Chapter 17
For the next few days, the détente between Cat and Thane seemed to hold. It was true that she did not want to fight with him. What was the point? If she was going to be at Kinlochlie for the next few weeks, she ought to make the best of it.
So she rode out with Effie during the mornings, and learned more about this corner of the Highlands than she ever expected to.
She found the slopes and slants of the mountains in the nearest range becoming familiar to her, and she loved seeing storm clouds forming around the peaks, until in the early afternoon they crashed against the mountain stone and unleashed a distant fury of thunder and rain.
The advancing spring made the hillsides impossibly colorful, giving the appearance of an Eden.
Though she learned it was something of an illusion—the seemingly lush landscape wasn’t very fertile, and only sheep and goats had much success in finding food there.
The valleys held a patchwork of fields and garden plots tilled and planted by tenant farmers who called the MacPhearson family their landlords.
But these areas were dwarfed by the wilds of the upland meadows and the rugged rock faces of the mountains.
Forests grew up in the pockets of land too difficult to clear for farms, and this was where the deer and birds and the occasional bear dwelt.
Once, she heard the distinctive howl of a wildcat, and felt an answering thrill in her heart.
Something inside her was growing to love this part of the world, so untamed and ancient.
It was too bad that she was here only a short while.
On the fourth day, Effie announced that her nose was so stuffed she couldn’t go outside. “But Thane is riding, and you ought to join him.”
“I’m visiting farms to check on the crops and the state of the fields,” he objected. “It’s not a sight-seeing trip.”
“I don’t need to be entertained,” Cat said. “I can ride on my own.”
“Like hell you will.” Thane frowned at her. “Anything could happen.”
“So I should remain here, like a caged bird?”
He sighed. “Fine, come along. Just don’t expect a grand tour.”
She suppressed an eye roll, and went to get ready.
One of the reasons she enjoyed riding here so much was the simple fact that she had had to borrow the proper garments from Effie, and thus they were not black (though her own boots still were).
Cat enjoyed the soft green jacket and the modified wool skirt for their color as much as for the comfort they offered.
Fortunately, Thane seemed to be in a better mood when they met at the stables, or maybe he’d forgotten how to be dour for a little while. They rode out and headed east, aiming to visit several tenant homesteads so that Thane could speak with everyone following his return to Kinlochlie.
Thane rode well, which shouldn’t be surprising, considering that he must have been riding since he was little boy—there was no other good way to get around this whole area, which was too wild and rugged for roads, other than a single track that led to the castle from the village.
She glanced over the fields and noticed a man sitting on a rise.
He lifted a hand in acknowledgment of their passing, and Thane returned the gesture.
“Who is that? He doesn’t look much like a shepherd,” Cat noted. The man was too big and bulky for that.
“He’s not,” Thane said shortly, looking sidelong at her. “He’s watching.”
It took her a moment to understand, then it hit her. “You’ve got guards out, even here?”
“Of course. Any stranger appears, anything odd at all happens, and he’ll get word to me. All the men have their orders.”
“How many?” she asked.
“Enough,” he grunted. “They don’t know the details for why they’re being asked to do this, but they know to be alert.”
“Wait, you can’t have a garrison of soldiers at the ready. So these men ought to be working elsewhere.”
He shook his head. “There’s less work around here than anyone would like. Trust me, they can be spared, and they’re glad of the extra pay. And anyway, I didn’t drag you all the way up here just to let your killer slip in afterward and finish the job. Not here, on MacPhearson land.”
She nodded, feeling suddenly chastised. Thane had never stopped thinking of his promise to keep her safe, even when she had. Though he didn’t always appear to be, Thane was a soldier through and through.
“I didn’t realize all the actions you’ve taken to protect me.”
He shrugged. “I gave my word.”
Why did his voice sound so hollow?
“Do you really think that whoever is after me could find me here?”
Thane’s lips thinned. “Ordinarily, I’d say not.
There’s little to connect us, and we left the city with no warning.
But even up here, people talk. And you are a very unusual figure.
” He looked her over. “Black hair, black clothing…usually anyway. It’s striking.
People will remember seeing you. And people gossip because there’s nothing else to do. ”
“But gossip up here in the Highlands won’t make it back to Edinburgh,” she said.
