Highlander Found

by Rebecca Preston

  Two days passed since the embarrassing conversation at the breakfast table, and Audrina had been going to the tower at the back of the great hall and working on small poultices for her patients. Her aptitude for modern medicine had her weeding out any impractical treatments and categorizing the rest. Her first patient was Donal, who came to her with a scraped knee.

  Audrina peeled back the dirty bandage he had wrapped around the scrape and asked, “How did you manage this injury?”

  He grinned at her, but said nothing, indicating that he had been doing something youthfully nefarious, so she didn’t press him any further. She cleaned and rebandaged the wound, but not before she applied a salve to help keep it from becoming infected. Donal had a bad habit of scampering away from the maids when they would bring his bath water to his chamber, and Audrina was worried he would go as many days as he could before practically being hogtied and thrown into the tub by Mary.

  Mary also climbed the steps to the tower and they spent a lovely afternoon going over the various medicinal uses of some of the herbs that Audrina had dried up there.

  “I suffer from bouts o’pain tae me forehead. I wasnae aware so many of these plants could help tae cure it,” she told Audrina.

  Audrina was grateful for the company, but in some ways, she wished Mary would go for her afternoon nap, because she had been spying on Colin who was working in the courtyard with his men. He had glanced up on occasion and she had ducked from the window.

  It wasn’t until the sun began to set that she heard footsteps on the stairs, she assumed Mary had sent another patient up to her, but when she turned around she found Colin standing in the doorway.

  He looked around, as if he was trying to think of something to say, and Audrina waited. She hadn’t asked permission to be up here, despite it being Maeve’s, her tower to begin with.

  “I thought ye might still be up here,” he said quietly.

  “Ahh, yes. I gave your mother something for her headache and made sure Donal’s scraped knee doesn’t become gangrenous.”

  “Gangrenous?” he reiterated.

  “Umm, rotten. The imp doesn’t bathe as regularly as he should. Aine was telling me the other day she had to chase him across the fen to get back to his chamber before the water ran cold.”

  “So ye’ve made some friends here then?” he asked quietly. He walked further into the room and sat down at the bench she had set near the work table.

  “Yes, Aine is sweet. She’s one of the maids who brings me my bath every night,” Audrina replied.

  “Aye, I ken who she is, she’s me Da’s cousin’s wee lass.”

  “That’s right, most everyone in Castle Claran would be related somehow,” she said.

  “Ye’re likin’ life here, at the Castle then?” he pressed a little more.

  Audrina thought about it. She had made more friends here in only a few days than she had her entire life living in San Francisco. Would she really miss her life in the modern world? She had gained so much more that was worthwhile as she lived out her days in Castle Claran, ‘allowing’ her memories to slowly come back to her. The inhabitants of the keep didn’t seem to mind that she picked up where Maeve had left off, as her duty as healer. Even Mary seemed ecstatic to be rid of some of the responsibility of running the keep. Aine had approached her yesterday and asked if she fancied water fowl or a pork roast for dinner, citing that Mary was in a fitful state with her headache and resting so she should go and ask her.

  Audrina had sent word to Mary to come see her for the headaches the next day, and she had thanked her for carrying out the lady of the house duties the day prior. Audrina thought another moment as she ground some herbs into a paste of fat. It was smelly, but with a sprinkle of lavender, she could turn the salve into something resembling a burn salve for sunburns.

  She thought about how happy she had been the last few days and she thought about how every time she caught sight of Colin, her heart did a little pitter patter dance in her chest and her stomach fluttered with butterflies. She liked it here, she was content.

  “Yes, I am enjoying life here at the castle,” she answered him honestly.

  “Good, tis good,” he replied.

  “I never thanked you for my pictures,” she murmured as she continued to work. She hadn’t mentioned them the morning after she discovered them, because he had teased her so mercilessly about moaning in her sleep. She figured it was safe to bring them up now.

  “I’m glad ye like them, lass, I thought it might help ye sleep at night,” he responded.

