The Highlander Series (63 page)

“Thank you,” Keeley said again.

Maddie rose and gestured toward the bed. “Go now. Make yourself comfortable. After a night of loving, I imagine your appetite ’tis monstrous.”

Keeley blushed and then laughed. “Aye, it is to be sure.”

Maddie smiled and exited the room, closing the door behind her. Keeley pulled on her nightdress and then burrowed under the covers. It was a cold day and her chamber had a chill despite the fire Gannon had thoughtfully tended.

As she waited for Maddie, she stared up at the ceiling, grateful she wouldn’t bear the day alone. Her heart already ached enough without the burden of solitude. Sometimes ’twas best to share with a friend. She missed the friendship that she and Rionna used to share.

Keeley had lived a long time alone, but now that she’d found the companionship—and camaraderie—of other women, the idea of going back to the silent cottage was more than she could bear.

She wanted to be part of the McCabe clan. As painful as it would be, knowing Alaric was close but never to be hers. But she wasn’t willing to be a coward and flee to sulk and lick her wounds in solitude. She was tired of being alone.

She wanted to belong.

Moments later, Maddie returned, not only with Mairin but Christina as well. The women burst into Keeley’s chambers, their smiles warm, their laughter vibrant.

Christina was ablaze with joy as she recounted Cormac’s marriage proposal. Maddie glanced over at Keeley and then reached to squeeze her hand. Keeley squeezed back and smiled fondly at Christina.

The lass was overjoyed, and Keeley allowed that happiness to seep into her soul, bringing with it a measure of comfort she desperately needed. She gathered the blankets to her chest and watched as Maddie added another log to the fire. Food and ale were delivered, and soon the women’s laughter filtered into the hall and beyond.

At his chamber door, Alaric paused and listened to the honeyed sound of Keeley’s amusement. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Then he turned and strode rapidly down the hall toward the stair, ignoring the increasing discomfort in his side.

“Keeley! Keeley!”

Keeley turned her head to see Crispen bolting across the great hall toward her. She braced herself, having become well acquainted with the way Crispen “greeted” her.

He flung himself around her, nearly knocking them both to the floor, but Keeley’s preparation kept them upright.

She laughed and pried him away from her. “What are you about, Crispen?”

“Will you go outside and play with us in the snow? Will you, Keeley? Mama can’t go. Papa has forbidden her outside the doors. She’s not happy, but Maddie says ’tis good because Mama is ungainly and as round as a pumpkin and she might fall on the ice.”

Keeley hesitated, nearly laughing at the flood of words from the lad’s mouth.

“The storm is over and the sun’s out. ’Tis a beautiful day. Papa has been out training since dawn. We can play on the hill and Gannon and Cormac can come along.”

“Slow down,” she said with a chuckle. “ ’Tis the truth I’d welcome a bit of fresh air.”

Crispen’s face lit up. “Then you’ll come? Really?” He all but danced out of her reach and around the hall.

“If you’ll give me a moment to don warmer clothing, I’ll be glad to come out with you as long as you have the laird’s permission.”

Crispen nodded eagerly. “I’ll go ask him now.”

“Very well. I’ll meet you back belowstairs in a few minutes’ time.”

She watched as Crispen dashed out of the hall at full speed and then shaking her head, she headed toward the stairs to don clothing appropriate for the bitter cold.

When she returned, both Cormac and Gannon stood in the hall surrounded by Crispen and several other children. They looked wearily in her direction as she approached.

Grinning, she made it a point to enthusiastically greet each of the children and then she asked if they were ready to proceed outdoors. Surrounded by their lively chatter, she stepped into the cold and shivered as chill bumps prickled up her spine.

“ ’Tis cold today!” she exclaimed.

“Aye, ’tis,” Cormac grumbled. “Too cold to be standing still watching over children.”

Keeley slanted a sly smile in Cormac’s direction. “ ’Tis likely Christina will be joining us.”

