Surrender (33 page)

He placed his large leather pouch of healing
herbs on the table then hung the mace back on the empty nail.
Carrying the sword over to the bed, he propped it against the wall
near enough for Graemme to reach it easily.

Elyne went over to open the pouch and spread
its contents on the table, selecting the jars, stoppered bottles
and crushed herbs she knew would heal wounds. She rinsed the basin
with hot water then half-filled it. On the small table beside the
bed, she put it and the cloths she kept washed and clean for
dressing Graemme's leg.

"Well, now, let me see what ye have been up
to," he said as he started unwinding the bandage. When he had bared
Graemme's leg down to the skin, he looked up in surprise.

"Teeth marks? And not from Squat, nor yer
departed friends, eh?"

He looked from one flushed face to the
other.

"Well, 'tis not likely ye bit yerself. Ye do
remember ye were here to learn to know each other so yer marriage
would be calm and peaceful? Looks to me ye decided to go at each
other with tooth and hand." He raised his right brow, the scar
crossing through it making him look even more quizzical.

"From the mark of a hand on yer right nether
cheek, Elyne, I would say ye either started or ye finished an
argument?"

"He started it! He told me packing mud on my
face would smooth the wrinkles I've added to my face from
frowning."

Ranald glanced up and studied her face then
shook his head. "What wrinkles?"

She gasped and felt over her face. "Between
my brows and around my eyes!"

Her brother ducked his head. Still, he
couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

"Lucifer's wagging tongue! Watch her else
she'll dump another bucket of mud over me!"

"A bucket?"

"Aye. Not one but two! After I had hunted all
day trying to find grouse for her dinner, I was bathing in a pool
of ice water. She tried to drown me, too."

"It served you right. Ye were pig-headed and
didn't heed me when I told ye it would rain and ye should take a
cloak."

Ranald shook his head as he kept changing one
hot cloth for another. Finally, he probed around the cleaned wound.
"This can only be yer work on his leg, Elyne. I recognize yer bite
from the time Moridac teased ye saying yer tits were getting bigger
than yer head!" He stopped to look at her. "Did ye do it
underwater?"

Graemme answered for her. "Nay, she did it
whist swinging upside down!"

"Hmm." After putting another hot compress on
the wound, Ranald sat back in his chair. "Whilst I wait for this to
cool, I think ye'd best tell me all."

When they both started talking at the same
time, he held up one finger. They shut up.

"One at the time." He pointed to Graemme.
"You start."

Graemme told of his miserable day and of her
giving him the mud bath. He admitted he had mayhem on his mind when
he started to chase her.

She interrupted him to tell her brother the
miserable man she was to marry had put snares around the woods to
catch her like some wild game. Then he let her twirl and struggle
until she was dizzy. Naturally, she wouldn't let him treat her like
some pig held up for bleeding, so she grabbed him. The only spot
she could reach was his thigh.

"If yer precious parts ye are so afeared of
losing had been in reach, ye would be one short of a pair!"

"See! Yer sister is begging for a
beating."

"Begging? Ye already struck me."

"Before or after the bite?" Ranald quirked
his head to the side.

"After." Elyne flushed and lowered her
eyes.

"Well, now, then ye are even. Mud for Mud. A
hand print for teeth marks." He shook his head. "The two of ye are
worse than my twins. He pulls her hair. She cuts his in his sleep.
We will see what Grunda has to say about yer sennight
together."

Elyne gasped when he lifted the hot compress
off Graemme's leg. Two of the marks on his leg had swelled even
more, the flesh leading from them red and angry. They looked filled
with putrid fluid near to bursting the skin. Ranald stood and took
a thin knife from amongst his things then put it in the boiling
water. She busied herself getting more clean squares of cloth and
spreading a thicker drying cloth beneath his leg.

Walking over to the food storage box, she
looked at each bottle before she selected one slightly different
from the others. It wasna wine but a potent drink the Scots brewed
in caves close to waterfalls where they could collect the purest
water. She poured a generous amount in a cup and brought it
over.

"Ye're going to pour this on yer
handiwork?"