  Before she could stop herself, she blurted, “Why do you sleep outside my bedroom door? Why don’t you go sleep in your room? It would be more comfortable for you.”

  “Because lass, ye might need me.” His answer was simple enough, but Audrina still didn’t fully understand.

  “If I need you, I will come and find you.”

  “Aye, I ken ye will. But, tis also tha’ yer in my room.” He looked pensive.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to move then?” she asked.

  “Och, nay! Tha’s no’ what I meant at all. Tis just that we’re married. And so, strictly speakin’ yer in the bed I should be sharin’ w’it ye.” His eyes were full of mirth as the color rose in her cheeks.

  “Oh. Well…” she trailed off.

  “I’m no’ goin’ tae sneak into yer bed in the wee hours o’ the mornin’, lass. No’ if ye don’t want me there. T’was but a jest. I like tae see yer cheeks turn tha’ rosy hue,” he teased her.

  Audrina clapped her palms over her cheeks and glared at him.

  “Was there something you needed, Colin MacClaran?” she demanded, pretending to be annoyed with him so as to hide her embarrassment.

  “Aye!” he said happily. A little too happily.

  She wondered what his game was.

  “I’ve a pain and a twitch in me arm.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him, but the look in his eyes challenged her. She wiped her hands on a cloth and walked over to him.

  “Which arm?” she demanded.

  “This one.” He held up his left arm.

  “Yeah? Where?”

  “Here.” He pointed to a spot on his shoulder and she began prodding at it a little. She wasn’t sure he had been telling the truth, but she continued to feel around for anything unusual.

  “When did it start to hurt?” she asked, her brow furrowed as she concentrated.

  “A few days ago,” he murmured. He was so close, she could almost lean over and kiss him if she wanted to.

  “And why didn’t you tell anyone about it?” she asked.

  “Because, there was no one tae tell a’the time.”

  “Does it hurt when I apply pressure to it?” she inquired.

  “Nay, it travels up me arm here.” He indicated a path along his shoulder with his right hand and placed it over his left pectoral.

  Colin had been wearing nothing but his kilt with no linen shirt or pants because the summer sun was so hot. His chest was bared to her and she noted the fine curls of silver blond hair that were sprinkled over his muscles. The heady scent of his masculinity made her drowsy with desire, but she bit her lip in concentration as she placed her palm over his muscle.

  “And why do you think it travels to this muscle?” she asked. She had never heard of such a pain. She would be concerned of a heart attack, but he was so young at only twenty-nine.

  “Because, I’ve missed ye, lass.” He looked deep in her eyes and her breath caught. He looked so sincere when he said it that Audrina felt tears form in the backs of her eyes.

  “I…” she started, but before she could say another word, Colin leaned in and gave her the lightest brush of his lips across hers.

  The act made her lips tremble and she was stunned into silence. He was so sweet and it made her crush on him grow every day. He didn’t press for more, but got up quietly and walked out the door.

  Audrina sat on the stool and pressed her fingers to her lips, as if she was rub
bing her lips in an attempt to rub the kiss in and be burned onto her lips forever. No, life wasn’t bad at Castle Claran, she realized. There were finally people in her life who loved and cared about her and missed her when she was gone. She hadn’t had that since her grandfather had passed.

  Audrina made her way downstairs a while later, just in time for dinner. Colin didn’t say anything about the kiss, but when she sat down to eat, Alisdair scooted over to her and raised an eyebrow.

  “Lass, we need tae talk.” He was deadly serious.

  “Alright, about what?” she asked. She was suddenly nervous, she had wondered if she had done something terribly wrong.

  “Tis aboot tha’ bloody beast o’yers,” he growled.

  “My beast?” She looked at Colin and a few of the men at the other tables let out a laugh. A cry went up about Colin slightly resembling a mad and hairy beast, and he responded something to them in Gaelic which made the women at the tables gasp. Audrina could guess at what he had said, but she turned her attention back to Alisdair.

