The Highlander's Secret(29)
“It’s the strangest thing,” one of them said in astonishment. “They took food and supplies but left everything else intact. It’s like a completely different group of Vikings than we’ve encountered in the past. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I thought they stayed by the coast,” another argued. “Are they moving inland? It doesn’t seem possible.”
“It would seem so. We should call fer aid from the surrounding clans before it’s too late. Keenan has to do something, or they’ll be on our doorstep in nae time at all.”
Jain’s heartrate picked up a bit at the news and she started walking through the square. In her rush she nearly ran headlong into Keenan and lost her footing. “Whoa there, lass.” He caught her with his arm.
Jain gasped, stepping back on her heel and staring up at him in shock. “Uncle Keenan. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
He gazed down at her while she regained her balance. “Dinnae worry about that, Jain. Where are ye going in such a rush?”
“Just to buy some ingredients for a mustard plaster,” she responded with a blush. “We’ve run out at the house and Aileen has fallen ill. Moira needs some willow bark for her tincture as well. On my way back I was going to pick some wild flowers to cheer them up.”
Keenan sighed, his expression darkening slightly. “I’m sorry to hear that Aileen is ill, especially with her mam gone. She’s a fearless woman, my sister – with the heart of a lion. I gave up a long time ago, trying to reign her in. I just wish she wasn’t away from home so often.”
Jain smiled at him, even though what he said was true. She admired her aunt’s ability to come and go as she pleased. For all intents and purposes, she was a free woman and unbound to any man. She cleared her throat before speaking. “Ye dinnae approve?”
The chieftain sighed. “Nae, I do not. Any other woman in her position would have remarried by now, or would be content assisting Lady Bridget in the keep. Instead, she goes gallivanting off fer days, sometimes weeks at a time, and I worry.”
Jain hesitated. “Mayhap she doesn’t wish to be bound to another man, or remain idle in the keep, doing needlework day after day,” Jain suggested.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do ye mean?”
“She is not an old woman. She may have many years left to her life. Ye think her ambition strange, but she delights in having a purpose, and no one could deny the benefit her work brings to the clan.”
Nora’s travels increased their coin substantially, by taking beautifully decorated garments, trinkets, and woven baskets made by widows in the village who would have otherwise been unable to contribute to their community. Nora put herself at risk and did the legwork to make their ventures profitable.
Keenan stared at her for a moment while he appeared to be considering that. “Ye admire her.”
Jain nodded, swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat. “I do, very much. And ye dinnae need to worry about Aileen. Moira and I will take good care of her.”
Keenan patted her on the shoulder and stepped out of the way so she could continue. She exhaled nervously before walking down the path. After she took a few steps, her uncle called after her and said, “Oh, Jain?”
“Aye, my laird?” she asked, turning back to look at him.
“Pick some fer me and Lady Gracie as well, won’t ye? I’ve got a lot to do with the search fer Heather going on. It would bring me joy to look at, which I could sorely use at the moment.”
Jain curtsied and then hurried off down the path. Keenan was always so kind to her, and she cared about him dearly, but part of her wondered if he would be as generous with his praise if he knew the whole truth about her. It was his job to uphold the law and protect the people – all the people. If Keenan ever found out she was actually Norse she might be exiled from the clan. Norsemen, Vikings, were despised and outright hated after the destruction they’d wrought. Her uncle was a good man, but fierce with judgment. The elders were not prone to sentimentality. They had to be practical. Not even Moira knew the truth about her lineage—only Eamon.
She didn’t look back until she was leaving the village.
Jain left the road she was following came to a cresting hill. She let out a tired sigh. Everything she could see was green, rolling land of the Scottish Highlands. The ground was scattered with heather blossoms and thistles, which was the reason for her voyage.
She sat, looking out across the valley to the river running down between the hills. Every time she saw the running water it made her yearn for the fjords of her home back north. The small village her family came from was right along the coast. The cottages nestled in the mountainside up against the water and the men would catch fish to feed their families. Everyone in their village sailed, they were shipbuilders and voyagers at heart, and that call of the sea stuck with Jain as well.
Jain’s mother had taken ill when the men were gone one summer on a raid. When her father came home she was already dead. After that he started taking her with them on voyages across the sea vowing to never leave another one of them behind.
It devastated her father to know that in his efforts to provide for his family back home, he still could lose everything without being near. He wouldn’t let his greatest treasures out of his sight again, so on the next year’s trip, all three children were along for the ride. While it was not unusual to bring the young men and boys to learn and assist, little Jain too joined them on the long, harrowing journey, with extended bouts of boredom and toil punctuated by spates of terrible excitement.