Goblin Moon (29 page)

Kathy stood facing him. Her hands involuntarily clenched and opened. She breathed heavily and tried to gain some sense of composure. “I told you. She wanted Tearyn. I was trying to keep my baby from being carried off into the night."

Tearach stared at her for a moment. “You caught Mabb trying to take Tearyn?"

"No! The witch came to the front door, bold as bloody hell, and told me the baby didn't belong here and she was going to take her."

Tearach watched her chest heaving. There was a wild look in her eyes that boded poorly for anyone who crossed her at this moment. “All right, Kathy.” He tried to remain calm. “I have to make sure Mabb will be all right. Stay with Cairna and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Kathy swung her hair over one shoulder and headed for the stairs.

He caught her upper arm just before she got past him. “Are you all right? Did she hurt you?"

Kathy glared at him. “She wasn't capable of hurting me."

"She has three times your..."

"I
know
she's supposed to have three times my damned strength,” Kathy angrily interrupted. “But someone forgot to tell her I have three times her I.Q.” She stormed up the stairs, slamming the bedroom behind her.

Tearach blinked, pushed his hair back and surveyed the damage in the room. There was a great deal of blood on the floor. Apparently, none of it was Kathy's. He quickly made his way out of the cottage and into the forest. Mabb was so beaten she would need to be taken to the castle. Kathy had to have caught her off guard or the fight would have ended the other way around and Kathy would probably be dead. He picked up his pace and began to lope. He needed to find out what happened before the Sorceress did.

Owen exited the room and shook his head when he saw Tearach standing in the hall. “It's lucky she isn't dead."

"She's that badly hurt?"

"No, but any woman attempting to take another's child is asking for death, don't you think? At any rate, one of Mabb's ribs is broken. There's some bruising to soft body tissue and internal organs, and her nose is broken."

"Son-of-a-bitch,” Tearach gasped, closed his eyes and passed a hand over his face. “Does the Sorceress know about this yet?"

Owen nodded. “Everyone knows."

"Can I see her?"

He nodded. “She can't talk much. I've given her something for the pain and to make her sleep. Don't stay too long, Tearach.” Owen glanced back at the room where his patient lay. “Kathy must have been frightened out of her wits to have fought a stronger woman so well."

Tearach let the comment go as he quietly entered the room and approached Mabb. She was lying on a bed, and her face was a bruised mass. There was a bandage over the bridge of her nose, and she moaned when she saw him. “How are you doing?"

"
Why
, Tearach?” she tearfully murmured. “I just came to say hello and asked to see the baby. The next thing I knew, she was hitting me. I-I don't understand?"

"Hush, now.” He pushed back her hair and gently spoke to her. “What did you say to Kathy?"

"Nothing,” she brokenly whispered. “I just tried to talk to her and she attacked. Y-you know if I'd gone there to hurt her, she'd never have been able to do this to me. I was caught off-guard. I d-didn't expect anything like...” She stopped, moaned loudly and placed her hands over her abdomen. “It hurts, Tearach. It really hurts."

"There, there, Mabb. It's all right now,” he comforted. “You'll heal. As to Kathy, there must have been some misunderstanding. I'll talk to her and we'll work it out, all right?"

"I don't understand why she hates me.” She cried harder and turned on her side, groaning as she did so.

Tearach sat with her until she slept. His mind couldn't fathom what had happened. Surely, Kathy wouldn't just swing blindly at someone without provocation. The woman he loved had never exhibited such lack of control. But Mabb had a point. There was no way Kathy could have beaten her so thoroughly without taking Mabb by surprise. The door swung open and he looked up to see Shayla quietly walking toward the bed.

"How is she?” Shayla asked.

"She'll be all right, but it'll take some time for these injuries to heal."

"What did she tell you about the fight?'

Tearach didn't want to relay it. He was silent for several moments until the Sorceress sat down and fixed her silver gaze on him.

"Out with it, man."

"She said she came to visit Kathy and the baby and that Kathy attacked her."

"Just like that? No provocation? I find that hard to believe."

"So do I."

"Did you see any part of the fight?” Shayla asked as she stared down at the beaten woman.

