Page 6 of Highlander’s Captive Bride (Troubles of Highland Lasses #4)

6

F eeling somewhat refreshed after a night’s sleep, though her worries nagged at her mind as soon as she rose and prepared for whatever the day would bring, Daisy waited impatiently for Poppy to come and unlock the door of her chamber.

“A bonny morning to ye, Daisy,” the servant bid her with a smile as she let her out.

“I wouldnae ken,” Daisy replied, irritated at not being able to see the patient whenever she wished.

They went straight to Elodie’s chambers. It was still very early. A small fire had been lit in the grate to take off the chill of the April early morning. To her dismay, Daisy found the child looking much as she had the previous evening.

“But she slept better than she has in a while, Daisy,” Poppy assured when Daisy had finished examining Elodie.

“Aye, and me tummy disnae hurt so much this morning,” Elodie piped up weakly, a valiant smile on her small face that tore at Daisy’s heart. “I even ate some toast without getting sick.”

“Is that so? Well, that’s grand,” Daisy said, brushing back damp locks from Elodie’s face. She beckoned Poppy aside. “Did ye save the contents of her chamber pot as I asked ye?”

“Aye, Daisy. ’Tis underneath the washstand.”

Poppy wrinkled her nose as Daisy hurried to inspect the chamber pot. Daisy did not like the color nor the smell of the contents, which seemed wrong. It set her mind racing with possible causes again as she set the chamber pot down, to be carted off to the privy and emptied by the maid later on. However, she was also able to cross some possible causes off her list.

After washing her hands, she returned to Elodie’s bedside. Once again, she went through the checks of the child’s vital functions. Nothing leaped out at her, yet it struck her as odd that the girl’s stomach pain had lessened overnight. She recalled what Poppy had told her, that the pain seemed to worsen in bouts after Elodie ate or drank, then it would subside somewhat.

That seemed to be the case, indeed. But how much of the respite was due to the concoction the child had drunk the night before, and how much was due to the natural course of what ailed her?

Elodie had rested and slept better, Daisy reasoned. Both the girl herself and Poppy had said so. So, she concluded that the draught had helped a little and would be worth administering again. Now, she wished to see if Elodie could stomach the toast she had eaten. But by the time Nadia appeared to collect her, followed at a distance by Jamie, the toast had stayed down.

Satisfied it was safe to leave for a while, Daisy readied herself for the tour of the healing room and castle Nadia had promised her. Poppy bustled about the chambers, carrying out her duties, while Nadia went to the bed and chatted with Elodie softly.

Daisy saw her kiss the child and help her to drink some water, and Elodie seemed pleased to see her. It was clear to Daisy that there was a great affection between the two despite the difference in age. She was glad that the child had another friend to occupy her days, even if her father would not make time for her.

When she was ready, she bid Elodie and Poppy goodbye, promising to return soon, and then she and Nadia left the room. Nadia took her down the hallway a short way and opened the door to another room.

“These are the healing rooms,” Nadia told Daisy, beckoning her inside. “Our healer, Bunty, is away treating some folks with a fever in one of the villages,” she explained further.

She showed Daisy around the various shelves and cupboards, all filled with the ingredients that were essential for healing an array of illnesses and ailments, as well as pieces of equipment Daisy might need.

It did not take Daisy long to get her bearings. There was the main healing room with two smaller rooms leading off it, where seriously sick patients could be kept for observation.

“Well, I’m impressed. It’s well-stocked and very neat and orderly,” Daisy remarked, feeling almost at home among the familiar tools of her trade.

“Good. I hope ye’ll have everything ye need. Is Elodie any better this morning?” Nadia asked as they left the room to take a short tour of the castle.

“A wee bit, but she’s still very ill.”

“And d’ye ken what is the cause of it yet?”

Daisy bit back a sigh, tired of being asked the same question. “’Tis still too early to say.”

They descended the stairs together, with Jamie trailing behind them. Daisy noticed that, every now and then, when she would turn and smile at him, he would blush like a maiden and smile back almost shyly. It seemed unlike him, for he had looked at her quite boldly upon her arrival.

But love does strange things to folks, so they say.

