by Fiona Faris
Logan smiled in response, feeling heat rush through his chest. He might not have all his people’s support, but he had some, and that made him feel better about his leadership.
“Thank ye. I will always do what I can tae be a good laird to my people,” Logan responded.
Alrick stood and added, “Tell us what ye think, Logan, and we will all do it.”
“I think tis time we begin training our men. Tis been a while since we have been in battle, but I dinnae think the peace will last so many more years. We need to be prepared. I think. Alrick, keeping scouts on the lookout at night is a good idea, and we shall continue it. We need new weapons as well. T’as been too long since we had ours fixed and mended.” Alrick nodded as he listened. A man stood in the back, a local blacksmith, and offered to get orders started right away, along with working on mending their armor. Logan was grateful.
“After we get the land ready fer the winter wheat, I’ll begin working with the scouts and trainin’ them again. They’ll be ready tae work harder than they have worked in a while,” Alrick said.
Finally, Logan stood prepared to release the councilmen. “Thank ye men fer bein here, fer joinin me in this council meeting, and fer all of yer support,” Logan said.
An elder stood and spoke. “We know ye’ve had a rough few years, Logan, and we cannae say ye’ve been the best ye have ever been, but we have always thought ye a good laird, and since the fires ye have proven yerself tae be the laird ye have always been meant tae be. Just keep at it, Logan, and we’ll be right there with ye.” Many of the men around the elder clapped and stood then agreeing and voicing their approval.
Logan closed the meeting to a round of encouraging applause. As people started to leave the council room, others came up to him, telling him how fine of a job he was doing at handling this large of a disaster.
Logan started to feel as if all his hard work was finally paying off. He could see in the faces around him that his people were beginning to believe in him again. He walked out of the council room feeling better than he had in a long while. He was excited to go down to the great hall, to see his sisters, and tell them all about how well the meeting had gone. He was excited to hold little Ava and greet the sun with her over breakfast. Normally, he rose early and went straight to work, but with the council meeting so early that day, he had time to go spend with her before the day fully began.
He walked out down the long halls, whistling to himself. Today, the castle keep would begin to quiet down a bit as a few of the families moved back to their homes. With the people volunteering to till the fields, they would surely have enough grain to last through the winter. He had no idea the hunters had managed to gather so many cattle and boars. They only needed to continue this upward momentum, and their whole clan would feel much more healed after those dreaded flames.
When Logan walked into the great hall, where many were gathered for early morning grains and tea, he looked around for the familiar faces that often brought him comfort. But his sisters and Ava were nowhere to be found. It was about the time they ate their morning meal, so there was no reason for them not to be in the great hall. Logan grabbed a nearby kitchen staff member by the arm.
“Have ye seen my Ava? And my sisters?” Logan’s voice shook with nerves, but he tried to keep himself from scaring the staff members. The young man shook his head without saying a word.
Logan let him go. Where could they be? he thought to himself. He thought of asking Sophia or Fanny, but neither of the two were in the great hall, either. He thought it best to go check their rooms. The worry crept from Logan’s stomach to his throat. A sick feeling hung in his chest.
Logan made his way down the long hall towards Diana’s room. Normally, she had Ava with her in the early morning, while Mildred took care of some of the other duties around the castle, but neither of them were in that room. Logan went to Mildred’s room and didn’t find them there, either.
His heart raced. He ran to Ava’s room and was very grateful when he saw her laying there in her bed, surrounded by his sisters. Unfortunately, the moment of relief was short-lived, for Ava was reddened and damp. She looked pained and exhausted.
“Ava!” Logan rushed into the room. His sisters were seated on either side of Ava as she lay under a heavy quilt. They both held their hands out to him, as if to tell him to calm himself, and Mildred motioned for Logan to remain quiet.
“Ava seems to be unwell. She has a fever. We came to fetch her and bring her to breakfast when we found her still in bed. She cannae stop shiverin’.” Mildred looked at Logan and lowered her voice as she spoke. Nearby, Diana sang a soft lullaby to distract Ava from the conversation around her.
“She was fine just last night,” Logan said, stopping himself before his voice got too loud.
“Aye, we dinnae know how she grew so ill so fast.” Mildred seemed just as lost and confused as Logan. Even if Ava wasn’t her daughter, she had always treated her as one. The night Isla passed, Mildred had promised Isla that she would always care after Ava as if she was her own.
“Have ye called Fanny? Where is she?” Logan paced back and forth in the room, trying to keep his body and voice steady, so as not to worry Ava further than she needed to be.
Diana responded, “She’s makin’ her rounds in the town. She isnae able tae come right now.”
Mildred turned and finished the thought. “But we have already called for Sophia, who should be on her way up soon.” She went back to patting Ava’s leg in a soothing rhythm.
Logan looked at his daughter and felt his stomach drop. His day had started so well. He had hoped everything was starting to improve for himself and the clan. Ava had only been sick a few moments in her life, but lying there in bed she looked worse than Logan had ever seen her. Fevers were hard to shake, even in the castle with healers so close. If they could not get her fever down soon, there was not much they could do to help her get well.
