“Where do you get lemons up here, Lady?” Lorna asked. “Surely they don’t grow this far north.”
“Cail brings ‘em to me when he goes to Dovertown,” the old woman answered. “They come all the way up from Flagala Territory, don’t they, Cail?”
“Aye, Lady Belle, they do,” Cail said quietly.
“He brings me oranges and grapefruits, too, and I make marmalades for my toast. I’m partial to tangerines but they ain’t been as good lately as I’ve had before.”
Cail brought the tray into the sitting area of the room where Lorna was seated on the settee and Sam beside her in a straight back chair. He leaned forward so she could take a glass from the tarnished brass tray. His gaze met hers then skipped away.
Lady Belle took a seat on the settee with Lorna, leaving Cail to put the tray on a table that set off to one side. He shook his head to the offer of sitting in the rocking chair which was the only other chair in the room and went to stand by the fireplace, putting his elbow on the hearth.
For the next half-hour the three visitors gave Lady Belle the news of the Hill. Since she had not journeyed down to the settlement for the two funerals, she asked to be told everything that took place and who spoke for the dead men at their eulogies. She acknowledged the offering of bread then turned to Cail.
“Cail, son, would you and Sam do an old woman a great kindness and cut me some wood for that there fireplace? I’m running low and the nights are chilly up here on my old bones.”
“Aye, Lady Belle,” Cail agreed and it seemed he couldn’t wait to get out of the cabin, Sam following slowly behind him.
“That boy giving you any trouble?” Lady Belle asked as soon as the two males were out of earshot.
“Sam?” Lorna asked.
“No, girl,” Lady Belle replied. “I know that child ain’t been tetched yet by the evil that the other men of the Hill have in spades. If’n you hadn’t come when you did, though, he’d have had it seeping into him right quick enough.” She settled more comfortably on the settee. “I meant Cail.”
Lorna looked down into her glass. “He raped me.”
“Aye,” Lady Belle said with a hard gleam in her eyes. “I knowed he did and I boxed his ears fer it, too!” She snorted. “Came out here all apologizing to me for having done it and I told him he weren’t nothing but a rutting stag. Shamed him as much as it was possible to shame a McGregor male. He knows how I feel ‘bout such things.”
“I might have fallen in love with him had he courted me gently, Lady,” Lorna admitted. “I find him a handsome and virile man.”
“Aye, and he went and spoilt it,” Lady Belle said, nodding. “Figured as much.” She put her hand on Lorna’s thigh. “Just don’t do to him what you done to his brother. That one was always a mean little bastard but Cail can be a good boy when he’s made to be.”
“Even now that he’s the Elder?” Lorna questioned.
“The power ain’t with the menfolk, now, Lorna-girl,” Lady Belle said. “The power is with the womenfolk as it should be. Men ain’t worth the skin the Maker slipped over ‘em.”
“Is that why you never married?” Lorna asked. “You weren’t all that fond of men?”
“Land o’goshen, no! It was the other way ‘round. I was too fond of ‘em!” Lady Belle said with a cackle of a laugh. “I had my fill of any of ‘em I wanted. I was the Belle of the Ball.” A wicked snicker made the old woman’s face beam.
“I’ll just bet you were,” Lorna said. “Things must have been different back then.”
The laughter faded from Lady Belle’s face and she shook her head. “No, dearling. Things were just as bad as they are now with the menfolk.”
Lorna’s forehead creased. “I don’t understand.”
“I was a fallen woman, dear,” the old woman said. “I lost my maidenhead when I was but thirteen.” Her slender jaw flexed. “By rape, it was. An outsider what crossed the river in a canoe and thought to settle up here. He was sent on his way but a’fore he went, I ran afoul of him.” Her eyes narrowed. “They say he never made it back ‘cross the river but it don’t matter. I was spoilt goods, you see. No decent man would have me to wife so my ma set in to have this here cabin built and she put me up here to live on my own. Out of sight, out of mind was the way of it.”
