“Why does he feel like all people are his obligation?” she asked.
“I dinna know. But he does.” Kirstine sighed. “Sometimes I worry that he takes too much on himself, and he will make himself sick if he doesna slow down, and I know his mother worries about the same things.”
Beth frowned. “I worry about it, too. I’m being selfish, though. He’s a good man, and I should be proud to be his wife instead of complaining he has no time for me.”
“I can understand how ye feel. If me man was the same, I would be very sad that he had no time for me at all.”
They walked to the lake, and Beth decided she wanted to walk all the way around it as well. That kind of walk would take an hour or two, and she needed it. She needed time to think and not worry. Maybe she had made a mistake coming back in time, but now that she was here, she couldn’t imagine going back to the twenty-first century. Sure, she’d be thrilled to have the indoor plumbing and the Internet. But life would be simpler again.
Kirstine seemed to know she needed to be lost in her own thoughts, and she stayed quiet, simply keeping pace beside Beth. When they got to the farthest side of the lake, they both looked out over the beautiful expanse to see the keep on the other side. “I never dreamed I’d live somewhere like that,” Beth said softly. “I lived in a tiny little room on the seventh floor of a building.”
“Seventh? Were ye not afraid?” Kirstine asked.
“Maybe I should have been.” Beth shook her head and continued walking again. How could a life that was filled with a hectic schedule and going all the time have been more peaceful than a life here? Maybe because she was not in love with an inaccessible man there. Well, other than the gay model on the cover of her book. He was inaccessible.
When they got back to the keep, she supervised the kitchen for a few minutes, looking for her place. She actually missed working all the time. She missed messing with the numbers. More importantly, she missed having a sense of purpose. She could only read the same book a few dozen times before even she grew bored with it.
Gilly found her sitting at the table, staring off into space. “Are ye all right, lass?”
Beth shrugged. “I feel like I have nothing to do here. I have no real responsibilities like I did at home. I’m not needed as I was there.”
“Ye are very needed here. Ye keep Gavin remembering that there is more to life than helping others. Ye help him to remember that he has sons that will come someday, sons that he will be responsible for.”
“I suppose. That doesn’t fill my days, though.”
“Why dinna I teach ye the small amount of healing I know? I was the clan’s healer before Gavin discovered he had powers. If I teach ye, mayhap some of the easier healings could be done by ye and not require so much of his energies.”
“That sounds lovely. I would like that.”
Gillian smiled. “Let me go get me things, then. I would rather we were here when Gavin awoke.”
A few minutes later, Gillian was back with her healing bag. She smiled at Beth. “I dinna know if ye care about healing, but this will give ye enough skill to take care of your sons while Gavin is away. We both know the man will be in and out constantly.”
Beth nodded. “I have noticed that about him. He never seems to stay still for any period of time.”
Gillian showed Beth the salves and potions she used for different things. “I will take ye out and show ye where to harvest the ingredients, just as Kennan’s mother showed me.”
“I would like that a great deal.” Beth was willing to do anything to keep her mind occupied. She was constantly worried about her marriage, and it made so much more sense for her to concentrate on something else. Why not healing? If she was offered a course in calculus, she’d take it. She needed to do something.
By the time Gavin woke that evening, Beth felt as if she’d learned a great deal about the healing arts. “Would you show me how to tell which salve to use?” she asked.
Gillian looked over Beth’s shoulder to see Gavin standing there, seemingly at a loss. “I will show ye on the morrow. For now, spend some time with me son.”
Beth turned and saw Gavin, her face lighting up. “Thank you, Gilly,” she said over her shoulder, standing up to wrap her arms around Gavin. “How are you feeling?”
“I am much better. I just needed a good long sleep.” He hid a yawn behind his hand. He’d gotten up hours before he should have, but he didn’t want his new wife to feel neglected, and it was obvious she was already feeling that way.
“I’m glad you’re home. It always feels so strange when you’re away.” Not that she had a great deal of experience, and truth be told, he was away more than he was there.
“I need to go out and check on me men, and we will spend the evening together.” He knew James was doing a good job training them, because that’s who his brother was, but he needed to make regular appearances for the men to feel that he was still one of them, which was extremely important.
“May I go with you to check on them?” Beth asked. She wanted to see him work.
“Aye. I would like that.” He offered her his arm, and the two of them stepped out of the keep into the yard. The men tended to train in a side yard, so they went there, and Beth watched him hold up a hand.
One by one, the men settled down and grew quiet. His brother James came to stand at his side. “Thank ye for understanding me absence and allowing me brother to be your trainer. He has me full confidence in everything he does, and I hope that ye will all feel comfortable following him. In the event of battle, he will lead ye, and I will be one of his followers.”
His brother Ian hurried forward, his brow furrowed. “Does that mean ye are making James laird?”
“Not at all. He is simply dealing with the training of the men and overseeing them in war so that I can continue healing. All decisions will still be made by me.”