“Gossip goes everywhere, especially when someone is seeking it out. It just depends on whether the man trying to kill you is content to wait you out, assuming you’ll return to your home at some point, or if he’s determined enough to trace your departure.
He could ask at the harbors. He could find out that a ship left for Inverness the night you disappeared from town, and that a woman was among the passengers. ”
“But that’s nothing to go on! Many women travel. I wore a cloak, with the hood up,” she reminded him.
“It’s enough for a lead. I’d follow it, if I were looking for you.”
“If you were looking for me, I assume you’d find me,” she admitted. She couldn’t imagine Thane giving up on any goal he set for himself.
“Aye, whether I wanted to or not,” he muttered, though with a fleeting grin.
Something in Cat answered that slight hint of humor, and she smiled at him. “You’re happy to be back home, aren’t you?”
“I am,” he said simply. “I was away far too long. But it’s funny.
When we first arrived, everything felt strange.
Have you ever put on someone else’s shoe by mistake?
It looks all right, but then you take a step.
You wonder if you’re mad. And then you wonder how you could ever make such a daft mistake. ”
“I’m of a size with Aunt Tacita. The maids are forever putting our shoes in the wrong rooms and I’ve done exactly that.”
“Well, coming back here felt like being shoved into the wrong shoe: almost what I remembered, but not exactly. And then, this morning, I woke up and realized that I did fit back in. Everything moved back into place. Or I just stopped feeling like a stranger.”
“I hope I won’t feel that when I get back home,” she said. “Not that I’ll be years gone. With luck, you’ll be rid of me in a few weeks. Or less.”
Thane shook his head, not looking at her. “We’ll see.”
“You don’t have faith in your compatriots?” she asked.
“Of course I do. But in the army, I learned that it’s wise to plan for the worst.”
“Well, the worst would be that I stay here forever.”
He gave a theatrical shudder, and Cat laughed.
“I share your horror of the notion. Imagine: seeing each other every morning, every evening. Having to share meals and chat with neighbors at church, and ride the same paths, and keep Christmas together…” She trailed off, because none of those things actually sounded so terrible.
She could envision seeing Thane each day, seeing him smile at her, and reaching to touch him…
She shook herself. Madness. They loathed each other. And even if they didn’t, she craved an independent life. Not a life shackled to Thane. Why was she dreaming of such silliness?
Thane looked a little odd too, and he rode forward a few lengths, scanning the horizon.
“That’s Ben Abhras,” he said, pointing to the mountain ahead of them. “It’s nearly as tall as Ben Nevis, they say.”
“I’ve not heard of it. What does the name mean?”
“Um, it might translate as the spinning mountain. Like a spindle, or a distaff. We tell the children a story that there’s an old, old woman who lives on the top and she spins and spins and spins clouds out of the air, and that’s why a storm can spin up so fast on a fine day.
Really, it’s just that the peak catches the passing winds and throws everything down the slope to where we live down here. ”
The solitary mountain dominated their sight from this location. Cat craned her neck to catch the peak, which seemed both close and impossibly far—some trick of the light or the air.
“Have you ever climbed to the summit?” she asked.
He nodded, following her gaze. “Got caught in a storm at the top, naturally. It’s a rough climb. You have to start before dawn. And even then, it’s a challenge.”
“And you love a challenge,” she murmured.
He gave her a sudden smile—he looked so different when he smiled. “Aye, I do. And it is the best way to see all the MacPhearson land. All the men in the family, and most of the women too, have climbed that mountain at one point. I did it just before I left for France.”
There was a melancholy note in his voice, and she guessed he’d made that climb in order to say goodbye, in case he never saw his home again.
“I’d like to do it,” she said.
“Climb the mountain?” He sounded surprised.
“Oh, are you implying I’d fail?”
Thane shook his head. “No. You’re stubborn enough to climb twelve mountains in a day. But why do you want to?”
“The view?” she suggested.
“The view is amazing from everywhere around here,” he retorted, both defensive and obviously proud of his home. “I suspect that you can’t let a mountain go unclimbed because you know that it’s mostly done only by men.”
“And sheep,” she added sweetly. “So how challenging could it be?”
Thane shot her a dark look, but then laughed. “I’d love to see you try.”
“Depends how long I’m here. You say one must start before dawn. On the summer solstice, that’s early, but the day will be the longest.”