Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"How long does it take yer dimwitted brothers to get information about the Mackay castle?" Gilbert slammed his hand on his desk, staring at Archie and Enoch, his youngest son.

Archie shrugged. "I doona ken."

Gilbert sighed. "I dinna expect ye to ken, I was only saying out loud what I'm thinking."

There was a knock on the door of the solar. One of the warriors from the front gate poked his head into the room. "My laird, Miles and David have returned."

Gilbert rubbed his hands together. "Aye, now we can begin to plan."

The two brothers entered the solar, smiles on their faces. "We found a way to grab the lass."

Gilbert nodded.

"Finn Mackay has ordered that she canno' ride from the castle by herself, which she always did before she married the bastard," Miles said.

"Go on." Gilbert was losing patience. He wanted this over with, and the land and coin belonging to him. With the small river that flowed through the parcel, it provided much needed water to his own land, and the coin would provide necessary repairs to the castle and some of his tenants.

"Each morning she goes for a ride. We watched for a few days, and it's the laird who accompanies her all the time."

David took up the tale. "According to one of the maids in the kitchen, Lady Mackay doesna like having an escort, but puts up with her husband."

Miles smiled. "Aye, they are known to take a tumble in the grass before returning to the castle."

Gilbert held his hand up to stop whatever else they were about to say in order to think about what he could do with that information. "We must find a way to make her leave the castle by herself."

"The morning ride is out because every day we watched them he was with her. It would have to be a reason that she ignores his orders."

The laird thought for a moment. "The lass is verra independent and stubborn her da said when we were there for the failed wedding." He glared at Archie.

"The Mackay said Archie would need to take her in hand. So we need to come up with a reason she would leave by herself."

"From what the serving lass we met in the ale house said, Lady Mackay is one of those who is the first to help," Miles said.

David leaned forward. "She is quite fond of this lad, Eli, who works in the kitchen. If she thought he was hurt or in danger, I'm sure she would no' wait for an escort to help."

"And how do ye plan to snatch both the lad and the lass? Mayhap ye can grab the laird while yer there, too." Gilbert said with disgust.

"If we give Finn Mackay reason to leave the castle when they generally take their ride, I'm sure Lady Mackay would go anyway," Archie said.

"Aye. For once ye have a good idea. The four of ye ride to Castle Varrich, create some sort of ruckus that would cause Finn to forget the ride and leave before then."

"Once ye grab her, get her back here as quickly as possible. Finn Mackay could probably knock all four of ye to the ground. Whether he cares for the lass or no', he would consider her his property."

"Where will we keep her when we return? We doona want to give her a chance to escape because, as independent as she is, I'm sure she would no' sit in a room, wailing about her fate," David said.

"We decided on a locked bedchamber, with one of ye outside the door at all times. She's a clever one," Gilbert said.

"She is a bonnie lass as well as strong and clever," Miles said.

Archie stretched in his chair. "Aye. Mayhap I should have bedded the lass the night before the wedding instead of letting Mackay get a taste of her."

Gilbert glared at his son. "If ye weren't so stupid as to bring yer whore with ye to the wedding, this entire thing might have turned out differently. The Mackay lass needed wooing, not watching ye parading yer lemman around the room."

Archie said nothing, but slumped in his chair, a scowl on his face.

Gilbert stood. "We fetch the lass as soon as possible. Be ready to ride at first light."

Alison's plans for the day were to do a complete inventory of what the keep had in the way of stores for the coming winter.

She decided to just grab some bread and perhaps a boiled egg if Maude had any from the kitchen and get to work. ‘Twas strange that before she married Finn she had little interest in the keep and left all the management to Gilly, who had been with them for years and did both kitchen duty along with Maude, and supervised the maids.

Now she felt as though this was her home, and not somewhere she lived until a man came along, married her and took her away. She had a husband and with the activity they did on a daily basis, there would one day be a bairn, hopefully, soon.

