Page 30 of Sighs of the Highland Wind

“Was that Roy Nicholson I saw beltin’ down the passage?” Jean McFarlane asked as she approached Kenna, looking puzzled. “He had a face like a wet weekend!”

Kenna laughed. “I suppose that was my fault,” she admitted.

“Did he ask tae walk out wi’ ye?” Jean asked, with a wicked smile on her face.

“Yes, he did,” Kenna replied.

“What did ye say?” Jean was almost quivering in anticipation.

Kenna huffed in annoyance as she remembered Roy’s face.

“I said thank you, but no, Jean.”

The other woman looked at Kenna in complete astonishment.

“Are ye mad, Kenna?” Her voice was almost a squeak. “He is the best-lookin’ fellow for miles!”

“Looks are not everything, Jean,” Kenna reminded her. “You should have seen the way he looked at me.” She shuddered. “I don’t like him.”

“I wish I could afford tae be sae picky!” Jean remarked, laughing.

Kenna looked at the other woman. They were about the same age, but Jean was plumper, with bright blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair. She was not unattractive, but none of the maids had Kenna’s delicate beauty.

“You will find the right man soon, Jean,” she said, smiling. “Any man who passes you by is a very silly man indeed! Anyway, I hear young Alec McBride is hot on your trail!”

Kenna knew she had made Jean’s day by the way she was hugged tightly and kissed fervently a moment later, and she reflected that it felt wonderful to make someone happy!

If only someone could do the same for her.

14

Kenna was lucky enough to grab half a bottle of good wine from the dining room that evening, as well as a few slices of bread, some chicken, and fruit. She had not been feeding the horses for the last few days and was feeling quite remorseful, but the apples were finished for the year, and the horses had to make do with the remains of chopped-up vegetables and their peels.

Kenna knew that she was keeping Ewan waiting by going on her little errand, but something inside her wanted to make him suffer a little. While she wanted to hear what he had to say, she was dreading it at the same time. Then again, could she be making something out of nothing? Perhaps he had not been looking at Douglas at all but at something else that had caught his attention.

Then why had he jumped back in fright? And why had Douglas carried on looking up at the window? Kenna remembered the slight frown on his face when he saw Kenna and the way he had nonchalantly gone back to playing with his dog. What did it all mean?

She came to Frankie’s horse, Robbie, who was now a very old man indeed, and gave him the only whole apple she had been able to find, a very old and wrinkled one. Robbie, however, did not care, but crunched it up with all the vigor of a young stallion, then rubbed his nose on her hair, which was his gesture of affection for her.

Kenna giggled. He had been her friend for more years than she cared to remember, and their relationship had never soured. He never argued with her, always listened patiently, never interrupted when she spoke, never answered back, and was always there when she needed him. They understood each other.

“I don’t understand him, Robbie,” Kenna said sadly, sighing as she leaned her forehead against the big horse’s. “One minute he seems so good, and a moment later I am sure that he has a well of black secrets inside him.” She sighed. “What am I going to do, Robbie?”

Talk to him, you silly woman!said a deep man’s voice inside her head. It was the voice she always imagined Robbie would use if he could really speak.Did you not say you trusted him?

“Hmmm…” Kenna said softly. “Robbie, I am beginning to wonder if I am right about that.”

“Right about what?” said a quiet man’s voice behind her.

Kenna whipped round to see Roy, arms folded, smiling at her. Nothing about him looked threatening, yet she tensed instinctively.

“That is really none of your business,” she snapped, glaring at him.

“Well, ye are talkin’ tae a horse,” he pointed out, laughing. “I can hear every word ye’re sayin’, Kenna.”

Not the ones in my head, thank God,she thought viciously. Aloud, she asked, “Are you spying on me?”

“No, just came tae see how the horses are daein’,” he replied. “What are ye doin’?”