"I ken who he blames. An he's every right. Daracha was my friend, I'll care for her Ailene, nae matter what."
Reaching out, Gara placed a hand on Rhona's arm. "I'm feared he will hurt ye. Edan is nae in his right mind. He willnae let anyone touch tha bairn. Tha lad is sitting on tha floor near tha bed an...."
Glancing up the stairs, Rhona turned back to Gara. "If he hurts me, he does. Pain caused me tae hurt him once. I'm going."
Picking up her skirts, Rhona went up the staircase. The bedroom door was partially open. Pushing the door inward, Rhona stood just inside the doorway. On the bed lay Daracha. She could just see the top of Edan's head. Sitting on the floor next to the bed, his head bent, he was rocking back and forth. No sound came out of him. The child was still screaming, but the sounds were getting softer. There was no time to be gentle.
Kneeling down beside him, Rhona leaned forward into his face. "Give me tha bairn. She needs tae feed. Let me feed her, afore we lose her as well."
Hate filled eyes stared up at her. "Get tha hell out o' here! Damn bitch, 'tis all yur fault. Had ye done tha task right, I'd still have my luv!"
"Give me Ailene. I need tae feed her while she still has strength tae nurse. Ye may blame me all ye wish, Ailene needs tha milk I have. Give her tae me."
Laying the naked infant in his lap. Edan raised one hand and backhanded Rhona. She nearly fell backward from the force of the strike. Turning back to him, her eyes met his. The fury in his green and blue gaze caused her to shiver slightly. She was thankful he did not notice.
"Give Ailene tae me. Do ye want tae be responsible for her death? Daracha would nae thank ye for keeping the bairn from what she needs."
Narrowing to slits, Edan's eyes were spiting fire at her. His hand closed around her lower jaw, Rhona thought her bones would break from the pressure he exerted. Then the child gave one more partially strangled cry. Glancing down at the infant cradled partially in the crook of one arm and on his lap, Edan gulped in a deep breath.
Lifting the child, he held her out to Rhona. "Take her! If ye harm her in any manner, I'll strangle ye slowly. Yur death will be as slow as possible. Do ye ken?"
Snatching the child from his arms, Rhona grabbed a small blanket from the end of the bed where it had been waiting to swaddle Ailene. Wrapping the infant, Rhona hurriedly undid the front of her bodice and began to croon to the child.
Squeezing a few drops of milk onto the infant's lips, Rhona then teased her nipple across Ailene's mouth. When the infant finally connected, Rhona sighed in relief. Snuggling the child close, Rhona walked the floor, as the infant nursed.
"Aye, luv. There's ah good lassie. Drink yur fill, sweetness." Rhona continued to speak to the infant in a low, calm voice.
Nothing took her concentration from the child in her arms. There was a loud noise. Rhona looked up to see Edan crouched possessively near the end of the bed. Several of the other women were backing away from him.
Cadha alone stood her ground. "She's mine as well, MacGrough. I want tae say goodbye tae my darlin."
"Ye, an ye alone. Tha rest of ye, take yurselves away. Leave us."
At his shout, the infant started in Rhona's arms. "Leave off bellowing!" she hissed at him. "Ye're scaring Ailene."
"Take her away from here. Get on with ye! I'm going tae do for Daracha." Voice harsh, Edan waved her toward the door. "Take my lass, but remember what I said."
"An why would ye think I would forget?" Turning away from him, Rhona left the room.
Finding Gara in the hall, Rhona turned to her. "Would ye go down an have someone bring Cadell up? I'll take Ailene intae bed with me tonight. Cadell can sleep in one of tha willow baskets, if ye have Jamie carry one up."
Lifting her hand to Rhona's cheek, Gara touched the imprint of Edan's hand with one finger. "Is this all he did?" the old woman asked.
"Edan is in great pain, I ken. He did nothing that willnae fade in time. If ye please, Gara, I need tae stay out of his way an I need tae care for tha bairn. I would welcome ah bite tae eat later. Ailene needs tae be calm now. Tha poor thing has seen enough of trouble."
Turning, Rhona entered the room she shared with the other women and quietly shut the door behind her. Sitting on her bed, Rhona sang a lullaby to the motherless child, as tears for the loss of her friend slid down her cheeks. If only she could have been a little quicker.
