The Scottish Siren

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “So, while me father was off training his men, he heard her scream. When he returned to their pretend keep, Mother was facing a wolf. She was screaming as loud as she could for him to help her. He had no weapon, so he plunged his hand into the chest of the animal and pulled out its heart.”

  Beth blinked a few times. “Really?”

  “Aye. They both went back to their mothers, frightened as could be. That was the day me father’s parents admitted to the Campbells that there were strange powers that were passed down from the youngest son to the youngest son.”

  “And how did the Campbells react to this knowledge?”

  Gavin smiled. “They had already figured it out, because me grandfather kept making their crops grow.”

  Beth laughed. “I can see how that would be a dead giveaway.”

  “Aye. The story has been told to all of us since we were old enough to understand it. Me parents were always careful to make sure we knew that not everyone would be as understanding about our family’s gifts as the Campbells were.”

  “And now? Do your grandparents find it odd that you have a power as well?”

  “Not at all. In fact, me grandfather had me heal his knees and me grandmother’s eyes today. They are not aging as gracefully as me McClain grandparents are. I wish me grandfather would pass on the title of laird to me uncle, but he’s too proud. He is the oldest laird in all of the Highlands.”

  “Then it does sound as if it’s time for him to retire.”

  “Oh, and me grandmother has insisted that ye be presented to her on the morrow. She is ready to meet her newest granddaughter.”

  Beth froze for a moment. “It was hard enough meeting your mother. Now your grandmother wants to meet me?”

  “Aye. She does. Me McClain grandparents have gone to England to visit me grandfather’s brothers, but they will return soon, and then ye will be expected to meet them as well. Do ye think ye need to start preparing for that now?”

  She laughed. “I just might.”

  He stopped walking and pointed to a structure that had long decayed. “Me father built me mother her keep right here.”

  She smiled, walking to it and running her hand over it. “I love this. It’s so nice that your parents fell in love as children and married. That so rarely happens.”

  “Me grandfather dinna want to let his youngest marry so quickly, but she convinced him. They never did say how, but I am glad it happened.” Gavin shook his head. “I canna imagine a life with someone different as me mother.”

  “She seems like a wonderful woman to me,” Beth said softly. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know her.” He watched her for a moment as she explored the area before returning to him. “Thank you for showing me this.”

  He took her hand and pulled her to him, bringing her body against his. “I was happy to do it. I am sorry I have been called away so much. I have wanted to spend time with ye, but it has been very difficult.”

  She nodded, her eyes meeting his. “It has been difficult, but we have a little time together now.”

  “For a little longer. I must get back to join the training with me men.” He sighed. “A laird’s work is never done.”

  “I will be waiting for you when you come home this evening.”

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, pulling her even closer against him. “Ye had better be.”

  They walked back to the keep in a much straighter path than they’d taken to get to the woods. With another quick kiss, he left her standing in the doorway, watching him leave. It was all he could do not to turn back.

  He went straight to his brother’s cottage, where he was sitting with his wife and children. “I need a word with you, James.”

  “Aye, laird,” James said, a teasing note to his voice as he said “laird.”

  The two brothers stepped outside, and Gavin explained what he needed as briefly as he could. “With as much as I am healing others, I need someone who can train the men and lead them into battle. I will still be laird, but I need ye to be me right hand.”

  James grinned and nodded. “I was hoping ye would ask. I would love to take that off your shoulders.”

  “I would greatly appreciate it. What about Mary? Will she mind?”

  “We have already discussed it, and she said she wouldna.”

  Gavin nodded, smiling. “I appreciate ye helping me out with this. It is difficult enough to have a new wife without having to train the men.”

  “Ye will report to training whenever ye can.” James gave him brother a look that only a big brother can give to a younger.

  “Aye, I will. Lately that has been very little.” Gavin shook his head. “I also need ye to go with me to a meeting with the McPhersons. We have decided to be allies with them, but they must spread the word that their extreme measures to get me to heal the laird are unnecessary. All anyone must do is ask.”

  James nodded. “I will happily go. When?”

  “Five days hence.” Gavin walked away from his brother’s cottage with a spring in his step. One more thing would be easier for him.

  Next, he went to his brother Ian, who was staying close to his family after the incident with his youngest daughter, Coira. “Gavin. What brings ye here?”

  Gavin briefly explained what had been decided. “I know it probably isna what ye wanted to hear, but it will prevent the same thing from happening to other children of the clan.”

  Ian nodded. “I can see the wisdom of the plan. I hope no other father has to go through what I did.” He looked back over his shoulder, where Coira was playing with her rag doll. She seemed to be no worse for the experience.

  “I need ye to go with me to the meeting with the McPhersons. I want to have ye and James at me side.”

  “I will be there.” As Gavin started to turn away, Ian put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Ye are doing a wonderful job as laird. I hope ye know that.”

  Gavin smiled and nodded, still wishing he was doing better. He had done very little other than get the little girl back and make a few decisions. Hopefully things would get easier as time went by. His father had assured him they would.

