Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Why do ye think Faither is with us?”
“I daenae ken, but it’s a bit strange.”
Emilie tried to stifle a chuckle, feeling Archer stiffen where he was walking beside her as they made their way through the wide, open meadows that led from the castle to the forest.
The twins were walking a few paces ahead of them, their heads dipped together. The children seemed to believe that they were whispering and that the adults walking behind them could not hear. Which could not be any further from the case.
Archer was stiff beside her, and when Emilie glanced at him sidelong, she saw a muscle clenching in his jaw.
“Ye should relax a bit,” she said, hitting his shoulder with hers. “Otherwise, ye’ll just keep frightenin’ the bairns. And that isnae the purpose of today.”
Her husband said nothing; he simply grunted to show that he heard her and kept his gaze focused on the children before them.
The twins were still whispering, but Emilie did her best to block them out, allowing her thoughts to wander while they made their way toward the tree line.
I wish that I could read his mind and hear his thoughts.
Emilie would give nearly anything to know what her husband was thinking in that moment. But of course, she couldn’t.
She’d been certain that he would turn down her plans. That, at any moment, he would state that there was no way he was going out into the woods with them. But yet, at every moment where she’d be certain he was going to shoot her down, she had found him agreeing.
I need to see how he is with the bairns. I need to see if I can get him to be a wee bit more friendly with them. I daenae want to leave this family in shambles and the children alone when it’s time for me to go back to the abbey.
With every passing day, Emilie was getting more and more attached to the children. And it hurt her heart to think that when she left, she would be leaving them with no one else but each other and a father who terrifies them.
“Do ye want to teach them some about the trees when we get in there?” Emilie asked in what she hoped was a cheery voice. “I can do it if ye daenae want to. But it might help them to learn from ye a bit, too.”
Archer grunted again but did not answer.
“Ye ken ye can say words to me at some point,” Emilie continued, glancing at him sidelong as they continued to walk. “It may help me figure out what it is ye actually want.”
She saw Archer’s gaze flicking toward her, a brow raising as he regarded her.
“I told ye,” he growled, finally speaking for the first time since they had walked out of the castle. “I want ye to teach them about the world, and nature, and the fish. It’s yer job, and I’ll nae be doin’ it for ye.”
Emilie deflated a bit, disappointment filling her at his words. But she quickly pushed it out of her mind.
“Well, then I’ll teach them everythin’ that I possibly can,” she chimed, turning her attention back to the children.
They were getting close now, and they would arrive within the shade of the forest soon.
I should really be workin’ on annoyin’ him a bit more.
Emilie knew it was true. But in this moment, she did not want to. She had seen too much.
Too much hurt in this family. Too much fear in the children. And, she didn’t want to spend time adding to it. Not now.
No, there would be time for her to work on her plan later.
Now? Right now, she needed to work on healing a family.
“Do ye see those trees with the white trunks and dark markin’s?” Emilie asked, pointing ahead of them and grabbing the twins’ attention.
They were only a few feet away from the start of the forest now, and Emilie was able to identify the trees clearly.
She had done this when she was younger, when the nuns had given her a little bit of free time for enjoyment.
Her favorite thing to do had been to sneak one of the books talking about the different types of flora and fauna found in the highlands and go out into the surrounding woods and try to match it all up.
Not that she had ever told Archer that. And she didn’t know much about fish. But teaching the twins about trees, plants, and animals? He could not have given her a better job.
“How can ye tell?” Aurora asked, walking directly up to one of the trees that Emilie had pointed to and scrutinizing it.
“Well, because of the color of the bark,” Emilie explained, walking up next to the girl and pointing to it. “And when ye peel it, it comes off in little flakes, like this.”
Using her thumb and index finger, Emilie plucked a bit of the bark from the tree. It came away easily, the matte white of the bark shifting under the canopy of leaves above them.
“What about that tree?” Louis’ voice chimed in, and Emilie turned to face him.
He was a few paces to their right, standing a bit further within the brush and foliage that decorated the forest floor. Emilie smiled when she saw which tree he was pointing at.
“That’s Scots Pine,” she said, her grin widening as she walked up to stand next to him.
Emilie heard rather than saw her husband coming up to stand beside her, the sound of snapping branches and foliage being rustled about by something rather large announcing his presence. She didn’t turn to look at him, but swore she could feel the warmth of his body radiating off him.
She tried her very best not to pay attention to it as she pointed to the tree, directing Louis’ attention.
“Do ye see how it doesnae have leaves,” she said, pointing to the greenery decorating the branches, “but rather, it looks like it has needles?”
Louis nodded eagerly, seemingly excited that he understood what she meant.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aurora hovering just over her shoulder. Emilie shifted, making space for the young girl to come up next to her so she could see.
“That’s how ye ken it’s a pine tree, any kind of pine,” Emilie explained once both twins were close enough to see what she was talking about.