Ailene's little chest rose and fell with a slight hitch that told Rhona she was exhausted from the birth and the crying. Kicking off her shoes, the woman lay back against the pillows with the infant on her chest. Her fingers rubbed the little girl's small back. Eventually the child's breathing evened out.
Not sure when she slipped into sleep with the child, Rhona woke some time later to find Gara holding Cadell. A laundry basket sat by the side of her bed. Near it was a cup of something which smelled very good. Rhona realized she was terribly hungry.
"Tha lad here had ah bit of broth. He's growing so fast!" Gara bounced Cadell on her hip. "Soon enough, he'll be eating like ah regular lad."
Reaching out, Cadell made a grabbing motion with his fist and gurgled at Rhona. With a laugh, Rhona gently moved Ailene off her chest to the bed. Pushing herself into a sitting position, the mother reached for her son.
"I've more for ye, laddie. Would ye care for ah bit of milk tae wash tha broth down?" As Rhona prepared to offer Cadell supper, she nodded her head in the direction of the other room.
"'Tis quiet. Is he going tae let anyone prepare her?"
Eyes filling with tears, Gara shook her graying head. "Nae. Cadha was tha only one Edan allowed near her. He wrapped Daracha as for burial an carried her down tha stairs. He bound her on ah horse, took tha other one an left. We're nae sure where."
Cadell kneaded her breast as he fed. Rhona stared at the wall between the two rooms for a moment. Then she turned back to Gara. "He's away tae tha glen. Edan's taking Daracha to bury her near Hamish, so he might watch her. What else he might do after..."
Rhona shrugged. "I'm thinking some should be in fear for their lives. Edan is in ah rage." Recalling the look in his eyes, Rhona shivered slightly. Death rode with Edan and Daracha in more than one way.
Chapter Forty - Two
All of it was rolling around in his brain like a leaf swirling down a rushing burn. Gone, all love, all happiness, gone in the blink of an eye. Almost, he had almost let his hand stray down to Rhona's throat. It would have been so easy to throttle the life out of her.
Now, what had stilled his hand? Edan only recalled placing the babe in her arms. The women wanted to prepare Daracha for burial. He could not allow it. None of them had been able to help her. All their healing arts were as water. She had not been able to feel her legs. Edan knew what it meant.
Rescuing Sim, Kyla's son, had taken her life. Or had giving birth to Ailene taken the last of her strength? He didn't know, but Edan did know someone else would die this night. Daracha needed to be laid to sleep in the glen. Hamish would watch over her until they could be together again.
Then again, why should he go back? What was there for him now? A tiny voice in his head whispered the name, Ailene. His father had gone on, his father had raised two sons to manhood before leaving the earth. Surely he had a duty to raise his daughter?
Could he live like this? His brain was a mass of things, spinning around and around like a whirlwind. He could not think clearly, only one thought stayed uppermost in his head, someone needed to bleed. Someone needed to die by inches at his hand.
Daracha needed to be buried and it would take him some time to get her back home. But on the way there, he must pass by Gruggie's Burn. Ian Smith, Smith, kin to Tally had predicted this. Prophets of doom should share in the doom they prophesied.
It was near to dark. He had only to wait a short time and then he could spill Smith's blood. He could wash his hands in the blood of the man responsible for the death of his life. If he was careful, it would be a slow death, a rewarding punishment for last evening’s work.
Edan found a qui
et spot off the main road to stop. His leg nearly gave way when he dismounted. Slamming his hand against his calf muscle, he told it to behave, no insolence would be tolerated. Edan was going to do what needed to be done, regardless of pain or laws.
Between his shoulder blades rested the dirk. It would be all he needed to punish Smith. Perhaps, if he was very lucky, he would be able to pay both Jock and Ian back for the horror they had caused him.
Ailene's mother should be nursing her child. Daracha should be smiling at him as she held their child to her breast. Instead, the bitch, Rhona was suckling his child. He would pray, if he still believed in prayer, that she did not poison the child against him. Would his daughter take in the vitriol from the bitch, as she fed?