  He was stopped four times on his way back to the keep: twice for sick children, once for a man who had been stabbed accidentally, and once to answer questions about what had happened with the McPhersons. It was amazing to him how many people now looked to him for answers, the same way they had to his father for more than thirty years.

  Just as he was reaching the keep, a rider stopped in front of him. The man wore the McDonald plaid. “The McDonald’s son has fallen down the side of a cliff. He is badly injured, and no one thinks he will survive.”

  The McDonalds were allies, thankfully, so it would be easier to leave without a war party. “Let me tell me wife and gather a few things.”

  He ran into the keep, calling for Beth. “I am sorry, but I must go. There is a boy who is injured, and I must try to help.”

  Beth nodded. For a moment, she thought about asking him if she could go with him, but she knew better. She would never be able to keep up on horseback. “I will wait for your return.”

  “It will be a day or two,” Gavin ran his fingers through his hair. It had gotten too long, but he hadn’t been able to sit still for long enough to have it cut. “It is a six-hour ride from here.”

  “All right.” Beth kept the smile plastered to her face until he’d run back out of the keep. She couldn’t help but wonder how often things like this would happen.

  She walked into the sitting room, where Gilly and Kirstine waited for her. “I need to find someone to teach me to ride a horse,” Beth told them. “I want to be able to ride along with Gavin the next time he is called away.”

  “I think that is a lovely idea,” Gilly said. “I will teach ye!”

  “You ride?”

  “Of course I do. I have been riding since I was a small girl.”

  Together, the three women headed to the stables, and Gilly ordered the stablemaster to saddle the calm
est horse.

  At first, Beth was afraid as she climbed atop the horse, but gradually it got easier. By the time they finished, Beth was able to do a slow walk around the field. When she got down, following Gillian’s instructions exactly, she stood for a moment, getting used to the feel of the calm earth beneath her feet. “I hope I can be ready to leave with Gavin the next time he has to ride out to heal someone.”

  “Ye willna always be able to go,” Gilly explained. “Sometimes he has to leave with absolutely no warning, and there willna be time for ye to get your things together to go with him.”

  “I understand that. But sometimes I should be able to go, right?”

  “Mayhap.” Gilly smiled at Beth. “There will be other reasons ye will be happy to be able to ride, though. ’Tis fun to begin with. I used to ride between here and me family’s home often, but when the bairns started coming, it was harder. Then me mother started visiting me instead.”

  “How quickly did you have the babies?” Beth asked. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around being the mother of seven sons.

  “I realized I was expecting within two months of marriage. I had all seven within ten years.” Gilly shook her head. “If I hadna had Morvan as a helper, I dinna know what would have happened.”

  Kirstine smiled. “And I am here to help ye with every bairn.”

  “I’m glad, because I’m not sure I have any idea what to do with them otherwise.”

  “The answer to that is easy,” Gilly said. “Ye love them. No matter what, the answer is always love when it comes to bairns.”

  “I’ll do my best to always remember that,” Beth said with a smile. She thought more of her new mother-in-law every day. She just wished she was able to spend as much time with her new husband as she was with his mother.

  “I will always be here to remind ye, lass.” When they entered the keep, the three women went back to their sewing. “I think ye will have a new nightgown to wear tonight.” Gilly held up the garment she was sewing to show the others.

  “And I have almost finished the gown ye will wear under your plaid,” Kirstine said.

  “And I . . . well, I’ve almost hemmed a small part of the plaid. That’s something, right?”

  “How did ye get clothes without making them where ye come from?” Kirstine asked. “I thought all women could sew.”

  “I come from a time where I can buy anything I could possibly want to wear by paying for it. I could go to a store to buy it, or I could order it and have it sent to me. I never lacked for clothing because I couldn’t sew.”

  Kirstine tilted her head to one side, thinking about it. “It just doesna seem like it could be true, but I never would have thought a magic box like ye have could be true either.”

  “Magic box?” Beth asked.

  “I believe ye called it a phone.”

  Beth laughed. “Everyone in my time has a magic box.” She liked thinking of her iPhone as a magic box. It amused her.

  Gillian changed the subject by telling stories of Gavin when he was a child. She had the others laughing loudly, enjoying the thought of Gavin running around trying to heal everyone he saw from every small injury.

  “When did you know that he had the gift of healing?” Beth asked.

  “He was ten, and me mother was very ill. I had thought there was no hope of him ever getting a power. Some manifest before the child is a year old. Most are there by five. I have not heard of a son with no power until he was ten. But we went to see me mother, and we were told to turn back, that there was no hope. She was dying. I had been healing with herbs and salves for many years, so I hurried up to her room to see if there was anything to be done. As soon as I heard her breathing, I knew she was on death’s door, and there was no hope for her at all. Gavin picked up her hand—I had sent him home, but he followed me—and suddenly she could breathe again. She opened her eyes, and Gavin told her he had made her well again.” Gilly shook her head, tears in her eyes as she related the story. “I had thought me son was broken somehow and that he would never have a power, and the truth was, he had the most important power of all. The healing touch.”