"Some guards in the forest heard the commotion in my cottage. They summoned me. When Rome and I got there..."

"Go on,” Shayla urged.

He took a deep breath. “Kathy was pummeling Mabb as if she wanted to murder her. I had to pull her off."

"And Kathy wasn't injured?"

"She says she's fine. I couldn't see a mark on her."

"Well, I'm sure there's more to the story. Go home. See if you can get Kathy to talk about this. It's not good to bottle up these kinds of feelings."

He nodded. “Tell Mabb I'll be back when she's feeling better."

Tearach left the room and hurried back to the cottage. The lights were on. Not that he'd expected Kathy to have gone to sleep. When he would have gone inside, Clove and her two children were waiting by the front fence and stopped him.

"Is Kathy all right?” Clove glanced at the upstairs light and back to Tearach. “We heard what happened."

"She's fine, Clove. Thank you for asking."

"It's just such a horrible thing to have happened. We saw her earlier tonight. The children wanted to see the baby."

"Was Kathy anxious for any reason? Did she seem upset at all?"

"Well, she
did
look a bit spooked when she came to the door, but that didn't last long. I gather she wasn't expecting someone to come calling so late. I forget she isn't used to all our ways."

"Did you happen to see Mabb?"

"Yes. She was on the path to the cottage. We passed her a short time after leaving Kathy."

Tearach took a deep breath. He hated to ask these questions, but the Sorceress punished people harshly for fighting. He remembered his well-deserved sentence for having done that very thing. “How was Mabb?"

"She was smiling and happy. Nothing seemed amiss. That's why this is all so disconcerting. Something terrible must have happened between Kathy and Mabb."

"Mabb said she was going to visit the baby, too,” Timmon chimed in. “Tearyn's a pretty baby."

Tearach ruffled the little boy's hair. He nodded at Clove, and then he walked inside the cottage. Cairna was in the kitchen making some tea.

"Is everything all right, honey?"

She nodded. “The baby's fine, but Kathy hasn't spoken a word. I think she's really furious. You might try talking to her, Uncle Tearach."

"I will. I just can't figure out why the fight started. Mabb says Kathy just attacked her."

Cairna gawked at him and rolled her eyes. “You don't believe that pig swill, do you?"

"It doesn't make any sense. But if Mabb came here to start something, I just don't see how Kathy got the drop on her. Mabb is too physically strong."

"You doubt my word?” Kathy's low, angry voice came from the other room. She entered the kitchen and glared at him.

"Kathy, love, I don't doubt anything. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of Mabb's behavior."

She raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. “Apparently mine, too."

"The Sorceress is asking questions. You know what she does to people who fight."

Kathy walked forward and stared up at him. “Would you excuse us, Cairna? Tearach and I have some things we've got to straighten out.” She waited until the girl left the room. “I don't care what Shayla thinks. I don't give a farthing about what Mabb told you. She came here to take the baby, and I told her what I'll tell
you
. Nobody takes Tearyn away from me. Nobody."

"Then we'll deal with Mabb later, Kathy. You'll have to tell your side of the story to Shayla. I'm sure she'll be..."

"Never mind about
her
. I want to know what
you
believe."

"I believe you. I just want to know how you were able to beat Mabb so badly."

"I've already told you. She may be strong, but she's stupid. I learned how to defend myself after the first time I got the bloody hell beat out of me by a drug addict, in the back of an ambulance."

"Herne's blood, sweetheart. I wasn't that far away. You could have called out."

"There wasn't time. And even if there was, I can take care of myself. Or haven't you figured that out yet?"

He took a long, deep breath. “You shouldn't have to take care of yourself. I'll always be here for you and the baby."

"Are you sure about that?” Kathy walked past him, shouldering him aside as she did so.

"What are you saying?"

"You promised no one would ever take the baby away. You swore the night she was born. Remember?” When he nodded, she continued with, “How do I know there aren't more of your people out there who'll try what Mabb did? She told me the baby should be with her own kind. She said she even took some kind of herbs so her milk would come and she could nurse the baby herself."

"She actually told you that?"