“That’s cruel,” Lorna said. “How could she expect a mere child to .…”
“She knew I wouldn’t be alone up here for long,” Lady Belle interrupted. “She knew—just as every woman of the Hill knew—that there would be a crossing of them wyndstones by the Mealladh.”
“Chrysty,” Lorna said.
“Him or one of his kind,” Lady Belle said. “You must first call to him then sign your name in his book a’fore he’ll help you.”
“Was it Chrysty who came to you?”
“No. It was another. I called to the McGregor Mealladh. Won’t tell you his name but he’s a handsome dog, he is,” Lady Belle said slyly. “He visited me when I called, did what I asked of him. I took my revenge on the menfolk of the Hill through him.”
“In what way?”
“Well, now, you see that rape weren’t all that bad in my estimation,” the old woman said, crossing her legs. “I liked it after the initial hurt went away.” She nudged Lorna with a bony elbow. “Felt gods-be-damned good, you know?”
Lorna felt her face flame and all she could do was nod.
“Them men of the Hill got all uppity and religious-like over my downfall but they ain’t no angels. Far from it if you ask me! I told my Mealladh to send them up to me once or twict a week—one by one, you see?—but make it so they wouldn’t remember none of it. I’d have ‘em eatin’ out of the palm of my hand then send them back to their wives when I was finished with ‘em.” She shrugged and pursed her lips. “Wives didn’t care. Ain’t hardly a woman what ever lived in the Hill who been in love with her husband. Just don’t happen and you know why.”
“I do,” Lorna agreed.
“I didn’t want no commitment and such. All I wanted was that feeling ‘tween my legs that I had a likin’ for. ‘Course, now, my Mealladh, he is right good ‘tween the sheets, too. He ain’t no slouch in that department but just having them righteous bastards trekking up here with lust on their feeble minds was sweet vengeance!”
“You’re an evil woman, Lady,” Lorna said with a grin.
“Not nearly as evil as I suspect you be, dearling.”
“It’s a wonder you didn’t get pregnant.”
“Didn’t want no younguns a’hanging on me so my Mealladh took care of that. I got all I want here and no man comes messin’ with me now that I don’t want.” She grinned. “But on a winter’s night when these old bones get cold, my Mealladh comes to lay that pretty body of his’n next to me, wraps me in his powerful arms and I sleep like a babe.”
Lorna took a sip of her lemonade, revelation easing into her mind like mist. When she lowered the glass, she thought she had the way of it.
“The women of the Hill don’t fear the Mealladhs,” she said. “They know they’re there, know all they have to do is call and one of them will come.”
Lady Belle nodded, her old eyes locked on Lorna.
“When it gets too bad for them to handle, they call and then they’re spirited away across the wyndstones.”
“That be the way of it, aye,” the old woman confirmed.
“So where are they now?” she asked. “Those who disappeared?”
“Don’t rightly know but I believe they’re still here on the mountain.” Lady Belle shrugged. “It’s their home and they don’t know none other.”
Lorna was quiet for a moment then took a deep breath. “What is it you want, Lady?”
“The comeuppance of all them men down to the settlement what ever laid a hand to his womenfolk. The revenge they be due.” She reached out to lay her bony hand over Lorna’s. “We been waitin’ for you to come,” she said. “Knowed you would one day. Then all would be set to rights.”
The two wom
en stopped speaking, listening to the sound of an ax biting into wood. Both turned their heads at the exact same moment as Chrysty Brell appeared across the room.
“That is one helluva goodlooking man,” Lady Belle said with a sigh. “And looking right pleased with himself, he is.”
“Milady,” he said, bowing his head to the old woman. “You are looking well.”
“I’m lookin’ old, you sweet little demon,” Lady Belle said with a chortle. “Reckon it’ll be my time soon.”
Chrysty smiled softly. “Doesn’t have to be. You can live as long as you want.”
The old woman cocked a shoulder. “What’s the use of living if’n you’re ready to go?” She pointed a finger at the corner of the room. “That’s where I want my coolin’ board set. Got on the dress I want to be buried in. Everything’s as I want it. Just ain’t decided on the day and hour as yet.”
