Alroy smiled brightly and tucked Kaitlyn in. “Well it’s just fortunate for you that I actually do know that one,” he told her. Kaitlyn couldn’t help smiling as he told her the story of the naughty but loveable Colleen, who was banished overseas for being such a badly behaved young lady. She was spanked on a daily basis in her guardian’s attempt to make her a good girl, but eventually he gave up and returned her home to her sister. “And they all lived happily ever after,” he finished, kissing Kaitlyn softly on the forehead.
Kaitlyn smiled as she twirled the ribbon in her hair around her finger. She closed her eyes and immediately drifted off into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of the day she would eventually be reunited with her sister.
Chapter Five
Colleen was really enjoying travelling with Harvey and his two guards so she was a little disappointed when he told her that trading had gone so well, they had sold over half of their stock and they were going to have to head back to Scotland.
Colleen had proved to be a better trader than Harvey could ever have imagined, using her feminine wiles to get better deals with some of the tougher traders than Harvey could ever hope to achieve. She was actually proving to be a Godsend and admittedly she was a much better cook than Harvey
Harvey told her he would normally travel down into the Cleveland area now, but as they needed to pass through Carlisle and Glasgow on the way home he feared they would run out of supplies so he had decided to head across country from Sunderland to Carlisle and then head up into Scotland and back towards the Highlands where they would re-stock in Oban before setting off on their travels once more.
As they crossed into Carlisle, Harvey gave her a stern warning that she must never wander away out of sight. “Colleen, it really is not safe for you to be alone. You’re very vulnerable.”
Colleen rolled her eyes and promised she would stay close, but sometimes all the new places they visited made her keen to explore her surroundings and she had received several warnings – and a short but embarrassing spanking - from Harvey as he tried to make her understand she must not wander away or go out of his sight.
They had a very prosperous day in Carlisle and Colleen was thrilled to come away with some new drawers. She had only brought two pairs with her and was fed up of washing them in a stream and hanging them out to dry on the cart, where Richard and Robert would tease her endlessly, wearing her drawers as hats when they were drunk and behaving foolishly.
She had been horrified at Harvey’s suggestion, when she first joined them, that she should wear nothing under her skirts, as many young ladies chose to do. They might go around with no undergarments on, Colleen thought primly, but there is no way in this world that I am going to do that. It’s improper!
As they left Carlisle, Harvey told Richard and Robert to head for the border into Scotland and they would stop for the night. As they crossed back into Scotland, Colleen breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m so glad we’re back in Scotland,” she told Harvey.
“Why?” he asked, genuinely confused. “I thought you liked England.”
“Oh, I do, it’s a beautiful country, especially where all the sheep were. I would love to live there.”
Harvey smiled. “That was Northumbria. It is a very beautiful place. We’ll go back there soon. We can maybe stay there for a few days if you’d like.”
Colleen smiled. “I’d love that, but is it really safe for me to be in England?”
Harvey sighed. “Colleen, I very much doubt any of the English would recognise you. If you’d stayed in Ireland that would have been a problem, but here my main concern is that it is simply unsafe for a woman who does not know the area, or the local customs or local people, to be out alone. There are a great number of people around who would prey on an unprotected, beautiful young lady like yourself. Do you understand?”
Colleen nodded and rested her head against Harvey’s shoulder.
“I miss Kaitlyn,” she said sadly, thinking of her sister back home. “I hope she hasn’t forgotten me,” she sighed.
Harvey put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her affectionately. “She’ll be missing you just as much as you’re missing her. I guarantee it.”
Colleen smiled and appreciated how Harvey listened to her once again as she talked about her life in Ireland and how much she missed her sister. They had similar chats each evening and Harvey never seemed to tire of hearing her talk about Kaitlyn and the castle she had lived in for twenty years.
As they stopped for the night, Colleen stayed on the back of the cart for a while, holding Harvey’s hand and gazing up at the stars. “I hated this at first,” she reminded him. “I was used to sleeping in my bed and I hated sleeping out in the cold, on the hard wooden floor of a cart.”
Harvey smiled. “I remember.”
Colleen looked at him. “Was I that bad?” she asked.
Harvey laughed. “Yes,” he told her honestly, “for the first couple of weeks at least, but it was only to be expected when I dragged you away from all you’ve ever known. After your initial reluctance, things have been fine. I enjoy having you with me. I don’t know how I coped being on my own with those two before you came along,” he grinned, indicating his guards who were already settled down on the grass with a bottle of his mead.
Colleen giggled and hugged him tight. “I love it now. Thank you for helping me to settle in and teaching me how to trade.”
Harvey kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t mention it. You’ve had a hard time of it over the past year and I’m really very proud of you. You’ve earned me a fortune trading. We’ve never eaten as well as we have since you’ve been with us, and I’ve earned more money than ever before too. I’ll be sure to treat you to something nice.”
Colleen smiled brightly as Harvey jumped down from the cart, walked around to her side and lifted her down.
As they prepared dinner together, while Richard and Robert helped themselves to a second bottle of mead, Colleen talked about her parents. As she became tearful, Harvey held her hand, and when she broke down sobbing Harvey lifted her up onto his lap and held her close. He rocked her gently, whispering softly to her as he kissed her cheek.