"Nay, fool! 'Tis for ye to drink so ye dinna
squeal like a girl getting her time of the moon."

She lifted his head and held it to his lips.
After the first tentative sips, he rolled his eyes.

"Why have ye not offered this afore? 'Tis our
favorite in the Highlands. Ye canna get cold after a few cups of
it."

"Believe me, 'tis Chief Broccin's favored
drink, also." Ranald came over holding the handle of the knife with
a padded cloth and sat down. "This will hurt, but I have to release
the poisons else they will spread through yer blood and kill
ye."

Before Graemme could worry about it further,
Ranald quickly cut through the two spots. Graemme grunted through
teeth gnashed together. Elyne had wet cloths ready to catch the
fluid as it spurted out of the wounds. A few squeezes from Ranald,
and the flesh emptied. After he cleaned out the wound, he inspected
the ugly smelling fluid.

"As I suspected. Elyne's teeth forced dirt
into the wounds. Luckily, I always carry jars of creams and waxes
made from Chickweed wintergreen. The good Brother Cadfael came
through Kelso Abbey several times and taught me much about wounds.
It should heal quickly now."

While Graemme caught his breath, his new
brother-by-law placed a heavy poultice of the ointments on his leg
and held it with clean bandages.

"I dinna want ye on yer feet until the
morrow. Unfortunately, we canna delay longer. Raptor's guests are
getting restless. Chief Broccin threatens to bring everyone here to
have Father Martin perform the wedding vows."

"Brother, he's marrying me off to a man who
will beat me every time I thwart him. Ye saw the bruise!"

"Ye're the one who first angered me. I told
ye once our family motto is
With a Strong Hand
."

Graemme snorted and chuckled. No doubt, the
strong drink had made the man mindless.

Ranald looked at him and grinned. "I think ye
got the better end of the fight, Elyne. Ye should watch yerself,
though. He might decide to take a hunk out of yer arse the next
time ye decide to act like a man." He stopped and studied Graemme.
"Be wary, Graemme, if she picks up a sword. Tis more lethal than
teeth."

Elyne was near as exhausted from the morning
as Graemme. Whenever Ranald moved, Squat followed him. He seemed to
want to know what was going on and was suspicious of the salves and
elixirs. Every time Ranald stopped for something, Squat laid on his
back, inviting him to pet his stomach. He declined until after he
was through treating Graemme. Then he bent over and ruffled up the
dog's fur and, putting one big hand on his underbelly, rocked him
back and forth until Squat's tongue lolled out with joy.

She was grateful when her brother led her to
sit her down at the table. Squat stood on his barrel legs and
begged to get in her lap. She picked him up and he was snoring in a
short time.

Ranald went over to inspect the gruel. "It
has been on for a while, but a little extra water will thin it
out," he said as he added some and stirred. "I picked some wild
fruit on the way. With butter, honey and nuts, it will help make a
filling meal."

"Nay. I have not found any nuts. I already
checked the food bin." Graemme volunteered.

"Ye didna know there is a storage area under
the floor?"

Ranald pulled the bins out of the way.
Beneath them was a trap door with a hole in the top to open it.
When he pulled it up, he reached inside and took out several jars
of preserved apples and pears, crocks of mixed nuts, a salted ham
and more flour.

Seeing Elyne's surprised look, he spoke
up.

"Domnall must have thought ye knew everything
about the lodge, else he would have shown ye where the storage area
was in case hunting proved scarce."

Before long, he had made oat cakes and put
them in the fireplace oven. He sliced ham which soon sizzled in a
pan as he explored another treasure trove with enough bowls to feed
eight people.

After Ranald made sure the two had eaten
enough to help bring back their strength, he felt over Graemme's
body. He had cooled from his fever but would bear watching when
night began to fall. He expected it would go up again. Hopefully,
for the last time.

They had to leave in the morning. Though he
had joked about his father bringing the wedding guests here in the
woods, he didn't doubt the Chief and Father Michael, along with
members of their family, would appear by another day or two to see
the union tied tight and proper.

"Graemme has fallen into a much needed sleep,
Elyne. I suggest ye do the same."

