She looked up at him and saw the hopeful thought in his eyes. He wanted to get rid of her, fast. Well, she wasn't having any of it.
"No," she said brightly. "It's lovely and brisk out here. I like it."
"Ah. Good."
They resumed their trek around the village. Julia felt the tension in him growing and saw his shoulders becoming more and more stiff as they went. She let him stew for a while and then stopped, her hand on his arm.
"Look," she snapped. "I know you don't want to be here with me, walking around and around. Why don't you go and do whatever you'd do normally? I'll tag along."
He scowled. "Ye'd be put out."
"How do you know?"
"Because I have to gang up the hills to see to some o' the cattle. Ye wouldna care for it and ye'd only be in my way."
That did it. "In your way?" she demanded. "In your way? Well, who put me in your way? If I'm such an inconvenience, why don't you just let me go? I'll get out of your way in a big hurry then, believe me."
"Ye know I willna let ye go."
"Then put up or shut up, MacStruan! If I can't leave and you can't stand to go for a walk with me for the short time I get to get out each day, then either take me with you or hand me over to one of the others."
"There's no one to hand ye to. They've all work o' their own to see to."
"Then take me with you."
"I could put ye back in your room!"
"Yeah, and you could put me back in your little minidungeon, too! Why don't you?"
"I'm tryin' to make this easier for ye, ye ungrateful woman!"
"Oh, pardon me. I forgot how gallant it is to push people around and lock them up and refuse to even listen to them!"
He looked angry enough to chew rivets. She wondered if she'd gone too far, but she wasn't going to back off now. She stood up to him as best she could, given the difference in their height. "If you expect gratitude from a prisoner, you're going to be sorely disappointed," she said.
"If ye expect courtesy in return for trespassin' and spyin', ye're more addled than I thought!" he shot back.
"This isn't about trespassing," she said evenly. "This is about you wanting everything your way and everyone under your thumb!"
He stepped back suddenly, his jaw working, his posture even stiffer than before. "That's right. I'll have things my ain way. Ye want to go wi' me?" he said, his voice low and menacing. "Verra well. Let's be off."
He took her arm and propelled her toward the stables. The depth of his rage shocked her, and she didn't try to fight him as he guided her, neither violently nor gently, into the stables and sat her down on a barrelhead. She didn't move. He flung a bridle over the head of a large gray and led the horse out of the stall, pulling Julia along with him.
"Aren't you going to put a saddle on it?" she asked. His black glance checked any more words from her.
He stepped up and vaulted himself onto the horse's back. When he was astride, he reached his hand down to her. "Come then. Ye've asked to go."
Reluctantly she put her hand in his, and in an instant he had hoisted her off the ground. She had no choice but to straddle the horse behind him and hang on to his plaid with both hands.
He set off out of the village at a fast trot. Julia clamped her mouth shut, fearful that all her teeth were going to be shaken loose. Once beyond the few trees that edged the northern perimeter of the village, Darach set his heels into the horse's sides and the animal jolted ahead, streaking up the low hill before them.
Running or galloping or whatever it was the horse was doing, was a bit better than trotting, Julia thought. As they topped the rise and started down, she ventured a peek from behind Darach's broad back. She gave a soft shriek. They were headed straight into a lake! Good God, did he intend to drown her? Or was he just going to order her to jump in?
She hid her face in his plaid. At what she guessed was the last possible moment, she felt the horse swerve and shift, heading off in a different direction. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized icy water was not about to close around her, but she kept her head down, not wishing to see any more such close calls.
Way to go, Addison. She had just had to stand up to him, hadn't she? And look where it had gotten her. On the back of a running horse, clinging for dear life to a man who was so angry with her and so strong he could probably shot-put her into the next county.
Beneath her hands she felt Darach's muscles, rock-solid and still tense with anger. Was he angry enough to harm her? Or just angry enough to take her out into the wilderness of these hills and leave her?