“But ye ken that it’s Scots Pine when ye can see that the needles look like there’s a bit of blue mixed in with the green.
And they’re always in bundles of two, see. ”
Emilie was careful as she moved the branch, careful not to allow the pine needles to poke her skin as she pointed to their base. Sure enough, pairs of needles sprouted all along the space.
“I daenae have another pine to compare it to for ye right now,” she explained, feeling the twins press in closely to her. “But if ye ever hold a Scots Pine needle next to almost any other pine needle, it’ll be much shorter. And they have a little bit of a twist to them.”
“I see it!” Louis chimed, reaching forward eagerly to run his finger along the edge of the needle.
The boy’s enthusiasm was infectious, and soon all three of them were grinning. It was almost enough for Emilie to push all awareness of her husband’s presence and how the heat of him threatened to cloud her mind out of her brain.
Almost.
It went like that for quite a while. Emilie and the twins walked deeper and deeper into the forest as she pointed out different trees, as well as some of the plants that decorated the floor.
Archer hovered the entire time. He was never really a part of the conversation, always on the outskirts as she talked to the bairns.
But he never complained. Never chimed in or offered any thoughts. He was always there, though. Watching over them like a silent sentinel.
The longer they were out there, with the smell of the wood and the earth encompassing them, the more the children started to relax.
They had been tense at first. Even in their excitement, the twins had been constantly throwing glances over their shoulders, so they were constantly aware of where he was.
But that had stopped a little while ago. Something that Emilie noticed but did not comment on.
They’re gettin’ used to his presence, she thought excitedly, realizing that her plan to get them all out and interacting together was working.
A quick snap of motion caught her eye, and she stood up straight, her eyes immediately scanning the area.
“Did ye see that rabbit?” Aurora chimed, her voice filled with excitement.
“Is that what that was?” Emilie asked, cocking her head to the side.
She hadn’t been able to see anything; it had all happened so quickly.
“A rabbit?” Louis asked just as excitedly.
He didn’t wait for his sister to answer. Instead, the small boy immediately started bounding through the woods, his legs carrying him quickly as he rushed forward.
“Louis!” Emilie called out, suddenly worried as he got farther and farther away from them. “Daenae go too far. I daenae want ye to get hurt.”
“Get back here, Lou!” Aurora yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth so that her voice would travel.
But Louis was too lost in his search for the rabbit to pay them any mind. Emilie shook her head.
She cupped her mouth just like Aurora had, readying herself to chastise the boy for running off. But she did not get a chance to.
Just as Louis jumped, trying his best to clear a fallen tree, his heel snagged on the wood beneath him. Emilie could barely make out what had happened.
All she knew was that one moment he was there, and the next moment he had fallen to the ground with a thud that resounded through the forest around them, the brush covering him almost entirely from view.
“Louis!” She screamed, beginning to run.
The sound of him crying rose up, telling her exactly where the boy was located.
Emilie moved quickly, but a large form overtook her.
Archer darted past her in a flash, arriving at Louis’ side so quickly that she barely had time to react.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice a growl filled with worry. “Where are ye hurt?”
As Emilie drew near, she was able to clearly make out the scene. Louis was huddled on the ground, cradling his foot, while Archer was sunk down by his side.
Emilie couldn’t help but notice the panicked look on Archer’s face.
He cares much more than he lets on.
“Me foot,” Louis sobbed. “I daenae want to stand.”
Archer acted immediately, scooping up his son and holding him to his chest. He stood with little effort.
He spared only one quick glance at Emilie.
“I’m takin’ him back to the castle,” he advised, wasting no time before taking off.
Emilie stood still in her spot, surprise and worry coursing through her as her husband began to jog back the way that they had come. It wasn’t long before the sound of Archer moving through the forest, accompanied by Louis’s sobs, faded entirely.
Aurora, whom Emilie had not seen arrive at her side, spoke. The closeness of it spooked her a bit.
“Is he goin’ to be all right?” she asked, her voice sounding quieter and more unsure than it had the entire time that Emilie had known her.
Emilie glanced at the girl, noticing immediately that her eyes were wide with worry for her twin. Her heart gave a painful tug; her own worry clouded by the need to give a little bit of assurance to the scared little girl standing right in front of her.
“Aye,” Emilie said with the nod of her head. “He’s goin’ to be just fine. By the time we get back to the castle, yer faither will have looked him over and ken just what to do to help him. Ye’ll see. So, let’s get goin’ so we can be there, just in case he needs our help.”
Aurora sniffled a little, telling Emilie just how close to tears the girl was. And then, she nodded.
Emilie extended her arm to Aurora, more than a little shocked when the girl took it. Arm in arm, the pair walked through the woods, following the very large path that Archer had left in his haste.
With every step, Emilie was sending up prayers, using them to draw strength into her so that she did not succumb to her own worrying.
Please God, let Louis be all right. Daenae let me have lied to this poor girl beside me. And daenae let her brother be hurt too badly.