Then she would have a family, where things would be much like tthey were when she and her brothers were children, racing around the keep, going off on ‘adventures' and coming home dirty and happy.

Just as she reached the bottom step, Finn came striding by, looking, if not angry, at least concerned. "Good morn, husband. Is something amiss?"

He nodded and continued to walk as he said, "A problem with one of the horses."

She walked alongside him, almost running to keep up. "What sort of problem?"

"A mare is giving birth, and she is having a difficult time. Old Kilmead sent for me because he kens I've dealt with this before at Dun Ugadale."

Now she was skipping and running out of breath. "I have dealt with this before, too. I'd like to come along and see if I can help."

He stopped so fast, she walked into him. "Ye have experience in this?"

"Aye. A few years ago we had the same situation. Ask Old Kilmead, he was there too."

"Come along. I'm sure I need all the help I can get."

They entered the dark stable and the sound of the poor horse's deep breathing and groaning. Old Kilmead knelt next to her, speaking softly.

As they grew closer, Alison could see the animal covered in sweat.

"How long has she been laboring?" Finn asked.

Old Kilmead leaned back on his heels and wiped his forehead. "Going on three hours. It looks like the foal needs to be shifted, but my hand is too big and I'm afraid I'm going to hurt her."

Both men turned to Alison. "I remember ye doing this a few years ago, lass."

"Aye. Since my hand is smaller, I have a better chance to turn the foal without hurting the mother.

"Move back and let me take a look." She crawled over and took Old Kilmead's place. She ran her hand over the suffering animal and spoke softly to her.

"I need more light. The gloomy weather outside makes it seem like evening.'

Finn fetched a couple of torches from the wall and lit them. He handed one to Old Kilmead who raised it above the animal's head. Finn held the other one and came close to her hands.

Once the animal calmed down and accepted Alison, she allowed her to put her hand inside and feel the foal. "Aye, she needs to be turned. If the mother has been in labor for three hours, we need to get the foal out immediately."

By now Alison was sweating, afraid to lose the mother and baby. The mother continued to groan, and it appeared she was no longer helping with the birth.

"The foal needs to come out front hooves first, and then the nose. This one doesn't need to be turned too much. Right now I'm concerned about the mother."

Finn moved closer with the torch. Alison inserted her hand inside the mare and gently turned the foal. One of his hooves seemed to be stuck and she had to push back a bit and then turn again.

She expelled a sigh of relief as the foal slid into her hands. After she quickly cleaned the foal off it began to breathe. Not long after the placenta slid out.

Alison turned her head to look at Finn. "We saved her."

Finn smiled at her. "Nay, lass. Ye saved her."

He stood and reached out to take her hand but she shook her head. "Nay. I need to wash up."

"'Tis no matter. Let me help ye."

She smiled at him and he gripped her sticky, dirty hand. After making sure everything was well with the mother and foal, Finn and Alison left Old Kilmead to take over.

They headed to the kitchen scooped out a handful of soap and went to the small pond behind the keep.

"Ye did verra good, Alison. I'm proud of ye. I doona think I would have been able to do it because my hand is too big, too. It appears ye have many talents."

"Well, ye helped me in the kitchen and I helped ye in the stables. It seems we are a team." She waited for him to say ‘nay' because in a team no one has control."

He waited for a minute and said, "Aye, wife. We are a team."

Finn and Alison lay side-by-side in their bed, holding hands as they slowly recovered from another enthusiastic bout of love making.

She looked over at her husband. For good or not good, she was beginning to have strong feelings for the man. So far he had not shown any indication that he would abandon her and find another woman to warm his bed. But she wasn't yet ready to trust him.

"Husband, do ye intend to take a mistress?"

Finn sucked in a breath so quickly he began to cough. After he recovered, he said, "Why would ye ask that?"

She shrugged. "Archie Sinclair had a mistress. When my cousin Mairi was here for the wedding, she mentioned two of her friends' husbands tired of them after a year or so, and found some of the maids to warm their beds. She said it was well known that lairds do that."

