Chapter Two
Alex
The next day, Alex stepped out of their chamber, leaving a sleeping Maddie behind.
“How is she, Da?” Connor asked, Sela behind him.
“She hasn’t moved and she’s warm. I’m going for Jennie.”
“Da, Caralyn and Gracie can take care of her. I’ll help too,” Kyla said. “We can handle it.”
Alex didn’t know how to explain it to his bairns and their spouses, but this was not the usual illness for Maddie.
He paced in front of the hearth, his hand running through his hair.
True, Caralyn and Gracie had learned much from Jennie and Brenna.
They should be able to heal Maddie. There were no broken bones; she hadn’t hit her head.
“Is there any change, Da?” Kyla asked.
“She’s coughing a wee bit, but otherwise nay. I tried to awaken her to break her fast, but she didn’t move. I’ll give her another hour.”
“Da, you need to eat,” Kyla said, directing him to the dais, setting a bowl of porridge down for him along with a cup of warm broth. “We’re making lamb pottage for supper and will have plenty of broth with carrots, Mama’s favorite.”
He nodded, taking his chair and tasting the first bite of porridge. An odd feeling coursed through him that he didn’t like, so he tried to reason his way through every possibility.
She’d been through many harrowing situations in her life and came through each one stronger.
The broken arm, the wounds on her back, birthing Elizabeth, which had nearly been too much for her.
She’d had the red throat and come through it.
There had been times when her monthly courses had caused her enough pain to lie abed, but she’d popped back within a day or two at most.
This time she hadn’t been right for two days already and showed no sign of recovery. He’d sensed the change in her the other day.
“She’s only been sick for a day, Da,” Jake said, coming into the great hall. “She’ll be fine by tonight.”
Alasdair stuck near his father, a haunted look on his face every time he glanced over at his grandfather. Jake set a hand on his son’s shoulder. “She’ll be fine, Alasdair.”
The lad had moved closer to his father and said naught. He’d always been more sensitive than the others.
Alex ate his porridge, then sipped his broth. He had to go get Jennie. Brenna was too far away, but the two had nearly the same healing skills, both trained by their mother. Brenna had taught Jennie all she’d learned. He drummed his fingers on the table while he considered all he needed.
He’d take five men because they needed to move fast.
Ticking the fastest horses on his fingers, he thought about who he should take and who to leave behind.
Jake couldn’t go with him because Alasdair couldn’t handle his father and grandfather both going, and at four and ten, he was still a bit young to travel fast in winter.
He needed to leave Jamie here to support Gracie, help her lift Maddie if she needed care.
Connor. He’d take Connor.
The group got all the bairns fed, chattering about the weather and other foolish things while ignoring the monster in the hall, the missing grandmother.
They all could tell she was absent in more ways than simply not being in the room.
The missing lilt of her laughter.
The extra touch of honey on the bairns’ porridge.
The occasional rub of the back that needed it the most. Maddie could sense it like the best hound in the woods.
The pat of the cheek, the kiss on the top of the wee head.
Still, he hated to leave her. Until the sign that he must go struck him like a lightning bolt, and it was one he could not deny.
Dyna strode straight for him, her voice strong and unwavering. “You need to get Aunt Jennie, Seannair.”
That did it for him. The wee seer was exactly the push he needed. He got up, leaned over to kiss Dyna’s cheek, and mumbled, “I know. I’m going, lass.”
“Connor, Finlay, let’s go. We’ll get three more guards.”
Alex had a bad feeling in his gut, and he needed his sister.