“Good girl. It’s about time you talked about your parents’ deaths. I was worried you’d blocked them out of your mind. Hush now,” he whispered, as she clung to him.
Sitting her beside the fire and calling Richard and Robert over to keep her company, Harvey prepared, cooked and served dinner. He shook his head and laughed as Richard and Robert tried to teach her the rules of the drinking game they seemed to play most nights.
As Harvey approached, she frowned at him. “How can they call what they’re doing a game? All they’re doing is passing the bottle between them and getting drunk!”
Harvey laughed. “I’m surprised I have any profits with those two, but they’re good men. They’ve served me well over the years and have helped me out of many an awkward situation. Having you around has been good, Colleen. You seem to have been a calming influence on them. I haven’t broken up a single fight involving them on this trip,” he told her, quickly adding “yet!”
Richard stopped drinking and looked at Harvey. “You’re a good boss. We have a good life with you. We don’t mean to take advantage of your generosity,” he said bashfully.
Harvey laughed once more. “Shut up and eat your dinner or you’ll be making me cry,” he said.
A few hours later, after they’d enjoyed a good meal together and Richard and Robert had dug out a bottle of whisky they’d ‘purchased’, Colleen sat with Harvey and looked up at the stars.
“Do you think mother and father are up there watching us?” she asked.
Harvey kissed her cheek and pulled her close. “Yes, they’re watching over you and keeping you safe, I’m sure of it. I’m also certain they’ll be very proud of you.”
They sat in silence for a while, until Harvey realised that Colleen had fallen asleep on him. He lifted her up and put her onto the wagon, throwin
g a blanket over her, before he also threw a blanket over Richard and Robert, who hadn’t even made it underneath the cart before passing out drunk. Harvey eventually settled down for the night too.
The next morning they got back on the road. It was a long ride to Glasgow as they stopped to sell mead along the way to passing travellers. When they finally reached Glasgow, after a couple of nights rest along the way, Harvey was good to his word and gave Colleen a few coins to spend.
She ran off towards the market, clutching a bottle of mead that she promised to trade while she was there, Richard following close behind her as per Harvey’s orders.
Colleen looked around the stalls and when she had no idea what to get, she showed the trader the coins in her hand and whispered something to him. He smiled and led her to his cart, where he rummaged around and produced a few items which she looked at. Richard stepped closer to see what she was doing.
The man held out a smoking pipe which Colleen picked up and looked at, smiling brightly. “It’s from Norway, it’s made of iron. I’m sure your guardian will love it,” he told her. Colleen nodded and counted three of her coins out to the trader, cheekily adding “I’ll give you this other coin and a bottle of the finest mead in all of the land if you give me those two flasks as well”.
“For your cheek, young lady, I accept your offer,” the trader said, gratefully taking the coin and the mead and handing Colleen her purchases.
Colleen smiled at Richard and skipped over to the cart where she concealed the items she had just bought.
“Did you get yourself something nice?” asked Harvey, trying to see what she was hiding.
“Yes thank you,” she said, “I’ll show you later.”
Grabbing a few bottles of mead, she headed off to see what she could get for their dinner. Richard shook his head, telling Harvey that the trader saw her coming and she was “well ripped off”.
“Never mind,” Harvey said, shaking his head. “I wanted to treat her. She’s been doing so well.”
Richard shrugged and had a quiet word with Harvey before they spent the next hour trading with the townsfolk. When they were finished, they headed into another part of town where they were once again kept busy.
After a long day’s trading, they found a place to stop for the night and Colleen prepared dinner. After they had eaten and they all settled down for the evening, Harvey was stunned when Colleen came and sat on his lap and handed him a pipe. “I bought you this,” she told him, adding quickly “I know you don’t smoke, but I thought it looked nice and you might like it.”
Harvey sighed. “Colleen, you were supposed to buy something special for yourself.”
Seeing the look of disappointment cross her face, he added “but this is very special and I’ll treasure it forever. Thank you so much”.
She kissed him on the cheek and rushed back to the cart, returning with the two hip flasks which she handed to Richard and Robert. “That’s for putting up with me when I was so miserable those first couple of weeks, and for helping Harvey to keep me safe,” she told them, smiling brightly.
Richard and Robert were touched by the kind gesture and they hugged and kissed Colleen, thanking her for their gifts.
“Maybe you can be more like gentlemen and drink from those instead of swigging straight from the bottle,” she teased, giggling and shrieking as Richard wrestled her to the ground and tickled her.
As she finally fought him off and sat up, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks, Harvey handed her a pile of clothing. She excitedly unfolded it all and her eyes lit up with delight as she looked at the nightgown Harvey had given to her, along with two pairs of drawers and a couple of petticoats. “Oh thank you,” she squealed with delight, kissing him on the cheek and running off to put her nightgown on.
“It will be so nice not having to sleep in my clothes,” she told Harvey, as he tucked her into bed that night. “Thank you so much.”
Harvey smiled. “Richard didn’t tell me what you’d bought, but he did tell me that you hadn’t spent the money I gave you on yourself, so I decided to get you something too. I hope you like them.”