He laughed. "First of all, nay, I would no' take a mistress. With yer enthusiasm in the bedchamber, I would ne'er have the strength to bed another lass."

When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand. "And, I wish to add, I donna take my vows lightly, whether it's fealty to my laird, or loyalty and respect to my wife. Also, one day we will take a trip to Dun Ugadale, my family home, and ye can witness my brothers' marriages."

He grinned and said, "If either Craig or Robin's wives found someone else in bed with her husband, I'm afraid murder would take place."

Her eyes grew wide. "Yer brothers would allow their wives to control them so much?"

"Nay," he said quickly and forcefully. "My brothers have the control. ‘Tis their feelings toward their wives that make them no' want another woman."

His words warmed her inside, but she had to probe further. "What if ye change yer mind?"

"Like the mon ye were counting on marrying, who wed someone else?"

For the longest time just thinking about that had caused her pain and heartache. Now she felt nothing. She turned again to Finn. In a flash she realized he would ne'er do that.

Her husband was an honorable man, and would not break her heart. Trust? Did she actually trust him?

She smiled.

"What's putting that lovely smile on yer face, lass?"

She shook her head. "No'hing." She narrowed her eyes and waved her finger at him. "Doona think I'll e'er love ye, ye ken."

The big, arrogant oaf actually laughed. "Doona fash yerself, wife. ‘Tis no' love I'm looking for. I only want ye to obey what I say and doona put yerself in danger, and ne'er deny me your bed."

After a few minutes, she said, "Why do ye feel as though ye need to be in control all the time? Think me that there is a story behind that."

He closed his eyes as if remembering a painful event.

"‘Tis no' important."

She shifted in the bed, resting her head on her upraised hand. "I told ye about my broken heart, why doona ye tell me yer deep, dark secret?"

Finn stared at his wife for a minute. Aside from his brothers who were there at the time, he'd never discussed what happened that eventful night.

He sighed, realizing if they were to have as good a marriage as he'd hoped they would, she was right that he should share his heartache with her.

"Years ago, when I was an arrogant youth," he continued after she snorted. "I was in the ale house with my brothers and a verra close friend. Mitchell and I fostered together. He was almost like another brother to me."

He stopped, not sure he could continue, but knowing finally sharing this with another person, particularly one he intended to spend the rest of his life with, would most likely cleanse his soul.

She touched his cheek as if knowing this was very hard for him. "Go on."

"We got into a scrabble with some warriors from another clan who were passing through. I'm sorry to say I threw the first punch, and we all quickly drew our daggers.

He sighed again. "In my youthful confidence, I didn't pay as much attention as I should have. One of the other warriors slammed into me and I fell on Mitchell, stabbing him with my dagger." He stopped, swallowing a few times.

"My best friend died right there. Bled to death in my arms."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Finn. That must have been horrible for ye."

He huffed. "No' as horrible as it was for Mitchell."

After a few moments of silence, he said, "The reason that entire thing happened was because I lost control."

"Ye said ye were a youth."

He shook his head. "That was no' an excuse. As a trained warrior, I should have had more control. I should have kenned that Mitchell was that close to me."

"And ye've blamed yerself for it all these years."

"Aye!" His jaw tightened as memories flooded him. "If I had more control and dinna start the ruckus, Mitchell would be alive now."

"Mayhap. As warriors, ye ne'er ken when yer end is coming. However, it was Mitchell's choice to join the fray. Also, he could have been more aware of where ye were, too."

He reached out and touched her soft cheek. "Thank ye for listening and no' condemning me."

"Finn, we all make mistakes. Some results are more serious than others, but, since we canno' change the past, we canno' let that hang o'er our heads for the rest of our lives."

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then ye are telling me that ye no longer feel ye canno' trust a mon?"

She smirked. "Is that what I said?"