They spent their morning talking while Nadia showed her the various ways to get around the castle and some of the grand rooms within. There was no lack of luxury and comfort at Castle Murdoch, Daisy realized, barbaric though its owner might be.

Just before noon, they ended their tour, and Nadia showed Daisy the way to the dining hall, suggesting they had some tea. Again, the ranks of benches and scarred tables, the massive hearths flanking the vast room, and the raised dais where the Laird and his family would sit all seemed familiar to Daisy.

They sat at one of the tables, and tea was soon brought to them, along with some buttered bannocks and honey.

“D’ye mind if I eat while we talk?” Daisy asked, looking at the steaming bannocks, her appetite returning.

“Nay, of course not. Help yerself. I’ll pour us some tea,” Nadia said obligingly, taking up the teapot.

Daisy split a bannock and spread honey over it, delighting in the sweetness on her tongue when she bit into it. Energy flowed through her as she ate. She glanced at Jamie, who was seated nearby, casually observing them as he polished off a tankard of ale.

“Tell me, Nadia. Ye’re the Laird’s ward, is that right?” Daisy asked between mouthfuls, curious to know the girl’s story.

“Aye. He took me in eight years ago when I was still a bairn,” Nadia explained, blowing on her tea delicately.

“Why? What happened to yer family?”

“Och, they’re all gone, Daisy. Killed by the Laird. I’m the last of the McGowans left now,” Nadia told her matter-of-factly.

Daisy nearly choked on her bannock. Hurriedly, she chewed and swallowed, sure that her ears must be deceiving her. “What? Surely, ye dinnae mean this laird, the Laird of Murdoch?”

“Aye. He had to wipe out the clan, ye see, Daisy. Me faither was a very bad man, cruel beyond belief. Me braither, Lachlan, was much the same, but I do miss him sometimes, a little bit.” Nadia looked guilty as she made the confession.

“Well, of course, ye do, lass,” Daisy said, astonished afresh at her captor’s ruthless brutality. “He was yer braither! But how can ye live with the man who killed yer whole family and wiped out yer clan? D’ye nae hate him?” She was certain she would if she were in Nadia’s shoes.

“Och, nay. As I told ye, me faither was very cruel, but Laird Murdoch is always kind to me.”

Though Daisy searched for it, there was not a shred of untruthfulness on Nadia’s face. Somehow, the brute had made her grateful for annihilating her people. It was almost impossible for Daisy to believe.

A short while later, after she had thanked Nadia for the tour and her company, Daisy easily found her way back to Elodie’s chambers. As she had expected, the child showed no real improvement. If anything, she seemed rather downhearted, despite Poppy’s cheerful chatter.

“What’s the matter with her? She seems so despondent,” Daisy whispered to Poppy when she had the chance.

“Och, she hoped the Laird would come and see her this morning, but he hasnae come. That’s what always makes her sad,” the servant explained.

“Is that so?” Daisy said, her ire rising again against the Laird, who was too busy to spend time with his daughter, who clearly, and misguidedly in her book, thought him a hero.

But she did not have much time to dwell on it, for Elodie soon complained of stomach pain again and was shortly thereafter very sick, indeed.

* * *

“I’ve told ye already,” Bellamy said forcefully as he faced his councilmen once again. “There’s nae risk at all with the healer being here. I’ve taken care of it.”

“Can ye nae tell us more, M’laird? I mean, how exactly have ye dealt with the matter?” Donal questioned him in his usual calm and, sometimes, immensely irritating manner.

“If ye must ken, I’ve written to her family to tell them of the situation, so there’s no question of them attacking us. Everything is under control,” Bellamy lied brazenly, hanging onto his temper by a thread. “And she’s here of her own free will.”

“Then why is it that Jamie has been following her about the place, as though she’s likely to make a break for it?” asked the old sergeant, Colin Moore.

“I’m just being careful that no harm come to her while she’s me guest, before she’s done treating me daughter,” Bellamy told him. “Is that nae what ye want? To send her back to her family in one piece, eh?” he added, turning their argument against them.

Mutters rang across the table.

Before anyone could ask any more uncomfortable questions, he quickly threw in something he knew was bound to distract them. “Now, gentlemen, ye ken what time of year is approaching fast. ’Tis almost time for the Beltane celebrations.”