“Papa, Papa, I dinnae feel well,” Ava mumbled from beneath the quilt. Her body shook, and the bed quivered in response. Her eyes were closed, and she shook her head back and forth.
Logan rushed to her side and held her tiny hand in his palm. It broke his heart to see her like this, so weakened. “Aye, wee one, dinnae worry. Ye’ll be back to playin’ soon enough.” He brushed her hair back with his calloused finger tips and began mumbling a soothing Scottish ballad to her, one his mother had always sung to him when he was feeling unwell. In response, she leaned into his warm hand and seemed to still herself, if only slightly.
“How long ago did ye call fer Sophia?” Logan asked the two sisters in a hushed voice.
Just as the words had left his mouth, Sophia rushed into Ava’s bedchamber. Her face was damp with sweat, as if she had run up the stairs. Within moments of walking into the room, she steadied herself and became focused.
Sophia rushed to Ava’s side. She immediately leaned in and placed the back of her hand against Sophia’s forehead. The girl pulled away, as if Sophia’s flesh was ice-cold. Sophia shook her head and glanced at Logan from the corner of her eye. She stood and placed her hands on her hips.
“What do ye need us tae do?” asked Diana.
Sophia responded, “We need tae get Ava undressed and we need to cool her down. We’ll need to keep linens on her with cool water. Fer now, ye two get started on removing her layers.” She turned then, about to leave the room.
“I will need tae get making a poultice and some tea. We need tae get to work right away.” Her eyes narrowed, and she had a focused look. She knew what needed to be done, but she also knew they did not have much time before the fever started to become dangerous.
The sisters moved toward the bed and Logan began to step away. They worked, slowly braiding her hair and moving it out of the way. Each began removing a layer of heavy fabric from Ava’s small body. Some kitchen staff members rushed in with buckets of water, and Sophia directed them to set them down near the bed.
She walked over and sat near Mildred. She grabb
ed a linen and dunked it in the cool water. “Alright, ye’ll need tae place one here on her forehead, one here on the top of her head, and one on the back of her neck. Ye ken?” Her voice had taken a stern but direct tone. Mildred simply nodded and started dipping fabrics into the water.
Sophia stood from the side of the bed. She looked at the sisters and Ava as she stood perfectly still. Seemingly pleased with the way things were unfolding, she turned to leave the room.
“I’ll be back shortly. I need tae get the right teas from the healer’s pantry, and I need to prepare the poultice. Keep at the linens,” she said sternly.
Mildred turned and gave a pursed-lip smile. “Thank ye, Sophia, fer rushing up as quick as ye did. We appreciate yer help.” She looked at Logan as she said the word ‘we.’
Diana nodded and added, “Aye, tis true. We’ll do as ye say so wee Ava can get well again.”
Sophia opened her mouth as if to say something, but had nothing to add. She could see the fear and desperation in the sisters’ eyes. She knew there was nothing she could say to comfort them, so she chose to focus on her work.
Sophia rushed out of the room to head to the healer’s main pantry, where she could find some belladonna to steep, hoping it would work to bring down the fever. She was about to walk down the long stairs again when she felt a force on her arm.
Logan’s deep voice rang out, “Sophia, wait, please.”
Sophia was about to turn and scold Logan for grabbing her so roughly, but as she faced him, she saw only his deep sky-colored eyes welling with wetness, as if he was about to break down in front of her. He seemed devastated.
She could not think of what to say, so she stood there glancing between his hand on her arm and his face.
“Sophia, please, whatever ye can do, I need Ava tae be alrigh’. Please promise me ye will save her.” The pleading in his voice brought his usual booming volume down to a whisper. He dropped his hand from her arm and stood there, his palms open. “I dinnae know what I will do if she leaves me.” He could not look at Sophia then, so he focused his eyes on the floor, willing the tears to stay put instead of rolling down his cheeks.
Sophia saw in him the gentleness from the night by the stables, she saw the kindness from the great hall and the dinner; she saw then much of a heart he truly had. As much as she willed herself not to do what she did, there was no stopping her body. She could not deny her instincts.
Sophia reached out and grabbed Logan, and pressed her body into his. He pulled her close, as if she was a rope pulling him from a stormy sea, and he leaned into her and pushed his mouth against hers. They kissed, their tongues reaching into each other, trying to keep each other afloat. Logan’s arms wrapped themselves around Sophia, and she collapsed into his kiss.
She had thought about this along while mostly in the deep hours of the night in half exhaustion. She knew this was not the time for them to kiss, but still, it was as if they were reaching for each other without knowing it. Slowly, they unraveled. Sophia pulled herself back. She glanced up at Logan, and then to her own hands. She stepped back towards the stairs, but stopped to look back at him.
“Logan, I promise ye, I will do anythin’ and everythin’ tae save little Ava.”
He nodded, his face hot with the heat of their kiss and the fear in his heart. She rushed to the healer’s pantry.