Colleen nodded enthusiastically as she smiled brightly.
“We’re almost out of supplies of mead. We’re down to the last few dozen bottles, so we’re heading back to Oban tomorrow. It’ll take two or three days to get there. We’ll stay there for a few days then we can travel around the Highlands and see how well you are at trading there,” he told her, as he kissed her goodnight.
Colleen closed her eyes and thought about their return to the Highlands. She had noticed previously how much the place reminded her of her home back in Ireland. And hopefully, once they were back in Oban, Harvey might even consider taking her back to Ireland.
I absolutely love travelling with Harvey, and I would love to come back here with Kaitlyn where we could hopefully accompany him together – I’m sure we could both fit on here with him - but I’m desperate to see my little sister again, she thought. Trading is so much fun, and living on the road is wonderful, but I want to go home, she thought sadly, closing her eyes and drifting into a deep sleep.
Chapter Six
As they eventually ran out of supplies on their way back to Oban, Harvey told Colleen that his best customers were in the Scottish Highlands and he always sold a whole cart load of mead in those parts. “You’ll have no problem making sales there,” he told her, laughing as he added “though I’m sure you could even sell ice to the Eskimos”.
The next day they visited William’s home in Oban where he travelled with them to the base they had in the town, which Colleen was stunned to see was simply a large stock room full of their bottled mead. Richard and Robert loaded the cart once more as Colleen and Harvey sat down with William.
Colleen enjoyed seeing the kind old man again and she talked excitedly to him, telling him about her travels so far. All thoughts of asking Harvey to take her back to Ireland were gone as she relished the challenge of trading in the Highlands. Maybe when we return I’ll ask Harvey if he can take me back to Ireland, she thought, feeling a little guilty for putting herself before her sister. I’m sure Alroy’s looking after Kaitlyn though. She’s probably forgotten all about me, she tried to convince herself, knowing that her younger sister would be missing Colleen as much as she missed her.
“Colleen,” said Harvey, interrupting her daydreams of home. “Remember what I’ve told you. The Highlands can be a dangerous place. You have to be more careful, especially now that you are helping me to trade. Most of the people around here are decent, but there are some really dangerous people about as well. I must insist that you heed my warning and do not wander off.”
Colleen rolled her eyes. I never wander too far away. I can always see Harvey, Richard or Robert. I can’t really see why Harvey’s making such a fuss.
“Colleen, do you understand?” Harvey said firmly.
Colleen nodded and climbed onto the back of the cart, pouting slightly. Harvey shook his head and climbed up beside her, telling Richard and Robert they were ready to go.
William bid them farewell. “Colleen, please be a good girl and listen to Harvey. There are some hard, rough men around these parts and although most of them are good at heart, like me,” he grinned, “you do need to be careful. Promise me you’ll heed your guardian’s words?”
Colleen scowled but promised she would do as she was told. “The wind will change and your face will stay like that,” William teased her, laughing loudly as she playfully stuck her tongue out at him and waved goodbye as the cart pulled away.
For the next few days, Colleen heeded Harvey’s words and did not wander off, being reminded with a stern look from him when she did consider taking herself off for a walk alone. As they stopped in Kingussie, Harvey issued another warning that Colleen must not stray from his side at all. Colleen rolled her eyes as she nodded, but as they wandered around the town trading, Colleen constantly making sure she was in sight of Harvey, she was mesmerised by the place that
reminded her so much of home.
Just before the end of their day’s trading, Colleen glanced around to see where Harvey was. As he was busy, she wandered a short distance away to explore the area. She was distracted by a small rabbit and, giggling loudly, she followed it into the woods until it disappeared out of sight. Turning round, she came face to face with a man out walking and she immediately panicked. She screamed loudly and seconds later Harvey, Richard and Robert appeared, as the man backed away with his hands out in a submissive gesture.
“I didn’t do anything to her, I swear,” he said, as Richard and Robert aggressively approached him.
“What did he do?” Harvey asked her solemnly.
Colleen shook her head. “Nothing, he just startled me. I’m sorry,” she explained.
The man nodded and continued on his way, and Harvey looked at her angrily. “Get back to the cart and wait until we’re ready to go. I’m too angry to deal with you right now. I will teach you a much needed lesson in obedience when we stop for the night,” he told her sternly.
The colour drained from Colleen’s face as she nodded and scurried back out to where the cart was and climbed aboard. She waited in silence and when Harvey eventually climbed up beside her, she looked at him, her blue eyes welling up with tears. “I’m sorry Harvey,” she whispered. “I promise I won’t wander off again.”
When Harvey did not answer, Colleen put her head down and they travelled in silence until they found a spot where they could set up for the night.
As Richard and Robert got off the cart, Harvey took Colleen by the hand and immediately pulled her across his lap. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered, struggling to get up. “Please don’t, I promise I’ll be good. I won’t wander away again.”
“I intend to make absolutely certain this doesn’t happen again, young lady, and after this you will be in no doubt how serious I am about you not wandering away. You’ve had more than enough chances,” he told her, lifting her dress and resting his hand on her bottom.
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