The Highlander's Secret(21)

She’d never been this far out of the village before and her parents were sure to be worried. Everything looked new and different, but Conrad said that she was beautiful, and he kissed her. Surely, that meant he was in love with her. No lad in the village ever paid attention to her before, and certainly none like him.

Her breath quickened with every step, eager to find whatever place Conrad was leading her to. Moonlight dappled through the leaves overhead, casting an eerie shadow on the ground.

“Conrad, how much farther?” she asked him breathlessly. “I …cannae see where we are.”

“Hush,” he cooed, without even turning back to look at her. “We’re almost there.”

Heather pursed her lips and buried her face in the back of his shirt. Something about this didn’t seem right. Conrad wasn’t acting like himself, he was pushy and erratic – and in a hurry to get out of the village. He wouldn’t answer any of her questions either, which seemed odd. More than odd, it frightened her.

They journeyed through the trees on the east side of the village along the river until he said, “Ah. There it is.”

In the distance, she made out the silhouette of a house, but there was no smoke coming from the chimney. There was no light or anything at all coming from the structure, she wasn’t even sure it was a house. It looked abandoned and not suitable for habitation for quite some time, so why on earth would he have brought her here? Conrad stopped the horse when they arrived and dismounted on the forest floor. Heather threw her leg over the side and climbed down after him while glancing around nervously at their surroundings.

“Come on,” he commanded suddenly. “It’s just inside.”

“Conrad…”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “This will be our little secret.”

She was about to protest when Conrad kissed her roughly on the lips and began leading her back towards the house. Heather tried to push him off, but he was so much stronger than her. Her feeble attempts to free herself only made Conrad fight back that much harder.

“What’s wrong?” he snarled as she broke away. “Ye come with me all this way and change yer mind?”

“I want to go home,” she told him. Tears streamed down her face and he backed her up against the wall with fire blaring in his eyes.

“Stop that,” he commanded. “It’s unattractive. Nae one would hear ye scream anyway.”

“Why are ye doing his?” Heather cried.

Conrad laughed. He tightened his grip around her arm and yanked her forward. “I’m going to get what I came here for one way or another. I suggest ye try and enjoy it.”

Heather shook with fear and his lips came down on her again. She wondered what he would do to her, and if he’d been planning this all along.





Chapter Ten


Jain groaned into her blankets when she heard the rooster crow outside and sat up with a yawn. The morning chill crept in around her shoulders as the blanket slid down around her waist while she woke up.

Jain stretched her arms and pulled herself up on the bed. She could hear her parents grumble in the other room. With a tired moan, she stretched and then licked her lips to relieve the dryness. The festivities the night before had taken their toll on everyone and it was difficult to get going in the aftermath.

“Aileen, it’s time to get up.”

Her cousin groaned, sitting up on the pallet bed and then running her fingers through a mess of dark brown hair. “Oooff!”

Jain shivered from the cold when her feet touched the ground and she pulled on her favorite tunic to keep warm. Aileen threw off the rest of the blankets and joined her getting dressed. “Jain yer hair looks slept in,” she informed her with a grin.

Jain scoffed. “Ye’re one to talk!”

They laughed with each other while undoing their braids and pulling on a pair of hose. “I saw ye talking to Rodrick at the fires,” Jain teased her with a grin. “Ye seemed to be enjoying one another’s company.”

Aileen blushed and pulled one of the cloaks around her shoulders. “Ye spent the entire festival dancing with Alan. Dinnae pretend like ye dinnae have feelings fer him.”

Jain’s smile faded and she headed out into the kitchen. “Come on, let’s get the fire going and break our fast. There’s still much to do to complete our harvest.”

The girls walked out into the living space together and Jain kissed Moira on the cheek before starting on the morning meal. “Good morrow, Mam.”

“Good morrow, loves. I trust ye slept well?”

Aileen nodded in response while kneeling by the fire to get it started. Some embers were still crackling from the night before, but they wouldn’t last very long without some added fuel. She hastily put a branch onto the burning hearth and blew onto the red-hot embers until it caught flame to warm the rest of the house.

Jain busied herself in the kitchen, retrieving spices and ingredients to prepare some food. Eamon came out of his bedroom wearing a cloak and hat and headed for the door. “Aileen, could ye tend to Fiona fer me? I’m going to check the coop fer some eggs and then head over to the spring house.”

Aileen breathed out a tired sigh and nodded. “Aye.”

Moira winced as they walked out the door together and then collapsed in one of the chairs with her hand flying to her hip.