Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

A ihan attended to the boys’ wounds and put them to bed on their bellies. Fergus took care of Wee. Neither Cam nor Wee had suffered broken skin from the blows, as they only received five lashes each, and she suspected the Chief had pulled his punch with the younger lads, letting the whip crack before it touched the skin. The crack had made the younger boys jump with fright and whimper each time it came down, even when it wasn’t directed at them; and she had seen poor Cam shaking with fear during the entire ordeal. But theatrics aside, the whip’s touch was weakened considerably by the technique. Even so, the skin was red, bruised, and sore. And both boys were shocked and upset, both by the lashing they’d endured and what they were forced to witness.

Rory had suffered twice that number of blows. He had taken all but the last two in silence. Those two had broken the skin open, forcing a grunt from him for each one. He stood, with blood streaming down his back during the rest of the punishments, visibly shaking and pale, but refusing to sit. Aihan had itched throughout to go to his aid, but understood instinctively that she could not.

Mac’s punishment came last. He was subjected to fifteen lashes, five for each of the lads. Like Rory, he took it mostly in silence, but by the end his back was a mess of bloodied lines. She was trembling with helpless fury at this diabolical behaviour and mystified as to why he let it happen.

Leaving Rory as comfortable as she could make him, she went to Mac’s room. She found him bent over the basin, attempting to wash.

“Here, let me.” She took the cloth from him and ran water over his back, dabbing gently at the gashes. When she had got the blood off, she helped him to the bed to lie on his stomach. Then she cleaned the wounds with whisky, stitched the worst of them, and applied basilicum powder to seal the rest of the superficial cuts.

It was almost dawn, and the sun would be up very soon. All the same, she stripped and climbed into bed with him. She couldn’t hold him because of his wounds, but she could be here.

He lay with his head turned towards her, and she finally asked the question that had been burning in her all night.

“Why?”

He sighed. “Clan fealty, lass. The boys offered the Chief an enormous insult. He had to punish it. They know better now. He did the right thing.”

“How can flogging children be the right thing?”

“They will be men soon, and they need to understand what that means. Rory understood. He took it like a man. I’m proud of him. He understood he’d done wrong. It was a better lesson than any I could have taught him. If I’d raised them better, he’d never have thought of doing it in the first place. The fault was mine.”

She stroked his face; his jaw was bristled with ginger whiskers.

“This will heal, lass, it’s nothing.”

“You will be scarred!” she said indignantly.

He shrugged and winced. “A good reminder of my fault.”

She shook her head. “Scottish madness.”

“Aye, lass. I’m sorry ye had to see that.”

She leaned up on her elbow and kissed him. “Sleep, if ye can. Is the pain bad?”

“It throbs a bit, but I’ve had worse.”

Col rose late afternoon and slung a robe over his breeches to go and pay a visit to his sons. He found Callum lying on his stomach, his chin propped on his folded arms, reading a book. Seeing Col enter the room, he went to get up, but Col stayed hem with a hand.

“I came to see how ye’re faring, lad.” He inspected Callum’s back and was relieved to only see redness and what would be slight bruising.

“It hurt like the devil at the time, now it’s just sore.” Callum eyed him. “You and Rory fared much worse.”

“Aye, well, we’re older, and more of the blame rested with us.”

“How were ye to blame, Athair? Ye didnae do it, we did.”

“I should ha’ taught ye better, lad. That’s my blame. I failed to explain the fealty ye owe to the clan chief, and what a transgression such an act would be. It just never occurred to me that ye’d take it into yer heids to do such a thing.”

“Aye, I didnae want to do it, but Rory told me I was a Jessie if I didn’t.”

“I’ll be having a word to him about that.” Col frowned, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Lad, ye’re getting old enough, I hope, to understand this. Yer grandfather had a very fixed idea of what manhood is, and if ye didn’t fit into it, then ye were nae a man to him. He thought yer uncle Merlow were nae a man because he didnae do the things yer grandfather approved of. When I was Rory’s age, I agreed with him. But I know now I was wrong, and yer grandfather was wrong.” He stopped, clearing his throat.

“Yer uncle Merlow is the best man I know. It’s a crying shame ye’ve not had more to do with him, for he would be the best role model I could offer ye. I suggest ye write to him, share yer thoughts with him. He’ll understand ye much better than me. Ye’ll find, I think, the two of ye share a lot in common.”

“Aye, I was sad when he left,” admitted Callum. “But d’ye really think he’d like to get letters from me?”

“Aye, lad, I do. It might even do ye good to go and stay with him and Hetty fer a bit, if ye want to of course?”

Callum nodded and smiled. “I’d like that. Hetty is nice.”

“She is that.” Col paused. “D’ye like Aihan?”

“Oh, Aye. Aihan is—different. Good different.” He looked down and chewed his lip. “I know ye like her, Athair. And it’s obvious she likes ye. Are ye—are ye going to marry her?”

Col jerked at this, his heart kicking up in alarm. “I can’t, Callum, she has to go home at some point. Back to China.”

“Why?” Callum’s blue eyes, so like his own, clouded. “I thought she was happy here with us.”

Col smiled sadly. “I think she is. But ye see, I stopped her going home with the ship that she came on. I must offer her the opportunity to go home if she wants it.”

“Ye dinnae want to marry her?” pressed Callum, like a dog with a bone.