His expression brightened and then he glanced rapidly in Gannon’s direction and adopted a more bland look.

“Come on!” Crispen urged. He tugged at Keeley’s hand until she gave in and hurried up the hill toward the area where the children played.

Teams were quickly formed and Keeley groaned when she realized the game was tossing balls of snow at one another with as much force as they could muster.

Thankfully for her, Gretchen was on Keeley’s team and she was quite adept at hitting her target. The boys howled with outrage every time Gretchen pelted one of them in the face.

Breathless with exertion after an hour of steady warfare,
they called a truce and stood, hands on hips, gasping for air.

Crispen and Gretchen were whispering in low tones and kept staring over at Cormac and Gannon.

“You ask,” Crispen muttered.

“Nay, you ask,” Gretchen demanded. “ ’Tis your father’s men. They’ll more likely do it for you.”

Crispen jutted his chin out. “You’re a girl. ’Tis fact girls always get what they want.”

Gretchen rolled her eyes and then punched him hard in the arm.

“Ow!”

Crispen glared at her and rubbed his arm. “We’ll both ask.”

Gretchen smiled serenely and the two ran in Gannon’s direction. Keeley watched with interest when the two warriors visibly recoiled. Then they began shaking their heads and making negative gestures. They frowned, then scowled, and the children argued on.

It wasn’t until Gretchen’s expression turned from fierce determination to pitifully woeful that the men began to look uneasy. Her big eyes shimmered with tears and her chin quivered.

“Oh dear. They don’t stand a chance now.”

Keeley turned to see Christina approaching, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Gretchen isn’t opposed to using womanly wiles if it gains her what she wants. A more clever lass I’ve never met,” Christina said ruefully. “If she can’t beat capitulation from someone, she’ll turn on the pitiful eyes.”

“I’m dying to know what they want,” Keeley said.

“Whatever it is, it looks like they’ve been successful.”

Cormac looked up and his eyes brightened when he saw Christina. Gannon turned in the direction of the keep while Crispen and Gretchen trailed Cormac as he walked over to where the two women stood.

“Gannon’s going to fetch his shield!” Crispen crowed.

“His shield?” Keeley asked.

“Aye,” Gretchen said. “To slide down the hill on.”

“ ’Tis a sin to abuse a shield thusly,” Cormac muttered.

“ ’Tis good fun to ride down the hill atop them,” Crispen piped in.

Gannon appeared in the distance, the sun glinting off the large shield that he bore up the hill. When he reached the crowd of children they cheered.

Intrigued by the notion of sliding down a hill on a warrior’s shield, Keeley leaned closer to examine the object. ’Twas certainly large enough to hold a child or even a small adult.

“How does it work?”

“ ’Tis placed down like so,” Gannon said, placing the outward face onto the snow. “Then someone climbs atop and another gives them a push down the hill.”

Keeley’s eyes widened. “Is it safe?”

Gannon sighed. “Not if we allow them to slide into the loch or the courtyard where the men are training. The laird would be furious.”

“Then we must go the other way,” Keeley said, pointing away from the keep and the stone skirts.

Cormac eyed the next hill, sloping upward from the slight crest they were standing on. “Aye, the lass is right. We’ll need to go over the top of the next so we stay away from harm.”

“Yay! ’Tis a much steeper hillside to ride down,” Crispen cheered as they slogged up the rise through the snow.

“Me first!” Robbie cried as soon as they were looking down at the valley below them.

“Nay, ’Twas my idea and I did the asking,” Gretchen protested. “ ’Tis only fair I go first.”

“Let her go first,” Crispen muttered. “ ’Twill be her who is killed if ’tis not safe.”

Robbie grinned. “ ’Tis a sound plan that. All right, Gretchen. ’Tis agreed. You go first.”

Gretchen stared suspiciously at both boys but gladly took position on the shield that Gannon positioned in the snow.

“Now hold your skirts tight and don’t let go of the sides,” Christina said anxiously.

