When the day’s work was done and dinner was eaten, they would usually sit by the stove and practice the reading. She had been so concerned about her speech as well, however he noticed that the more she read, the better she spoke. It was an inevitable progression, and he was pleased that she seemed to be making fast progress.
The winter stretched on long and cold and dark, but the two of them did not seem to notice. In William’s eyes, the company made the time go faster and Opal was still enthralled with the normal life she had found. He liked the way her eyes lit up when she got a difficult word and the way she had made friends with Lady. She found herself more and more interested in spending time with him, and his gentle manner and deep blue eyes.
Chapter Eight
As these things do, eventually the snow stopped falling and began to melt. The cows seemed well on their way to making calves, and the chickens started producing more eggs.
On their first trip back into town, William made sure to pick up plenty of seeds for the garden, hoping that Opal would have more success than he was able to find. She picked out quite a variety -- corn and potatoes and tomatoes and cucumbers. They also stocked up on other essentials that had run out during the winter.
When they returned home that afternoon, Opal was eager to get everything in the ground right away but William cautioned her to wait just in case they got a late frost. Not to mention, the ground was still going to be very hard for the digging.
As they arranged all of their purchases in the house, Opal got dinner ready to serve. She was excited to cook something different with the new food purchases, and laid out a beautiful dinner that resembled the Ploughman’s Lunch they had at the dining hall in late fall. William laughed at the amount of food on the table when he returned from the fields but reassured her that it was fine. Whatever they did not eat that night would certainly keep for later.
After they finished everything they could possibly eat in one sitting, Opal started to clean up while William poured the last of the coffee into their two mugs and they dragged their chairs outside to enjoy the last of the setting sun. As Lady curled up at their feet, and Opal pulled the horse blanket tighter around her knees, William’s spine went stiff in his chair.
“What is it, William?”
“I thought I saw something over there against the sky.”
“What do you think it was?”
“Looked like a person on horseback. I don’t get visitors and the Indians rarely come calling this late at night.”
“Indians?”
William chuckled, “Yes, we have them out here too. I doubt it is your long-lost father.”
She shook her head, “I doubt it too.”
Suddenly, Lady picked her head up with a grunt and stared at the same spot William had been watching. Now William was on alert with her. The figure on horseback was evident to all three sets of eyes.
“Maybe it’s just a lost hunter or something,” William said hopefully.
But he disappeared inside the house and returned with his rifle just the same. Opal grasped his arm and looked at him with wild wide eyes.
“It’s okay, I’ll just see what they want.”
William whistled for his own horse and mounted up quickly. Before he rode off, he turned to caution Opal.
“Go back inside the house and stay there until you hear my voice at the door.”
She nodded and scampered back inside with Lady right behind her.
The little house had no windows so she could not see what was going on. Against her instructions, she cracked the wooden door enough to see William had approached the other figure and seemed to be having a very animated conversation. As she peeked out the door, she watched as William swung to hit the other person. She let out a loud gasp and felt Lady standing on her stockinged feet. The other person swung back and caught William somewhere in the vicinity of his face. She gasped again and clasped her hand to Lady’s side.
As William appeared to regain his composure, the other man on the horse started riding at a full gallop towards the house. Opal slammed the door shut, threw the latch in place, and ran with Lady to cower between the bed and the newly added divider wall.
She heard the man beat against the door with both fists, yelling for her and screaming terrible names. She muffled her breathing against the blankets on the bed and dug her hands into Lady’s soft fur.
She heard another deep voice, William’s, and the beating on the door suddenly stopped as the two men screamed at each other. She and Lady looked at each other and Lady licked Opal’s nose as if to reassure her.
The scuffle outside paused and it seemed that the whole world went silent. Then Opal heard the shot of the rifle. It echoed throughout the house and deep into her bones. She and Lady both whimpered and clung to each other.
Then in the silence, there was one soft knock on the front door, and William’s tentative voice.
“Opal? It’s me.”
She rested her palm against the closed door and took a deep breath before opening it.
“William?”
His face had seen the angry side of the man’s fist and his eye was starting to blossom purple.
“Ohhh…” she gasped, tentatively reaching up to lay her palm against his cheek.
He rested his large hand over her cool delicate fingers.
“I’m okay, it will heal. But I’m afraid his injury was fatal.”
She looked past William’s broad shoulders to the body on the ground. It was that horrible greasy man from town, the one that had been so nasty towards them.
“William! What is he doing here?”
“Apparently he thinks you would be worth a bounty, or at least a good sale price. He was going to come take you.’
