Chapter 28
The sun was rising at their backs as the three of them walked out of the west gate and into the valley. Above them the sky was brightening into blue, promising a fine day ahead, and Lilidh felt she could get used to the unseasonable run of fine weather. The air was still crisp and held a hint of winter chill, but was kept at bay by the warmth on their backs. Mathe had one arm around her, and Fynn walked ahead of them.
The going was slow, as her husband was still becoming used to walking with a cane, and he cursed and muttered as it caught on loose stones or in cracks in the earth. His leg was stiff and his whole body was held at an awkward tilt. The physician had told them both that it would take time to become used to moving with the cane, but after enough practice it should become as natural as walking without it. Which was just as well, since it was becoming clearer that Mathe’s leg wasn’t likely to get back to its full range of movement. He would carry his limp forever, as a reminder of the decisions he had made and the consequences of them.
They were still staying at the castle, and shared a private room for all three of them, allowing Mathe to be seen daily by both the physician and the apothecary, who made him vile concoctions to ease the pain. Her heart went out to him each morning when he woke and drained his cup, gagging and heaving. She’d put her nose to the dregs once, and once only, and it was enough to nearly choke her. But it seemed to work.
“How is it holding up?” she asked.
Mathe shrugged. “It doesnae seem to pain me more than normal, so I suppose that means it’s doing fine. I cannae seem to get used to this bloody stick though.”
“It’s good practice though, surely.”
“Oh, aye. Although I’ve never spent so long looking at the ground right in front of me, and somehow I still get it stuck.”
“Lucky ye have me here to help, if ye find yerself unable to move,” Lilidh said with a cheeky smile.
“Unless ye make it worse,” Mathe pointed out. “After all, sometimes, when the light hits yer face just so, I cannae seem to move, whether I have a limp or no”.”
Lilidh looked down and smiled, sure that Mathe had seen the blush that crept up her neck at his words. Where had this silver-tongued rogue come from?
They continued to pick their way into the valley and Lilidh reflected that today was a special day for them both, for several reasons. It was the first day Mathe had been deemed strong enough for a long walk out of the town and into the open moorland. And because of that, it was also the first day they would get a glimpse of their home.
The new home that was actually their old home.
Blaine had told them a few days ago of his plan to rebuild their home in the crofting valley, and Lilidh couldn’t say how excited she was at the prospect. Losing the house, which had been in her family for generations, had been a terrible blow. And not just for the sentimental factor; the house meant more than just the history in its walls. For herself and Fynn, the house meant safety and security and a place to call home, and looking back, Lilidh could see how much it affected her, to lose these things. To move into that accursed house in the mud and to do her best to pretend that it was everything she wanted.
So strange, then, to walk beside Mathe, the man who was both the reason she lost the house, and the reason she could get it back.
They made their way up a shallow hill and Lilidh knew that when they reached the crest, they could look into the valley and see the house. They walked slowly, Mathe leaning more heavily on her for support, and her heart started to hammer. That was their future, just over that lip.
“Excited?” Mathe asked.
Lilidh didn’t trust herself to answer, so she simply nodded.
And then her first glimpse. The wide and open valley, strewn with rocks and scree, sloping upwards to the craggy peaks at each side. It was still in shadow, as it was likely to remain for another hour, at least until the sun crested the eastern side to fill the valley with warmth and light. And there, in the middle, was their house.
Lilidh gasped. It had walls! Sturdy external walls, covered with wooden scaffolding, and men swarming all over it. A surprising number of men, actually. They clambered over the bones of the house and the sounds of hammers and sawing and the moving of stone came back to them on the air.
“Laird McCaskill really meant it when he said as soon as possible,” Mathe muttered. “There must be twenty men down there.”
“Mama, papa, look!” Fynn cried. “Is that our house?”
“Nay, Fynn,” Mathe replied. “That’s our home.”
The boy cheered and jumped up and down. “Oh, I’m so excited! Can we go down and look?”
“I dinnae see why no”, but we need to keep out of their way. Ye know how important it is to get things right when ye’re building something.”
“Measure once, twice, and then three times,” the boy said proudly. “And only then do ye make the cut.”
“Aye, well done.”
Lilidh looked down at the house and felt a warmth spread through her. That was theirs. That was where they would build their future together and make up for the mistakes of the past. “Do ye think they’ll build it back the same as it was?” she asked.
“Likely,” Mathe answered. “The original layout was easy to see from the remains.”
“Hmmm.”
Mathe turned to look at her. “What is it?”
“Oh, naught,” Lilidh replied as casually as she could. “There were just a few things that always bothered me. Naught important, just the layout of the kitchen and the main room.”
“Is that right?”
“Never big enough to say anything,” Lilidh said quickly. “But, ye know, if they are building it again…”
“Well, ye better get down there,” he said.
“Really?”
Mathe shrugged. “It’s yer house. Ye might as well have it rebuilt the way ye want.”
“Oh Mathe, thank ye,” she said, giving his waist a squeeze.
“I mean it,” he said. “Take the lad and get down there. I can see them working on the kitchen as we speak. I’ll catch up. And Lilidh?”
“Aye, Mathe?” she asked, turning to look at him.
“I love ye.”
He’d spoken those words countless times to her in the last few days, and yet she didn’t think she’d ever tire of them. The way he looked at her when he said it, as if he was determined to make it count every single time. Not just a rote statement, but the truth from his very soul.
“And I love ye, Mathe MacBrennan.”
Lilidh turned and held out her hand for Fynn. The boy took it, and for a moment they simply stood together, the three of them looking down into their home. Then Lilidh took a deep breath and turned to her son with a grin.
“Race ye?” she asked.
Fynn laughed and whooped and the two of them ran forward, leaving Mathe to watch them with a smile on his face, and she felt the wind in her hair and the long grass whip her legs. She was free, she was loved, and she was home.
Did life get any better?