“All set?” Cormac asked.

“Aye, send me off,” Gretchen said, her eyes wide with excitement.

Gannon gave her a gentle push, but the polished iron of the shield was slick on the surface and she quickly picked up speed. Soon she was flying along the ground, barely skimming the surface.

At one point she turned sideways, gave a delighted squeal, and then was able to set herself to rights by using the weight of her body.

“ ’Tis a clever lass,” Gannon said in resignation. “I’ve no doubt that one day she’ll lead her own army.”

Christina and Keeley exchanged smug glances.

Gretchen landed at the bottom, coming to a skidding halt barely inches from one of the large trees that guarded the entrance to the forest. She waved her hand excitedly to let them know that all was well, not that they couldn’t tell that from the broad grin covering her face.

Dragging the shield behind her, she struggled up the hillside until Gannon went down to help her.

Crispen was next to go and he shouted all the way down, his laughter ringing over the snow. He spun in several dizzying circles at the bottom before coming to a halt in a particularly deep drift.

Robbie was next and he howled his displeasure at tipping
over halfway down and rolling like a runaway snowball for the rest of the way.

Thinking it looked like good fun, Crispen and Gretchen threw themselves in the snow and began rolling down the hill after Robbie.

“Would you like to try it, Keeley?” Gannon offered politely as he pointed at the empty shield.

Her first instinct was a vehement refusal, but she swore she saw challenge in the warrior’s eyes. Her gaze narrowed and she fixed him with a glare. “You think me too cowardly to try.”

Gannon shrugged. “It does seem rather fearsome for a slight lass as yourself.”

Christina choked and covered the sound with rapid coughing.

“That sounds remarkably like a challenge, warrior, but I have one of my own to make. If I go down the hill without tumbling from the shield, you and Cormac must also attempt it.”

Cormac scowled. “ ’Tis unseemly for warriors to indulge in child’s play.”

“Well, if you’re afraid,” she said innocently.

“Did you question our courage?” Gannon asked incredulously.

“Aye, I did. What think you to do about it?”

Gannon threw down the shield and pointed. “Get yourself on it and prepare to be soundly trumped.”

Keeley rolled her eyes and settled herself onto the cold metal. “ ’Tis so like a man to allow his pride to go before a fall.”

Before she could say yay or nay, or anything else for that matter, Gannon gave her a mighty shove down the hill. She lurched back and grasped desperately at the edge of the shield and hung on for dear life as the slick metal flew over the ice-covered landscape.

Oh dear, this was indeed a lot more difficult than it
appeared, and she would need all her wits about her to complete the run without taking a huge spill.

Down the hill the children chanted her name and cheered wildly as she drew near. The problem was she raced right by them and into the trees beyond.

She squeezed her eyes shut and curled her arms atop her head just as she went flying through the air. She landed with a bounce in a snowdrift and ate a mouthful of snow.

Thank goodness she hadn’t wrapped herself around a tree.

“Keeley! Keeley!”

It was hard to discern who shouted her name. It was a mix of the children and the roars of Gannon and Cormac. She glanced up in time to see the children fast converging while Gannon and Cormac—after instructing Christina to remain where she was—charged down the hill.

An uneasy prickle raced down Keeley’s nape. Her nostrils flared and she sensed … Her head whipped up just as several warriors charged through the trees, bearing right down on her and the children.

“Attack!” she yelled. “We’re under attack!”

Intrigued by the fact that Gannon had fetched an old shield from the pile of armor that needed repairing, Alaric followed after the other man as he trudged up the hill to where the children usually played. Only, no one was there. He knew that Keeley had taken the children to play as Ewan had given Crispen permission for her to do so.

He quickened his step to follow Gannon and when he reached the rise that Gannon had disappeared over, he saw Keeley, Christina, Cormac, and the children at the next peak. He quickly saw the purpose of the shield
when Gretchen plopped down onto it and then went flying down the opposite side.