Chapter 14

Norah was sitting in the sunshine beside the seaside in her favorite place in the whole world, the village of Kenmar, which was only a few miles away from the bustling city of Aberdeen. The sky was absolutely clear that day, and seagulls were wheeling and mewling overhead in the sunlight. It was the kind of day that was rare in the Highlands, and Norah was soaking up the sunshine.

She had been told that sitting in the sunshine was bad for her fair complexion, and that if she spent too long in it her skin would become red and burnt. Then, a few days later it would all peel off. Therefore, she was always careful, since she did not wish to undergo the treatment for it, which was a cold bath full of vinegar solution, and receive a tongue-lashing from her governess.

She stood up and walked across the sand into the edge of the sea, where she watched little wavelets lapping over her toes and felt them tickling her toes. Then suddenly, she felt a surge of rebellion inside her. She was not allowed to go above her knees in the seawater, but who was there to stop her?

She giggled and began to jump up and down in the water, suddenly not caring about her wet dress or her sunburnt skin or the vinegar bath. She was only twelve years old and she was allowed to have fun, was she not? The governess would have to lecture her, since it was her job to do so, but she did not have to listen.

Norah stood at the edge of the water for a long time thinking about Tearlach. She knew that men grew beards, and that Tearlach was growing into a man. Heavens, he was already so tall that he towered over her by at least six inches!

Moreover, she could see that the sunlight glinted off golden-red bristles on his cheeks, and his voice had changed. It had never been a high pitched voice, but it had certainly not had the deep timbre it had acquired until quite recently. Tearlach was changing: when would she change too? When would she become as shapely as some of her other friends and have the same round breasts as they did? Where were her tiny waist and curvy hips? Tearlach would never look at her as he did at some of the other girls unless her body changed to that of a proper woman.

Now, as she walked back up the beach, she saw him standing, waiting for her. He had his arms folded across his chest, his bare feet were planted widely apart on the sand, and he was smiling at her.

Norah's heart began to beat faster in her chest. His arms were bulky now, and she could see that there was a dusting of hair on his chest. How handsome he was!

"Norah, it is time we were goin' home," he said, as he held out his big hand and she put hers in it trustingly as led her away.

Norah sighed and opened her eyes. It had been a lovely dream, and she had been surprised when she opened her eyes, not to find sand under her feet and the sun on her skin. It took her a moment to realized where she was, and as she looked around her she felt a plunging sense of disappointment at not being near the white sand and the seaside of her dreams. She was in an altogether strange place.

She looked sideways and saw Tearlach, and realized that at least one part of her dream was real; he was holding her hand. It took a moment for the events of the previous day to come back to her, and when they did, she groaned. Was Tearlach badly hurt? Was he even now beginning to slide towards death? Would he ever be the whole man he had been before?

Tommy McAllister came to kneel down beside him and feel the pulse in his neck again, then nodded to Norah, smiling. "He is fine, lass," he whispered. "An' he is only sleepin', although very deeply, I think. I gave him a drop o' poppy syrup to kill any pain, an' it also makes him sleep, but I will have tae be sparin' with it, since there is only a wee bit left."

Norah sighed with relief and put her hand on her chest as if to slow down the beating of her heart. "That is good to know," she murmured. "Thank you for everything you have done for him, Tommy."

Tommy smiled at her again. "I dinnae suppose ye know, Norah," he said ruefully. "But I am the eejit that talked Tearlach into to come an' join us. So a' the pain he is sufferin' now is my fault, and all of your pain too. I needed to prove that I was a true an' brave Scotsman willin' to do my bit for my country after my brother was killed in battle, an' I needed a friend." He glanced at her, then looked away, clearly ashamed.

Surprisingly, Norah did not feel angry. "No, Tommy," she said firmly. "You were both young and stupid, but Tearlach has a will of his own. He made up his own mind to do what he did."

Just then, Murdo came in holding up a brace of rabbits and looking triumphant. "Look what we are havin' for breakfast!" he cried gleefully.

Norah smiled tightly and tried not to be sick; the sight of dead animals did not sit well with her.

Seeing her expression, Tommy shooed Alec away and began to attend to Tearlach. Norah looked on anxiously, but Tommy smiled. "It looks fine, Norah. We will let him sleep, but we need to a' have a wee talk."