In the top of his boot, the sgian dub nestled between the skin of his left leg and the leather of the boot. He had heard those who died from loss of blood did not feel much pain. There must be a way to change that. Perhaps, Smith would feel more pain if Edan cut away pieces of his skin a bit at a time.
It must be painful, pain was so necessary for Smith. It would be necessary for all the Smiths to feel pain. Jock, Tally, none of them should escape. Daracha had not escaped. They killed her and in turn killed his soul. All that mattered was that he lived long enough to slowly take the lives of all three men.
Three? Edan thought on it. More than three. He did not think either Ian or Jock had been part of the murderous crew in the lumber yard. 1Tally had not been there, Edan was certain of it. A horse had kicked Daracha. Oh, he did remember now. The rider of the horse would need to pay for his crimes as well.
Two others were there. Did he recall the names? One had shouted the names. What were they? Edan slammed his fist against his head. "Think!" He muttered. Who were they? Ian would know. He would need to get the names from Ian before he butchered him. God! How he wanted to butcher him.
Several houses stood in a small village behind the gorse bushes he was sheltering behind. There was the sounds of people preparing to retire into their homes for the night. Edan did not want to see any of them.
Tying Daracha's animal to his mount, Edan slid a hand down the bundle that was his wife's body. "Aye, luv. I'm sorry for tha delay. I've ah stop tae make at Gruggie's Burn afore I take ye home."
Placing his head on the wool wrappings, Edan sighed. "Hamish will look out for ye. I've done tha best I can, I cannae go any further. I'm done, luv."
Leaning against a tree trunk, Edan tied the reins of his horse to his wrist. Sliding downward, he settled on the leaves and grass beneath the tree and leaned back. Edan did not know when he slipped into a troubled sleep.
Somewhere an infant cried and then another. It was as if hundreds of children were crying all around him. Leave me be! I cannae do aught for ye! I'm done here. Dinnae come crying tae me. Go an bother another, I've nae strength left.
A dark haired little boy walked out of the fog encasing Edan. We're yur kin. Why are ye leaving us to perish? The child's dark eyes bored into Edan's
Turning his head, the child gestured behind him. There was a long line of children, all standing single file behind the boy. They had dark hair, red hair and hair the color of Edan's own. One little girl, with red gold curls the color of Daracha's, stepped slightly to one side. She had blue eyes and plump red cheeks. The child stared at him as she plopped a thumb in her mouth.
Sucking on it a few times, the little girl removed the finger from her mouth and stared at Edan. He doesnae love us any more. He's lost. The children all vanished, but he could still hear them crying.
Lost! Love was lost. No more love. The words were coming at him from all directions. The childish voices were repeating the same thing again and again. Once more, Edan heard the wail of an infant.
What had Rhona told him? He nearly killed his own child by not allowing anyone else to touch her. Was he responsible for the deaths of all these children? How? What had he done?
Startled, Edan woke to the sound of an infant crying in one of the houses behind him. Wondering if the child had been crying the entire time, Edan looked about. Perhaps the children had been real.
The fog surrounding him had not been there when he sat down against the tree. The last of the twilight was slowly sliding into the western sky. The fog was a strange pink tinged gray color. Edan shivered in the cool night air.
Closing his eyes again, Edan rested his head on the trunk of the tree behind him. Daracha was now lost to him. He was waiting for the sun to go down, so he might go to the warehouse and torture Ian and Jock Smith.
Blood lust had cleared from his brain enough for Edan to see the dream was sanity, trying to take control. The question was not could he kill them all, but should he? He could not bring his love back. Daracha, the woman who loved him as he was, who had chosen him above all others, was gone.
Yet, she had left him something of herself in the infant. Daracha had named the child, their daughter, Ailene. Another now nursed his child, another whose name he did not wish to utter.
Did he strike the woman? Yes, he remembered hitting her. He had not been gentle and she had come back at him with the same demand, give her the child so the infant might feed and live. Had he nearly starved his own daughter? It might be possible, he did not recall much.
Reaching up to rub his temple, Edan realized his head was very sore in that spot. A deep ache in his right calf had his fingers massaging a place that hurt, as if he had bruised it.
A fleeting memory of his own fist connecting with his head winked in and out of his mind. It was possible he had done the same to his leg, if it was not behaving as he thought it should.
