Page 15 of Stolen Highland Dreams (The Highlanders #9)

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E lla’s arm hurt, and she was still burning up from a fever, but she had been desperate to see Mina and her young cousin. She worried about them but also felt Mina could make her feel better.

Mina’s eyes opened, and she said, “Och, you were at the castle. You are sick. Come here, child. To bed with you now.” Mina pulled the covers aside. “I will make a healing tea for you. Once you’re settled, I’ll check your bandage.” Then she frowned at Finnegan. “You are a blacksmith’s apprentice. You must return to the castle at once before they miss you.”

“They already know I’m Ella’s brother,” Finnegan explained.

Mina glanced at Ella. She nodded, her whole head hurting from the movement.

“Och, ‘tis no’ good. When you return, they will question you. Maybe even torture you to learn where Ella is. And MacAfee? He is up to no good. He dammed the stream, believing we couldn’t fetch water or fish. He is a bad one.” Then Mina tsked. “You need to heal. I told you that you will bring Dashiell here, and you will, but you need to get well.”

“There was no one about the castle. I couldna believe it was so easy to leave there,” Finnegan said.

Mina frowned. “They all needed to sleep.”

“You made them sleep?” Finnegan asked.

Mina only sighed. “You needed to return here because you wouldna have gotten any rest unless you came and made sure Amelda and I were all right, and I needed to care for Ella.”

“You knew she was hurt?” Finnegan asked.

“Aye, of course.”

So she had made them sleep. Ella knew the villagers called Mina a witch. She seemed to be able to do things others could not do. Ella was glad for that. Though she had to admit she had loved living at the castle and hadn’t feared it like she thought she might.

Then she realized it didn’t matter how old Mina was. She did have powerful healing skills a clan could use. Besides, she’d taught Ella most of the things she knew how to do.

Ella was curled up on her palette, still burning up from her fever. Mina put wet cloths on her forehead to cool her down while Finnegan and Amelda gathered firewood.

That night, Dashiell retired to his bedchamber early. “I canna believe I slept so late this morning and am so tired this evening.”

“Everyone is feeling the same way. I understand you had no luck with finding Ella.” Christopher hung Dashiell’s shirt and great kilt on a wooden peg on the wall. “They say she is more wary of men now than ever.”

“Do you blame her? I still canna believe I shot her. My men said she was still injured. Perhaps she had healed magically…at least I had hoped so.”

“I have heard no one dreamed last night, not even those who always dream of the lady. Several were disturbed by it.”

“Why? You would think they would have been content to have slept without her disturbing their sleep.”

Christopher laughed. “She is perfect in every way.”

“Except she doesna speak.”

“In a woman, that could be a good quality, can it no’?”

Dashiell smiled. “I would like to hear the lady speak, Christopher, at least to tell me her full name.” He climbed into bed and frowned. “I surmise that all of us who dream about the lady will dream about her this eve.”

“Why is that?”

“I believe everyone slept so soundly last night so that she could make her escape. The gates were wide open this morning with the gate guard still sleeping beside it.”

“She has magical powers then.”

“I dinna know. I hope to dream of the lady tonight.” Dashiell tossed and turned in his bed for some time, finally falling asleep.

That night, in the world of dreams, Dashiell found himself in the misty forest. He walked for miles, then finally came to the stream. Seeing it dry but piled four feet high with purple blossoms, he stared at the sight. “Where are you, lass?”

He examined the forest beyond but saw no sign of her. “I dinna wish you any harm. I only wish to see you again.” He sat down at the edge of the stream bank and said under his breath, “I must see you again.”

Dashiell grew weary of his vigil, and then a sudden movement in the trees made him stare at the spot. A deer appeared, and he watched the buck. “I willna harm you. Tell her to come to me. I willna hurt her either.”

The deer watched Dashiell, then bolted into the woods, making him frown. “She willna come. There is no water in the stream.” He stood. “A dam has blocked the water.”

Dashiell walked for what seemed like an eternity. When he came to the dam, he stared at the insurmountable task. He set about moving a branch at a time and, by early morning, had started a trickle in the dam.

He worked on the dam all that day, taking only a break from time to time as he wiped his brow or drank from his flask. Then he pulled another limb from the dam and tossed it to the bank. He did this repeatedly but stopped when he saw a deer drinking water from the stream above the obstruction.

He watched the deer as he continued to pull sticks from the dam, and at one point, the barricade gave way, and Dashiell was caught up in the flowing water and laughed as he swam toward the bank. Then he saw Ella rush beyond the fringe of the forest, concerned for his safety, and he smiled.

Soaking wet, Dashiell climbed out of the stream on her side of the bank. He stood still and watched her. “Though I have injured you, here you are, coming to my aid when you fear for my well-being. You didna hurt Lady Lynette, did you?” Ella said nothing as she observed him. “I think you might care for me as I care for you. Is that not so?”

He watched as she looked down at her pouch and reached in, then pulled out violets after opening it. She looked at the stream, and he stepped back and waved his hand at the stream. “You may place your flowers in the water, lass, if desired. I willna harm you.”

Ella glanced back at the stream but would not move closer to the water. Dashiell waited as he watched her, trying to decide what to do. “You may go to the stream, lass. I willna…”

“My laird!” a voice yelled from some distance away. “My laird! We have seen Ella!”

Christopher said, “One of your foresters is here. They have seen the lady at the loch in the meadow.”

“In the meadow?” Dashiell said, climbing out of bed. “What time is it?”

“It is dark still, several hours before dawn. I beg your pardon for waking…”

“Is she still there?”

“They say she is bathing.”

“Help me get dressed.”

