Page 23 of Bride Takes a Laird (Highland Vows & Vengeance #2)

K endra searched the entire manor for the missing coins. Every place where she could think of was checked and rechecked for the misbegotten bride price, even the loosened floorboards in the hall and her father’s bedchamber. She removed the few remaining tapestries and considered there might be a hole in the wall where her father might have put them. But there was nothing, no secret hole or place within the manor. All the floorboards were intact and none loosened.

Deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed Linet enter the hall. Kendra paced around the small table with her hand beneath her chin as she pressed her other hand at her temple. An ache throbbed there in annoyance at her failure.

“Are you unwell?” Linet asked.

She about jumped knee-high off the floor. “Oh, you gave me a fright. I didn’t hear you enter. Nay, I am not unwell. I am feeling much better, only aggravated that I haven’t found the coins yet. I must thank your mother for her potion for it has settled my stomach.” She continued to traipse around the table and stopped. “We have searched for days on end, everywhere within the manor for the coins. They cannot be here inside the walls. I mean to search for them outside.”

“If Heatherington came and spoke to your da, they were probably outside. Maybe he hid them out there somewhere? I’ll get John to help us search.” Linet left the hall.

Kendra retrieved her mother’s shawl and pulled it around her shoulders. The air had chilled considerably since she’d returned home. Though it was autumn, winter wasn’t too far off. That reminded her of the bump that now showed at her waist. She was getting bigger by the day. Soon, she would be unable to travel and she drew in a regrettable sigh at that. Kendra had hoped to find the coins and return them to Heatherington before the weather turned or before she was incapable of riding. She had intended to return to Magnus but that he hadn’t come or replied to her missives brought on the trepidation that he might not care if she ever returned.

Kendra ambled outside and waved to the soldiers and servants she passed on the way to the stables. Although her father hadn’t ridden much before they left to attend the king, he could have been in the stables when Heatherington visited. She hadn’t thought to check there but would now.

“Milady, do ye want me to saddle a horse for you?” the stable master asked.

“Nay, my thanks though, Peter.” She walked along the stalls and stopped to pet her horse. Sky Dancer, the poor animal, hadn’t been ridden for some time but there was nothing she could do about it now that she was carrying a babe. The risk was too great to injure herself or her unborn child. She stroked the horse’s nose and turned back to Peter. “Have you let out the horses this day?”

Peter set a bucket down by the trough and strode toward her. “Earlier, Milady, and I just brought them inside. ’Tis a wee bit brisk this day and the air is growing colder. I deem we’ll need a good fire this night for it will be freezing afore the morn.”

“I think you’re right.” Kendra walked on and stopped by her father’s horse’s stall. She opened the gate and stepped inside. His horse was as cantankerous as her papa was and now the beast butted his head against her shoulder and tried to nip her. She pushed him back with a hand to his nose. “I won’t be but a moment. Cease being surly,” she said to the horse.

A saddlebag hung on a peg on the back wall. She recognized it and remembered her father using it whenever he’d traveled. Kendra lifted it from the peg and it was heavy. She fell to her knees and then settled back against the wall. With anticipation, she clutched the flap of the bag and tossed it open.

As she rummaged through the bag, she found one of her father’s tunics, a pair of stockings, a horseshoe, and a small pot that he probably used for stew when he traveled. When she emptied the bag, she shook it and heard the tinkle of something else within.

Kendra pressed her hands inside the bag and found a compartment that was closed with a pin. After she unfastened the closure, she pushed her fingers inside the spacious space. She grabbed a hefty pouch from within and shook it. The knot that kept it closed was difficult to open, but finally, she got it undone. She emptied the pouch onto her lap and it overflowed with coins—at least enough to equal ten pounds.

Tears gathered in her eyes and blurred her view of the coins. She was relieved but also melancholy that she hadn’t thought to check her father’s saddlebag sooner. All the time she had wasted in search of the coins when they had been there all along. Her father must have put them in his saddlebag when Heatherington visited. That he’d placed the bag there without taking the coins inside the manor perplexed her, but of course, her father hadn’t been in his right mind.

Kendra collected the coins and put them back in the pouch then rose and left the stall, ensuring the door was closed so her father’s onery horse couldn’t get out. With a farewell to Peter, she left the stable and hastened to the hall. There, she wrote a missive to Lord Heatherington for him to come to her. She put the coins in a trunk by a side table and closed it. They would be safe there until she could return them to her knavish neighbor .

John entered and approached. “Milady, me and Linet searched everywhere outside, beneath every rock, by all the walls, and I had men check the small pond. We found nothing.”

She raised her eyes to John’s defeated gaze. “Worry not, John, I just found them. They were in Papa’s saddlebag hanging in his horse’s stall in the stable.”

John smacked his head with the palm of his hand and groaned. “Why did I not check the saddlebag when I hung it in Lord Rupert’s stall?”

“He must’ve put them in there when he met with Lord Ellish and that’s where they were all along. Can you take this missive to Heatherington at once?”

John held his hand out and Kendra placed the missive in his palm. “Hurry now because I want to get this matter settled quickly.”

“Aye, Milady.” John turned and left.