  “And my seventh son will have a power as well?” Beth asked. She hadn’t been sure what to think of this seventh son getting a power thing, but she loved the idea of it. She wanted a son who could fly. Of course, his power would probably be a great deal more useful, but flight . . . it would be a wondrous thing. Especially for this century.

  “He will. And I hope he gets healing as much as I hope he doesna. Gavin has had too much weight on his shoulders over the years. The ability to heal, while wonderful, makes him too valuable to too many people. People tried to take him twice while he was still a child, and one clan succeeded. He healed the people he was asked to heal, and then he walked home. It took him five days to get here, and I was beside meself with worry. Every available man was out searching for him. So, I hope he gets healing because he could help so many. But I hope he doesna. Because it makes him too important to others.”

  “It puts a target on his back,” Beth whispered. She hadn’t looked at it that way, but having a healing power really did put her husband in danger. She wanted to wrap him up in bubble wrap and never let him get hurt. Of course, she’d have to wait several centuries for bubble wrap to be invented. There went that idea!

  Eight

  Gavin was gone for two days, and during that time, Beth spent hours both afternoons working on learning to ride. She wasn’t up to long rides yet, but the next time Gavin wanted to go somewhere on horseback, she would be able to join him.

  When he finally arrived home, she had the biggest meal that would fit on a tray made for him and took it up to their bedroom so he could eat while readying for bed. She now knew he needed huge amounts of food for the big healings. He hadn’t needed extra after working on his grandfather’s knees, but this was so much bigger. At least they’d made it sound like it was.

  Sure enough, when Gavin came up the stairs, he looked exhausted. “I have food ready for you.” She didn’t ask about the boy, because if he’d died, she was sure Gavin wouldn’t want to talk about it.

  “Thank ye.” Gavin sank down into a chair beside the bed and began eating. He asked no questions and simply applied himself to the food.

  “You were missed,” she said softly.

  He smiled around a big bite of beef. “I missed ye, too, lass. We will have a day soon that will be uninterrupted by me healing. I promise ye this.”

  “I sure hope so. It feels as if every time I am content to spend time with you, you get called away again.” She paced the room, not at all hungry but not wanting to leave him alone.

  “This healing was one of the hardest I have ever done,” he said softly. “The boy was barely alive. The clan’s healer gave him a sleeping draught, and that is the only reason he made it. If he had fought and moved around, it would have been his death.”

  “But you arrived in time?”

  Gavin nodded. “I had to heal him in parts. I couldna do the whole job at once. Both legs were broken. One shoulder was completely shattered. His head had a big gaping hole in it.” He shook his head. “I dinna know how I saved him.”

  “I’m so glad you did.” Beth couldn’t imagine what he must go through to see someone lying there dying, knowing everyone was looking to him for help. “I’m assuming you’re going to sleep for a couple of days after that one.”

  “Aye.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, while his right hand kept shoveling food in.

  “Do you want me to bring you more food? Or will that be enough.”

  He frowned. “More please. I should be able to stay awake long enough to shove it all into me mouth.”

  She grinned even as she rushed from the room. His appetite after a big healing was like nothing she’d ever seen. She couldn’t help but wonder how he’d do in a hot dog–eating contest or a pie-eating contest. Or better yet, a taco-eating contest. And then her heart felt sad, knowing she’d never eat another ta
co. How could life possibly be the same?

  Taking the tray back to him, she found he was just finishing up the portion he’d been given as he reached for the next. “I dinna know why I require so much food. Me father never did after using his powers.”

  “Maybe it’s the difference between healing and making yourself incorporeal. I would think healing would be much harder.”

  “I think it must be.” He shrugged. “I dinna know, because I have never had another kind of power.” He yawned, finishing off the last few bites of his meal. “I am sorry I canna spend more time with ye before I need to sleep.” He climbed under the covers, still fully clothed, and closed his eyes.

  Beth looked down at him, realizing he was already asleep. She’d never been one who could sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and she found she envied him for it. She kissed his forehead and crept from the room, carrying both trays. The man needed sleep a great deal more than he needed his wife. She wasn’t sure at this point why he’d married her. He obviously had no time for a wife.

  After returning the trays to the kitchen, she decided to walk. Kirstine was right beside her as she left the keep. “Where are we going today?”

  Beth shrugged. “I wish I were a better rider. I’d like to get on a horse and ride like the wind at the moment.”

  “Did Gavin upset ye somehow?”

  Beth shook her head. “No, he’s the perfect gentleman as always. I just wonder why he married me when he obviously had no need, time, or desire for a wife.”

  Kirstine frowned. “Do ye really believe that?”

  “I do! The man is constantly called away. He never has more than an hour or two to talk to me, and he’s only had that much time twice. Once before we even married!”

  “Gavin is complicated. He was born knowing he would have the clan’s care on his shoulders as soon as he married. But then he realized he could heal, and that doubled his obligations. He must take care of not only those in our clan but the sick in others as well. I heard that he once said that God made him a healer so he could help all the people in the Highlands, not just the ones his family was allied with.” Kirstine shook her head. “He seems unable to walk away from his obligations.”