Page 29 of Bride takes a Scot

“Whoa, steady there, Declan. Do ye need me to tie ye to your horse?” His cousin hooted with laughter and the rest of his men smiled widely. “Or ye can ride with me.” He patted the space in front of him and chuckled.

Declan scoffed loudly. “To hell with that. Och, if I fall ye better pick me up.”

Anse was in a jesting mood. “Oho, I deem ye have already fallen, Laird. Very hard for a bonny lass, who as we speak, is probably warming your bed.”

“A warm bed sounds good to me about now. Let us make haste.” Declan clipped the last, but he couldn’t help but envision Isabella lying naked in his bed, awaiting him. That was, if he could make it home.

Chapter Ten

Isabella would neverget used to the cold or the cold-hearted clansmen and women of Clan MacKendrick. She missed Declan but tried her best to fit in and find a way to sway the clan to like her. It all seemed futile because most of the people gave her looks of disdain and wouldn’t speak to her. And Declan’s family still avoided her, even though she tried to be amiable. For nearly a sennight, she ate alone and spent time walking about the walls in reflection of how she found herself so far from home and isolated.

On her morning walk to Marian’s, she stopped and picked up a loaf of bread for the aged woman. She’d done so each day for the past sennight in hopes of winning her favor. At least Marian appreciated the kindness and thanked her even if the bread remained uneaten. Isabella suspected Marian wouldn’t dare eat anything given to her from aSassenach, as Marian had put it. She knocked on the door to Declan’s grandmother’s cottage and waited.

“She is not there, Milady,” a soldier said as he passed by.

Isabella called after him, “Do you know where she is?”

“Aye, by the loch.”

She opened the door to the cottage and set the loaf of bread on the table next to the other uneaten loaves. After she left, she headed toward the loch, and on her approach, she saw Noahtrying to yank his arm from his grandmother’s hold. He was being an imp, as usual, and she almost smiled.

“Ye needs a bath, lad,” Marian said and tried to pull him toward the water, but the lad dug in his heels. He tried to thwart her, but the old woman wasn’t having it. “Ye are as filthy as a pig in mud. How long has it been since ye bathed?” Her question went unanswered.

Isabella hurried forward and knelt on the sandy bank in front of Noah. “Cease now.”

Noah straightened up and stopped trying to yank his arm from his grandmother’s hold.

“I vow he is as hard to bathe as a wily cat. I cannot get him in the water.”

“I shall try. Go on and return to your cottage and I’ll bring him after I get him to bathe.”

Marian snickered. “I doubt ye can, lass. Och, I shall go.” She headed back to the trail by the tree line and left them.

Isabella continued to kneel before Noah and took hold of his chin so he would look at her. Fear showed in his gaze, and she was saddened that such an emotion troubled him. What was worse, though, was that Noah couldn’t put voice to his troubles. She mouthed her words slowly in hopes that he would understand what she was saying. “There…is…no… reason…to…fear.”

Noah bobbed his head and pointed at the water. After what Declan had told her about his wife’s death and that the lad had been scarred by the event, she grasped why he feared to be there and why he wouldn’t bathe in the loch. Somehow, however, she had to convince him the water wouldn’t hurt him.

She pulled him to sit with her on the bank and they faced the water. After a moment, she bade him to look at her again by turning his chin. “Let me get you clean. You won’t have to go inthe water if you don’t want to.” Isabella held up her hand to show she promised.

He nodded and Isabella found the bucket Marian must have brought. Inside she discovered a lump of soap, and a larger cloth with which to dry his body, along with some clean, folded clothing. She took a cloth and soap from it and set it by the water’s edge. Then she helped Noah to undress. After, she wet the cloth and soaped up his body hastily. He stood silent, watching the water as if it would somehow get him. When she finished washing him, she used the bucket and gently poured water over his head and skin to remove the soap until he was finally clean. How innocent he appeared. Even though he was seven in years, he appeared much more tender of an age.

After, she helped to dry and dress him. When he was fully clothed, she ran her fingers through the long locks of his hair and tickled him. Her playfulness gained a smile from him. If she could find a pair of shears, she would trim his hair, but she would have to ask Marian if she had any. Smiling, she helped him wrap the thin tartan layer over his body and secured it with a small length of rope.

When she finished, she gathered the bathing items into the bucket. Isabella held out her hand and hoped he would take it. Instead, he turned and fled. The lad ran fast and even though she tried to catch up to him, he was nowhere to be seen when she left the tree line that surrounded the loch. Where had he run off to and why so fast?

Isabella muttered to herself, “Well, at least I bathed him, and he’s now clean.”

She continued onward on the lane and reached Marian’s cottage. The door was open, so she stepped inside. Setting the bucket by the door, she approached the woman who sat in an uncomfortable-looking chair by the window. “I was able to bathe Noah, but he fled after.”

Marian pointed to the corner. “He came but a moment ago.”

“There you are, Noah!” He sat on the floor and played with the string and rocks.

She approached and squatted down to his level and smiled. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he shimmied away.

Isabella had hoped he would be used to her by now. For five days, she had come each morning and tried to persuade him to join her outside. She wanted to spend time with him, but the lad was wary, and with good reason she supposed. Each night she tried to think of fun games to play with him, but he never allowed her to entertain him.

She stood then and noticed Marian had dozed off in her chair. Isabella said nothing as she went about tidying up the cottage. She made their beds, folded clothing, piled the unclean garments by the door, and straightened up the kitchen area, ending the tasks by setting the small kettle on the fire to heat. The whole time, Noah continued to play by himself in the corner.