  “What beast?” she asked.

  “The bloody coo,” he retorted. He said ‘bloody coo’ like the animal was the devil itself reincarnate.

  “The cow?” she asked.

  “Aye, tis as ornery as an old wench. It willnae go out tae pasture w’it the rest o’the coos. I think ye’ve placed a spell o’er it and ye need tae go and encourage the wee devil, a’fore she kicks me shins again!” he thundered.

  It took Audrina a moment to process what cow he was talking about, and why it was being ornery. Then she did something she hadn’t done in days. She laughed so hard at the adamant expression on Alisdair’s face, that she had tears running down her cheeks.

  CHAPTER 24

  After dinner the previous evening, Audrina was convinced half the castle thought she was mad, but she didn’t care. Some claimed she had been having a fit of some kind, she was laughing that hard. Alisdair had threatened to slaughter the cow for steaks if she didn’t try to woo the beast out of its stall, so Audrina had promised to go early in the morning when the rest were let out and see if she could convince the cow to move.

  Audrina had always loved highland cows. She had seen a few at a fair she and her grandfather attended, and she was more content to stand near the stall and pet them, as they were docile creatures, than she was to play any of the expensive games or ride on the flashy rides. She was six at the time and had tried to convince her grandfather to buy her one as a pet. He’d asked where she planned to keep it and she had told him without hesitation that it could sleep on the front porch.

  She never got her pet cow, but she did get a stuffed highland cow that Christmas that she named Shamus.

  Audrina rubbed at her sleepy eyes when she woke up. She smiled at her pictures on the ceiling and was delighted to find another sketch of her Bessie that had been slipped under the door sometime during the night. She would have to remember to ask Colin how he secured them to the ceiling for her, so she could add it to her collection that night.

  Audrina quietly let herself out of her chambers, and true to his word, she carefully stepped over the sleeping figure of Colin. Someone had taken pity on him and brought a blanket that he had wadded up as a pillow, and he’d used his kilt as a blanket. She also made a note to herself to work harder at convincing him to find a spare bed. Or he could have her bed and she would go find a spare bed.

  Audrina tiptoed downstairs and heard the muffled whisperings of some of the early risers in the castle, and she crept down the stairs and out the door. Once she was outside, she pulled her tartan around her shoulders a little tighter, so she could ward off the chill, and she let herself into the stables at the far end of the courtyard, past the chapel. The stables held rows and rows of stalls, and the early morning air was thick with puffs of breath from the dormant beasts. She began making her way down the rows so that she could spot the one with the white patch. She found her, in the very last stall on the left, and the greeting she received was just as jovial as the last two times she’d encountered her.

  “Good morning,” Audrina said as she gave her a scratch on the head. She leaned back as Bessie mooed and swung her head around, moving out of the way of her horns. Bessie snorted at her and nuzzled her palm, which she had the foresight to bring a treat with her. “Now, you get this only if you promise to go with the others.” Audrina held it away from Bessie who looked at her from under the curtain of shaggy fur balefully. She held out the apple and Bessie slobbered on her palm and ate it up. She gave her another scratch and was about to turn and leave when Alisdair walked up beside her.

  “Ye ken that’s all it will take?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” Audrina replied. “Good morning, by the way.”

  “Mornin’, lass.” He yawned and unhooked the rope across the stall. He grabbed Bessie’s lead line, and sure enough, she walked out into the hallway with him. “Ye always did ha’ a way w’it them, Maeve.” Alisdair looked at her thoughtfully. “Ye’d spend hours in here w’it them. Talkin and singin’ tae them. We all thought ye were daft, but they brought ye peace somehow. Do ye remember?” he asked.

  Audrina thought about it, and sure enough, the memories came swimming up in her mind, from Maeve’s memories. Her sister Catriona had told her that all witches had a connection with the earth and with animals. Audrina recognized this for the lore that all witches have familiars. An animal that was her spirit animal. It struck Audrina funny that hers was a cow, but in some religions, cows were revered.

