Chapter Sixteen #2
“Aye. Morgan said they’re in the loch all the time, and they have several different types of small boats. They are always trying out new forms in their loch. He said there’s a ridge on one side that if you climb it, you can see all the way to Jura.”
Tora let out a hoot, her imitation of a Grant war whoop. “I cannot wait.”
“Which loch?” Roger asked.
“Ardnahoe. They have two cottages there.”
Edan said, “I know the cottages. We leave you at this fork in the road. Rest up, but may we visit you on the morrow? We’ll take you to Finlaggan Castle and see what we can learn there.”
Alasdair asked, “Those are the two most populated areas on Islay? Finlaggan and Dunyvaig? So the next place we ask questions is at Finlaggan?”
“Aye, the two biggest castles. The harbor at Dunyvaig and Lagavulin Bay are the busiest. Four parishes—Kilnaughton and Kidalton near Dunyvaig, Kilmeny near Finlaggan, and Kilchoman in the west. If we want information, we’ll go to Finlaggan Castle on the morrow. It’s where I’m headed,” Edan said.
“Stop at the loch and we’ll join you,” Dyna said. “We need to get settled first.”
Edan and Roger took their leave with a nod, and Ailith’s heart sank a wee bit.
They headed in different directions, and a short time later, they reached the loch, the path leading directly to its coast. There were only two cottages on the loch’s shore, and they sat on its southeastern part.
As they approached from a path behind the buildings, they could hear the splash of water, and Alasdair let out a shrill whistle. Within a few moments, Morgan and Magni came flying around the cottages to greet them on the path.
“Da! I didn’t know you were coming,” Morgan said. “Where’s Mama?”
“Your mother said she’ll come along on the next visit. She needed to settle at Duart first. You know your mother. I have to make sure the place has all the comforts she requires before I bring her along.”
Magni led the way to the stable for horses and a storage building built into the ground.
“We built a separate cottage for visitors.” Magni pointed to the larger of the two cottages settled inside a group of pines as he grabbed a trunk, Morgan gathering sacks to carry inside.
“We have three bedchambers in our cottage on the left, and there are three in this one with one large one for bairns. I don’t know why we built this second one on the right, but I had a sudden inexplicable urge. What else does Sela need?”
Dyna climbed down with Derric’s help. “Allow me to answer for Mama. Big hearth. Baskets of blankets by the hearth. Wine, wine, and more wine. How is your cook?”
Morgan guffawed. “No cooks here. We’re on our own, but we’re learning. And Finlaggan is not far.”
Alasdair said to the group, “We’ll go in the new hut. Bring everything into it. Emmalin and I get one chamber. The lasses can take the bairns’ room. Dyna and Derric take the other one. Maitland and Grant get the last one. We’ll send your father with you, Morgan.
Daran shouted, “I want to go with Morgan and Magni.”
“You go with Uncle Connor then, Daran. All the lasses are staying here.”
Daran shouted, “I’m going to the lads’ cottage! John, come with us!”
Dyna added, “The food goes in our hut. We’re eating within the hour. We brought a piece of smoked pork and some beef too, Magni. Plenty. And bread.”
Ailith and Sylvi crept into the cottage that looked new and unused, the scent of pine still fresh.
They stepped into a large open area with a huge hearth at one end and a dedicated cooking hearth at the other with a table nearby.
Two trestle tables sat in the middle with several chairs by the main hearth.
There was even a staircase with a small balcony above, leading to three bedchambers.
Magni came in behind the group, his hands on his hips. “What do you think?’
“Magni, you did this with Morgan?”
“And Cormac. We hired someone to build the hearths. The shipping company helps us meet many tradesmen. And Morgan brings the furniture from the mainland.”
Dyna whistled. “It’s beautiful. With a few more homey touches, Aunt Sela may never leave.”
“Did you bring linens? We may need some.”
“We did. Linens and extra blankets.”
Emmalin came over and wrapped an arm around Ailith’s shoulders. “What do you think? Will you feel safe here?”
Ailith knew her parents often worried about her after everything that happened at MacLintock Castle.
She couldn’t explain the overwhelming feeling she had in the cottage.
The sound of water lapping on the loch, the row of oak trees and pines outside, a grove of apple trees not far away.
There was no reason to hide what she truly felt.
“Mama, it feels so cozy.”
“Truly, you’ll be comfortable here? No haunting visions yet or memories?”
“Nay. I love it. I feel like nothing could ever hurt me here.”
How wrong she was.
***
Later that night after everyone had settled, Ailith climbed out of bed. She needed time to herself to think on all that had happened.
Alone.
She wrapped a plaid around herself and put on her slippers, opening the door quietly to make her way toward the loch. The setting was so peaceful that the silence calmed her roiling thoughts.
Ailith stood at the loch’s edge, watching a heron pick its way through the shallows, when she heard the cottage door creak behind her. She didn’t turn. She knew who it was without looking.
“A word, lass.”
“Aye, Dyna.”
Her cousin came up beside her, plaid wrapped tight against the chill. The heron froze, then folded itself into the mist and was gone.
“On the ship yesterday. What Lia said. Did you hear all of it?”
Ailith’s thumb pressed into the heel of her hand, a small habit she’d had since she was a bairn. “Aye. Including what she said about his blood.”
Dyna let out a breath. “I’d hoped you hadn’t.”
They stood in silence for a moment. Somewhere out on the water, a fish broke the surface and was gone before Ailith could see what kind.
“What does it mean, Dyna?”
“I don’t know.” Dyna’s gaze stayed on the loch. “That’s what frightens me. Lia didn’t look at him like she’d seen something new. She looked at him like she’d seen something old.”
Ailith took that in.
“I’ve not told your da. I’ve not told Derric. I’ll tell them when I know more, or when Lia returns. Until then, lass, I need to ask something hard of you.”
“Ask it.”
“Stay near him. You, Sylvi, and Tora. Your gift may be the only thing that tells us what he carries before it hurts someone.” Dyna finally turned.
Her eyes, in the gray light, were the color of wet slate.
“But you watch for that thrum you felt before. If you feel aught at all when he’s near you—a chill, a wrongness, the smallest thing—you come to me. No one else. Me.”
“Lia said to keep the bairns from him.”
“Aye.”
“But not the seers.”
“She didn’t say for certes. I’m choosing.” Dyna’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “That’s the piece of being a chieftain no one tells ye about, lass. You obey when ye can. The rest, ye carry.”
Ailith felt the weight of it shift onto her. It didn’t feel heavy. It felt like a plaid that carried secrets.
“Tell no one of this conversation. Not John. Not your mother.”
“Aye, Dyna. Oh. Something else I forgot. When we were at the market, an old woman followed me, grabbing my mantle trying to speak with me.”
“That is most strange. Did you find out what she wanted?”
“Aye. After we bought the tarts, she nearly knocked Sylvi and me over. She said we were the ones who could save them.” Ailith turned to see what Dyna thought of this, wondering if the woman was also some kind of wizened healer.
“Them?”
Her eyes moistened at the thought, but she passed it on. “She said there were eight bairns being held by the faeries.”
Dyna grabbed her forearm, her eyes widening. “What else did she say?”
“They were at the old stones by the western water. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Nay, but it will surely help us. Did Edan say anything?”
“He said it was a quarter day away.”
“We’ll be there on the morrow then, right after Finlaggan. Edan won’t wait.”
Her cousin squeezed her shoulder, hard enough to mean it, and turned back toward the cottage.
Ailith stayed at the water’s edge, closing her eyes to bask in the lapping of the loch.