“You’re waiting to see justice done,” Chrysty observed.
“That I am.”
The Nightwind turned his attention to Lorna. “And what is your desire, milady?”
She thought about her answer before making it. “There are good things about some of the men at the Hill, bad things in others. In talking with the women, it’s the male children that concern them.”
Chrysty folded his arms over his broad chest. “Male children above a certain age.”
“Aye. Some can be redeemed but others .…” She let her voice trail off and looked down at her lap. “There is concern about what to do with those.”
The demon tilted his head to one side. “You don’t want to harm the male children but you don’t want the sins of the fathers to continue on with them.”
Lorna nodded, lowering her head. “That is the problem.”
Chrysty turned his head toward the door, unfolded his arms and swept an arm in front of him. “Stay,” he commanded and Lorna realized the wood chopping had stopped. Her demon looked back at her. “They’ll not interrupt until we are finished with our talk.”
“You wield that much power?” Lorna asked.
“I do,” the Nightwind stated.
“To make them do as you wish?” she questioned.
Chrysty frowned. “To a certain point. I can not change how they treat their women or the natural inclination of their souls but I can influence their minds for a short while, befuddle their thoughts. The hold won’t stay there forever but it will until our talking is done. For the time being, they have a keen interest in remaining outside.”
“I see,” Lorna said.
“I will remove the young males who can not be redeemed,” Chrysty said. “I’ll hand them into the goddess’ keeping and She can turn them over to the Triune Goddess for Her use.”
“What about the older men?” Lorna queried. “The husbands and fathers, brothers and uncles?”
A slow smile tugged at the corners of the demon’s full lips. “Pick those you want to keep and we’ll deal with the others as you see fit.”
Lorna got up from the settee and began to pace. There were things about Cail she liked but there were others she knew she could not live with. Though he had savaged her, humiliated her, hurt her, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to die as had his brother and hers. As for Sam? She wanted nothing bad to happen to the boy and had no desire to see him leave the Hill. She thought he could be taught to be a better man.
“I’ve a notion,” Lady Belle said and the demon and his mistress looked to her. “Replace them with a Mealladh. They’d look the same on the outside so it wouldn’t confuse the younguns but that there man would be the way his woman wants him to be.” She arched a thin brow at Chrysty. “Can you do that, goodlookin’?”
“I can,” Chrysty said and looked down so the women would not see the unholy gleam that had entered his dark eyes.
“I want the Hill opened up so the women can go and come as they want,” Lorna said. “If they would like to see something past the river, they can.”
“Easily done,” Chrysty said. “All they need do is command their Nightwind and he will see to it.”
“They will do as we command,” Lorna stressed.
Chrysty came to her, knelt at her feet, and took her hand in his. “It will be as you say, milady. Command us and we obey but you must give us the power to act as we see fit in your behalf.”
Lorna hesitated as Alinor Tabor had so long ago. She stared down into the gloriously handsome and chiseled features of the demon, believed she saw earnestness in his dark gaze and slowly nodded. Unease tickled down her spine but she pushed it aside.
Chrysty brought her hand to his lips and sealed their unnatural bargain with a kiss to her flesh. His smile was radiant as he began to fade from her view. All that was left behind was the icy cold feel on her flesh where his mouth had been.
* * * *
Because the sun was lowering on the horizon and dusk would soon fall, it was decided Lady Belle’s guests would remain with her that night rather than risk the dangerous trek back down the twisting and turning mountain trail.
Cail and Sam would sleep on a pallet unrolled for them beside the unlit hearth and Lorna would share the lone bed with Lady Belle.
“Once they’re asleep, you can go to him,” Lady Belle said in a low voice as she and Lorna prepared supper. “He’ll be waiting out there by the wyndstones for you.”
Lorna glanced at Cail but he had not heard. He would not look directly at her or the old woman and when she spoke to him he was curt, mumbling his reply. Likewise when she moved close to him or accidentally touched him, he jumped away as though he’d been scorched. His gaze when he did deign to flick a glance her way was accusatory and fearful.