Col sighed. “I dinnae know, Callum. That’s the truth. It’s complicated.”

“Is it?” Callum rested his chin on his fist, staring at the book in front of him.

Col reached out a hand to stroke his tangled red curls. And Callum dodged the caress. Col withdrew his hand. “Speaking of yer uncle Merlow, I thought I’d look into getting ye a tutor to prepare ye for school. Rory may not be cut out fer university, but I think ye might be. Would ye like that?”

Callum turned his head and blinked at him. “Someone to teach me Latin and Greek? And scientific principles?”

“Aye lad, if it’s what ye want?”

“I would.” Callum blinked and wiped his eyes. “Thank ye.”

“Oh, lad, I’m sorry,” Col said helplessly. Fook, I’ve let this boy down. “Ye shall have a tutor as soon as I can arrange one.” He squeezed his arm and rose, heading for the door. “D’ye want to come down fer dinner or have a meal up here?”

“I’ll come down.”

Col nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him and pausing to sort through that conversation. Callum’s question about Aihan had thrown him. The prospect of sending her home gave him a nasty ache in the chest. He would miss her, dreadfully, he realised. He had come to rely on her a great deal. She was a comfort as well as a source of pleasure. And as he had reflected before, she seemed to fit, despite being from a completely different culture.

He sighed and shifted his shoulders, trying to ease the ache in his back. He moved along the corridor, past his own room and Aihan’s, to Rory’s at the other end. He knocked and when bid, entered to find Rory, sitting up on the side of the bed, naked.

“Thinking of getting up?” he asked, moving into the room.

“Aye, I’m hungry.”

“How’s the pain?” asked Col, handing his son his breeches. Rory hauled them on, trying to hide a wince as he moved his arms and back to do so.

“I’ll live.” His face remained closed as he said this, but Col could tell by something in his eyes that there was a lot going on behind them.

Col reached for a robe and held it out. “This will rub less than a shirt.”

Rory took it and shrugged it on with another grimace.

“Be careful ye don’t open the wounds up again!” cautioned Col.

Rory stood a moment, staring past Col’s shoulder, then took a breath and said, “Thank ye fer taking the blows for me and the lads. I’m sorry I brought shame on ye.”

Col looked at him for a moment. It had taken something for the lad to say that.

“I’m glad ye can admit yer fault and take yer punishment so well, lad. I’m proud of the way ye took responsibility. Ye ken now why it was wrong?”

“Aye, I do.” Rory looked at his feet. “I’ve been so angry with ye,” he admitted.

“Nae surprise there, lad, I’ve let ye down and I’m more sorry than I can say.” Col swallowed the lump in his throat.

Rory nodded, and silence ensued for a moment or two. Then Rory said, “how’s Callum?”

“Sore, a bit bruised, but he’ll heal in a few days. Willy’s the same. The chief pulled his punch with those two.”

Rory nodded again. “He dinnae with ye though, did he?”

“I’m not a lad, Rory. If I could have, I’d have taken all the blows to spare ye lads. Ye must know that.”

“I do.” Rory raised his eyes to Col’s and gave him a tentative smile. “I’m right proud yer my Athair.”

Col’s face cracked. “I love ye, Rory. I cannae hug ye right now, but I would.”

“Aye, I love ye too,” said Rory awkwardly. Col gripped his hand tightly a moment.

Col broke the silence with a jest. “Then maybe ye’ll mind me a bit more from now on?”

“I doubt it,” said Rory with a grin. But Col fancied that he would, a bit.

He cleared his clogged throat and changed the subject. “I’m going to hire a tutor fer yer brother so he can prepare to go to university. I assume that’s nae a path ye want to follow?”

“Nae!” said Rory with visible horror.

“Dinnae think so. Even so, ye’d do best to share a few of his lessons. Ye’ll need a few more skills than ye have to be Laird. The rest I’ll teach ye. It’s past time ye started to learn the business of running the estate. The next time I visit the tenants, I’ll take ye.”

Rory nodded. “I’d like that.”

“Good, it’ll give ye more to think about than getting into mischief.” He paused and then went on. “There’s one more thing, Rory.”

His eldest son caught the seriousness of his tone and raised an eyebrow. The sullen resentment he usually regarded him with seemed to have evaporated.

“Callum. I’d take it kindly if ye’d cease calling him a Jessie. He’s different than ye. He’ll never be as tough as ye are, physically, it’s not in his nature or his build. But he has other strengths, and it’s time ye recognised them.”

Rory chewed his lip and nodded. “If he’ll stop tormenting me?”

“He’ll stop if ye do. Besides, I think the snake incident cured him of that. Has he done anything since?”

“Nae.”

“Will ye give me yer word, Rory?”

Rory straightened his shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Aye, I will.”

“Thank ye, lad.” He clasped his shoulder carefully and squeezed gently. “Now I believe Aihan was preparing dinner, shall we go see what she’s cooking?”

“Athair?”

“Aye?” Col looked back over his shoulder, wincing slightly with the twist of his torso, feeling the stitches pull.

“Aihan’s a right one.”

Col smiled. “She is.”

“Is she going to stay?”

“I don’t know.”

“But ye’d like her to?”

“Aye, I would,” Col admitted.

Rory nodded and they went downstairs to the kitchen.