“Dubhglas,” Grant said with a ground-shaking roar.“Ye best lower yer hand or?—”
Enraged that anyone would not only strike a helpless old woman but threaten to hurt an animal, Jessa scuttled around Grant, grabbed another oar propped beside a boiling cauldron, and took her place beside Griselda.“I’ll smack you right between the eyes if you take another step toward her,” she told the man.“Nobody hurts women or animals on my watch.”
“Him’s always been a cruel, hard man,” Griselda said.“I seen him kick my poor wee dog with me own eyes when I tried to feed her more because of her pups.My lasses fetched her for me and brought her and the pups here so’s I could protect them.”
Jessa resettled her grip on the oar, choking up on it like it was a baseball bat.“Get the hell out of here and never come back,” she told the man while stepping between him and his wife.Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Grant had stepped back, folded his arms across his chest, and was smiling.Was he serious?An irritated hiss escaped her.She’d deal with him later.When Dubhglas just stood there glaring at her, she took another step toward him, brandishing the wooden paddle.“Did you hear me?I said leave!”
“That be my wife.”He pointed at Griselda.“I can do whatever I wish with her and anything else what lives in me house.”
Jessa glanced back at the old laundress who had lowered her wooden oar and leaned wearily against it.“Is he out of here or not?It’s your choice.”
Using the paddle like a cane, Griselda hitched her way closer and peered at Jessa.“Be ye the Goddess Bride come to us in the flesh?”she whispered, her bloodshot eyes filling with tears.
“No.I’m Jessa.But I’ll not stand idly by and let anyone be mistreated.”She pointed her oar at Grant.“These are your people?Do you back me up on this?”
Grant gave a formal nod.“I do, m’lady.It appears we have discovered a situation I was not aware of and will not tolerate any more than ye will.No one mistreats women, children,oranimals in my clan.Name the man’s sentence and it shall be done.”
Dubhglas growled and charged forward, sputtering, “That be my wife.I own her.”
“Bullshit!”Jessa swung as hard as she could, landing a blow to his chin that backed him up a step.“You don’townpeople.”She glared at Grant.“Make him behave while I talk to Griselda and see if the dog and her puppies are all right.”
Grant nodded.“He’ll not move again.Will ye, Dubhglas?”His tone left no question about what he would do if the man failed to agree.
Dubhglas dropped to one knee and bowed his head.“Nay, m’laird.I shall stay here till ye bid me do otherwise.”
Jessa gently took hold of Griselda’s arm and led her inside the lean-to so they could talk in private.This situation reminded her of how her biological mother had never been able to find the strength to send her abusers packing, no matter how bad it got.Even as young as Jessa had been when social services rescued her, she could still remember her mother always saying,Any man is better than no man at all,because she needed their money for drugs and alcohol.
“Now is your chance to be rid of him,” she told the laundress, “ but you have to decide what you want.”
“The pup and her wee ones are over there.”Griselda pointed at the corner, as if Jessa hadn’t spoken.
Jessa eased forward and found the small brown dog huddling on a pile of rags, baring its teeth and growling to protect the three tiny puppies behind her.“I know you’ve been treated badly,” she said softly to the poor furry mother.“It’s going to be all right now, though.I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again.”
The dog stopped growling, lifted its head, and perked its ragged ears as if it understood every word.
“Can I pet you?”Jessa crouched and held out her hand, still easing forward and ready to stop if the poor thing was too upset.An ugly gash on its head and an odd lump in the middle of its visible ribs made her blood boil.Not only had the animal been beaten, but it had also been starved.Who knew how long it would take for the mama dog to trust her?Jessa sat on the ground.She had all the time in the world.Maybe it was time to see what these servants were willing to do for someone they thought was the mistress of the house.After all, that’s what they kept calling her.“She needs food,” she told the washerwoman.“Tell Grant I said so.”
“Tell the laird ye said so?”Griselda repeated, her scraggly white brows arching to her hairline.
“Yes.And tell him I said to get rid of Dubhglas.Your husband is not welcome here anymore.”
“Ye mean to kill him, then?Make me a widow?”
Jessa refused to let this play out the way her mother’s scenarios always had.She was no longer a helpless eight-year-old whom no one listened to.“I want him gone.Whether that means he leaves and never returns, or he’s beaten to death like he beat this dog, is up to you.Either way, I will not tolerate his presence at this keep any longer.You don’t need him, Griselda.Will you stay here and enjoy your freedom from his hell, or will you join him?From what I know about Grant, at least so far, what I know about him, you’ll be safe here and not go hungry.”
The old woman shook her head.“Nay, the laird would never let me go hungry.He is a good and fine man.”
“Then why didn’t you go to him about Dubhglas?”
Griselda stared at the ground and rocked back and forth in place.“I dinna ken, m’lady.I was ashamed, I suppose.”
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Griselda.Dubhglas is responsible for his behavior.Not you.”Jessa gave the woman the most reassuring smile she possessed.“And I’m proud of you for fighting for this mama dog and her babies.Now go ask Grant to send for some food, and then tell him what you want done with Dubhglas—choosing one of my options, of course.Those are the only choices I will allow.”
The gray-haired matron managed a deep curtsy.“Thank ye, m’lady—my honored goddess.”
“I am not a goddess,” Jessa called after her, then shrugged when the laundress ignored her and continued on her way toward the men.She turned back to the leery canine.“We’re going to get you some food, and then we’ll see about making you a more comfortable bed.”
Its big brown eyes shone with yearning; then she gave a pitiful whine and barely twitched her tail.