Ian nodded, stepping back.
“Are there any other questions?” Gavin asked, his voice ringing out over the throng of men.
No one else stepped forward. “Then I thank ye again for working with James. I hope to join ye on the training field on the morrow if there are no other emergencies to pull me away.”
“Do all the clansmen know of your healing touch?” she asked softly as they walked away.
He shook his head. “Nay. They all think I learned to heal from me mother and got better than her quickly. I use potions and salves that will do nothing as I put me hand over their injuries and heal them. I am certain some of them suspect me powers, but that canna matter to me.”
“So you don’t even trust your own clan to know about your power?”
“I canna trust anyone. I trust you, because ye are me wife. If anyone were to find out about me power, it would be assumed it came from the wicked one. Then I would be burned at the stake or persecuted in some other way. Me powers come from God and only God.”
“That does make sense.” Beth wished it were easier for him, but she could see why it couldn’t be.
“Come, let us go and speak with me father. I leave in three days for our meeting with the laird of the McPhersons.” He stopped short. “My grandmother. I promised to take ye to see her yesterday.” He shook his head. “We must ride to see her before I take care of any more clan business. Grandmothers always come first.”
When they got to the stable, he didn’t notice when the stablemaster saddled two horses instead of just one. “We are going to the Campbell territory. I must introduce me new bride to me grandmother before I am exiled from the family and we start a war between the Campbells and McClains.”
The stablemaster laughed. He knew the two clans had been allies for many years. “I dinna think that is a worry, laird.”
“Probably not, but we will keep a watchful eye on the situation.” Gavin swung up onto his horse and immediately reached down for Beth, but she had already mounted her own horse. “Who taught ye to ride?” he asked.
“Your mother.”
He
sighed. “I am not sure she is fit company for ye. Mayhap ye should find some new friends.”
Beth laughed. “I will endeavor to do so.” She followed after him, feeling free and capable as she rode along behind him, having no trouble keeping the pace.
She was uncertain how much time passed along the way, but when they arrived at the keep of Clan Campbell, she was happy to be off the horse and on solid ground again. “I hope she doesn’t hate me,” Beth whispered.
Gavin laughed. “As long as ye keep me happy, there is no way she could ever hate ye.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they went to the door of the keep. He opened it and called out, “Grandmother! I have brought me bride for your inspection.”
An older woman shuffled from a room down a long corridor. “Gavin. Ye finally brought your bride? I expected ye yesterday.”
“I was called away. The McDonald’s son fell from a cliff and almost died. I was needed to help him.”
“I should have known only a healing emergency would keep ye away.” His grandmother stopped in front of Beth and looked her up and down. “What is your name, lass?”
“Elizabeth, but people call me Beth.”
“That is a lovely name.” His grandmother peered at her for another moment. “Come into the sitting room. I will have refreshments brought to ye.”
Beth and Gavin went into the room she indicated, while the older woman hurried away. She came back mere moments later. “The kitchen staff will bring us our food in a short while.” She turned her attention to Gavin. “How are ye feeling today, Gavin? Ye look tired.”
“I am. I am very tired. The healing yesterday took a great deal out of me.”
“Ye know ye need to sleep after these things. What are ye doing visiting an old woman before ye are ready?”
Gavin smiled. “I dinna want ye to think I had forgotten me promise.”
Beth said nothing, smiling sweetly instead. He had forgotten his promise, but she wasn’t going to be the one to tell the old woman that.
His grandmother turned her attention back to Beth. “Are ye ready to have seven sons? I dinna really believe in the family traditions until me daughter did exactly what they told me she would do. ’Tis very strange.”
“I don’t know if I am. I never really thought about having children, and now I’m told I’ll give birth to seven sons, no daughters, and the youngest son will have a strange power. It’s a lot to take in.”
“Where are ye from, lass? Your speech is strange.”
“I’m from York,” Beth immediately improvised. It was true. She was just from the New version of the city.
“Ahh. A Sassenach. I would be offended that me grandson married an Englishwoman if me best friends were not English as well.”
Gavin decided to let his grandmother’s assumption that Beth was English go uncontested. It was so much easier to let her believe his wife was English than she’d traveled back centuries in time from a world that hadn’t been discovered yet.
“I am glad you will accept me. Your daughter is teaching me to heal.”
Lady Campbell smiled and nodded. “It is a skill that will serve ye well.”
“I hope so.”
Nine
That evening was the first they were not interrupted since the wedding. Gavin made sweet love to Beth, and they slept in one another’s arms. For once she felt like their marriage was working despite the constant barrage of requests for his time.
First thing the next morning, Gavin was called away yet again. The distance was too far for her rudimentary riding skills, but he told her to keep practicing and she could most likely go with him soon.
While he was gone, she kept herself busy with her horseback riding lessons and her sewing and healing. He was gone for more than a week this time, and she wondered if they would ever have what she would consider a normal marriage. She flew into his arms as soon as he walked into the keep. “Do you need to eat?”