The wind was rising, cutting around Darach to snatch at her hair and sting her cheeks. She took a glance at the sky and saw cloud bellies dark as granite. She didn't like their look. They reminded her of Darach's face when he'd hauled her into the stables and up onto this thundering beast.
She heard Darach call out to the big animal and felt him shift in front of her as he drew in the reins. The horse slowed to a bone-jamming trot, a walk, and then quickly came to a halt.
Darach looked at her over his shoulder. "Get down," he said.
"But I" She broke off at the flash of his eyes. She gathered herself up and slid gracelessly to the ground.
He swung off and held out his hand. "Give me the shawl."
She gave it to him, shivering less from the chill of the wind than from the ice of his gaze. He'd gone cold and quiet and she wished he'd go back to yelling at her. Yelling she knew how to deal with. Ice and snow she didn't.
He took her shawl and began to walk away, leaving both her and the horse. Her curiosity piqued, she began to follow him, keeping a safe distance.
He stopped abruptly and sank to his knees. He was examining something in the tall grass. Julia crept closer, craning her head to see. A tiny cloud of steam rose up from around his hands.
"The mother's over there," Darach said to her, not even bothering to turn around. "Gang ye and see how she is." He nodded down the slope before him.
Julia saw what was in the grass beneath his hands. It was a calf, gangly, slick, and panting for breath. She looked down the slope and saw another form among the grasses. She went ahead as he'd told her and saw the heifer, still and silent in the whistling wind.
Julia edged her way around the cow, not sure. if the animal would suddenly wake and charge her. She was a city girl, born and bred. Still, she sensed that something was deeply wrong here and she needed to help.
The cow's eyes were wide and staring. A fly lit on one glassy iris. There was no answering flinch or flick of an eyelash. Julia crouched down and laid her hand on the animal's side. It was still warm, but completely still. She'd died giving birth to the calf, Julia thought.
She stroked the brown, woolly flank, feeling sadness well up and take the place of the anger and fear she'd been carrying. "Poor lass," she crooned. "Poor little cow."
She heard steps and looked up to see Darach coming toward her, the calf wrapped in her shawl. She stood. "Is the calf all right?" she asked.
He frowned. "It's alive. But without its mam, it'll die anyway."
"But isn't there anything you can do?" She went to look at the weak little animal in his arms. "Couldn't it nurse with one of the other cows?"
He shook his head. "I dunna know. This heifer calved early. And aye alone. I canna be sure we can get this one to another cow in time."
"Well, we'll have to try!" Julia tugged at his sleeve. "How far do you think we'll have to go?"
He held back. "Julia, this wee fella's weak already. He may be sick. His mother could have been sick wi' something. It might be best to leave him here. It'd be kinder."
She bit her lip. "But you don't know for sure that he's going to die. You could be wrong."
He looked down at the animal again. Anger crept into his eyes once more. He looked up and gave her a tight nod. "It'll be a tight fit. Can ye ride while holdin' fast to him?"
"I'll hang on to him, even if I have to tie him to my back."
It turned ou
t that her suggestion was a sound one. Darach helped her fashion a sling out of the wide shawl, and then slid the shivering calf inside. He mounted up and leaned far down to help Julia up with her burden. This time he pulled her up in front of him, so that she was sitting sideways with the calf settled on her lap.
Julia watched as he took one corner of the shawl, tucked it up and around his belt, and tied it in a knot. He gave her a grim smile. "If one goes, all go."
It seemed to Julia that they rode for hours. In the graying of the afternoon light, she had lost all sense of direction. She rubbed the little calf as best she could, stroking it and talking to it encouragingly, while still maintaining a fierce grip on the horse's mane for balance. Darach's arms reached around her to hold the reins and she braced her shoulder against his chest, enjoying both the shelter from the chill of the rising wind cutting through her dress and the solid, unshakable feel of his body holding hers and the calf's in place.
But the calf was moving less and less, while its bony little rib cage labored for breath. She bent and spoke in its ear, crooning to it. She even gave a low, experimental moo, hoping it might rally at the sound of its own kind.
