Chapter 5

When they walked through the cottage door, Tearlach had to bow his head, since the lintel was so low. Caitrin was sitting by the fire with the cat at her feet, knitting. She looked up to greet Norah, smiling, but her eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight of the enormous man standing beneath her roof. Indeed, Tearlach was barely able to stand upright.

Caitrin got to her feet, leaving her knitting on the chair, and the cat hissed and ran away the moment he clapped eyes on Tearlach. It was not exactly an auspicious start, he thought.

"Who is this, Norah?" Caitrin asked, frowning as she put her hands on her hips, her eyes never leaving Tearlach's. Despite himself, he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"This is my childhood friend, Tearlach McLachlan," Norah replied, putting a friendly arm around Tearlach's waist. Then she turned to Tearlach. "We made all sorts of mischief together when we were children. Tearlach, this is Caitrin Wallace, the dearest woman in the world, who saved my life and has been good enough to share her home with me. In the short time I have known her, I have grown to love her as if she was my very own family. I don't think I would be alive if it were not for her."

Caitrin beamed as she heard Norah's words, and reached out to cup her cheek. "Silly lass," she said fondly, but her eyes were full of love. Then she turned to Tearlach. "An' what is your story, big lad?" she asked, looking him up and down critically. "Ye look as if ye have been dragged through a hedge backwards."

Tearlach sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. "It has no' been a good day, mistress," he answered wearily. "The redcoats chased me an' I had to hide, but Norah found me. I still cannae credit it - that she should be the one to find me when we havenae seen each other for so long." He shook his head in disbelief, then smiled at her.

Caitrin looked at him, noting his tangled mass of hair and beard, as well as his general filthy state. "Ye look tired, son," she observed, then she reached out her hand to brush away a stray lock of hair from Tearlach's brow. It was an oddly tender gesture from someone Tearlach had just met, and he smiled at the little woman, then received an answering smile.

Watching them, Norah realized that a tentative bond had already formed between them, and a warm glow settled inside her. She had not expected this, but then, Caitrin tended to ascribe heroic qualities to all Scotsmen, whether they deserved it or not.

Caitrin indicated a chair beside the fire. "Rest yourself, son," she ordered. "I am sure ye had a hard day. Take the weight off your feet."

With a sigh of relief that sounded as if it had come all the way from the soles of his feet, Tearlach sat down. The chair, which had only ever been used to the weight of small women, creaked a little under that of a big man, but it held. Caitrin placed a small padded stool in front of him to rest his feet on, then, to his amazement, she began to pull off his boots.

"Ye have been doin' battle with the redcoats then?" Caitrin cocked her head on one side as she looked at him.

"Aye," Tearlach nodded wearily. He had been about to say to Caitrin that he could pull his own boots off, but had received a sharp warning glance from her bright blue eyes. "But no' today. Today I was runnin' away, to my shame." He looked dejected.

"Nae need for shame, son," Caitrin's shook her head firmly. "There are days ye must fight an' days when ye must run away to fight another day. Ye are welcome in this house an' ye may stay for as long as ye need to. Because ye are a Scottish warrior, an' it is lads like you who make sure that nae Sassenach will get past the door o' this house. An' as long as I am alive to stop them, they will never set their filthy feet in here!" Her face was burning with rage.

Tearlach was astonished at the passion of the little woman. A fire of hatred burned bright in her eyes as she spoke, and she almost spat her words out when she was speaking of the English troops.

"Thank ye, Mistress." Tearlach said softly, feeling a little overwhelmed. Just then his stomach gave an almighty rumble.

"Well, I think this noble soldier is tryin to tell me somethin'," Caitrin chuckled. "Time to eat, I think."

"But Mistress Caitrin, dae ye have enough food for me?" he asked anxiously. He looked down at himself. "I am a big lad, an' I take a lot more feedin' than you do."

Caitrin looked into his eyes, feeling a surge of gratitude for this fine young man who was risking his life for her and her fellow Scots. She would do anything for him, and if that meant denying herself a little food, then she would do so.

She was an old lady who had had a full life, but Tearlach was just starting his, and he was risking his life in the service of his country. She would spare nothing to make him comfortable. "You are a fine strappin' lad, an ye shall have as much food as ye need," Caitrin said firmly. "There is naebody around here who would deny ye anythin'."

While they were speaking, Norah had been pouring them a cup of ale. She handed one to each of them.

"I am going back to the market. I promised Maisie that I would, and I need to see if the redcoats are still about," Norah declared.

"No!" Tearlach got to his feet and stood in front of her. "Ye will put yourself in danger, Norah. Stay here. I can get out of this situation by myself."

"Can you?" Norah raised her chin and stared at him defiantly. "They almost caught you last time, Tearlach. You can't expect to have the same kind of luck again. Stay here, at least for tonight."

She turned away to open the door, but found a big, muscular body standing in front of it, completely blocking the way. She looked up into Tearlach's apple-green eyes and saw that they were shadowed with determination.

Suddenly the stalemate was broken by the intervention of Caitrin, who inserted herself in between Tearlach and the door, and gave him a hefty push. It was not enough to knock him down, but it did make him stumble forward a little, allowing Norah to duck around him and open the door.

"This is my house!" Caitrin yelled. "An' I say who goes in an' out o' it! You stay here, you big lump!" She poked Tearlach in the chest. "Now sit down an' let me feed ye. Sit down, I say!"

Tearlach obeyed. Perhaps Caitrin was fiercer than his battlefield comrades after all!

As she left, Norah gave Tearlach a wink that said, ‘I told ye so!'

Norah was not thinking about redcoats as she walked back to the market. She was thinking about Tearlach, and how much he had changed since she had last seen him. He had been muscular even then, but now he was much more so. His shoulders had broadened, and he was at least an inch taller than he had been before. As well as that, there was a full red beard where there had previously been clean shaven skin. Norah was surprised to find that she had a desperate longing to run her fingers through it and his thick wavy red hair. When she had last seen him, his hair had been short, but now it reached his shoulders. There was no time for vanity in the kind of life that Tearlach now led, she supposed.

Of course, he had changed in other ways too. Just before he left, she had caught him looking at her one day with the kind of gaze that she knew now was the sort of glance that a man only gives a woman when he wants her in his bed. This had shocked her profoundly at first, but by now it had happened to her so many times that she was used to it. She supposed that this was the way of men.

Tearlach had turned from a youth into a man, and she loved the difference in him. When he was near her, things happened to her body that she had never felt before. She felt warm and wet in a part of her that she had never thought much about before, and the pleasant, pulsing ache there was a complete surprise to her. She resolved to ask Caitrin about it, since she was not sure if every woman felt this way or if there was something wrong with her.

For the hundredth time she wished she had had a mother to advise her. The onset of her monthly courses had been the most terrifying experience of her life, and she had been obliged to ask one of the maidservants what was happening to her. Her governess was far too forbidding.

Since that day she had become shy and somewhat withdrawn, ashamed of her ignorance. The only person she had been able to talk to was Tearlach, although she could not speak to him about such personal female matters. She sighed irritably. If only they'd had more time!

Presently, she arrived back at the market, and saw that there was a hubbub of activity, since everyone was packing their stock and preparing to go home. Many of the stallholders had already left, and others were scurrying away, looking frightened. This did not make sense, since the market should have only closed when the church clock chimed the fifth hour, and it was still only a few minutes past four.

Norah ran around the stallholders looking for answers, but no one was making any sense until she came to Maisie, who quickly apprised her of the situation. She stared at her, horror-struck, for a moment, then turned and fled.