Page 7 of Stolen Highland Dreams (The Highlanders #9)

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D ashiell overhead everyone talking about the mystery woman in the forest when he entered the great hall to break their fast. He guessed everyone knew about her now. Some were talking about plans to capture her.

When he sat down at the head table, Lady Yvaine watched him as he drank his ale. “Have you had dreams of Ella? Wynda says her husband often dreams of the lady. The first time, he made the mistake of telling her about it when he awoke in the middle of the night. Since then, she says he wakes every night, sitting up all at once, and she knows he has had the dream again.”

“You are the most curious woman I know.”

“Aye, well, ‘tis no’ me who is hunting for the lady for several hours in the morn before we break our fast.”

He nodded. “My uncle had always said you had the quickest wit of any woman he knew.”

“He was a good man.”

“He was at that. So what else do you know of Ella, my lady?”

“She is a temptress.”

“A temptress?” Dashiell said, amused. “What do you mean?”

“If you saw me standing on the bank of the stream, would you pursue me?”

He laughed. “You are old enough to be my mother.”

Yvaine smiled. “Just the same, you would not take any interest in me. However, you and the other men canna get enough of seeing the lady. She is a temptress. Watch out for her or she will rule both your dreams at night and your thoughts during the day.”

Dashiell took a drink of his mead and looked across the great hall to see the men who had been on the hunt with him speaking to the rest of the clan while they ate. “I can just imagine what they are saying about the experience today.”

“They are saying”—Yvaine scooped up a spoonful of stewed fruit—“that their beloved laird has fallen in love with a temptress.”

“She doesna rule my life, Lady Yvaine. You are wrong about that.”

“I have heard that you have suspended dealing with the troubles our clansmen would have brought before you to resolve midday.”

“I am entitled to do such a thing if I so determine that the circumstances warrant.”

“Ah, but what do you plan to do then?”

He didn’t speak, not wanting to admit to his aunt that he could not quit thinking about the lady in the woods.

Yvaine finished her bread and then waited as the servant took her bowl away. As the minstrel strolled over to the table, his aunt said, “I surmise you will have a sudden urge to go on a hunt again this afternoon. Dinna take anyone new with you or the plague will soon spread.”

“Nonsense.” Dashiell listened to the minstrel sing his song. “That song!”

“What?”

“The lass hummed a tune. I canna remember the song she was humming because she sang not the words. Perhaps the minstrel will know. Now I canna recall the tune she hummed.” He motioned for the minstrel to stop his song. “Do any of you who hunted with me today remember the tune the lady hummed in the woods?”

The men all shook their heads.

“Continue with your song, minstrel.” Dashiell frowned at the table.

“I have heard Cameron is having his daughter escorted here for you to consider as a bride choice.”

“What?”

Yvaine laughed. “The forest nymph has stolen your thoughts away.”

He sighed and finished his mead. “You are right, Lady Yvaine. I will return to the hunt this afternoon.”

Ella cleaned up after they finished breaking their fast and was ready to do her chores. She picked up her writing stick and wrote on the dirt floor. What would you have me do today?

She always asked if Mina wanted her to do something other than what Ella had already planned. She prayed Finnegan was doing all right at the castle. He hadn’t returned so that had to be a good sign, she hoped.

“Find more mushrooms and herbs. Our stores are getting low. We need fresh water also. We could do with a wee bit more firewood and kindling.”

She wrote: Be back soon. Well, with all the chores Ella had to do, she would be back as soon as she could. Ella worried more and more about Mina. She was taking longer naps now, tired after doing very little, and seemed to be fading away. Ella wanted to do everything for Mina so she could rest more.

Amelda went with Ella to help collect mushrooms, herbs, and berries and then she would return to the hut. Ella never wanted her cousin to be away from the hut as long as she was, afraid if someone spied them, Amelda wouldn’t be able to hide as well as Ella could. Aye, she was smaller, but she wasn’t as fast as Ella. Or as quiet.

They headed down the path where they often found mushrooms, but they soon heard men moving about, talking low, one of them saying, “We must find the lass. Dead or alive.”

“Aye.”

Dashiell’s men wouldn’t say that, and a shiver ran up Ella’s spine as she recognized the man’s voice. Years ago, he had shouted, “ Tha mi ag iarraidh orra marbh!” He had wanted them all dead. But who? Yet his comment brought a flood of memories back.

Men yelling, women screaming, her mother dying, and commanding her to save her brother and her cousin.

All she knew was the man was olc . Evil. Maybe he wasn’t looking for her, but she feared he was because he was one of MacAfee’s men. She didn’t think they would be here by MacTavish’s invitation. What other lass would be in these woods?

She and Amelda hid in the thick bracken and listened to them as they talked to one another. She couldn’t believe they would speak while on a hunt. She might not be their usual prey, but she was just as wary of them as the deer in the forest would be. And certes when they were talking about killing the lass, she knew they were up to no good.

She slowly unsheathed her sword, praying that MacTavish’s men would be in the forest, see these men, and send them on their way. Amelda touched her arm. Ella put her finger to her lips to make sure she didn’t speak.

She had tears in her eyes and Ella hugged her and kissed her forehead. They had survived for five years; she wouldn’t let McAfee kill her without her at least paying him back. She wanted to send Amelda back to the hut, but she was afraid she would be seen.