Kendra took the steps to her bedchamber. Although it was only midday, now that her mission had been completed, she found herself finally able to relax. Tired, she lay on her bed. Within moments, she fell asleep though her slumber was fitful and she dreamed of Magnus. The moments they had shared together flitted through her mind as if she relived them. With a startle, she awoke with tears streaming down her face. Hastily, she wiped them away and suppressed the sob that still thickened her throat. How she missed Magnus. Would he ever come? If he was going to, he would have arrived by now. She lost hope that he was too busy to give her any consideration.

Taking a moment to allow fresh air inside her chamber, she opened the window shutters. The window casement showed a dusky sky with the oncoming night. A chill now filled her bedchamber and she shook herself and closed the shutters. She went to her wardrobe and changed her overdress. After she washed and took care of her toiletry, she left the chamber and made her way to the hall.

Linet and Gilda had set the table for supper. A stack of trenchers sat in the center along with baskets and bowls of foodstuff. Kendra’s stomach rumbled and she was hungry. She sat beside the chair her father usually used and peered at the empty seat. If only he was still there, grumbling to her about his day. She missed him as well. Even though she had the servants, soldiers, and the Graham clansmen and women, Kendra felt lonely.

“My lady, shall we join you?”

“I should like that, Gilda. Please, sit with me and have your supper.” Kendra spooned the pottage into a bowl and grabbed a chunk of soft bread. As she ate, Norman joined them. He spoke softly to his wife and she couldn’t hear what he’d said.

“My Lady, the collection of the crofters’ tax is done. I shall send our tithe to the king’s men on the morrow. We’ll see how much remains after that but I suspect we will have enough to purchase seed for the spring planting and to see us through the winter.” Norman accepted a trencher from Gilda and she smiled at him.

“That is good news, Norman. My thanks for handling that. I’m gladdened it’s done.”

A noise outside the hall alerted her that someone had come. She was about to rise when John entered with Heatherington following in his wake. The man wore a grim look on his face but settled into a more amiable manner when he reached her.

“Lady Kendra,” he said and bowed. “It has been some time, has it not? You look as beautiful as ever.”

“Lord Heatherington, I see you received my missive.”

His head bobbed. “Aye, aye and I came at once because—”

She rose and retrieved the pouch from the trunk by the side table. “As you know, the king gave my hand to a Highlander, and your agreement with my father was nullified. Since you insisted we return the coins to you, I wanted to get them to you as soon as I could.” Kendra set the pouch on the table in front of him. “Go on, take them.”

Ellish frowned at the pouch and returned his gaze to her. “But My Lady…”

“I want no strife between us, Lord Heatherington. To keep those who reside on Graham land safe, I insist you take the coins. My people will be unharmed and there will be no cause for you to attack us or take arms against any of our soldiers.”

“But My Lady—”

She wouldn’t allow him to speak. “Just take the coins and be gone.”

“I cannot take your coins.”

Kendra scoffed at him. “Why not? You wrote to me and threatened to besiege my home. You insisted that I return the coins and suggested that you would destroy us. Now I have returned the bride price as you bade. Why won’t you take them?”

“Because, My Lady, your husband already repaid the debt. He wrote to me some time ago and sent me the coins to repay the bride price your father accepted. I cannot take your coins because he told me that he would seek retribution if I did.”

“My husband…?” Kendra tilted her head to the side. “Magnus repaid the debt?”

Ellish grinned and nodded. His smile was filled with kindness and not his usual wolfish grin. “Aye, he did. There is no debt, My Lady, to repay. ’Tis the truth, I am not so angry about losing you now. Though I wish we had married for we would have made strong children. I have married another lass and I’m most pleased with the arrangement.” He turned and with a wave, walked to the exit.

Kendra followed him. “I am gladdened to hear that you are happily married, Ellish. I shall come to meet your wife when I can. It would be the neighborly thing to do, to offer a welcome.”

He took her hand and almost raised it to his lips. “I would rather you did not for she would be envious of your beauty.” She stood still and somewhat shocked at the manor’s entry and Ellish seemed to hesitate to leave. “If you ever need aid, as your neighbor, My Lady, I will be obliged to come. You have only to send word. I will leave you now.” He didn’t wait for her farewell but left hastily.

Kendra watched him saunter to his horse, mount it, and ride off. As she stood there, a light snow began to fall. She held out her hand and glanced at John when he stepped beside her. “Did Magnus tell you that he paid the debt?”

John shook his head. “Nay and I did not think he knew about it. How did he find out? Maybe Heatherington wrote to him or the king might have told him. You’ll have to ask him, My Lady, when next you see him.”

Kendra’s shoulders slumped. If she ever saw him again, she might ask him about it. When next she saw Magnus, she would force him to take the coins. The last thing she wanted was to be indebted to him for her father’s misdoing. It was only right that he allow her to repay him.

“Come, My Lady, the snow falls heavier. We should get inside. I think a storm is coming. I’ll see to the manor’s fires and ensure all is battened down.”

“Thank you, John.” Kendra returned to the table and finished eating. By the time she sought her bed, John had secured all the windows, refilled the hearths with firewood, and directed the soldiers to secure the walls.

Kendra opened the wooden shutter in her bedchamber and shook as the chill overtook her. She peered out into the night and shielded her eyes against the heavy snow that blew inside. The storm ramped up and the ground was now covered in white. There was no returning to Magnus now. Travel would be impossible.