It worked just as he had known it would. Their interest quickly switched to the annual celebration of the coming of summer at the beginning of May. Though it was all largely symbolic these days, the Church turned a blind eye to the pagan celebration, only the most pious of clergy begrudging the people the excuse to eat, drink, and make merry.

“I’ll leave ye to discuss that with Jamie here while I attend to some important business,” Bellamy told them, leaving the room as quickly as he could under the cover of their excited chatter. He wanted to go and see what progress the healer had made.

Daisy. Her name is Daisy.

But when he stepped out of the council room, he saw Daisy walking and talking with Poppy. They appeared to be about to head upstairs. He lengthened his stride and caught up with them.

“Thank ye, Poppy, ye can return to Elodie now,” he told the surprised servant, who bobbed a curtsey, glanced at Daisy, and then set off up the stairs to do as she was bidden.

Bellamy looked down at Daisy, noticing her serious expression. “Will ye take a walk with me?” he asked.

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded and followed him as he led her out of the keep and onto the castle green. They walked side by side across the turf and onto one of the many gravel paths leading off the green expanse.

“How is she today?”

“The same. She was sick earlier,” she answered. Then, she added in a tense voice, “But I gave her a draught, and she seemed a bit better afterwards.”

“So, any idea what it is yet?”

She shook her head, her brow creasing. He could tell she was very concerned.

“Nay, it’s still too early to tell. At this point, it has more to do with eliminating what it isnae than finding the root cause. That’s what takes the time.”

“And what isnae it?”

She glanced up at him, her small lips pursed. He sensed anger in her.

“That would take too long. I havenae found out much yet, but what I can say with some confidence is that it’s likely not some family illness that’s been passed down to her. ’Tis nae her heart or lungs, and I can see nae sign of any disease. She should be a healthy child, from what I can tell. But her stomach and digestion are clearly being badly affected by something, and her urine shows definite signs of a problem.”

“How d’ye ken that?” he asked curiously.

Daisy explained briefly, and he was astonished at the forthright language she used.

“Something is making it impossible for her to keep anything down—perhaps some irritant in her bowels or stomach. That’s what I’m going to investigate closely,” she told him, impressing him with her knowledge as well as the fact that she seemed quite upset she could not make a diagnosis.

He was touched by her obvious concern for his daughter. At least, he hoped it was for his daughter.

“Well, I wish ye had better news to give me. But it sounds like ye have a lot of work to do,” he commented.

“Aye.”

“Tell me,” he asked, suddenly curious, “how did ye come to be this famous healer, being a laird’s daughter and all?”

“If ye dinnae mind, I have a lot to think about, so I’d rather get back to Elodie than stand here making idle conversation,” Daisy replied irritably.

That took him aback. However, if she did not want to talk and would rather spend time getting to the bottom of what ailed Elodie, he supposed he could not complain.

“Very well. I’ll take ye back to her chambers.”

They walked without speaking indoors. He accompanied her to Elodie’s chambers, where she went inside willingly, not looking back at him as he shut the door.

As he walked away, he could only wonder what was brewing in the mind of this complicated, desirable, little woman whom he had kidnapped and forcefully bent to his will.

* * *

Over the coming days and nights, Daisy tried everything she could think of to try to help Elodie, but nothing seemed to work. At the same time, she worried about Violet, wishing she was well and that she was there to guide her. Now that she had been forced to write the letters, she could be sure that no one was coming to find her, and the hope of escaping seemed to grow slimmer every moment.

The truth was, she did not know if she could leave, not without solving the riddle of Elodie’s strange illness. The poor little girl’s plight tugged at her heartstrings, stirring all her caring instincts.

Poppy did her best to keep Elodie cheerful, and Nadia visited several times a day to entertain her, but the sickness was relentless.

It came in fits and bouts, starting with the severe cramping in Elodie’s stomach that made her cry out with pain and made it impossible to get anything nourishing into her. The child had a strong spirit, to be sure, but being unable to eat meant she was wasting away, and Daisy feared that if she could not find the reason for it soon, then Elodie might die.

That was bad enough, but what would the Laird do to her, then?

Will he kill me too?