  “Yes, I remember.” She smiled at him and Bessie who mooed again.

  “Mayhap tha’s why ye cannae eat meat,” he wondered out loud.

  “Yes, perhaps,” she concurred.

  After she and Alisdair walked the cows to the pasture, they returned just in time for breakfast.

  Audrina sat down next to Colin who wished her a good morning, and she just began digging into her food, when the doors to the great hall were thrown open. A hush fell over the dining crowd, and Audrina had a hard time seeing who was approaching. Colin went rigid beside her when he spotted him and gripped her arm.

  “Colin, what is it?” she asked.

  “Quiet, lass,” he whispered to her.

  Audrina continued to search the crowd, but heard his voice before she saw him. The familiarity sent a chill racing down her spine.

  “Still making up for your lack of wife by stuffing your face I see, MacClaran.” The voice was taunting and preceded by a feathery plumed hat that Audrina caught a glimpse of over the tops of the crowd. The entire hall was silent except the occasional crunch of some bit of food or that, as Lord Cotswold strode up the pathways that lead to the main table. He’d pause, occasionally taking a bite out of someone’s food, and then spit it on the floor in disgust. “Not that anything on your tables is edible,” the taunting voice called.

  Audrina could feel Colin’s hand slide between them to wear his sword lay sheathed. She saw soldiers march in and around all of the tables, their swords drawn and their uniformed figures standing at attention.

  “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t have taken another wife, not after the last one ran off and left you. That, and judging by the pickings you have available here, you’d be better off marrying the ass-end of a swine.” Lord Cotswold finally came into view. He still wasn’t looking at the head table, he was leering at all of the women around the great hall. His eyes fell on Mary first, and he quickly glanced away.

  Audrina’s blood ran cold when she saw him seek out Aine. Aine was just a slip of a girl at only fifteen, but she was beginning to show the budding signs of womanhood, and Cotswold clearly noticed too. He paused, leering at her, and a look of pure, raw lust came over his face, followed by a mask of passivity, but his eyes, his eyes were just as cold, sadistic and calculating. He must be wondering if she had any suitors yet. She was around the age for marrying, and Audrina feared he had just singled out his next victim.

  Her stomach turned sour as she watched him look at Aine in such a wa
y. Her vision clouded over in the red haze of her nightmare, as she came face to face with her murderer for the first time. Audrina couldn’t breathe from the torrent of emotions that swept through her. Rage, anger, fear, hatred and revulsion washed over her in a tsunami effect. But the one feeling that Audrina clings to, that was her saving grace in the storm brewing within her, was the revenge she wanted. She had never felt anything so powerful in all her life. She wanted it more than anything she had ever wanted, save for Colin. The need to lash out and attack Cotswold was so intense, she had to grip the edges of her chair, to prevent herself from rising up and lunging at him.

  Just as Audrina was willing herself to take a few, steadying breaths so that she wouldn’t get them all killed, Cotswold turned to her and Colin, and for the first time, came face to face with her. His pale, watery blue eyes widened in horror. His portly body began to shake, causing the paunch of his belly to jiggle in his ridiculously overdressed pant and shirt suit. His pouchy face broke out into sweat and his curly iron gray hair which give away his aging form, plaster to his face. The suit was purple silk with gold trim and began to stain as he sweat in fear. The hat on top of his head matched the suit in color.

  Cotswold’s face paled as he lifted a silken gloved finger and pointed at her. “It cannot be!” he whispered. He took a step back as Colin stood up, placing a hand over her to shield her from his sight. But it was folly, Cotswold continued to back away, as his soldiers brandish their swords in obvious confusion.

  “It cannot be!” Cotswold shouted again as his eyes locked onto Audrina. He took in her simple dress, and the clan tartan that she had worn since arriving here. It was the same dress that Maeve used to don, and with her red hair and brown eyes, he was staring at the doppelgänger of Maeve, not knowing she was really Audrina, but believing he was seeing the woman he murdered.