Chapter 13
Elodie stood back and surveyed the row of repaired cottages with satisfaction.
They were far from perfect, of course, and a million miles away from what she would have considered habitable in the twenty-first century.
Their walls were rough, the floors were packed earth, and there were still gaps in places where the wind would undoubtedly find its way inside come winter.
But they were dry. And most importantly, safe.
At least for now.
Over the last two weeks the teams of villagers had worked tirelessly to transform them. The leaking roofs had been repaired, the rotten timber replaced. Now the cottages housed four families.
Elodie smiled, feeling a flush of satisfaction.
Anna, Morag’s mother, emerged from one of them carrying a bundle of blankets.
“It’s better than we had any right to expect,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes. “Thank ye, my lady.”
“Please don’t call me, my lady,” Elodie said quickly. “And don’t thank me either. We’ve all done it. Every single one of us.”
“Then I’ll be sure to thank every single one of us.” Anna looked around. “Have ye seen Morag? She’s supposed to be helping me get things settled.”
Elodie hadn’t. But she could guess where the girl would be. She rolled her eyes. “She’ll be watching the fighters training again, no doubt. Along with most of the other village children. Don’t worry. I’ll go fetch her.”
She set off down the hard-packed earth of the main street but she’d not gone three paces when a young lad who Elodie recognized as one of the relay scouts, came sprinting into the village.
“Riders!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Near the eastern ridge!”
Elodie heard drumming feet and Ronan suddenly burst from the direction of the training glade, Sarah, David and the other trainees just behind him, all holding weapons, all sweaty from their practise.
“How many?” Ronan demanded of the scout.
“Six. Maybe seven.”
“Armed?”
“Aye.”
Elodie’s chest tightened with dread. Oh God. It was happening.
Ronan nodded at the lad. “Sound the signal to call everyone in.”
The scout ran off and a horn blasted a moment later, its mournful note echoing around the valley, calling in anyone who might be out in the strips of cultivated land that bordered the settlement, anyone collecting firewood, anyone who had simply gone out for a stroll.
Everyone began moving, but with purpose rather than panic. After the attack on Thomas and Ronan’s encounter with the Murdoch scouts at the waymeet, he’d insisted they be ready and they’d been practicing drills for weeks. They all knew what to do.
Elodie spoke to Morag’s mother. “Anna, get the children.”
Anna nodded and trotted off, and Elodie hurried down the street, shouting orders.
“Everyone under twelve into the north barn! Elderly folk too. You know what to do!”
People obeyed, and within minutes the settlement had transformed. Children disappeared into the reinforced barn. Doors were barred. Supplies were moved.
The villagers who had trained with Ronan hefted their staffs and formed around him in four groups, just as they’d planned.
One group each to guard the entrances to the valley, one to defend the Steading itself and the fourth group—those Ronan deemed to be the most accomplished fighters—to move out and meet the threat.
Ronan moved among them, giving orders, offering encouragement. Finally, he came over to Elodie.
“Everything ready?”
Elodie breathed slowly, her brain clicking through lists and preparations. “As ready as it’s going to be.”
There was so much she wanted to say. Be careful. Don’t take any risks. Come back to me.
Instead, she settled for, “Good luck.”
He nodded. “We’ll be fine.”
Then he was gone, turning away and leading his group towards the valley entrance, Bran and Skye bounding at his heels.
Elodie watched until the group of defenders disappeared from sight. Only then did she force herself back to work, organizing the villagers, making sure everyone was in their allotted positions.
Then the waiting began. As agreed, Elodie stayed with the group assigned to defend the Steading. She checked positions. Organized watches. Found jobs for anyone whose nerves were getting the better of them. Idle people worried. Busy people coped. It was a lesson she’d learned long ago.
Faye came over. “Ye should sit down.”
“I don’t need to sit down.”
“Ye’ve been pacing for an hour.”
“I’m fine.”
Faye snorted. “Perhaps ye are, but it doesnae do anyone else any good to see ye this nervous.”
Elodie glared at her, knowing the healer was right. She sucked in a breath and forced herself to stop pacing and try to calm the tangle of her thoughts. But it was hard. What if Ronan was hurt? What if they’d been ambushed? What if—
Okay. Enough. Taking a deep breath, she marched off down the street to check on the children in the barn.
It wasn’t until the sun began sinking towards the western cliffs that the cry she’d been aching to hear all day finally went up.
