Chapter Two
The Village of Netherton
Four miles southwest of Brechin
“Vale of Demons, ye say?”
In the main room of a tidy two-room cottage, the question came from Nikolaus Netherton as he eyed his grandson with suspicion.
Cam had returned from Brechin yesterday with his head in the clouds and Nikolaus, a wise and reasonable man, couldn’t figure out why until Cam said he had some business to attend to today.
In the Vale of Demons.
Nikolaus scratched his thick, gray hair.
“Cam?” he said to get the man’s attention. “Ye said ye have business in the Vale of Demons? What kind of business?”
Cam was just finishing his morning meal of bread and warmed-over mutton. It was sunrise, with the sky turning shades of pink and lavender and blue, and it promised to be a fine spring day—a bit of cold wind was blowing in from the sea, but no amount of cold or wind could dampen Cam’s mood.
“A matter of eggs,” he said frankly, drinking the last of his watered ale and rising from the table. “I’ll be back at some point on this day. Ye needn’t worry.”
Nikolaus wasn’t worried; he was confused.
“Stop,” he commanded quietly as Cam moved for the door. “Sit down, lad. Tell me what business ye have in the Vale of Demons.”
“I told ye—a matter of eggs.”
“Cease with yer foolery or I’ll take a stick tae ye. What’s this about eggs?”
Reluctantly, Cam moved back to the table to do as his grandfather said because if he didn’t, Nikolaus would most certainly take a stick to him. For a man of his age, that was most humiliating. Therefore, he had to tell the truth.
At least, as much as he could.
“I promised a lass I would bring her eggs,” he said. “There is not much tae it.”
“What lass?”
“Her name is Isadora.”
Nikolaus had been expecting more of an answer and lifted his eyebrows when he realized Cam had nothing more to say.
“And?” he prompted him. “Who is she?”
“I dunna know.”
Nikolaus was becoming frustrated. “Start from the beginning,” he said. “Where did ye meet her? Why did ye promise her eggs?”
Cam would have become annoyed if he wasn’t feeling so giddy at the prospect of seeing Isadora again. He just wanted to get out of there, so he endeavored to placate his nosy grandfather.
“I met her years ago in the Vale of Demons,” he said. “I was out hunting birds’ eggs for ye and she and her friends caught up tae me.”
Nikolaus’ eyes narrowed suspiciously. “The demons caught ye?”
“Aye.”
“How long ago was this, lad? Why dinna ye tell me?”
Cam shrugged. “It was several years ago and I dinna tell ye because I dinna want tae be punished for crossing the vale in the first place,” he said. “Ye warned me about it and I dinna listen.”
“I’m not surprised. Ye’re a stubborn wretch of a lad.”
“Do ye want tae hear the story or not?”
“Go on.”
“I promised the lass in the vale birds’ eggs if she’d let me leave, so she did,” he said. “I saw her in Brechin yesterday and… and she wanted tae know where her eggs were. So I told her I’d bring them today.”
Nikolaus’ bushy eyebrows lifted in disbelief. “Eggs, is it?” he said. “Ye’re a madman for returning tae the vale. She’ll be waiting for ye with the rest of the demons and they’ll take more than yer eggs, lad.”
Cam shook his head. “I dunna think so,” he said, trying to soften his grandfather’s edge. “She was honorable tae me the first time. I’ve no reason tae believe she wouldna be again.”
Nikolaus shook his head at his foolish grandson. “Ye canna go.”
“I must. I promised. And ye always told me that a man doesna break his word. Or did ye mean only with people ye approve of?”
Caught in a trap of his own making, Nikolaus sighed heavily and muttered, “With all men.”
“I dinna hear ye.”
Anger flashed in Nikolaus’ eyes. “I said with all men,” he barked. “Yer word is yer word. But if ye’re going tae the vale, I’d better go with ye tae keep ye out of trouble. I’ll not let ye go alone.”
Cam rolled his eyes; the last thing he wanted was his grandfather tagging along as he tried to flirt with a woman.
“Ye worry too much,” he told him.
“I’m going with ye.”
“Ye’re not going with me.”
Cam bolted for the door at that point, shutting it in Nikolaus’ face so he wouldn’t follow.
He stood there, holding the door fast as Nikolaus tried to pull it open from the other side.
He stood there and held it shut long enough for Nikolaus to give up before releasing it and running for the chicken coop, where he collected three big eggs.
He’d told Isadora he would bring her eggs, but he never said what kind of eggs. He grinned, thinking it would be a fine joke. He hoped she would think so, too.
With that, he headed off to the west, toward the hills where the Vale of Demons lay in wait, but what he didn’t see was Nikolaus as the man paused a nominal amount of time before heading off after him.