He was glad his sister didn't argue but gave
him a grateful smile and went to curl up on the bed as far away as
possible from Graemme.

Ranald grinned. She was defiant even when the
man slept. Poor Graemme would have a time taming his strong-willed
sister!

Scooping up Squat, he eased out the door and
proceeded to find a proper burial place for the two louts. They
didn't deserve to rest for eternity in the lovely surroundings.
Deep in the woods would be more appropriate. He no sooner had
cleared the area when Colyne and Brian came trudging through the
bushes.

"When we approached the door, we heard
Graemme's snoring so loud I wondered how yer sister could sleep
through the noise," Brian announced.

"Aye. 'Tis best they sleep it off. They look
like they've had a pitched battle here this past sennight." Colyne
grinned. "Saw two buckets out there. Did she poison him again?"

"Quiet, Squat." Ranald pointed to the ground,
and the barking dog immediately quieted and spread out on his
stomach, his head resting on his paws. "Nay. They had a difference
of opinion. I'll tell ye of it while ye help me get the bodies
beneath the ground."

"Magnus and Graemme do the same. They leave
no bodies above ground by nightfall."

The three men dug a hole large enough to hold
both bodies and had them covered in record time. Ranald stood at
the head of the grave and said prayers for the dead with as much
dignity as he had as Brother Ranald at Kelso Abbey.

When they finished, they stripped off their
clothes and jumped into the water. Brian and Colyne were their
usual playful selves but respected Ranald's restrained personality.
They were still enjoying the chilly water when Elyne came around
the path, rubbing yer eyes and yawning. When she saw the men, she
blushed and turned her back.

"I see yer husband-to-be has already cured ye
of spying on men, little one," Ranald said with a laugh.

"He hasna
cured
me of anything. Nor
will he." She boldly turned around and glared at him. "I have seen
ye nekid afore, brother."

Ranald chuckled under his breath, for he saw
she avoided looking at the other two men. Mayhap Graemme had indeed
begun to tame his bride!

o0o

Soon after dawn the next morn, Ranald
redressed Graemme's wound and pronounced him ready to travel. After
Graemme finally answered his two friends prying questions, Elyne
threw up her hands and stalked out of the building. She had to. Had
she heard one more request to see her bruised nether check, she'd
have taken Graemme's sword and chased his teasing friends all the
way back to Raptor Castle.

Ranald insisted everyone have a meal to break
their fast, for they would arrive at Raptor after the sun passed
westward. With all the people at the castle to witness the wedding,
there might be next to nothing left from their noon meal.

When Graemme helped her to mount, she steeled
herself not to wince. Never would she have believed a simple wallop
on the arse could cause discomfort for more than a day. But then,
it hadn't been a simple wallop at all. Furious, Graemme had used
all his strength. Since all eyes but Ranald's watched her to see
her reaction, she acted unconcerned and near bounced down on the
saddle. She almost gulped and regretted her pretended unconcern.
Rather than have them think Graemme had been able to punish her to
where she minded it the least bit, she'd rather parade around with
mud on her face.

"Why are ye not ready to ride? Ye stand
around staring like ye expect to see a court jester ready to make
ye laugh."

She urged her horse up beside Ranald and
didn't wait for Graemme to mount and follow. Brian and Colyne were
still arguing over who should carry Squat when she entered the
forest road.

Her hair flew out behind her and the dew wet
air on her face felt refreshing. She rode to the left of Ranald,
for she knew he never allowed anyone on the right. 'Twould hinder
drawing his Claymore from the sling on his back.

Watching him, she could easily see why
everyone from the northern Highlands to the south of Northumbria
called him the Black Raptor. He ignored a helmet this day. His
midnight black hair flew freely around his face, his black cloak
lifted from his body and flapped on either side like huge wings. He
preferred black breeches and shirts or black tunics, unlike his
twin who had worn only bright, colorful fabrics.

Ranald felt her gaze, for he glanced at her
and flashed a smile. She would miss him deeply, but he had promised
he and his family would come to visit her at Clibrick Castle. If
ever she needed him, she knew he would be there.