Chapter 11
Amanda could hear the terseness in Logan’s voice.
There was something worrying about it. This Bram MacGavin must certainly have been a man to be feared by the way Logan reacted.
Amanda had never heard of such villainy before.
Imagine taking advantage of poor children to have them do their bidding and then hurting them whenever they showed a desire to stop!
It was incomprehensible and Amanda wished she had the skills of a warrior so that she could go and give him a piece of her mind.
There were too many cruel men in the world who thought they could use other people as they saw fit, and the ones who suffered were always the ones who did not deserve it.
She held on to Lillie tightly, supporting the girl’s small body as it clung to her.
Amanda closed her eyes and felt every shudder that passed through Lillie’s body, every sob that crawled out of her throat, and every tear that flowed from her eyes.
It broke her heart to know that a child was feeling this way.
She wished she could have done more to soothe Lillie’s ills.
She wondered if this was how Logan had felt when his wife had fallen ill during childbirth. The thought flashed through her mind in an instant.
The longer Amanda embraced Lillie, the more she found herself yearning in her heart.
This was exactly the kind of thing that she had been missing from her life.
It spoke to her maternal instincts; she knew this must have been what it was like to be a mother.
In this moment Lillie was entirely dependent on Amanda for comfort.
Lillie had nothing else in the world. There was something intoxicating about this level of dependency and longing, and Amanda found that she did not want to let go.
She also knew that she was not this child’s mother and it would only make her feel worse if she continued in this way. Amanda patted the child’s back and then leaned back.
“It’s going to be fine. You rest here and have a drink while I go and talk with Logan about what we’re going to do next.”
“Dinnae leave me, please,” Lillie asked.
The plaintive tone of her voice struck a chord within Amanda’s heart.
She rose from the bed anyway and poured Lillie a glass of water before reassuring her again that she wasn’t leaving her, she was only going for a little while so they could find a way to stop this Bram MacGavin and help all the other children that Lillie had been forced to leave behind, including her sister.
Amanda stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her so that Lillie did not have to overhear what was being said between the adults.
Lillie had fallen to the bed and curled up into a tiny ball.
All Amanda wanted was to get in bed with her and hold her until the sorrow and the pain went away, but she also knew that there were more important things that needed to be done.
Logan was pacing up and down the hall, while Deirdre and Ann looked anxious.
“It’s horrible, absolutely horrible what that girl has been through,” Amanda said. “I can’t believe these kinds of things still happen in this day and age. What about her parents? Would they not have gone looking for her?”
“I doubt she haes parents. People like Bram MacGavin prey on the poor. There are plenty of children who find themselves turned out of home and are forced tae fend for themselves. Maybe their parents died, maybe they were just unwanted, but either way, they are in need of food and shelter and coin, and they dinnae know what they should or should nae dae tae earn it. That’s where people like Bram MacGavin come in,” Logan said.
Amanda noticed how he spat the name of this man.
She was horrified to think about the children of the land being turned out of their homes and forced to live on the streets.
As someone who had always craved to have a child of her own, she couldn’t ever imagine throwing one out and making them fend for themself.
She wished there was a way to gather them all up and give them a home where they didn’t have to worry about surviving.
Such a thing was too much of a burden for children to bear.
And at the heart of this web was Bram MacGavin.
“Who is this man?” she asked.
Deirdre made a choking sound and threw up her hands, while Ann was shaking her head. Logan spoke in a dry, clipped voice. Amanda could hear the tremors of anger in his words.
“Bram MacGavin is a notorious criminal who haes been operating in the area for as long as I can remember. There is naything he haes nae dirtied his fingers with. I hae tried tae catch him many times over. I hae raided his bandit camps. I hae stopped his men while they were holding people up on the road. But never hae I been able tae get my hands on the man himself. For a time I hae even wondered if he exists at all. I never thought of him using children. It explains sae much—how he’s able tae get things past us without us seeing it, how he is able tae make these deals. Naybody would suspect the children.”
