Chapter 25
Cairren smiled at Henry as he waited beside her at Meg’s door.
She’d grown accustomed to having an escort again after a week of the four warriors trading off, accompanying her on walks around the loch and into the village.
She hadn’t dared go farther afield after what she’d heard Duncan and Myrna say.
She feared what they would come up with to convince Padraig she’d done something egregious.
She knocked twice, surprised when no one answered.
Katie’s hands were healing well, so she didn’t need to make the house call, but she enjoyed Meg’s company.
A young widow, Meg had her hands full with five children.
Cairren was happy to help with cooking and housekeeping, though Meg still tsked when Cairren picked up the broom.
Cairren shrugged to Henry and prepared to return to the keep when she heard a scream that meant only one thing. A woman was in labor. Meg’s head popped out of a door a few crofts down as she seemed to search the village. When she spotted Cairren, she dashed to her and Henry.
“It’s Catriona. Something’s wrong with the bairn. She’s been having birthing pains since yesterday, but naught is happening. Can ye help?”
“Aye,” Cairren answered as she hurried to follow Meg.
Cairren had met Catriona once when the woman’s husband introduced them.
Matthew was the guard Cairren trusted most, and she suspected he’d been the one to tell Padraig about her situation.
The women entered the small croft while Henry stood guard outside.
“What’s she doing here?” An older woman who resembled Catriona demanded.
“I’ve asked her to help, Elspeth,” Meg explained.
“She isnae touching ma daughter. She canna be trusted.”
“Hush, Mama,” Catriona gasped before screaming again.
“Nay. She’s nae one of us. She’ll steal yer bairn and make it a changeling.”
“Elspeth, Lady Cairren has delivered plenty of bairns, and I trust her with ma own weans. Ye ken that. Let her help. We dinna have any other midwife, and Catriona is suffering.”
“Please, just let me examine her,” Cairren clasped her hands before her and dipped her chin, deferring to the older woman.
“Aye!” Catriona called out. “Mama, Lady Cairren is helping me. I trust her. I canna do this much longer.”
Cairren didn’t hesitate. She dropped the basket of medicinals she’d been carrying and pulled off her plaid.
“I need hot water and soap, please.” She moved to Catriona’s bedside and lifted the woman’s chemise.
She could see the sheet was wet and knew the woman’s water had broken some time ago because the rest of the sheet looked fresh.
“I’m just going to touch your belly and see what position your bairn is in. ”
Cairren palpated Catriona’s swollen belly and wanted to groan.
The baby was breach, and Catriona wasn’t much bigger than Cairren.
There was little chance she could deliver the baby the way it was positioned now.
Once she washed her hands, she examined Catriona further and knew they likely had several hours before she would be ready to push.
“I will be right back.” Cairren stepped outside and looked at Henry, who studiously avoided looking at the croft. “Where’s Matthew?”
“He’s on patrol, ma lady.”
“You need to fetch him.”
“I canna leave ye, ma lady. Ma orders are to remain with ye at all times.”
“Then send someone else, but someone needs to fetch him.”
“Ma lady, they willna send anyone to fetch him for a bairn. Women have them every day. He has a duty to his clan.”
Cairren leaned forward and lowered her voice. “There is a good chance his wife and bairn will die. So unless you’d like a grave beside them, I suggest you get your arse on a horse and find him.”
“But—”
“Henry, I swear to you, I will make your life more miserable than you ever imagined possible if you don’t bring Matthew home. He deserves to be with his wife. She needs him, and he deserves to say goodbye if she doesn’t make it. What would you do if it were Sarah?”
“Aye, ma lady.” Henry took off for the stables, and Cairren went back inside.
“Catriona, your bairn is sideways,” Cairren held the woman’s hand as she explained the situation.
“Your hips are too narrow to deliver like that. I will be very honest with you and tell you the dangers you and your bairn face. There’s a chance your pelvis could crack.
You might not walk properly again, or you might not have any more bairns.
There’s a chance that your bairn could have the cord wrapped around his neck, and the delivery could strangle him, or he could be born a cripple if he becomes stuck.
There’s also the very real chance you both might die. ”
Catriona sobbed as her free hand rubbed her belly. Her panic-stricken eyes tore at Cairren’s heart. She wasn’t prepared to accept any of those possibilities. She glanced at Elspeth and Meg before continuing.
