Chapter 16 #2
“Ye are welcome. We are family now,” Moira said weakly, although she didn’t know how much longer that would hold true.
“Haes Niall spoken tae ye about what he thinks haes caused this?” Moira ventured.
Given how Jamie had reacted positively to her appearance, she didn’t think that Niall had shared his suspicions with the sick man, but Moira still wanted to check.
Jamie shook his head. “We didnae hae a good chance tae speak. My mind haes nae been as sharp as it once was.” He chuckled a little; it was good to hear him laugh.
“Aye, well, there are a few theories going around. I was speaking tae a healer yesterday and he thinks that it’s because everyone drank from the same well. Of course, Grizel thinks it’s the work of spirits…”
“She would,” Jamie laughed again, although it turned into a violent cough and his entire body shook.
Moira reached out to steady him, afraid that something was wrong, but after a few moments, Jamie settled back into a comfortable position.
“Then again, she may well be right. After all these years…aye…old Grizel always knew more than she was telling.”
Moira’s ears pricked up at this. “What dae ye mean?”
Jamie’s eyes widened as he lay his hands in his lap and wrung them together. “I wasnae sure how tae tell this tae Niall. I’m sure he’ll think I’m lying.”
“Aye, well, that seems tae be the way he reacts tae everything,” Moira said bluntly. Jamie tilted his head and gave her an inquiring look, but Moira didn’t particularly want to speak about her marital problems with Jamie, so she shook her head and asked him to continue.
“Well…it’s just that I was out on patrol the other night by the loch.
” Moira nodded as he spoke. The loch was the clan’s other main source of water, other than the well.
“And I saw the strangest thing: a huge black horse on the other side. It was bigger than anything I hae ever seen before and it reminded me of something that Grizel used tae tell us about in her stories, although I cannae remember now…” He scowled and clamped his eyes shut, pinching the sides of his forehead.
“I’m sorry Moira, I get these blinding headaches, and it makes it impossible tae think. ”
“Dinnae worry, Jamie. I dinnae want ye tae hurt yerself. Is there anything else ye can tell me?”
Jamie shook his head. “In truth, I’m probably just making this up. It was foggy, that much I remember for sure. Will ye dae me a favor and keep this from Niall? I dinnae want him tae think I hae lost my mind,” he said with a chuckle, but Moira knew that he wasn’t joking.
“It’ll be our wee secret.” She patted him on the chest and smiled.
Jamie’s head lolled back onto the pillow.
It was incongruous to see such a powerful warrior in this position, having been brought crashing down to Earth not by a mighty blow of some enemy, but by something invisible.
His eyes closed and he breathed heavily, his words turning into a tapestry woven by his dreams.
“Grizel was…she was always right…the only reason I became this strong was sae that I could fight the monsters she warned us about…”
Moira wondered if Niall had ever confided this in his siblings, or if this was something that only she knew.
It felt as though she was close to him, as though she was actually a part of the family, but that feeling only lasted for a moment.
It didn’t matter how well she was treated by anyone in the clan but her husband.
He was the key, and if he couldn’t forgive her, then she would never be at peace in this place.
Moira left Jamie with much on her mind. While she wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by this huge horse, she didn’t want to leave any lead unturned.
Her trip to the well hadn’t shown anything, but perhaps there was something to the loch.
It did worry her that Jamie had described something from one of Grizel’s stories, though.
Had she been too hasty to dismiss the work of spirits?
She decided to go back to the library and consult Grizel’s notes in case there was something similar to what Jamie had described, for there was always the chance that he was still suffering from some delusion of the sickness and his words were the product of a fractured mind.
Before this, however, she stopped in to see Isobel, as the girl’s chambers were on the way to the library.
Moira peeked her head around the corner just in case Niall was there.
Frankly, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to see him or not, but for the moment, she decided to err on the side of caution, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Isobel sleeping alone.
After last night, Moira wasn’t sure she had the energy for another battle.
Isobel was flat on the bed, with a thin blanket draped over her.
Isobel’s forehead prickled with sweat, and her face was pale, as though all the life was being sapped away by something ethereal.
A lump formed in Moira’s throat as she thought about her own mother, and how the woman had become but a shadow of herself.
Isobel’s chest rose and fell, and occasionally her hands twitched, but other than that, she was motionless.
The fact that Jamie had recovered was a good sign, but Moira couldn’t be certain this would hold true for everyone else.
Jamie was stronger than most, and here Isobel looked so weak, with her waif-like features and her slender frame.
Would she have the fortitude to fight against this illness?
And what of the children in the clan? What of the elderly?
No, she could not afford to assume that everyone would be able to wait this out.
Moira took Isobel’s hand gently. It had only been a short time since they had begun to make friends, and yet so much had happened that it seemed an eternity ago.
“I dinnae know if ye can hear me, Isobel, but if there’s any chance then there’s something I want tae say tae ye…
I dinnae know what’s gaeing tae happen with me and yer brother.
I thought that it was all gaeing tae work out here, but I cannae guarantee it.
This marriage…it is more difficult than I first thought.
But ye…ye hae made me truly welcome, and I was glad tae be yer friend and yer sister…
even if only for a short time. I know it may nae be possible given what the future might hold, but I hope that we can be friends for a long time.
Ye are a kind soul, and it was a joy getting tae know ye.
I hope that I can find a way tae make ye well again. ”
Moira set Isobel’s hand back down and left for the library.
As she made her way to the musty old room filled with all manner of books, Moira wondered where Niall was if he wasn’t with either of his siblings.
Sadly, she thought it likely that he was somewhere with his generals preparing for war, to strike at the Monroes and end this short period of peace.
Moira hastened her pace, unsure of how many lives depended on what she was doing.
She found Grizel’s notes and opened them on the table, leafing through them wildly in the hope of finding something that was similar to what Jamie had described.
Grizel was an eloquent person and had illustrated her notes with depictions of the creatures she described.
Many of these pictures made Moira wince as they appeared to have been born from the bowels of horror itself.
Just looking at them was almost enough to make Moira lose her mind, but it meant that she did not have to pore through Grizel’s notes for mention of a horse.
When she came upon the right page, she clenched her fist in triumph, but then a ripple of fear surged through her.
The illustration was of a huge horse with a coat as dark as night, and eyes like pitted obsidian. As Moira read Grizel’s notes, her skin prickled with fear.
The Kelpie is a dangerous spirit, and one that many have seen by rivers, streams, and even lochs.
It looks like a beautiful stallion, and many are the men that have tried to tame it.
It can change its shape too, even into a beautiful woman, and many men have tried to tame this as well.
By the time they see its feet are hooves, it is too late.
Sometimes the mane is made of serpents as well.
I believe that the Kelpie saw how men treated animals, especially horses; working them until they dropped, and took the form of one to punish men.
Many bodies have been found in these bodies of water, drowned and drenched.
The Kelpie takes them and throws them down into the water until they stop struggling.
It might look beautiful, but like the other spirits, it has no love for us. It should be avoided at all costs.
Moira gasped. Her hands trembled, and she wondered if magic could really exist. Had Grizel been right all this time?