Chapter 8 #2
“Thank ye for aiding my children, mistress,” he said as he held her gaze, “but I am sure ye have work ye must need to return to. I wouldnae want your charity to cause ye trouble with your mistress. I can handle it all now.”
Ilsabeth opened her mouth to argue, but then saw Simon glance pointedly behind her and recalled the soldiers.
She curtsied and ran, darting around Simon and the man she hoped Simon would soundly beat.
Without stopping, she wove her way through the alleys and back gardens until she reached Simon’s home.
She hurried up to her bedchamber to wash up and considered all the advantages of hiding there until the anger she had seen in Simon’s eyes faded a little.
The thought of behaving so cowardly was enough to stiffen her backbone.
No doubt Simon would think she had broken some promise to him by leaving the house again.
Ilsabeth doubted he would be able to see all the fine nuances of what she had said.
Nevertheless, she would meet him when he returned home.
He would have to see that she had had no choice.
Simon looked at the man whose wrist he still held, tempted to break it even though the man was no longer fighting him.
It was Colin Rose, the second son of a nearby laird and a man rumored to be very fond of young girls.
He then looked at Elen, who peered around an angry Reid.
It was all too clear to see that the rumors were true.
There was no doubt in his mind what Colin Rose had intended to do with Elen and Simon was even more tempted to snap the man’s wrist. The thought of killing the man was even more tempting but Simon could not afford the sort of trouble that would bring him, not now.
“I didnae realize they were your bairns, Sir Simon,” said Colin. “I didnae e’en ken ye had wed.”
“I havenae,” Simon said. “These are my foster children.”
The man grew even paler and Simon wondered if Colin Rose was about to faint like some delicate woman.
He could not help but think of how Ilsabeth, a woman wrongly accused, had to hide and was in fear of her life, while this man who hurt small children for his own pleasure walked free and unafraid.
It was, perhaps, time to make the man taste a little fear.
“They may nay be of my blood, Colin Rose, but they are as dear to me as if they were. I would be certain to harshly punish any mon who harmed them. I have a special distaste for those who hurt children,” he added softly. “I shall be sure to keep a close watch on you from now on.”
“Ye having some trouble, Sir Simon?” asked the biggest of the five soldiers, who finally stepped forward.
“Not any longer,” Simon said, and shoved Colin Rose away from him. “I believe we have come to an understanding.” He looked at Reid and Elen. “Shall we return home while ye explain to me why Elen is out and wandering at this time of the night?”
A quick glance behind as he and the children started to walk away revealed the soldiers circling Colin Rose.
The men had understood what the man was and why he had tried to grab Elen.
Simon knew Colin Rose would be crawling home tonight, broken and bloody.
It was tempting to go and join the soldiers in that task but Simon turned his attention back to the children.
“Weel?” He looked at Reid. “Why are ye out here?”
“Elen sometimes wanders, Simon,” answered Reid. “I always kept a close watch on her because she is apt to decide to just go for a walk. I didnae think she would keep doing it now that we have a fine roof o’er our heads and so I stopped watching.”
“What ye should have done is warned us of this. We would have been able to watch her more closely, made sure all the doors and gates were more tightly latched.”
“I ken it.” Reid started to look back as he heard a man’s cries and the sounds of fists hitting flesh but Simon put his hand on the boy’s head and forced him to keep looking forward.
“The soldiers have decided that Colin Rose needs a wee lesson in how a mon should treat children,” Simon said.
“Will they kill him?” asked Reid.
“Nay, for they dinnae think him worth hanging for.”
Simon picked Elen up after she flung herself at his legs.
She was trembling and clung to his neck with a strength that surprised him.
Elen might be too young to understand the nature of the danger she had just faced, but she obviously had enough instinct to know that she had been in danger.
He just wished that would be enough to make her stop her wandering.
“Has anyone e’er hurt her, Reid?” he asked.
“Nay. There was a time or two when I feared it might happen but, nay, no one has. ‘Tis why I stayed in the wood though. Told Ilsabeth it was because I didnae ken where else to go and that wasnae a lie, but I also didnae want Elen in the village where she would be seen a lot and maybe taken.”
“Verra wise.”