“May I come too?” Christopher asked.

Dashiell sighed. “Nay, you are too young.”

“Mayhap she willna be afraid of me.”

Shaking his head, Dashiell pulled his tunic over his head. “She may fall in love with you. That wouldna do.” To the forester, he said, “Have Fallon, Quinn, and the MacNeills aroused at once. Have our horses saddled.”

“Aye.”

Christopher handed Dashiell’s sgian dubh to him and said again, “Are you sure you dinna want me to come? Perhaps she will come to me because of my youth.”

Dashiell scoffed. “Very well. We will try.”

Christopher smiled.

The two hurried down to the stables and found Fallon and Quinn waiting for them on their mounts. “That was quick, lads.”

“Aye, well, nobody had to tell us twice to get ready when we heard Ella was bathing in the loch,” Quinn said.

Dashiell smiled. “I considered going alone, but I am afraid my cousin wouldna have permitted me to.”

“You are right about that, my laird,” Fallon said. “It isna safe for you to be alone at this time of the morn…”

“For me…or for her?”

The men all laughed as James and his kin joined them, and they headed for the loch by the woods. The forester led Dashiell and his entourage to the loch while everyone remained quiet. When they reached the meadow, Dashiell smiled at the sight.

With the moonlight glistening off her hair and skin, the lady swam, disappearing beneath the water and rising some distance beyond. “We thought of stealing the lass’s gown so that we could catch her for you, but we didna wish to upset you, so we came for you instead.”

“You did the right thing,” Dashiell said. He and the other men continued to watch the lady, but as one of the horses whinnied, the lady looked at the meadow and, seeing the men, stared at the sight. “She has seen us.”

“Should I get closer and try to talk to her?” Christopher said.

“It willna hurt for you to try. Perhaps you should dismount from your horse first. You will appear smaller and less threatening than that way.”

Christopher dismounted from his horse and cautiously walked toward her as he made his way to the bank of the loch. Ella watched the lad walking toward her, then glanced back at the others who still observed her but made no motion to move.

“We dinna wish you harm, my lady,” the young man said, with a voice still that of a boy’s. “Dashiell,” he said as he crouched at the water’s edge, then pointed back to him, “was very upset that he hurt you and wished for his healer to take care of you until you were well. He wishes to know who you are and where you come from.”

Ella looked at her clothes on the bank, then back to the boy.

“I believe,” he said, turning to Dashiell, “she wishes to get out and get dressed.”

“If we turn away, she will vanish.” Dashiell was sure of it.

The men watched as she treaded water in the deeper part of the loch, but then she swam to the opposite shore, sat in the shallower water, with the water lapping at her shoulders, and rested.

The sun began to rise, and she continued to watch the men who had dismounted from their horses and stood observing her. “I dinna believe she will leave the water with us watching her like this.”

“She canna stay in there forever.” Dashiell glanced over at the meadow.

James scoffed. “If you wish to marry the lass, you will have a time keeping her at Cairn Castle.”

The forester suddenly yelled, “A wild boar is charging toward us!”

The foresters' spears gleamed in the sunlight, their tips sharp and glinting with deadly purpose. The archer's bow was taut, a sleek weapon ready to release its arrow at the beast.

Dashiell quickly ordered Christopher to mount his horse and prepare for the attack. “Christopher, get to your horse! A boar is coming this way.”

Dashiell and his men hurried to mount their horses. They all readied themselves, spears in hand and arrows at the ready. The ferocious beast came into view, and the men fought fiercely to take it down.

Dashiell glanced back at Ella, worried about her safety.

Ella had hastily put on her gowns. They rustled and swirled as she ran, her long hair streaming behind her as she disappeared into the green of the forest. He nearly forgot the mission of killing the dangerous boar.

Then he helped to kill the beast.

Glancing over at the loch, Christopher noticed Ella was missing. “She is gone.”

Dashiell shook his head. “If I didna know better, I would say she summoned the beast to distract us.”

“If so,” Fallon said, “she was successful.”

“Aye, that she was,” Dashiell said.

“Well, at least we will have boar for the meal,” his advisor said.

“Perhaps she will return to the stream. You three take the boar to the castle and have the cooks prepare it. The rest of you come with me.”

The foresters dressed the boar, then headed for the castle while Dashiell and the rest of his party rode for hours, following deer tracks that led them to several different areas they hadn’t traveled to.

They finally arrived at the spot where they usually spied her but found no sign of the lass. Dashiell's heart sank, and he could feel his comrades' spirits dimming.

They waited by the stream, hoping that the lass would return soon. But as the sun began to set and the sky turned a deep orange, they knew it was time to turn back.

The journey back to the castle was quiet and somber, though their spirits were higher after a successful hunt. At least they had seen the lass in the loch. Dashiell wished he could catch her and return her to the castle.

When they arrived back at the castle, they were greeted with the welcoming aroma of a cooked boar. Dashiell's stomach grumbled at the thought of a warm meal, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that their hunt had not been in vain. Though catching the lass would have made the excursion so much better.

“I canna believe that boar distracted me so that I didna see the lass leave the water,” Dashiell said. She had already dressed by the time he glanced back at the loch. Once she ran off, he’d had the greatest urge to chase after her if it hadn’t been for the boar!

His advisor smiled. “I believe all of us were quite disappointed, even though we have fresh meat on the table.”

James said, “I’ve never seen such an extraordinary creature. You will have difficulty taking her as your wife, I suspect.”

Angus and Niall agreed. Dashiell thought the same, as much as he didn’t want to admit it.

After the meal, Dashiell and his men returned to the stream, hoping to catch the lass this time if they had no other deadly distractions!