The old man was going to have the last word.
*
She’d been there since sunrise.
In fact, Isadora was quite certain she hadn’t slept a wink that night, knowing she’d be seeing Cam on the morrow.
It seemed like some silly, impossible dream.
The shock she felt at seeing Cam Netherton again in Brechin was indescribable.
The years since she’d last seen him had changed him tremendously; he wasn’t that lanky youth any longer, but a big and handsome man.
Muscular, with enormous arms and cropped blond hair that had a way of falling over one eye, he’d looked at her in a way that she remembered from those years ago.
Green eyes that had captured her attention.
Everything about him seemed to make her heart flutter.
The vale was cold and bright on this morning, the dew glistening off the leaves.
Isadora had been to this vale a thousand times and she knew it down to the last detail, so she knew where to wait for Cam as he entered the vale from the east. As she made her way down to a brook where the path into the vale began, she heard footfalls behind her.
Startled, she grabbed a rock at her foot and whirled around, prepared to smash it into whoever was sneaking up behind her only to see her brothers coming through the bramble. Heaving a sigh of relief and irritation, she lowered the rock.
“What are ye doing here?” she demanded, looking between the pair. “Ye scared the wits from me!”
Ewan Keith eyed his younger sister. “The better question is what are ye doing here?” he said. “Ye’re sneaking around as if ye’re up tae something.”
Isadora didn’t like the inference, even if it was true. Although she had dropped the rock, that didn’t stop a hand from flying out at him, shoving him back.
“’Tis my own business,” she said. “Get out of here before I give ye a wallop ye’ll not soon forget.”
Ewan was young and strong, and mostly unafraid of his sister although he knew she could give him a licking.
If he tried to fight back, that just made her angrier.
He’d seen her leave their village of Auchnacree and head off toward the vale.
Curious, he and their middle brother, Ossian, had followed.
“If ye’re thinking tae rob travelers on this day, why dinna ye tell us?” he asked, peering down the path. “We’ll help ye.”
Isadora looked between her tall, dark-haired eldest brother and her middle brother with the light brown hair. They were her greatest nemeses and her greatest champions all at the same time. Impatiently, she waved her hands at them.
“Off with ye,” she said. “Whatever I do, I intend tae do it alone.”
“Ye’re going tae rob men alone? How will ye do that?”
She reached down, picking up the rock again, and flashed it at them. “Ye want I should give ye a demonstration?”
Ewan and Ossian did not, in fact. Scowling, and shaking their fists at her, they left their sister down in the forested portion of the vale near the brook.
Isadora kept the threatening rock aloft as they trudged off, finally disappearing from her sight.
Only then did she lower the rock, but she had a feeling Ewan and Ossian hadn’t gone far.
They were just the type to lurk about and watch her. But she couldn’t worry about that now.
She didn’t want her foolish brothers to ruin her moment with Cam.
An hour later, as she sat on a rock by the stream and watched the water swirl, she began to hear rustling downstream where the path began. Heart immediately racing, she stood up and strained to catch a glimpse of what was making the noise. When she saw it, a smile crept onto her lips.
Cam had finally made an appearance.
He, too, looked as if he was hiding from someone as he slipped in and out of the trees, staying off the path. More than once, she saw him look behind him to see if someone was following him. Isadora waited until he was very near before she stepped forward, onto the path.
Their eyes met.
She smiled.
“What ails ye?” she asked. “Ye look as if ye’re being hunted.”
He smiled broadly, an expression of satisfaction as he looked upon her. “I dunna think so,” he said, “but I keep hearing noises behind me.”
Isadora strained to look behind him. “I see nothing,” she said. “Ye’re simply not accustomed tae the sounds of the vale like I am.”
Cam stopped being paranoid the moment he looked her over; now, she had his full and complete attention. “Were ye waiting for me?”
She cocked her head. “’Tis an arrogant man who would ask such a question.”
“’Tis a disappointed man if yer answer is nay.”
Isadora laughed softly. “Then I would not want tae disappoint ye.”
“Hold out yer hand.”
She did, but timidly. “Why?”
“Come along, now. Yer whole hand. Open it.”
When she didn’t move fast enough, he opened it for her. Into her open palm he deposited three perfect hen’s eggs.
“There,” he said. “I told ye I’d bring ye eggs and I did.”
Isadora looked at the eggs in her palm and she started to laugh. “Ye’re a rascal, Cam Netherton,” she said. “I wanted birds’ eggs.”
“A chicken is a bird.”
She shook her head reproachfully, but it was all for show. His trick was humorous. “Small birds,” she said. “Colorful birds. Those are the eggs I want.”