“They’re back!”
Elodie was in the barn when she heard it but she was moving almost before it finished.
She ran out into the street—along with half the Steading’s residents.
A group of figures was approaching from the direction of the northern entrance.
Relief washed through Elodie as she saw Ronan walking at their head. Thank God. Thank God.
But her relief lasted only a moment as she saw that someone was slung across Angus’s saddle. Her blood went cold. Oh no.
She pushed to the front of the surging crowd as the defenders approached.
It was only then that she saw that the figure slung across Ronan’s saddle was David.
His skin was waxy pale and blood had soaked the side of his shirt, turning it crimson.
Sarah walked by his side, all color drained from her face, one hand resting on her husband’s prostrate form.
“Let me through!” Faye shouted, elbowing the onlookers aside. She took one look at David’s pale face and snapped, “Get him into the barn.”
David groaned weakly as Ronan lifted him down from the saddle, kicked open the door to the barn, and carried him inside. Sarah hurried beside him, clutching his hand. Tears streamed down her face.
Ronan lowered David onto a bed whilst Faye shouted instructions and snapped at everyone to get out of her way.
Elodie caught a glimpse of the wound as Faye cut away David’s shirt and immediately wished she hadn’t.
Something had torn through the flesh beneath his shoulder.
The wound looked angry and deep and blood leaked out of it, staining his shirt, the mattress beneath, Faye’s hands.
“Out!” Faye bellowed.
Nobody moved.
“I said out! All of ye!”
They began backing towards the door but Sarah stayed rooted beside David. She was staring at her husband’s face and barely seemed aware of anything else around her.
“He took a blow meant for me,” she whispered. “He saved my life.”
Elodie squeezed Sarah’s shoulder briefly before allowing herself to be shepherded outside. She found Ronan standing nearby, jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the barn door.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
He didn’t answer. His gaze never left that door. Eamon answered for him, the young man looking shaken beneath his usual easy confidence.
“There were riders. At least half a dozen. Waiting for us as we exited the valley.” Eamon scrubbed a hand through his hair. “They had pistols. Opened fire before we even knew they were there. Sarah was in the line of fire but David knocked her out of the way. He took a musket ball to the shoulder.”
Elodie felt the blood drain from her face. She glanced at Ronan but he was still staring at the door to the barn.
“Did they find the valley?” she asked. “Will those men bring reinforcements?”
Ronan finally looked at her. His eyes were as desolate as a winter moorland and Elodie found herself taking an involuntary step back. “No. They willnae.”
“How can you be sure?”
His stare hardened further, if that was possible. “Those men willnae be bringing anyone. Because they’re dead. Every last one of them.”
Her gaze dropped to the pistols strapped to Ronan’s sides. The sword across his back. Both had clearly seen action.
Oh, Ronan.
She reached out a hand, but before she could touch him the barn door opened and Ronan sprang to attention.
“Well?” he demanded.
Faye rubbed a hand across her face. “I’ve cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding. The musket ball went straight through and came out the other side. That’s good.” She shrugged. “I’ve done all I can. Now it’s up to him.”
Sarah’s muffled sob reached them through the door and Elodie’s chest tightened. There was nothing she could do for her friend. There was nothing she could do for any of them. She felt helpless. And there was nothing, nothing in the world she hated more than that.
“Keep an eye on him,” Ronan said. “Do everything ye can.”
“Do ye think I need ye to tell me that?” the healer snapped.
They stared at each other and Elodie remembered their argument the other day.
Ronan stepped back, eyes flashing. Then without another word he turned and strode away, the crowd parting automatically to let him through.
Faye glared after his retreating back then snorted and disappeared back into the barn.
“Ronan!” Elodie shouted. “Wait!”
He waited for her at the edge of the settlement. “Go back to the village, Elodie,” he said gruffly.
“No. Not until you tell me what’s going on between you and Faye.”
He ground his teeth. “It is none of yer business.”
The words stung like a slap and Elodie stepped back a pace. None of yer business. After everything they’d shared, after the kisses, after the hours spent working side by side, this was his response? She felt as though he’d slammed a door in her face.
“I thought we were past that. Why won’t you trust me?”
Anger flooded his expression. Dangerous. Sharp. “Me trust ye? That works both ways, Elodie.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isnae it?” The challenge in his voice made her flinch. “Ever since ye arrived here, ye’ve dodged every question.”