Fire lit in her eyes.“We shall build a future, Fergus,” she said with familiar ferocity.“One day at a time.”
“And each night there will be another increment of a tale, if I join you abed,” he teased.She flushed a little but did not deny it.“You will see how readily I am taught to do just that, my lady,” he whispered and she could not hide her pleasure.“Ride with me this day.I will show you the land of Killairic and perhaps we will hunt a bit.”
“I would like that well,” she said, her pleasure clear.
“I will send word to Stephen.Tempest can take his leisure today, and we will ride palfreys.Some of the men may come with us.It will be good to check the level of the rivers, as well, after that rain and ensure that the bridges are in good repair.”
Hamish was surprisedto find himself regarded with a kind of awe in Killairic village.The situation was so vastly different from the time before his departure that he could scarce believe it.Was it simply because he had journeyed so far?
It was his aunt who made the reason clear to him, when he finally had the opportunity to linger at home for a day.Laird Fergus had released him from service for the day after their return from Dunnisbrae, and Hamish was glad of it.
His uncle Rodney’s cottage was smaller and darker than he recalled, and his aunt was more plump, but the smell of her rabbit stew was achingly familiar.It made his mouth water just as it always had.
“I suppose you have had much finer fare on your journey,” Mhairi said when she was serving the stew into bowls.
“I have missed your cooking,” Hamish confessed.“I have often wished for such good hearty fare as this.”
“And fine fare it is,” Rodney agreed.“There are many less fortunate than ourselves, to be sure.”As was his wont, he bowed his head and they prayed together for a moment.
“The bread is from yesterday, I fear,” Mhairi began but her husband interrupted her.
“You have no need to apologize, Mhairi,” he said.“Our fortunes are what they are and we offer our best.Hamish can have no complaint.”He arched a brow.“Or if he does, he can eat in Killairic’s hall.”
“I have no complaint,” Hamish said quickly.“There were nights we had naught to eat at all, and nights that what we had was not palatable.”
“Not palatable?”Rodney echoed with a grin.“The boy has become a diplomat, Mhairi.”
They laughed easily together and ate in silence for a few moments.Mhairi’s eyes shone with pleasure when Hamish requested a bit more of the stew.
“You must tell us of your adventures,” his uncle invited.
“I do not know where to begin.Outremer is so different, and yet, so much the same.”
“How so?”
“It is hot and dry, dusty.The food is different, and then there are all the languages to be heard.The Temple was a refuge, for it was tranquil and orderly, and most there spoke French.”
“And it was a sanctuary in a troubled land,” Rodney contributed.
Hamish nodded.“True.I always was relieved when we passed through its gates, and slept well in that place.It was a fortress, to be sure.”He eyed the last of his stew as a realization struck him.“It has fallen now and is in the hands of the Saracens.That refuge is no more.”His throat was tight as he recalled their near escape and the men he had known who might not draw breath any longer.
His uncle put a hand over his.“But you are home and safe here, lad,” he said gently.
Hamish took a breath and nodded.
“Praise be,” his aunt said.“I feared for your survival day and night, Hamish, and thought my heart would burst when I saw you returned.”
“It is remarkable that only one of your party did not return,” Rodney said.“Given all the woe in that part of the world.”
Mhairi sniffed and rose to clean the table.“I doubt any will miss Kerr overmuch,” she said, then poured ale for them all.
“Mhairi...”her husband warned, as Hamish often recalled him doing.
His aunt ignored the warning, which he also remembered well.
“Can I not speak the truth in my own home?”she demanded.“That boy was not one to turn your back upon.In truth, I feared him more than the Saracens when Hamish rode out.Like all those linked to Lady Isobel, he could not be trusted.”
Hamish said naught.