“MacAfee, should we no’ call out the name the villagers gave her? Ella?”

Her skin chilled. That confirmed they were looking for her, not some other lass. And that MacAfee was with them. She also had a sgian dubh in her boot, but she couldn’t fight all of them. Maybe not even one of them. She knew they would want to kill Amelda also since she was Ella’s kin.

“And alert her that we are after her? God’s wounds, how daft can you be?” MacAfee said.

The devil himself.

“If we call her by name, she will think us friend, no’ foe, since we are no’ living at the castle,” the man insisted.

“If any of you listen to this man and do as he suggests, you will be dead at my hand!” MacAfee said.

She heard at least six male voices speaking to one another and knew she couldn’t take on any of them.

To her relief, their horses’ hooves clomped on the forest floor, and the men’s voices faded away as they moved farther away from her and her cousin. She wondered if Dashiell had allowed these men to come into the forest to hunt for her. She suspected not. She wished she could get word to him without putting herself and Amelda at risk.

She hoped they would not find their hut and harm Mina in any way. Ella had to do her chores again and return to the hut immediately.

Once the sound of MacAfee and his men faded away, Ella sheathed her sword, grabbed Amelda’s hand, and ran through the woods, listening for any sign of anyone nearby. Not hearing anyone in this direction, they kept going until they got close enough to the hut and stayed nearby, hidden in the bracken.

Again, she listened, not wanting to dash into the hut when someone might witness it and know it was there. They stayed still for what seemed an interminable amount of time. She and Amelda ran for the hut when she was certain no one was about.

Making their way into the small abode, they must have looked a sight, their hair having come loose and tangled with twigs as they escaped.

“What’s wrong?” Mina asked, coming to them, taking hold of their arms and pulling them into a hug.

In times like these, Ella knew Mina still had the inner and outer strength to keep her going.

Ella grabbed her writing stick and wrote on the dirt floor. MacAfee!

“Here? In our forest?” Mina asked, her words hushed.

Ella nodded vigorously. She wrote— Wants me dead. Or alive —she added. Though she suspected he wanted her dead.

Tears filled Mina’s eyes, and she hugged Ella against her chest. “I’m so sorry, lass. I was afraid this day might come. How did he know that you had even survived?”

Ella hugged Mina, then pulled away from her and wrote— Villagers.

“Wagging tongues. If I hadna had to teach you to barter with people, to learn more about the people in the village, I would never have sent you there.” Mina let out her breath and hugged Amelda.

Ella shook her head.

“It couldna be helped. You couldna be sheltered here all your life. You needed to talk with—well, be around other people. Besides, I hoped that where I couldna help you to speak or remember what had happened to you, mayhap someone in the village might have helped.”

Chores?

“Only when they are gone for certain.”

Word to Dashiell?

“Aye. I wish we could send word to him, but you canna speak and you risk MacAfee or his men catching you if you try to reach MacTavish. He will no doubt be angered when he learns MacAfee is looking for a lass to kill in his forest.” Mina motioned to the sewing basket. “Sit and sew. You have no’ finished your new gown.”

Ella had outgrown several léines over the years, and most had been patched together from the ones that were too small—all but two. One was the beautiful gown she’d been wearing when Mina had discovered her at the stream. Mina had washed and dried it and neatly folded it away.

Amelda would grow into it one day. And the other was the green gown she wore when encountering Dashiell and his men. Mina had given her coin to purchase the fabric, and Ella was still working on the embroidery for a new gown. At least in her mind, it wasn’t so that she could look like a fine lady, but to learn how to sew finer garments if she were to work on Dashiell’s staff sometime in the future, sewing gowns for ladies.

But she didn’t want to sit and sew. She wanted to warn Dashiell about the men in his forest. She wanted him to kill the devil. And she wanted to do her chores. She hated to be confined when there was danger about. But she also worried about Finnegan. What if he wasn’t hired and tried to return home but ran into these men?

“I ken that look, Ella. Sit. And. Sew.” Mina patted her shoulder.

Ella sat down with the basket of sewing supplies and began to work on the gown, trying to concentrate on embroidering the neckline while listening for danger outside their hut. Amelda was also trying to learn how to sew and was working on a simple scarf.

Ella wished she’d seen MacAfee’s face. She knew his voice, and she would recognize his face. Would she regain some more of her memories if she saw him? She wished Mina would tell her more about him.

“He is a bad man, Ella. He canna be allowed to find you. That is why you must find your voice and speak again. You must discover all your memories, and you must appeal to Dashiell to take you in. Until you do, you’ll be in the worst kind of danger all over again, now that MacAfee believes you live in the forest and is bold enough to come here without MacTavish’s consent.”

Ella feared more for her cousin, Mina, and her brother should he return to the hut.

Mina helped Amelda work on some of her embroidery stitches. “No more looking for anything in the woods. No more trips to the village. Not until those men leave.”

Mina took hold of Ella’s hand, tears in her eyes. “The nightmares you have are about real things that have happened in your life. The battle was in your castle. Cairn Castle. They were real. You must remember what had happened. I…I think if you return to the castle, you’ll find your voice.”

Ella set her work aside and wrote on the floor. What about Finnegan?

“He’s a canny lad. You have taught him well. He will be careful should he return to the forest.”

What if Dashiell felt threatened by Ella because she might hold some claim to the castle? Then again, she doubted anyone would ever believe her.