Kathy nodded. Her entire body shook with angry emotion.

Tearach's sympathy for one of his kind was at an end. It wasn't that he hadn't believed Kathy. It was just that he had seriously miscalculated her ability to defend herself. More, she was defending her baby. And she must have been frightened out of her mind to have kept after Mabb the way she did. Apparently, Mabb had greatly misjudged her intended victim as well. He pitied the man or beast who ever tried to come between Kathy and Tearyn. He walked up behind Kathy and pulled her against him. “Don't worry, Kathy. I'll have Mabb sent to the farthest reaches of the Earth. She won't ever touch Tearyn, and I'll make very sure no one else does either.” He paused and slowly turned her to face him. “I'll make it right with Shayla, too. You won't suffer for Mabb's behavior."

Kathy gazed up into his eyes. “But you doubted me."

"No. I guess I just didn't want to believe that Mabb was capable of such a thing. It's hard to understand why someone you've known for so long would betray you in such a way."

"That's exactly why I don't think you can control the others any better. You want to trust them."

"Why shouldn't I trust them? They're my people. The rest of them can't be judged based upon what Mabb did."

"Well, you'll excuse me if I don't buy that. You didn't trust outsiders based upon what only three of them did. And you told me yourself that I should stick by you and not get too close to magical beings I couldn't understand. That was before Tearyn was born. Now, I don't know who I can trust anymore. The first thing you did was chase after Mabb. The baby and I needed you after what she did, and you weren't here. There may be others out there who think just like she does.” She walked away and stood with her back to him. “You can't be here every minute of the day. If I'm going to see to Tearyn's safety by myself, then I might as well be someplace of my own choosing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm going to ask Shayla if I can move into the castle. There's no sense in sitting in the middle of the woods where anyone can approach whenever they bloody well want to. At least the castle has guards. No one goes in or out without Shayla and her staff knowing about it. The baby may be safer where there are no Goblins."

"You can't be serious. I've told you things will be all right. Mabb's just got some kind of mental problem that needs to be dealt with, and she'll be sent away."

"You'd better pray she does go and that I don't see any threats from any other source. I swear, Tearach, I'll kill the next person who comes near my baby without my permission. That includes Mabb."

"She's my child, too. Or have you forgotten?” he calmly reminded her.

She slowly shook her head. “No, I haven't forgotten. But just like Mabb, you and everyone else looks at her and sees a Goblin baby. Everyone seems to forget that she's half human, too.” She defiantly put a finger to her chest. “I'm her mother, and I shouldn't have to put up with some insane woman coming to my door in the middle of the night, forcing her way in and threatening what I love. Yet you stand there asking questions about
my
behavior and talk about discussing
my
actions with Shayla. It's as if any action I took warrants such an examination. You should know me enough by now to trust me. You should believe me when I tell you something is true."

"But you don't trust me, Kathy. At least, that's what it sounds like. I've told you that this will all blow over, that everything will be all right. But you're carrying on like you're paranoid."

She faced him, lifted her head and met his gaze. “Why in hell would I have any reason to feel like that, Tearach? I was kidnapped, sedated, brought here against my will, subjected to Shayla's machinations, and ended up drugged and pregnant with a child whose safety seems to be of little importance.” She paused. “Why in the world would you believe I'm paranoid?"

Tearach just couldn't understand her attitude. While he did remember advising her to be wary of others in the woods, that warning came at a time when he'd been convinced Tearyn would not survive. The whole world had looked forbidding and dark, and he had ranted on about not trusting outsiders because of what a few had done. To her, it must seem as if he was now being impossibly hypocritical. But hadn't Kathy seen the change in his entire outlook? He'd tried so hard to let her know he was a different person than the one she'd first met. And where was the love he was so sure she felt for him? Why was her logic and damnable control flying out the window?

He ran a hand over his face and realized he couldn't forbid her to leave. She'd simply pack up and take the baby with her when he wasn't around, and Shayla would probably go along with her wishes. It was as if a different person had taken Kathy's place. As he saw it, their roles had almost reversed. Perhaps, if he gave her the time she needed to understand that the baby was safe, she'd relent and come back home.