ye ken what friends also dae?”
“Nay?”
“They go to lochs together.”
Despite herself, Lorraine found her grin hard to contain.
“Fine. To the loch we go and then, ye grant my request.”
“Nay, pretty lady,” he said to her, “We will discuss yer request and I will consider it.”
“Fair enough,” she moved for her horse, “we have a deal.”
“How often dae ye come here?” Lorraine asked him. The bright afternoon sun had heated the water slightly and it was slightly warm. She dipped her finger into the clear water and enjoyed the ripples on her fingers.
The lake was a hidden one. The MacDougall clan had many lakes that were open to public view but this was different. It was hidden deep in the trees. Behind the canopy of the various trees that the clan boasted, the small lake was.
It was hidden so securely that it would take one who knew of its existence or a stubborn wanderer to find it. Nature had fitted the bank with large stones that were perfect to be sat on. The water was so beautifully clear that Lorraine found herself in awe of it.
“Nae many people ken but I come here at least thrice a week. ’Tis nae always a lengthy stop but I make sure tae pass through. ’Twas one of me ma’s favorite places in the clan.” His mother had often brought him here as a young lad. It had been one of the many moments that they had bonded in. Unwilling to go down that memory lane, he changed the subject.
“Ye did nae give me the name of the root that was used on the kitten,” he started.
“Ye daenae like tae speak of yer ma, dae ye? ’Tis obvious with how ye change the tide of the conversation every time she is brought up.”
The question had been unexpected and he struggled with an answer.
“’Tis alright. Ye daenae need tae give an answer. The memory of me da is nae one I like tae speak about tae everyone.”
&nb
sp; Daividh looked at Lorraine whose attention was still at the stream.
“I-” he began but she cut him off.
“The root I gave tae the kitten is better suited tae the body of an animal. If any of yer men get a severe cold, ye will need to make a poultice with grounded leaves of the mint and ginger plants. Spread it atop his chest. Ye can grind some ginger and mix in warm water then aid him to drink it. Keep him near a fire too. ’Tis the best ye can dae.”
