Page 29 of Bride Takes a Laird

“I do not know you, lass, or about these coins you speak of. Be gone with you. Get out.” He turned his back to her.

Kendra wanted to weep as great sorrow lodged in her throat. Her father did not recognize her. The way he spoke to her nearly crushed her heart.

“Aww, lass, come outside with me.” Laird Hugh motioned to her.

Kendra was weary and sad but she nodded. “I’ll be outside. Will you stay with him until John returns, Linet?”

“Of course, Kendra. Worry not for him. Where is John?”

Laird Hugh heard her from the doorway. “He’s gone to fetch foodstuff from the kitchens for our midday meal. He should return soon.”

Kendra stepped outside and peered at the man, forlorn. How had her father failed to recognize her after only a night’s absence from him? “My thanks for seeing to my father.” She fought back tears. “He is declining, is he not?”

Hugh scrunched his face in a manner that alluded to the dislike of their discussion. The wisps of his gray hair tousled from the wind. “Your da has been aloof all morn.” Another, stronger gust of wind forced her shawl to fall from her shoulders. Laird Hugh picked it up and returned it to her. “Here, Milady, ye best keep yourself warm. Listen to me, aye, a comrade of mine had such a malady and it took him from us long before we understood that he ailed in his body. An ailment of the mind is a saddened state of affairs. Ye should prepare yourself.”

“I know that he has not long in life and accept that he may be taken from me. But there’s more to it. Please…if my father speaks of coins, you must tell me what he did with them. You see, he was given coins in error. He misplaced them and I need to find them. He should not have accepted the coins and I mean to return them to our neighbor.”

“Och, do not worry, Milady. I will tell ye if he says anything. He has not mentioned coins. I took him for a walk to the stream and meant to keep him busy. He keeps asking why he is here.”

Kendra’s heart ached to hear that. “He should not go beyond the walls.”

“Worry not for I was with him. He was reminiscing about your dear mother earlier.”

She was surprised to hear that. Her father hadn’t spoken of her mother in years. “What did he say?”

“He said he missed her and longed to be with her.” Hugh sighed wistfully.

“Do you think he shall be with her soon? I fear his days are numbered.”

Hugh shrugged. “Who knows how long he has left in this realm? We shall aim to make his days pleasant whilst he is here. Are ye excited for Bealtuinn?”

“Bealtuinn?” she asked, not sure what he was speaking of.

“Oho, ye might know it as Roodmas for the church frowns upon us calling it Bel-Fire. Aye, they have renamed it to ‘Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross.’ Blasphemous, I vow, that they stole our fair celebration for their own.”

“I fear we did not much celebrate holy or festival days where we lived.”

Hugh scowled. “Ye did not? How dreadful, lass, that ye didn’t get to join in the festivity. Soon, the men will go in search of the woods needed for the great fire. They’ll also be putting boughs on the lassies’ window casements and doors to keep them safe. I heard tell they will choose a winsome lass by the name of ‘Gloria’ as the May Queen. She shall lead the marches in song and the spirit of the Goddess.”

Kendra smiled at the man’s enthusiasm. “It certainly sounds merry.I look forward to it.”

“Aye, ’tis rumored that Winston might make an appearance as the ‘green man’ and a marriage might take place before the great fire. All shall delight in that. It might even take away the despair that the clan is suffering through right now.”

“Does Winston want to marry Gloria?” Kendra was fascinated by Hugh’s talk.

“Aye, aye. The lad has been in love with the lass since he was knee-high. She has finally accepted him.”

“Magnus didn’t tell me about the festival or Winston’s forthcoming marriage. I will be happy to witness their union and the other events. When will it be?”

“Less than a sennight away, Milady, on May first.”

Kendra set her hand on her hip and continued to question the elder. “Why is the clan so forlorn? Is it because Magnus’s brother died?”

“’Tis so and most mourn the loss. Ned was a good sort and friendly to all. He had a way about him that put people at ease, unlike Wyren and Magnus. Now that Wyren has married, most find him more approachable, except some of the soldiers who are in awe of him. And all are leery about approaching Magnus. He has always had a formidable mien about him. That is why the council elected him as our laird. No one would dare cross him.”

Kendra supposed that was true and she remembered what the queen had said of him:He’s a reserved man and speaks little. He is a favorite of mine and it distresses me that he is so serious and claims that he has no time for frivolities. I deem he needs some joy in his life.

Her husband definitely needed to smile more and she thought perhaps that she might bring him a little joy. That was, if she could find some joy within herself. If she didn’t find Heatherington’s coins, there would be hell to pay and their lives would be filled with misery. Kendra couldn’t allow the loss of her family’s holding. Somehow, she had to hold on to it for Aston.