Once in the healer’s pantry, Sophia could not contain herself. The tears started flowing from her eyes. To see Logan like that, so broken and so afraid—it hurt her. Clearly Ava was everything to him and it reminded her in that moment of her own father. He would have done anything and everything to save her, and he had. He risked his life for her the night of the flames, and it was clear Logan would remove his own hand if it came down to it. She did not know if she could heal the little girl but she knew she would do everything in her power to try.
She gathered the belladonna and a few other healing herbs and set to work on the poultice. There was something she hadn’t mentioned to Logan: the fever Ava had was one of the highest she’d felt in a long time. That was why she was so adamant about having her cooled down as quick as possible. Fevers were a wicked thing, but even more so in children. If a healer could not get the heat out of the child soon, they might not make it through the night. For the few who did survive with days of a high fever, there was little that let them live a full life. They suffered for years after.
Once the herbs were moistened, she set to work, grinding and mashing them with a mortar and pestle. She added more and more as the herbs became a mud. She knew she would need as much of it as possible. The more she could place on Ava’s skin, the more likely it was that she would absorb the plants’ medicine. Once the water was boiled, she began making a fever-reducing tea for her to drink alongside the medicine. Hopefully, the cool linens were doing their job to reduce the heat in Ava’s body.
Sophia wanted to promise Logan that she would save Ava, but she didn’t know how to promise him something she was not sure she could fulfill. She would do everything she could to heal the little girl, but something about this fever scared her. It was unlike anything she had seen in a very long time.
Chapter Fifteen
Sophia returned to the room with her mortar that held the fever-reducing poultice, and a mug of hot tea that would hopefully help to bring Ava’s high fever down. To most people, it seemed counterintuitive to bring the fever down with a hot tea, but her mother had taught her it was the best way to get the herbs to start working in the body quickly.
Ava’s bedchamber was empty when Sophia returned. She couldn’t help but think of the kiss that just took place outside Ava’s door. She had been too forward to lean into Logan like that, but she had not expected for them to embrace like that. She had merely wanted to comfort the worried laird. The kiss flustered her emotions more than she wanted to admit.
Ava was barely awake when she set the tea on a stool near the bed.
“Come on, wee one, we need tae get you tae drink this up quick.” She pulled the covers down, much to Ava’s protests. And the girl sipped the tea, wincing every few moments when the hot liquid touched her tongue. She shivered, feeling the cold chills that were brought on by the high temperatures.
“Aye, I know tis hot, but the hotter, the better fer yer body.” The little girl nodded only slightly and continued making faces at the bitter herb water she was being forced to drink.
“Alright, now I’m going tae get tae puttin’ this poultice on yer skin. It’ll be thick like mud—” she started to say.
Ava interrupted her, “Me aunt Mildred says never tae play with mud.” She shook her head back and forth, trying to impart her childish wisdom on Sophia.
Sophia chuckled. “Well, this is healin’ mud. Tis medicine. I’ll tell Mildred I allowed ye tae play with the mud just this once time.”
Ava smiled and bounced on the bed a wee bit. “Mud! Mud!” she called out. The excitement clearly drained her, because she calmed after only a few seconds of bouncing, and sunk back into the bed.
“So once the healin’ mud is dry, we’ll wipe it off and start again, aye?” The girl nodded, and Sophia got to work. She put the poultice on the visible parts of her body, making sure to apply a thin layer evenly over her forehead, on her neck, her arms, and her legs. She wrapped the ground herb mixture with a linen and instructed Ava to lay back and relax.
“Why dinnae I sing ye a lullaby? Would ye like that?” she asked once the child was covered in her healing mud. Ava nodded and closed her eyes to relax.
Sophia began, “Hush wee one, rest yer eyes, dinnae worry bout the cloudy skies. Rest yer eyes and greet the night, till daylight comes and the sun begins tae rise.” It was an old lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she would go through bouts of nightmares and terrors. Ava embraced the tune, and based on the soft rhythm of her breath, seemed to be resting as peacefully as was possible. The illness was likely draining any energy she had.
Logan stood in the doorway, but did not say anything at fir
st. He was enjoying watching Sophia care for Ava. She seemed to have a natural motherly quality about her that was clearly what made her a skilled healer. He walked into the room, and Sophia turned quickly at his heavy footsteps.
“Sorry, I dinnae mean tae frighten ye,” he said, holding his hands out in front of him. “How is she?” He rushed over to her side.
Sophia reached over and put her hand against the girl’s exposed cheek.
She turned to face Logan. “She seems tae have cooled down a bit with the tea and the poultice. I think she is alrigh’ fer now, but I should go see if Fanny has returned,” she added.
“But ye’ll be back, right, ye’ll keep lookin’ after Ava?” He seemed to be pleading, but tried to keep his voice in control.
“Aye, I will return very soon.” She nodded. She turned to leave the room, wondering if she should say something about the kiss. She decided not to when she saw Logan stroking Ava’s hair. He had enough on his mind, and even if she did say something, she wouldn’t know where to begin.