The Highlander's Secret(12)
Eamon sighed, rubbing out a stain of dirt. “The mess is gone, but the hens are still riled up. I patched the fence again, so it should keep the fox out this time.”
While they discussed what to do about the chicken coop, Alan’s gaze settled on Jain across the room. She was tying a bundle of herbs together to hang from the rafters where they would dry. He could smell the basil, chives, and oregano from where he stood, and a few other he couldn’t recognize.
He carefully made his way over to her and asked, “Shall I help ye hang that when ye’re finished?”
Jain glanced at him sidelong when he spoke, and smiled.
“Thank ye,” she said when she finished securing the knot. He took the bundle of herbs when Jain handed it to him and hung it up with the others. Jain beamed at him and stood up to watch what he was doing.
When they were secured properly, he brushed off his hands and asked, “Now what?”
Jain glanced around the room at his inquiry and her gaze settled on her mother. He knew about her failing hip and understood immediately. Alan took a step closer to where Moira stood and kept an eye on her in case she needed him. Sometimes, weakness came on without any warning, so she wouldn’t be able to stand. If that happened, Alan wanted to be in a position where he could catch her.
“Da, ye should have Alan show ye the blade he brought. It’s a fine one,” Jain said to her father with a smile.
Alan grinned at the compliment and led him over to the table where his work was still resting on a length of cloth. Eamon nodded with approval when he saw it and carefully lifted it for inspection. “Lad, this is exquisite work. Ye’ve outdone yerself this time.”
“I’m just glad ye’re pleased.”
“Very much. Someone with skill like yers should be in a larger town. Ye could make a fine living selling pieces such as these.”
Before Alan could respond, Moira called out, “Jain, we need some water from the spring house. Do ye mind fetching a pail?”
Jain stood up and nodded. “Yes, Mam.”
“Be careful. It’s getting dark outside,” her da warned.
“I’ll go with ye,” Alan offered, stepping back from the table. “I’m more useful out there than here. We can bring back twice as much.”
“That’s a good lad,” Eamon said, clapping him on the back in approval.
“Mam, do ye mind if I take Angus a carrot on the way?”
Moira shook her head. “Nae. Ye’re more than welcome, lass.”
Jain grinned as she grabbed one of the carrots from off the table and picked up her fur-lined cloak off a hook on the wall. She retrieved two buckets by the door and handed one of them to him. He took it from her and followed her out into the evening chill. They stepped out onto the grass and she exhaled a tired sigh, glancing back at him. Angus was in his pen outside and Jain walked over to pat him on the side. The chestnut brown stallion stamped his foot with excitement at the sight of her.
Jain held up the carrot and offered it to him. Angus ate it happily and sniffed at her clothes, likely trying to smell if she was hiding any more.
Alan chuckled, watching her interact with the big animal. He’d noticed she was fond of horses, and Angus especially.
“I think he loves ye as much as ye love him.”
Jain rested her forehead on Angus’s muzzle. “He was the very horse Da rode when he found me. I first rode into Elign on Angus’s back. I was scared and heartbroken, but I could always come out here to the stables and talk to him. Even if he was just a horse and didn’t understand what I was saying, I could tell Angus anything. I could tell him things that I couldn’t explain to my parents. That brought me a tremendous amount of comfort at the time – I grew quite fond of him.”
With the carrot gone, Jain patted him again and joined Alan on their walk to the spring house.
There was a dirt path leading down the hill beside her house towards a stone hut that covered a water spring. She started down the familiar trail and pulled her wool cloak up tight around her chin to fend off the autumn breeze. The sun was not yet down, but the evening air brought an icy chill across the highland hills.
Alan followed close behind, singing to himself to keep the feeling light. He loved to sing and only partially because it made her smile. She glanced back at him out of the corner of her eye and grinned, wrapping her arms around her chest.
“Ye dinnae have to do this,” she told him gently. “I’m perfectly capable of fetching it myself.”
“I ken ye are, but is it really the point? Isn’t it better to have some company?”
A smile slowly spread across her face. “Perhaps.”
Chapter Six
Alan loved spending time with Jain when no one else was around.
When they approached a fork in the road at the bottom of the hill, Jain headed towards the stone hut that had been built around the spring to protect animals and leaves from fouling their water supply. It was getting dark as the sun dipped behind the trees, but the trail was still visible in the light and they made it to the springhouse without difficulty. The heel of her leather shoes padded against the rocks and dirt, stepping over fallen branches as they went. She pulled the door open and stepped inside the cool stone building with Alan following right behind. Jain took their buckets and dipped them in the wooden trough to fill them right up to the brim with crystal clear water, using the practiced air of someone who had done this, every day for years. When she turned around with the buckets in her hand, Alan took one from her and held the door open for them both before starting back the way they’d come.