"There."
Julia looked where Darach pointed. She let out a whoop of joy at the woolly brown figures huddling in the lee of a large rock, taking refuge from the wind.
She almost couldn't wait for the horse to come to a halt before she slid off. But she remembered in time that the three of them were joined and she sat as patiently as she could while Darach unfastened the knot from his belt and slid down to help her with the heavy bundle in her lap.
Her legs almost buckled under her when she reached the ground. Darach caught her arms and steadied her. "Are ye all right?"
"I'm fine. My legs went to sleep."
She looked down at the animal that hung from her shoulders. "Buy you a drink, sailor?" A faint bleat was all he could muster, but she took it as a good sign.
Darach led the way. Julia kept her arms wrapped tightly around the shawl, warding off the cold from her charge.
They came within a few feet of the small herd and Darach stopped. He carefully untied the shawl from around Julia's body and lowered the calf to the ground.
"Pull up some grass," he said to Julia as he set to work untangling the calf from the shawl. She pulled up several handfuls and gave them to him. He divided them in half and handed one bundle back to her. "Rub him down wi' those."
She did as he told her, scrubbing the brown hide as he was doing. "Is this to get our scent off of him?" she asked.
"Aye. I dunna know if it matters but it couldna hurt."
When they had covered every inch of the shivering little body, Darach motioned to Julia to pick up her shawl. She clutched it to her as he walked over to the herd by the outcropping. He walked around until he found the cow he wanted, she guessed, and then began herding her over toward the calf.
Julia backed away. "Go for it, little guy," she said softly. "And don't be telling me you're lactose intolerant. That won't cut it."
The shaggy heifer plodded ahead of Darach, her head bent against the wind. She placed her nose right in range of the calf. The newborn gave another mewling bleat when it caught her scent. She answered with a questioning huff.
Julia watched, her heart thumping. "Come on, buddy, come on," she whispered.
She looked over to where Darach stood. He seemed rooted to the spot, watching the two animals discover one another. She felt a quick rush of warmth toward him. His face mirrored what she was feeling inside: fear, hope, excitement.
The heifer lowed. Julia looked back in time to see the calf struggling to its feet. On gangly stilts, it made the journey to the heifer's side, and with a feeble but effective butt of its head, connected up to the first available teat. The heifer mooed again and then lowered her head to crop some grass while the newcomer drank his fill.
"We did it!" Julia exclaimed softly as Darach came around to her side.
"Aye." He put his hands on his hips. "It's no' for certain he'll make it, but at least his instincts are sound."
"At least he has a chance now." She reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Thank you for trying."
Thunder cut in before he could reply. Julia winced involuntarily and glanced up at the sky. A fork of lightning made a stab at the hills beyond.
"We'd best be gettin' back," Darach said.
They hurried to the horse, who was beginning to prance uneasily on the windy rise. Darach lifted her up before him again and she settled in just as the first drops of rain began to fall.
The drops soon became a torrent. Julia tried to get the shawl up and over her head but it was no use; the wind snatched at it and tangled it around them both as they rode. She was drenched in a matter of minutes. More thunder ripped through the air and rolled back off the hills, echoing all about them. She huddled down and tried not to think about the fact that they were riding over an open plain, with no one and nothing taller than they for miles. ''Ouch!" she cried suddenly. Hailstones began to batter them. The horse whinnied in protest as the frozen bits pelted its hide. Julia felt Darach grip the reins more tightly and urge the horse ahead.
They entered a narrow glen, then turned sharply and began to climb. The going became more rocky and treacherous, the ground slippery under the horse's hooves. What on earth was Darach thinking? Julia wondered. This was no time to climb a mountain and take in the view.
She was about to say as much when he reined in the horse. He slid off quickly and held up his arms for Julia. He helped her down and pointed into the shadows. "Go ahead!" he called over the noise of the storm.
"Where?"
