Page 53 of Bride Takes a Charmer
“My thanks, Clovis. I will return shortly.” Shaw turned his gaze and searched for Henny, certain his soldier would try to sneak attack him again. The soldier wasn’t nearby so Shaw let his guard down. When he crossed the bridge, he ran into Walen who smiled in greeting.
“Where are ye off to, Shaw?”
“I need to retrieve Mamo. She’s at the graves again. I will be taking a ride later this morn if ye want to join me. The sentry reported riders passing on our northern border. I want to make sure they are gone.”
“Aye, I will ask a few men to join us. It will be good to get away from the keep for a bit.” Walen pressed his hands through his unruly blond hair.
“Is your wife perchance giving ye hell?”
“I vow that pregnant women are confounding. One minute she is smiling and full of mirth and the next sour and indignant. I think the woman has gone maddened and I could use a wee bit of time away.”
Shaw bellowed a laugh. “Aye, then meet me by the gate.”
He continued on and as he approached the small hills that led to the graves, he spotted his grandmother sitting before his grandfather’s cross. Shaw didn’t speak as he neared in case she was praying but she heard him.
With her gaze fastened on the wooden cross, she said, “I heard ye approach. Come and sit with me.”
Shaw knelt and then sat on the sparsely grassed area. “I thought I would find ye asleep again but Clovis said ye had only left.”
“When I join your grandda, I want ye to promise to erect a new cross with both our names etched on it.” She set small stones around the base of the cross.
“If it pleases ye, Mamo, I will. Come, we should return.”
“Ye know, lad, ye are so akin to your grandda. He was a good man and so are ye. I see how ye are with Lady Sorsha and the children. Ye are a sound leader too, fair, and yet tough.”
“I try to be,” he said and wondered why she was telling him such things. “There is some strife right now concerning land rights that I want to rectify before the harvest comes. Och, I amunsure if I can. Many clans are against the Chattans, Mamo, and I find myself torn in my loyalty to my mother’s kin.”
She patted his hand. “’Tis because ye seek to honor your mother. Your grandda, Laird Chattan, was an honorable man unlike his sons, your own mother’s brothers. They seek to use force to gain what they want instead of bartering. ’Tis the way of the Highlands though. Only the strong survive, I’m afraid.”
“If my allies wish to go against the Chattans, I might have to… And then there is the truth that Geoff murdered his brother. He says he had to but to do so…to murder your own blood. What Geoff put Sorsha through and her daughter… It has taken all my will not to go to him, to confront him, and to enact vengeance for my wife and daughter.” Shaw hadn’t meant to say so much but his words spilled out as if they were a cliffside waterfall.
“My sons have never been agreeable which is why I wanted to reside here with my daughter. Shaw, all men seek vengeance when their loved ones are threatened. But I tell ye this, son, gaining vengeance’s reward can be bittersweet.”
Shaw rose and held his hand out for his grandmother. She took it and he helped her to rise. “What do ye mean, Mamo?”
“If and when ye seek your vengeance, ye may not like the repercussions.” She linked her arm with his and walked slowly beside him. “I shall join my dearest husband soon, Shaw, and I tell ye this only to prepare ye for such. Make sure the cross is changed and I have left a small satchel of items I wish to take with me. ’Tis in my bedchamber in the small trunk beside the hearth.”
Shaw didn’t want to agree with her because he didn’t want her to go to the afterlife. Yet, he had no choice but to nod. Along the rest of the walk, he kept quiet. Mamo gripped his arm a few times when they had to traverse a hilly area. At the bridge, Mamo stopped him and peered at the glistening waters flowing rapidly beneath the wooden structure.
“Ye see, my lad, every path in life has a bridge. The journey is in crossing it, which we all must do. Allow me to do so in peace and be not saddened when I go.” She raised her eyes and smiled.
“I want ye to know, Mamo, that I appreciate everything ye have done for me. Ye took care of me when my parents died, raised me to be honorable, and loved me.” Shaw set a gentle hand on her shoulder. “If ’tis peace ye seek then ye shall have it.”
She nodded and continued. At the gates to the fief, she strolled onward toward the keep. Shaw stood and watched her, certain his Mamo planned to leave him very soon. That dismayed him more than she knew, but he understood her desire to be with his grandda.
“Laird, ye received a missive,” Clovis said and jarred him from his thoughts.
He held out his hand and quickly opened the sealed parchment.
SM– We meet with our allied brethren to discuss forthcoming plans. Meet us at the crossing of your land and ours. Yours, AM
AM… He thought for a moment and realized Alan MacPherson had assembled his allies. Although he wasn’t in an alliance with him, some of his allies were and so he needed to be mindful of that. Shaw folded the parchment and whistled to Trey who stood down the lane. His commander sprinted toward him and stopped near the watchman’s post.
“Laird, what is it? Walen told me ye intend to leave to go in search of interlopers. Do ye wish me to come?”
“Aye, Trey, and we will need more men to go with us. The MacPherson wants to meet and he’s called his allies together. We will be gone at least a sennight so pack what we will need. Find Walen and Henny and have them come to me.” Shaw leftthem and walked sprightly toward the keep. He needed to let Sorsha know that he’d be gone for a time.
When he entered, he found her sitting by the dark hearth, sewing a garment. The sight of his sweet wife doing such a chore lightened him. Shaw grinned and ambled forward until he reached her chair. He knelt in front of her and took hold of her sewing. He set it aside on a nearby table and placed his hands on the delicate cheeks of her face.