“I’m going out to have a smoke,” Cail announced to no one in particular. The sound of his boot heels on the wooden floor seemed overly loud as he pushed open the screen door and went out to join Sam who was sitting on the top step, whittling.
“He knows,” Lady Belle said when Lorna broached her husband’s odd behavior with the elderly woman. “He knows you were responsible for his brother’s death and the priest’s as well.”
“How could he?” Lorna asked, unnerved by the thought of Cail suspecting her. Who knew what he might do? She thought.
Lady Belle tapped her head. “He knows here but he’s too a’scared to think long on it. Tomorrow there will be that there Elder meeting and he thinks to bring it up a’fore them then. Best things be settled in the matter a’fore you step into that buggy ‘cause once he gets you down to the settlement, things could heat up a mite.”
“He would betray me to the Elders,” Lorna said.
“He would.”
Lorna swung her eyes to Cail and kept them there. She saw him stiffen, glance her way then duck his head, turning his face aside.
“He would,” she said and in that moment of realization, Cail McGregor’s fate was sealed. “He would turn me over to them to be burned as a witch.”
Lady Belle nodded. “Would have done that to me long ago if’n my Mealladh were not there to protect me.” She put a hand on Lorna’s shoulder. “You got Chrysty and he is the boss Mealladh, dearling. He won’t let nothin’ happen to you.” She squeezed. “Go to him this night. Let him love you. Take your mind off’n all this shite.”
“But he’s the last of his clan,” Lorna said quietly, staring at Cail. “It would be a sin to see that part of it end.”
“Don’t have to,” Lady Belle said. “Ask Chrysty. It ain’t something he will want to do but he will do it for you.”
“Do what?” Lorna asked.
The old woman grinned. “Gather seed to plant in fertile ground.”
Lorna’s eyes widened. “A child?”
“He can get you with one that will be the McGregor’s,” Lady Belle replied. “If’n that’s what you want.”
“But how? I have no intention of ever letting Cail McGregor touch me again!” Lorna’s face was filled with determination.
“You don’t have to. Ask and it will be,” Lady Belle said then move
d away.
Lorna was given the task of setting the table as Lady Belle ladled vegetables into large serving bowls. A platter of fried chicken sat cooling on the table alongside a basket of cornbread.
“Tell ‘em it’s ready,” the old woman ordered Lorna. “I’ll pour up the ice tea.”
Lorna removed the apron around her waist and hung it on a peg beside the dry sink. She went to the door but didn’t open it as she told the men supper was on the table.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!” Sam said as he tossed aside the stick he’s been running his jackknife down. He folded the sharp implement and shoved it into his pants pocket. “The smell of that chicken has been taunting me something fierce!”
“Wash up at the well a’fore you come to my table, Samuel Reid!” Lady Belle called out. “You, too, Cail!”
Lorna watched Cail walk directly in front of her without so much as glancing her way. She ground her teeth for being ignored rankled her sense of pride. She turned away.
“You don’t love that man so what do you care how he feels?” her hostess asked.
“It just pisses me off that he thinks he can shun me without consequence!” Lorna snapped. She waited until the old woman was seated then followed suit.
“It’ll all come out in the wash, dearling,” Lady Belle reminded her. “Just bide your time. Let your Mealladh handle it.”
Supper was quiet with Sam digging in like any growing young man with a bottomless appetite would do. Cail was restrained and given to staring at his plate as he ate slowly and with little relish for the fine food that had been set before him. Neither Lorna nor Lady Belle engaged in conversation so the meal went quickly and soon the men were up and on the porch again as the women cleared away the dishes.
“That pisses me off even more,” Lorna said through gritted teeth. “A woman works her fingers to the bone to prepare a good meal and the men wolf it down, don’t say one bloody word of thanks then hie themselves off to relax in the cool night air while the women work even more!” She poured hot water from the stove into the enameled dish basin. “It isn’t right.”
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