“I can try to turn your bairn, so it’s head down. It will hurt just as much as pushing the wee one out, but it’s your best chance. Will you let me?” Cairren prayed that not only would Catriona allow her to try, but that Elspeth didn’t prevent it if Catriona agreed.
“Aye. Aught to save ma bairn,” Catriona sobbed.
“Elspeth, I need you to hold your daughter’s hands.
Talk to her, tell her a story, sing a song.
Meg, I need your help. I will need you to press against Catriona’s belly as hard as you can while I try to move the bairn into position.
Even when she screams, keep pushing. Can you do that?
” Meg nodded. Cairren climbed onto the bed and straddled Catriona’s legs. “Get on the other side of the bed.”
Elspeth sang as Cairren whispered instructions to Meg.
The women worked together until Cairren was confident the bairn was in position.
Once Cairren and Meg finished, they helped Catriona off the bed, each holding an arm as they walked around the tiny croft.
They paced for hours until Cairren ordered Catriona back into bed, her birthing pains coming too close together for the woman to remain on her feet.
She pushed for another two hours, and Cairren was becoming worried that even if Catriona survived, the bairn wouldn’t.
Catriona was past the point of exhaustion and began swearing she couldn’t continue, that she didn’t have the strength to push anymore.
The door slammed open, and a windblown Matthew charged inside. “Cat!”
“Out,” Elspeth ordered. “Men dinna belong in here.”
“Nay,” Cairren contradicted. “I sent for him, and he stays. Matthew, Cat needs you. She’s exhausted and scared.
Climb onto the bed behind her and hold her hands.
” Matthew scrambled to follow Cairren’s orders, encouraging Catriona to keep going.
Her husband’s presence revived her enough to keep trying.
Cairren pressed hard on Catriona’s belly, praying that she could ease the bairn further into the birth canal.
It was another hour of pushing, but then a large baby boy howled after Cairren slapped his bottom.
She cleaned him and presented him to the proud mother and father.
Cairren was sweaty and exhausted when she walked into the keep.
She’d apologized to Henry for threatening him, and he’d been gracious, explaining his wife would have done far worse and might still yet when she learned that he’d refused at first. Cairren swiped her sleeve over her brow as she made her way through the Great Hall and toward the stairs.
She wanted a bath and a bed. The noise in the Great Hall made her head hurt, so she attempted to hurry through before anyone noticed her.
“There she is!” Myrna’s voice pierced the air. “Look at her! She didn’t even have the decency to make herself presentable after meeting her lover.”
“Myrna,” Padraig’s voice warned. Cairren looked to the dais where Padraig, Duncan, and Myrna stood together. Myrna held Padraig’s hands as she gazed up at him. Cairren approached as she noticed Duncan’s gloating expression, Myrna’s look of triumph, and Padraig’s anger and hurt.
“She’s been out with her lover all day, and you’re warning me?” Myrna questioned.
Padraig pulled loose from Myrna and went to stand before Cairren. “How could you?” he whispered.
“How could I what?” Cairren was incredulous. “You don’t believe her, do you?”
“She said you and Henry disappeared after going to the village. Neither of you have been seen all day.”
“And that means I’ve been unfaithful.” Cairren stepped back and glared at Padraig.
“It makes you look very guilty. I assign men to guard you, you disappear, and Myrna said she saw you both leaving through the postern gate.”
“Did she? And you believe her.” Cairren looked past Padraig, then back to him.
“Why wouldn’t you? She’s all that’s good and pure, and I’m naught but evil and dirty.
You’ll always side with her first. I’ve never lied to you, Padraig.
Never. But the same can’t be said for her. But you still favor her.”
“This isn’t aboot taking sides. This is aboot ma wife being unfaithful.”
“It’s only aboot taking sides because I have never strayed.
You’ve gone too far this time, Padraig. I won’t forgive you for this.
Not ever.” Cairren spun around and tried to leave the dais, but Padraig’s hand snagged her arm in a punishing grip.
He jerked her back to stand in front of him and didn’t release her arm.
“You and your family deserve each other. Now you’re manhandling me. You’re no better than your brother.”
It was Padraig’s turn to jerk back, and Cairren broke free.
She sprinted to the stairs and took them two at a time until she reached her former chamber.
She slammed the door before locking it and dropping the bar in place.
She trembled as she looked around the chamber she hadn’t entered in days.
She went to the chest that stood at the foot of the bed and lifted the lid.
She pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a pot of ink.
She sat to the table and considered the letter she was about to compose.