Insane. Edan knew he had gone quite out of his head. He could not remember if he hurt anyone else, other than her. From the time he carried Daracha into the bedroom, all was a blur, the hours buried beneath rage in his head.
Sitting in the gathering darkness, Edan fought for control. His infant daughter needed him. His clan needed him. All those children, the MacGroughs to come, needed him in his right mind.
Some would be made to pay, he would have revenge. But now was not the time. What he did need from Ian Smith was information. A man here, one there, could easily vanish in the city and none would be the wiser. The one on the horse would be first. Perhaps, the other two would follow fairly quickly. Slowly, carefully, with as little risk to himself as possible was how he must proceed.
***
Ian Smith woke to the feel of something hurting his neck. When he would have bolted upright the pain increased. A shadow sat by the side of his bed.
"Have ah care, Ian. 'Tis ah sharp blade. I nae want ye dead immediately. I had in mind ah bit of fun first."
"MacGrough?"
There was a deep sigh. "How many others want tae drain tha blood from ye ah drop at ah time? Have ye that many enemies, Ian?"
Pressing his head as far into the pillow as possible, Ian sought to back away from the point of the sgian against his neck. "I tried tae keep them from tha shop an tha cottage. I told Tally ye had tha yard, but naught else. What information he had, didnae come from me. I was hoping he would consider tha yard payment."
"Did ye? There's ah problem here. Ye see, my lovely wife lies dead now. One of tha bloody bastards could nae control his animal. It kicked her in tha back. Pregnant, she was nae able tae move as quick as usual. She went intae tha cottage yard tae save ah wean, nearly a bairn yet."
"Daracha? Ah, Jesus help us! Swear tae ye, I'd nae wish tae see that happen. I tried tha best I could. Jock an me, we want out. We're planning on bolting with tha next bag from tha sale of the Dutchman's cargo."
Edan shifted in the chair and the knife dug a bit harder into Ian's neck. There was the feel of wetness as the point punctured his skin. "Ye might have left it ah bit late, lad. I must tell ye, I've only managed tae work my way partially out from under tha rage. Truth is, I've ah yen tae taste yur blood once it has all drained from yur body."
Ian flattened himself into the bed as much as he could. It was very apparent to him t
hat Edan was being truthful. "Swear tae ye, I had nae part in tha shite."
The point of the blade tickled across Ian's throat. Ian tried to hold his breath in case his breathing might force his skin against the sharp edge.
"I'm trying tae believe ye. My blood says ye didnae try hard enough. My mind says ye may have. But ye see, Ian, my heart is bleeding inside an I'm nae sure I can keep my blood under control here."
Ian fought an urge to nod. That would be fatal. "I ken. I can give ye tha names of tha bastards what done tha deed. There were only three, mind. I will promise tae grab Jock and take as much from Tally as we can. We were going to America."
Ian's eyes had adjusted a bit to the darkness of the room. He couldn't see Edan's eyes to judge his mental state. But something in Edan's tone of voice told Ian he was a hair's breadth from hell.
A sharp poke in the vicinity of Ian’s groin told him there was even more danger than he first thought. "I could get what I want from ye quite easily. Oh, an dinnae think tae cry out for Jock. He is trussed like a fowl in his bed with ah gag, mind. Do ye think ye might give me ah reason tae let tha both of ye live?"
Ian was silent as he thought. "Nae, I see tha justice in it. We brought ye intae this pile of cac. I should have told ye from tha start. God's breath! I'm so used tae doing tha bastard's dirty work, I stopped acting like ah human. Angus Williams is tha leader of the bastards. Cam and Dougie Moran were tha two bloody shites who helped him."
"Where might I find tha Williams creature?" Edan asked.
"Like as not, on tha wharf. He works as ah stevedore for Tally. Tha other two are usually found close by. Your bairn, did tha poor thing die as well? Tha bastard needs tae die slow. He was probably tae drunk tae ken what he was doing."
The knife point eased back from Ian's neck. "Nae, she is alive. How would I ken ye were gone away tae tha colonies?"
"Well, Jock an I were planning ah bit of ah name change. We was thinking on calling ourselves MacGroughs. Figured Tally would never look for us under your name."
The Twisted Laird Page 29