He nodded. “Just a normal meal. The clan where I was healing is more than a day’s ride from here. I rested before returning.”
She frowned. “Were there many sick?”
“There was a fire, and five cottages burned to the ground, all of them full of people. There were twenty survivors, and all had varying degrees of burns.”
“That must have been horrible.”
“It was. There was a small baby who died just before I got there, and her mother’s cries will ring in me ears forever.” He walked to the table in the dining hall and sat down, waiting for his food.
Beth went to the kitchen and told them Gavin was back and hungry. She sat with him, her hand covering his. “It’s sad that you have to suffer for helping others.”
Gavin sighed. “It is the way it has always been.”
When Gilly came into the keep a short while later, they were eating their supper. Gilly took one look at Gavin and frowned. “It was bad, was it not?”
He nodded. “Aye. Several fires. I healed the survivors.”
“How many died before you got there?”
“Three. A young newlywed couple perished and a bairn.”
Gilly closed her eyes and put her hand on Gavin’s arm. “A healer’s worst nightmare.”
“Aye.” He continued to eat the food in front of him, but he had no appetite. He had rarely lost a patient, and it hurt him deep inside when it did happen.
The keep was busy all night as people realized the laird was back from his trip. Many had questions to ask him and disputes for him to settle. Beth made sure to always have drinks on the table and food for them to snack on. It was amazing to her just how many people relied on this husband of hers.
After they were all gone and he had healed several of the villagers, they climbed the stairs together to sleep. Beth lay in his arms, her head on his chest, and she was calmed by listening to the even breathing of his heart.
Gavin held his wife close, feeling heartened when he felt the babe within her. Already she was expecting, and he was fulfilling his duty as the laird and as the seventh son of his generation. He didn’t mention the child to her, because he didn’t want her to feel like sons were the only reason he’d married her. But he fell asleep with a smile on his lips despite the hardship of the past week. His wife was expecting the first of their seven sons. All was right with the world.
They hadn’t been married for more than a month when Beth realized something that really made her think. Life wasn’t much different when Gavin was at home than when he was away. The man was always so busy with either clan business or healing that it was as if he wasn’t there anyway.
After six weeks of marriage, she began losing her breakfast. When she talked to Gavin, he nodded, a grin on his face. “Ye are expecting.”
Beth stared at him in shock. “Already?” Where was birth control when she needed it? She had read something about birth control in this time, and she thought it was a sheep’s bladder used as a condom. Not something she truly wanted to think about.
He nodded. “Aye. The first of our seven sons. What would ye like to name him?”
Beth thought for a moment. So many girls she’d known in schools had dozens of names picked out for their children, but she’d never even given it a thought. “Adam?” It sounded right to her. The first of her men should be named after the first man on earth.
“I like that.”
She briefly thought about convincing him to name the boys after the sons in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but even she couldn’t be that cliché. Though it would amuse her a great deal. “I do as well. Let’s name this first baby Adam.” After Adam, maybe she could name the second one Robert. Her father had been a Bob, and he’d always seemed to love his name.
“Are ye excited, me love?”
My love? Had he really just called her that? They’d never used those words with one another, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was only calling her that because of the baby she carried. “I think I am. I guess I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”
&n
bsp; “The bairns come quickly in me family,” he said softly. “Does that disappoint?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. Can I keep riding?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “I would rather ye dinna ride at all while expecting.”
She sighed. She’d been working so hard to be able to go on a healing trip with him, and now she wouldn’t be able to. Lovely.
Later that afternoon, she was walking around the lake, feeling a tad bit sorry for herself. She was happy she was pregnant, but she wished they’d had time to just be newlyweds together. All of the demands on his time made her feel like she was sharing her husband with the entire world.
Kirstine walked beside her. “My wedding is three days hence,” she said softly.
“Oh, I didn’t realize it was coming up so soon! That’s wonderful.”
“I will be taking a few days right after the wedding to get used to married life.”
“That’s just fine. I’m expecting, but I am sure I can get through a few days without you.”
Kirstine squealed and pulled Beth into a hug. “A son! Ye are having a son!”
Beth smiled, happy to see her friend so happy. “I’m not sure I’m ready, but I can’t help but be a little excited.”
“Of course, ye are ready!” Kirstine had a happy look on her face. “As soon as we get back to the keep, we will need to start sewing for the bairn. I canna wait to make little tiny things for him to wear.”
Kirstine’s excitement was contagious. Beth grinned. “It will be fun, will it not? We should go and tell Gilly she is going to be a grandmother again. I hope it is still exciting for her after being a grandmother so many times over.”
“It will be. Gilly loves each and every one of her grandchildren with all her heart.” They finished their walk around the lake and immediately headed in the direction of the former laird’s cottage.
“Hopefully Gilly has a remedy for morning sickness. I haven’t been able to keep down breakfast for several days.”
The Scottish Siren Page 8