Page 13 of Highland Spirit

“Aye,” said Caleb. “Oliver decided he was goin’ to tend to the cows and sheep.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” asked Hawke. “He’s done it before when he lived on the isle. He kens how to do it.”

“Mayhap, but the boy is careless. He let half the herd wander off. We need ye back at camp, Hawke. Since most of the men are back at Hermitage Castle, we need ye both to help get the herd into the barn before the storm sets in. It looks like it’s goin’ to be a bad one.”

Normally, the livestock stayed outside all year long in the hills surrounding the MacKeefe camp. But when it looked like they’d have a lot of snow, they moved them inside so it made it easier to manage when they had to supplement their feedings. This way they wouldn’t have to move them through the snow.

“All right,” said Hawke with a sigh. “I’m comin’.”

“Trapper will help round up the sheep as well as any cattle that might have gone astray.” Ethan stood up, half-relieved to be staying instead of going to the isle after all.

“Nay.” Hawke held up a hand. “We dinna need ye. Ye go to the isle, get the doll, and get back before the water is too choppy to sail.”

“But . . . but Trapper can round up the herd faster than us. And I need to be here to give him commands.”

“Logan’s wolf, Jack, can do the same thing,” stated Hawke. “Now sit back down and get over to the isle and find that doitit doll before my head splits open with the lassie’s cryin’.”

“Pay my respects to the ghost,” said Caleb as he started laughing and walking away.

Ethan looked out over the water that was already getting choppy. The wind picked up and was blowing the snow at an angle now. He could hardly even see across to the isle. “It looks like it’ll take two of us to sail the boat in this weather.”

“Ye’re right,” said Hawke. “Caleb, go with him.”

“What? Me?” Caleb suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. His laughing ceased and his mouth turned down into a frown. “Nay, ye go, Hawke.”

“What’s the matter, Caleb? Is there a reason ye dinna want to go?” Ethan asked him.

“Well . . . nay, of course no’. I dinna believe in ghosts if that is what ye’re thinkin’.” Caleb looked down and brushed off his plaid as he spoke. “I just canna go because I need to find Slink before the storm sets in.”

“Ye’re in luck, because he’s right there.” Hawke pointed down at the ground. The pine marten ran up to Caleb, getting on its back legs, trying to reach up to him. Caleb scooped up the animal and cradled it in his arms. “Fine, I’ll go,” he spat. “But if we lose any of the herd because I wasna here to help ye, then ye are goin’ to have to explain it to our laird.”

“Dinna worry, we willna lose a single one as long as I’m here,” Hawke assured him. “Besides, Apollo will help by spottin’ them from the air. Now, go! And dinna return without that doll or I’ll wring both yer necks!”

“Dinna fash yerself, I’ll get the blasted doll,” grumbled Ethan. “And I promise ye, this is the last time I will ever set foot on the isle or inside that castle, so dinna ask again.”

* * *

“Faither, please. Ye need to drink if ye are goin’ to get better.” Alana helped her father to a sitting position in bed, holding the cup to his mouth to give him some water.

“Dinna waste yer time with me, Alana,” said Gil, after taking a sip. “My health is failin’ quickly. I willna live through the winter, and we both ken it.”

“Nay! Dinna say that.” She put the cup down, fluffed his feather pillow and tried to help him get comfortable. Diarmad and his men had left him behind again, sailing out with the smuggled goods to meet their contact, leaving him chained to the bed. It was a horrible thing to do and it disgusted Alana. After all this time and Diarmad still didn’t trust her father.

“Alana, take yer sister and brathair and leave this isle. I’m sure Albert and Graeme will help ye make it to the mainland safely if I ask them to.”

“Nay. Ye ken we willna leave without ye.”

“I’m too weak to travel. Besides, now that I’m chained to the bed I’ll be goin’ nowhere. Now find them and go. This is no life for any of ye. Especially my granddaughter and grandchild to be. Plus, Kirstine needs a chance to find a man she can love and trust. So do ye.”

“I’ve never heard ye talk that way before,” said Alana, perusing her father. “It almost sounds as if ye dinna agree that gettin’ married is only for makin’ alliances.”

“Yer mathair and I wed for alliances, and I canna say she ever really loved me,” he explained. “Then again, I never gave her reason to love me, either. But I fell in love with her the first time I met her.”

“I loved Ethan all my life, Da. Yet, ye never seemed to like the idea of me marryin’ him.”

“Once again, I’ve made a wrong choice,” he told her. “If we could do it all over, I’d support yer marriage to him and I would make an alliance with the MacKeefes instead of makin’ them my enemies.” He hung his head. “But it’s too late to change the past.”

“I wish we could change the past,” she told him. “Then mathair would still be alive and I’d be married to Ethan.”