Page 38 of Love Beyond Reach (Morna’s Legacy #11)
“ D id ye not wish to say goodbye to Jerry, lass? I know the two of ye were verra good friends.”
Henry asked the question two days into our ride, catching me off guard and forcing me out of the silence I’d enjoyed for the entirety of our trip.
I shook my head but kept my gaze ahead. “We were not so verra close.”
“’Tis no matter.” Henry paused, and I could see him looking at me expectantly out of the corner of my eye.
“Why is that?”
“He will be joining us in a fortnight. I heard that yer brother no longer required his services so I asked if he wished to work for me at MacNeal Castle. He agreed as long as his sister could live with him.”
Mary snorted behind me. While I worked hard to remain emotionless, this sudden news nearly caused me to fall off my horse.
Whirling my head toward him, my voice gave too much away. “He what? He’s coming to work as yer servant?”
Henry nodded, and I noticed that his expression was rather furious. I wondered if he’d heard rumors about Jerry and me and my reaction had only confirmed them in his mind.
“Aye, lass. He and his sister.”
I couldn’t stop myself. The words ground their way through my teeth against my will.
“She is not his sister.”
Henry waved a hand dismissively as if he already knew that.
“In truth, I doona care what she is to him. I see no reason to judge a man for how he lives his life in private as long as he does good work for me. I watched Jerry at yer brother’s home, and he is a fair worker. I canna imagine why Alasdair saw a need to get rid of him.”
His tone was accusatory. I saw no need to escalate the situation further.
“How many days until we reach home?”
I intentionally refrained from labeling MacNeal Castle as only his home. I hoped my inclusive wording of the question would cause him to relax.
“Less than a day. We shall arrive by nightfall.”
There was a loud stirring in the trees to our left. Henry halted the horses as we waited for the animal within the brush to either retreat or step into the pathway in front of us. I expected a deer. Instead a tall, strapping highlander tripped his way in front of Henry’s horse.
“ P retend ye know me , lass. Otherwise, this lad will send me away, and I must speak with ye.”
I heard the stranger’s voice inside my mind as clearly as if he’d said the words aloud, but his lips never moved.
The sudden intrusion inside my mind startled me so much that this time, I did fall off my horse.
Before I could stand, the stranger’s hands were on my arms, gently lifting me from the ground.
“Remove yer hands from my betrothed, sir.” Henry’s voice screamed as he dismounted and made his way over to us. “Morna, are ye all right, lass? What happened? Did ye faint?”
The stranger kept his grip on my arms and spoke quickly inside my mind once again.
“Did ye hear me? Ye must hurry. Throw yer arms around me and greet me as if ye’ve known me all yer life. Ye can call me Hamish. Tell him I’m a cousin and insist that I come with ye.”
Too shocked and baffled to argue, I did exactly what the man asked of me. Throwing my arms around him, squeezing him with an intimacy that surprised even me, I gushed out loud about this man I’d never before seen in my life.
“Hamish! What are ye doing here? What fortune that our paths have crossed? Ye must join us. We are not far from home now, and ye look bone weary from travel.”
Surprising myself more with each passing moment, I twisted with one arm still around Hamish as I turned to address Henry.
“Ye doona mind if he stays at the castle, do ye? This is my cousin, Hamish Conall, my father’s brother’s son.”
Henry was caught off guard, but he could hardly refuse to shelter a relative of the woman he meant to marry, and I knew it. Masking his frustration, Henry nodded and extended the man his hand.
“O’course. Do ye have no horse? Where were ye headed when ye crossed our path?”
For the first time since his sudden intrusion, Hamish spoke out loud. His voice sounded exactly like it did inside my mind.
“No, I’m afraid my horse was stolen from me. ’Tis indeed great fortune that I stumbled upon ye, for ’twas my cousin’s home where I was headed.”
Mary’s bugged-out eyes caught my attention, and I discreetly shook my head to warn her to say nothing.
“I see. Well, we’ve an extra horse with no baggage. Ye can ride her, though she’s slower than the rest. Ye will have to take up the rear.”
Hamish happily agreed. Once he saw himself mounted, our caravan of travelers continued. The moment all was quiet, Hamish’s voice spoke to me in my mind once again.
“ Ye can speak back to me in yer mind, lass. I’m surprised ye havena even tried.”
I was too confused for it to have even crossed my mind. Hesitantly, I attempted to think what I wished to say out loud to him.
“ What are ye?”
“I’m the same as ye, lass. I possess magic, and I felt yers vibrating through the forest from far away. I’ve been trying to meet up with ye for days.”
This man wasn’t the same as me. If he was powerful enough to communicate with me in such a way, he possessed more power than I’d known was possible.
“Where are ye from? And why were ye trying to meet me?”
“I make it a point to speak with everyone I meet like us, lass, though we are scattered few and far between. I’m from Allen territory, Morna. I believe yer brother sent someone after me many months ago. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to find ye.”
The druid Alasdair sought, the one he believed could teach me everything I needed to know about magic, was here.
Suddenly, the darkness of the past week seemed a little bit brighter.