“What? Can he do that? Can he steal me?”
“No. Not in my house. Not from me.”
Her knees weakened and he caught her just before she fell to the cold ground.
“Opal,” he said softly.
“Yes sir?”
“I was… I was not just angry at him, I was scared. Scared to lose you. Scared of what he would do to you and what anyone else might have done to you.”
“William…” her voice trailed off into hesitant bewilderment.
Chapter Nine
William pulled her back into the house and set her down in one of their homemade wooden chairs. He carefully eased his bulky frame into the other one.
“Opal, I am afraid I have a confession to make.”
Her eyes fell to her lap, afraid of what he was going to say. That she was not worth the trouble she seemed to be causing, and that as soon as it got warm enough, he was going to turn her out. She had so enjoyed staying here with him, playing house, and developing a certain affection for the large gentle man and the way he was so kind to her and to Lady.
“W-W-What is it William? Have I done something? Am I in trouble?”
“Oh heavens no, please don’t think that for a moment. It’s not that at all. Quite, ah, the opposite.” He covered her hands with his.
“Oh…”
“I like having you here, and I enjoy your company. But I’m afraid I can no longer employ you.”
She sighed deeply and again looked down at her hands in her lap.
“You see, when he threatened to take you away, it was not like he threatened an employee or a friend. He threatened my family.”
Opal’s lips parted in a silent gasp.
“I would like very much for you to be my family. Opal, would you marry me?”
The corners of her mouth turned up in a tiny smile and then her face broke into a grin.
“William! To marry you? I never… Of course!”
This kind sweet bear of a man felt about her as she felt about him. He grinned and popped up out of his chair, dragging her to her feet as well. He held her close to his chest and could not even feel the pain of the bruise that quickly developed on his eye. In the warmth of their kitchen and affection of his embrace, Opal felt at home for the firs
t time in her life.
Within a few days, William had made arrangements to have the traveling chaplain stop by their homestead and wed them. They received an odd look from the older gentleman, but he could find no reason not to wed the two of them. Opal had no fine lacy dresses but felt perfectly content marrying William in her button down shirt, trousers, and work boots. And in the cool stillness of the spring evening, William shared the bed with Opal for the first time, and showed his bride just how much he loved her.
Spring eventually gave way to summer, and the happy couple had settled into their routine. She tended the garden until it overflowed with the vegetables that he had so ineptly tried to grow. He would often watch her bent over the plants, her long dark hair plaited back away from her face, and smile at the future he had been given.
William carefully monitored all of his expectant bovine mothers, and it looked like their herd was growing exponentially. It was shaping up to be a very profitable year all the way around.
Opal had never asked any more questions about the man that had showed up that night, and William made sure that he would never be found. In fact, he was probably not even missed by anyone except perhaps the bartender at the saloon.
One warm summer night, Opal stretched out her bare feet in the front yard and wiggled them in the dewy grass as she looked up at William in his chair.
“Mr. William, I have been meaning to speak to you about the growing herd in your backyard over there.”
“Yes, Ms. Opal, how can I help you?”
“Whatever shall we do when our herd expands similarly?”
He smirked down at her, “We will make room as they do.”
“Well then sir, I believe it is time for that addition to the house that we’ve been talking about.”
He grinned down at his blushing bride and cupped his hand under her chin.
“Yes ma’am, I will surely build you that nursery.”
THE END
Seized by the Highlander
Chapter One
Elizabeth’s crinoline skirts rustled as they swept against the blades of grass that peeked through the cobblestone path. The shops seemed more crowded than normal as she made her way from one to the next. It was her maid servant’s day off but there were still things that the household needed. Her husband, Henry, would not be pleased if his whiskey was not available at the end of the day, and the cook needed a few things for dinner. Elizabeth would not want to be home if Henry were deprived of his food or his beverage. Her cheek still smarted from upsetting him the night before, by not refilling his mug quickly enough.
She smiled at the shopkeeper as he wrapped up the cheese, pickles and sweet jam. Apparently Henry’s reputation preceded him, and with a small nod, the shopkeeper also added a bottle of whiskey to the brown paper package, before tying up the white twine.
He offered to add the purchases to the family’s shop credit and she agreed. Henry never allowed her to carry any money and the shops all seemed to place good faith on his abilities to pay the bills.
With the package tucked into the wicker basket she carried in the crook of her elbow, she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and headed back into the streets. The summer was waning and the air carried the autumn chill. She welcomed the relief from the heat of the earlier months, but knew she should start preparing the house for winter.
