Niall’s shrug indicated his lack of interest in the subject. Lachlann was the only one who had been schooled in a monastery that included the Christianization carried on by Columba and other saints. Sometimes that teaching reared its head. Like now. And his friend’s lack of knowledge reminded him that, although they might be like brothers, they had not that much in common.
Someone stirred inside the cave.
“Shall we?” Niall asked, directing Lachlann to enter.
Lachlann led the way, his gaze immediately going to Ethne, but she was no longer alone. Uradech knelt beside her pallet, blocking whatever was happening from Lachlann.
“No.” Ethne’s quiet voice carried and Lachlann’s whole body tensed.
Enraged, he strode across the cave to where the heavy man hunched over her. The child had been set aside, still asleep. Lachlann yanked back on Uradech’s shoulder, pulling him away from her so hard that he fell back on his arse, sliding along the sand a few feet away.
“Hey!” Uradech said.
The brown gown Ethne had slept in was up around her hips, and her eyes were wide in fear. Lachlann hunkered down beside her curled up figure to cover her bare legs with the wool blanket. When she focused on him, he was surprised to see her redden and turn away.
“What is amiss?” Malcolm called from behind him, still sounding half asleep.
Uradech opened his mouth to respond, but Lachlann raised a finger at the man along with a warning glare. “Do not. I heard her. She told ye no.”
Ethne shrank back and yanked the rough wool up to her neck, her small shoulders heaving. Lachlann held her gaze, watching as she took a deep breath before responding to her brother. “There is naught.”
The fat man sneered at Lachlann before standing, brushing off his backside and returning to the others just beginning to stir.
Lachlann turned his attention to Ethne and spoke in a quiet voice, unsure what to say to her. “Is there ought I can do for ye?”
She lowered her gaze and shook her head no.
“Ethne!” A demanding voice Lachlann didn’t recognize barked from behind. The woman Ethne had called Domelch? “The fire!”
When Ethne moved to get off the pallet, Lachlann extended his hand as he stood. She hesitated, her eyes darting between his hand and his face with suspicion. Was she so seldom offered a kindness that his simple offer must be met with mistrust? When her gaze remained on his face, he swore her doubt changed right before his eyes. Then her small hand was in his, still warm from sleep, and he lightly caressed her fingers with his thumb while assisting her up. His heart swelled as if a great battle had been won.
She offered him a shy smile then said in a louder voice intended for the others, “Are ye ready to break yer fast?”
Ethne left him behind as she moved toward the fire.
He went to stand alongside Niall, who stood at the hearth near to where Ethne blew the fire aflame. His arms crossed, Niall quirked a brow. Lachlann nodded. This was indeed a strange place.
Aldred came in from outside to pause in the doorway, scratching his stomach while all eyes turned to him. “Good morn!” he offered, a slight shrug to his shoulders. “How did ye all sleep?”
Lachlann and Niall exchanged glances right before Niall turned away, shaking his head.
“And who are ye three?” Domelch stood, her hair matted to the side of her face and spittle whitening the corners of her mouth. She didn’t seem a bit embarrassed to have three men she didn’t know seeing her disheveled from sleep. Just the opposite, in fact. She smiled, adjusting the gold bangles at her ears that had become entangled in her hair. It might have been a flirty smile, but Lachlann couldn’t be certain. He only knew that when her gaze had traveled the length of them in a slow perusal, there had been a definite spark in those green eyes.
“These are visitors from…” Malcolm threw water on his face from a bowl Ethne was just filling from a clay pitcher that had been set near the hot coals overnight. “Where did ye say?”
Niall answered. “We are Pilgrims from Restenneth Priory.”
Domelch grunted her dislike. She accepted the brush Ethne handed her with a jingle from the arm bands at her wrist and deposited herself on a small stool that her sister-in-law had set beside her. “Well, we won’t hold that against ye. Ye are welcome here no matter where ye hail from.”
“I’m hungry.” Finn looked exhausted, big red eyes, a smudge of ashes on the bridge of his nose. When he noticed Lachlann, he perked up.
Lachlann returned the smile. “And what about the whales? Do ye have many whales about?”
The lad cupped his hands for the berries Ethne offered to him. He beamed at her, and she patted him lightly on the head before returning to the fire. An iron pot tucked neatly against the coals was filled with steaming porridge.
Ethne smiled. “Finn knows quite a bit about them, dinna ye, Finn?”
“Ethne!” Domelch turned a mean expression on the lass. “I need my mead. Now!” Once Ethne was scrambling to do the woman’s bidding, Domelch turned a bright smile toward the men. “And what can I get ye three?”