A flash of lightning answered her question. There was a tiny stone hut tucked into a niche in the hillside. She ran for it while Darach found shelter for the horse.
The door to the hut was unlocked. Julia pushed it open and waited for another flash of lightning to illuminate the threshold.
Nature obliged and she stepped inside. She could smell smoke, so she knew there must be a fireplace of some sort. The other scents were dust and decay, but she didn't care. Dust was okay, for it meant that the roof over her head was a sound one, and that was all she cared about just now.
Lightning flashed again and she saw the fireplace and a narrow slit of a window on the wall to her right. She moved toward it, putting out her hands to feel her way along. She found the wall, smelled ashes, and stood, waiting, not knowing what to do next.
"Welcome to Castle MacStruan," a voice said next to her ear.
Julia levitated. "God, Darach!" she cried. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I nearly went into cardiac arrest."
"Where's that?"
"Where's what?"
"Never mind. Keep your secrets. I'm goin' to make myself comfortable."
She heard him scuffling around in the room, then caught a glimpse of him returning to the fireplace with a covered clay pot in his hands. The room went dark once more but she could hear that he was closer now.
"Have a seat, Julia Addison," he said, his voice coming from the floor. "I fear we've no chairs a'tall, but the floor's no' too hard."
Keeping one hand on the wall, she sank down to the floor. The direction of his voice indicated that they were sitting face-to-face before the hearth.
"Couldn't we start a fire?" she asked, wringing out the hem of her dress.
"We could. If we had flint and tinder."
"What about matches?"
"There's none o' those here, that I know about. I could try usin' my knife to strike a spark, but I doubt there's anything here to take the flame. Moreover, it could take me half the night to get somethin' goin' that way." He shifted and she heard the scrape of the clay pot's lid. "There's food, though."
"Food?"
"Aye. Just cakes and a bit o' hard cheese but it'll stave off the cold and all, I'd wager." She felt his hand touch the edge of her sleeve. "Here, take this," he told her.
She reached out and received a hard biscuit and a piec
e of dry, strong cheese. She hadn't realized she was hungry until the first bite entered her mouth. "Mmm," she sighed, chewing.
He chuckled. "It's no' sae fancy as what ye're used to, I imagine, but it's here."
"I can't imagine anything better." She wiped at the crumbs around her mouth. "Why do you say fancy?" She wished she could see. Between flashes of lightning, the place was as dark as a drainpipe. Was he making fun of her?
"Ye have a fancy way about ye. The way ye handle a spoon. How ye always look for a clean spot to sit down or touch. That silver mirror ye carry is a lady's trinket and no' a cheap one, at that."
"And that makes me fancy?"
"Aye. Or it might just be that ye put on airs."
She bristled. "What you see is what you get."
He laughed, the sound a small bit of pleasant thunder rolling through the darkened room. "As it is, I canna see much."
She softened. "That's true. I don't suppose there's any electricity in here?" There was a pause. "Where would it be?"
"Are you pulling my leg?"
Another pause. "Would ye like me to?"
"No!" Heat blossomed in her cheeks. "I just want to see, is all."
"Sorry, lass. No lamps in this place either."
"You've been here before, I take it?"
"I told ye, this is Castle MacStruan."
"Yeah, right. What is it really?"
"It's a hunter's lodge, o' sorts. A traveler's rest. It belonged to a clansman years and years ago. We keep the roof in repair and a bit o' food in case the man on the hill comes by."
"The man on the hill?"
"A passerby. A wanderer or a stranger who's lost. It's the custom hereabouts." She felt a tap on her shoulder. "More?"
She took the food he offered. "Thank you. Would I qualify as a man or woman on the hill?" she asked as casually as she could.
"Of sorts, I suppose."
"But not really."
"Ye're no' a mere passerby."
"But I am a stranger."
"Ye are. But no' the sort that happens by any other day. Ye're too strange a stranger."
She sighed. "It's something about me, isn't it?" she murmured, half to herself. "I'm the exception to the rule."
The Mirror & The Magic Page 8