She made a mental list of tasks as she made her way back to the estate. The wind tickled at the nape of her neck and tried to steal loose tendrils from her coifed blonde curls. The walk was not short, but she enjoyed the chance to get out of her drafty old stone estate. It seemed to trap the heat in July and the cold in January, and never felt quite comfortable at any time of year. And while the shopping could have been done by the servants, she liked having an excuse to wander about town. She knew better than to spend too much money at any of the stores, but it was a pleasant afternoon to window shop. Henry constantly chided her for not taking the carriage into town, but she almost always took the trip by foot.
Henry was well-known in the area, as the region’s largest landowner, so most of the shopkeepers were overly attentive to her needs. They would fetch her a cup of tea, provide her a chair to rest, and even wrap packages extra carefully when she did decide to buy something.
When she arrived home, the cook whisked the package away from her and set a pot of tea on the stove to heat.
“Would you like something to eat ma’am?” the cook offered.
“Yes, Olivia, that would be lovely. I know that dinner is not far off, but I’m not certain I will make it that long.” She smiled gently at the older woman and settled into a chair at the servants’ table in the kitchen. Her blue eyes twinkled since she knew that she would shortly be enjoying some of the sharp cheddar cheese that she had just purchased.
“Ma’am, I am happy to bring it to your room if you like.”
“No, I should prefer to sit here in the warm kitchen with your company, if that’s alright.”
Olivia smiled and nodded, “But of course ma’am.”
She poured the tea into an elegant china mug and cut off pieces of homemade bread and the fresh cheese as a snack. While Elizabeth sipped and nibbled, they discussed the changes in the weather as Olivia started to prepare their dinner.
Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia watched the delicate young woman and shook her head slightly. She could not understand the beautiful young woman’s choice to marry her boss. He was a gray-haired, flabby, pig-headed drunkard who constantly yelled at everyone in the household. And Elizabeth seemed to take the brunt of it. They had been married almost two years now, and despite his every effort to force her, she had yet to produce an heir for his estate.
Olivia smirked to herself as an errant thought crept through her head. Perhaps Elizabeth’s body was rejecting Henry in a way that she could not. The cook was certain that it had been an arranged marriage. Elizabeth’s father had been the banker in town, and thusly had his choice of suitors when Elizabeth came of age. The wealthiest landowner in the area was an obvious choice on paper, and it was not allowed for the young lady to question the agreement that had been made. They had both been brought up in the proper British environments, and the arrangement did make sense on paper.
By the time Henry had returned from his meeting with the other landowners, Olivia had the dinner prepared. They dined on more of the same bread and cheese, along with slices of smoked ham, fresh green onions and ripe tomatoes from the vegetable garden, tart pickles, and slices of crisp apple from the grove down by the pond.
After they finished, Henry retired to his study with the bottle of whiskey. Elizabeth went to her bedroom to light her fireplace, and to cross stitch before retiring for the evening. She just hoped he would succumb to the effects of the alcohol before he wanted to try yet again, in his heavy-handed, demanding way, for a son.
Chapter Two
William grinned as the wind ruffled his shaggy dark hair and he squinted his brown eyes against the sun. His horse, King, huffed at the dust in the air and pawed at the ground between the trees where they waited.
The tall, broad-shouldered man ran his hand down the horse’s whither and admired the well-muscled animal. He had always been a good companion and a faithful friend, even when William would talk his ear off with all sorts of random mutterings about the state of the countrymen he encountered.
William pitied the working man as he strained his back in fields that did not even belong to him, and he detested the nobleman who cracked the whip over that back. He much preferred his life, not that it was ever much of a choice, but he could not imagine answering to either master -- the field that demanded so much or the landowner who demanded even more. Some would envy him his freedom, but some would pity him for his lack of roots.
His band of friends would be meeting up soon, in the clearing just on the other side of the pond, and he knew he should get going. But he did love these fall days, when the sun was still warm but the wind had started to whisper of the winter
chill. He did hope that one of the men had found some food that day, because the rumbling in his stomach was starting to irritate him.
He mounted the horse and urged him into a walk. He loved to tell people that he had named the horse King, so that he would always be in the company of royalty wherever he went. They were planning an outing for some time in the next few days, and he was looking forward to the adventure and hopefully the spoils of their personal private war. He liked to think that they were raging against the heavy-handed nobility, but some of their group simply did it for the fight and the gold.
SCOTTISH ROMANCE: My Sinful Surrender to a Highlander Werewolf (Scottish Werewolf Pregnancy Romance) (Historical Medieval Shape Shifter Paranormal Science Fiction Short Stories) Page 105