The rabbits were cooked on a spit over the fire, and everyone was silent while they ate, thinking their own thoughts. However, when they were finished, Norah found that all eyes were on her, and she felt distinctly uncomfortable.

Davie, a tall, sturdy man with bright red hair that was almost the same color as Murdo's, was the fourth member of the group, and now he spoke up. "We need to know where the redcoats who were chasin' you an' Tearlach, are hen. It could be very dangerous for all of us."

"Oh, I see," Norah frowned and took a deep breath before she began retracing what happened. She had no wish to relive the few moments when they made their escape, or the sheer terror of the chase, but she took a long gulp of her ale then began to speak.

While she was talking she did not realize that she was trembling with remembered dread, and she wrapped her arms around herself as if for protection. The story took only a few minutes to tell, but afterwards, as if a dam had been breached, Norah burst into tears. Until then, she had been unaware of the sheer weight of the fear she had been carrying with her. Now it had suddenly crashed down on her.

The men tried to calm her down with soothing words, and gradually her weeping subsided. "I am so sorry," she apologized, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to behave like such a baby."

Tommy patted her back. "Lass, we have a' done the same sometime or other. It doesnae make ye weak. It just means ye are human."

The others murmured in agreement, although Norah had no doubt that the two brothers still thought she was a feeble woman.

"Thank you," Norah murmured, wiping her eyes. "If it is not too painful, may I ask how each of you got into this life?"

"Each of us had different reasons," Murdo answered. "But we a' had one thing in common. Each one o' us had a member our family murdered by the redcoats."

When they had all told their individual stories, Norah was horrified. She had always known that the British troops had committed acts of savagery, but the stories she had just heard were terrible, and she could not imagine how these poor men could go on living with such sorrow in their lives.

There was a short silence, then Davie, the tallest and broadest of the group, looked at Norah. "You said there were only six redcoats chasing you," he said gravely. "But I have heard reports o' many more in the area, an' I think there are far more than we can see." He shifted his gaze to the others. "I have a bad feelin' there is a spy somewhere out there in the midst o' our people. I dinnae know if he - or she - is willin', or if they British have threatened them, but it makes nae difference. We have been in this same wee hut for too long an' sooner or later they will come for us. We have become too cozy in this wee place, an' as soon as Tearlach wakes up we must go. We know that Clan McMillan will hide an' shelter us, but we must make our way out o' here safely first. It is goin' to be a long hard journey."

"Can we wait that long?" Murdo asked doubtfully.

A thrill of fear shot through Norah. Surely they were not thinking of leaving Tearlach behind?

Her face must have betrayed her, for Davie shook his head and smiled at her. "Dinnae worry, lass. We would never dream abandonin' our Tearlach. He is the strongest an' cleverest of the lot of us an' has saved us fae death many times."

Norah nodded slowly. Now that she was here, in the middle of all these strange men, she did not know quite what to do with herself. How long would Tearlach take to wake up? Would he wake up at all? If he did not, what would she do with herself, since she was now a marked woman?

Something Tearlach had said came back to her suddenly.

‘They will hang both o' us now.'

Would the British really do that? She thought of the stories the men had told her, and it became all too apparent to her that they would. She shivered in horror and fear. Perhaps her life would have been better if she had stayed and married the man her father had chosen for her; at least she would have a good chance of still being alive! As it was, her life was hanging by a thread.

But then she imagined life with Archie Patterson, the old, wealthy merchant. Would it be a life worth living? She tried to imagine how it would feel having to get into bed with him, allowing him to make love to her, and she shuddered inwardly with disgust.

She contrasted the way she felt with Tearlach, and knew that the feelings she had for him would make it impossible for her to love anyone else for the rest of her life. There simply was no one else for her, and never would be. She was lost in a daydream, and had not realized that she was smiling at the thought of Tearlach when she noticed that Murdo and Davie were laughing at her.

"Why are you laughing at me?" she asked. Had she made a fool of herself somehow?

"We were just thinkin' that Tearlach finally found ye," Davie replied. "After a' this time. He will be so happy."

"Yes, he did," Norah agreed, puzzled. "But what is so funny about that? Was he looking for me?"

"You must ask him when he wakes up," Murdo answered, grinning.