“Where does he live? He must have a camp somewhere, surely?” Amanda asked.
“He moves the camp. He’s clever like that, canny. Aye, it is nae sae easy tae find him. But this time I will. If he thinks he can use children and get away with it then he haes another thing coming.”
“I just can’t believe nobody has spoken up about him before,” Amanda said.
“He strikes fear intae the heart of everything he touches, including the people who work for him. They would rather die than feel his wrath. He is a vicious man. But even if people dae talk, Bram moves his camp before we can find him. I would nae be surprised if he is on the move now. As soon as Lillie left he probably upped sticks and found somewhere new tae live. It’s nae even worth asking her where she left him. ”
“That’s probably a good thing. I hate her talking about her ordeal there. It upsets her so much. I wouldn’t want to upset her any more than she already is.”
“But there haes tae be a way. I am nae gaeing tae stand here and hae him take advantage of these wee ones,” Logan said, growling with raw passion.
“We shall find him,” Amanda said optimistically. “I’m sure there must be a way. Perhaps we can ask people in the village. They might have seen or heard of something. This man isn’t invisible. There must be someone out there who has seen some trace of him.”
Logan’s face was set deep in thought as he pondered the matter. To Amanda’s surprise it was actually Ann who spoke next. She cleared her throat and arched her eyebrows.
“If I may, I think I hae something tae add,” she said.
Amanda turned to her with great shock as she couldn’t imagine Ann would have anything to do with Bram MacGavin.
“There’s a lass in the kitchens—Lydia, her name is.
She haes nae been with us for tae long. She boasted that she is with one of Bram MacGavin’s men. ”
“And you didn’t think to tell me this?” Amanda asked, fury flowing through her words. As far as she was concerned anyone involved with men like that was no better than a criminal themselves.
Ann looked down and picked at her nails. “I’m sorry. I didnae think it was important…”
“Didn’t think it was important? She is cavorting with known criminals!” Amanda said.
“Well, I was nae sure if it was true or if it was just idle boasting. Anyway, I thought it was best tae leave it. Naybody wants tae get involved with Bram MacGavin. But I thought he was just involved with the usual kinds of crimes, nae using children. I would nae hae ignored it if I knew,” Ann said.
“Dae ye think Lydia will help us?” Logan asked.
“If she knows what’s good for her then she will,” Amanda replied indignantly. She glared at Ann, still annoyed that Ann would have hidden this from her.
“I want tae be there when ye question her. We should gae now,” Logan said.
“I agree, but we can’t leave Lillie here. How long do you think she will need before she has recovered properly?” Amanda asked, turning to Deirdre.
“I think a couple of days, just tae make sure that she’s healthy. Sometimes with blows tae the head, strange things can happen. I think it would be good tae give the wound a chance tae close up as well. If she injures it again out there, it might end up being worse than before,” she said.
Amanda nodded. The two days would be a long wait, but if that was what Lillie needed, then there was no other choice.
Logan stood straight and had a determined look in his eyes.
Amanda could sense that having to wait two more days was going to be torture for him, but to his credit he did not try and argue with the process.
There was much on his mind. Bram MacGavin was a particularly sore point for him, and so he left them all muttering under his breath, a grim cloud beginning to form around his mind.
Amanda wished that she could do more to help both him and Lillie.
After he left she looked into the room and saw that Lillie had fallen asleep. Amanda smiled, glad that Lillie could find some peace in the midst of all this horror. It was probably better for her that she stay asleep in this present moment anyway. She was safe here and needed her rest.
Amanda then turned back, thanked Deirdre, and then told Ann that she needed to talk to her.
Amanda walked through the keep and led her outside to the courtyard.
She spent this initial part of the walk organizing her thoughts in her mind and deciding on her tone.
Things between her and Ann had often been casual.
Ann had been more of a friend than a maid, yet still, there were certain liberties that should not have been taken.
Now, Amanda was deciding how much of a lady she should be and how much of a friend.