“Are ye going to yell at Ilsabeth again?” “Ah, ye heard me yell at her that time, did ye?” “Ye were verra loud.”
Simon hoped the child had not heard much more than that. “She shouldnae be leaving the safety of the house. The lass doesnae seem to ken how easily she can be recognized or remembered nay matter what guise she dons.”
“Aye, ‘tis her eyes. I dinnae think I have e’er seen such a blue. Ilsabeth doesnae ken that there is anything special about her eyes, ye ken. But, she had to help find Elen. Ye can see why we couldnae leave her out on her own.”
“I understand but that doesnae mean I like it. If Ilsabeth is caught it willnae go weel for her. She has to remain out of sight until I can find the real killer and the real traitors.”
Simon seriously considered locking Ilsabeth in the cellars, perhaps even chaining her to a wall down there.
He did understand that she had had no real choice this time.
Elen was too small to be walking around the town on her own.
It was not just filth like Colin Rose that the child could be in danger from.
Understanding did little to ease his fear for Ilsabeth, however.
He found her waiting for him in his ledger room after he had handed the children over to Old Bega.
Simon watched her, rather enjoying the faint signs of nervousness she revealed as he poured them each a tankard of cider.
She had come too close to being captured tonight.
The thought of just how close she had come still chilled his blood.
“Ye didnae heed my words of wisdom at all, did ye?” he said as he sat down and watched her from across his worktable.
“I did, but I couldnae leave Elen out there all alone,” Ilsabeth replied.
He sighed and rested his head against the back of his chair. “Nay, ye couldnae.”
Ilsabeth was so relieved that he understood that she drank down her cider and then went and sat on his lap. “I thought about sending ye a message and waiting for ye to come and help find her, but then I kenned that would take too long.”
“Colin Rose would have had her tucked up in his house by then.”
“Is that who that was? Ye ken the mon and what he is and yet he is still walking about?”
“No proof. And a laird for a father. And he willnae be walking about after tonight, at least not for a verra long time.”
“Did ye beat him?”
“So eager ye sound. Nay, I wanted to, but the soldiers decided to do it. They must have kenned I wouldnae help the mon for they began to beat him while I was still close enough to hear it.” He set his empty tankard down and pulled her into his arms. “I kept Reid from looking and just kept right on walking.”
“Do ye feel guilty about that?”
Simon thought about that for a moment. “Nay, not a bit.” He smiled when she laughed.
“I was so afraid for her, Simon,” she whispered.
“Aye, and ye were right to be. She needs to be watched verra closely. I have naught but admiration for young Reid for keeping her alive and safe for so long. She may be the bonniest wee thing I have e’er seen and as sweet as summer fruit, but she is also a great deal of trouble on two wee feet.”
“She certainly is.” Ilsabeth kissed his throat. “We must needs go and have our meal in but a few moments.”
“I was thinking we might have a little something else first.”
Wriggling on his lap, she could feel how hard he had grown. “I can tell but it will have to wait until later.” She sat up and kissed him before hopping off his lap. “I am certain Old Bega has had a stern talk with Elen but I believe I will add a few words myself. See you in a moment.”
Simon watched her leave and shook his head. He had gone from sitting by the fire with a dog and a cat to having a house full. He certainly was not lonely now.
Ilsabeth frowned at the door to Simon’s ledger room and wondered if she should go in.
MacBean had brought Simon a message and she had not seen the man since.
She wished he would share such things with her, but she was not going to try and make him do so, if only because she knew she would be hurt if he refused to do it.
She had not even pressed for the tale about how his back had become so scarred and yet he had said he would tell her.
The problem was that, unless he began to share his life with her in more than the bedchamber, it was going to be very hard to win his love.
She would be reduced to being no more than his bedmate and that thought twisted her heart.
Her parents shared everything as did most of her other married kin.
That was what she wanted with Simon but she knew that if she tried to force that sharing it would never be right. It had to be given willingly.
Her only thought was to spend as much time as she could with him when they were not making love.
He would have to talk to her then. Once he became more comfortable talking to her, he would begin to share his news, good or bad.
At least, she hoped so, she thought, and grimaced as she rapped on the door.