His kiss clouded her mind as it did too often and it took Bethoc a minute to grasp the import of what he had just said. “Why?”
“I need to talk with him and I think ye should as weel.”
“Because I can smell a taint in people?”
“Aye. ’Tis a gift, lass.”
“Kerr said it was witchery.”
“Weel, many think so, but ’tis just like sight and hearing. Ye just have an added sense.”
“That doesnae sound quite so bad.”
“It isnae bad, love. ’Tis rather wondrous. Ye can tell who should nay be trusted, who should be avoided. Ye have an added weapon, an added defense against any threat.”
Bethoc thought that sounded nice but was not sure. She had never thought what she could do was special but had never spoken of it because of Kerr’s horrified reaction. At times she had thought it was a reaction born of jealousy because he was lacking in the ability many others must surely have. The way she had spoken of it to Callum and Uven, however, told her she might be in need of some advice on how to hide it. It would also be nice to know there were others out there who understood, who struggled with their own “gift.”
“So when do we go?” she asked, resting against Callum’s chest.
“I am nay sure. I must write him first to be sure he isnae traveling and that ’tis a good time to visit. Ye can bring Margaret.”
“Oh, good. I was just trying to think of how to explain it all to her and nay looking forward to it.”
He kissed her again, hungry for her but knowing it was too soon. “We will be gone at least a week, mayhap more for we will stop at your home since we ride right past it. Then, the time we spend at Payton’s depends on a great many things.” He stood up. “But now I must tend to the burial of poor Cathan’s mother.”
“Help me dress, please. I need to be with him when ye do.”
Callum only hesitated a moment before helping her out of bed. He watched as she collected her clothes. It was going to be a true test of his willpower to help her dress. He wanted her but Brenda had warned him that her wound needed time to do more than just close.
To his relief, she did much of her dressing by herself and did it in a way that tempted him with few sights of bare skin. He realized living with Kerr and so many boys had probably taught her such skills. He helped with laces and then helped her don her shoes so that she did not need to bend down. Then, despite her protests, he brushed her hair out and neatly braided it.
“How did ye learn to do that?” Bethoc asked with a hint of suspicion as she patted the braid and looked at him over her shoulder.
“Horses’ tails,” he replied, and grinned.
“Wretch.” She stood up and brushed down her skirts. “Let us go get the sad deed done. I pray poor Cathan’s heart is nay too broken.”
Taking her by the arm, he led her out of the room. “I cannae say whether the lad is heartbroken though I suspicion he is, but I cannae believe it will last all that long. She was a sweet woman but nay so good as a mother. She was too caught up in her own sadness and wee Cathan looks a lot like his da.”
“Yet she ran off to meet another mon?”
“I do wonder if she was one of those women who doesnae feel, weel, whole, unless she has a mon.”
“Ye say it is his relatives trying to get his inheritance, so do ye think this mon was all part of that?”
“’Tis a possibility. Without her about they may think it will be easier to get the boy. I dinnae ken exactly who the mon was to her but she was ripe for seduction. Verra easily swayed. And the mon had the look of her husband. Good bait, I am thinking.”
She shook her head. “I hate to speak ill of the dead, but she was, mayhap, a bit foolish.”
“Oh, aye, and filled with romantic fancies. I now think she was sneaking out to see him for a while. So excitingly dangerous but, she assumed, the penalty would only be embarrassment. If she thought at all. ’Tis nay as if she was unaware of the danger. ’Tis why she came here, brought Cathan here.”
“I am nay sure we can e’er ken what she was thinking.”
“Nay,” he agreed. “Ye and I would ne’er have done it. Now the poor lad is an orphan.”
“Does that put him in more danger?” Bethoc asked, worried about the child.
“Aye, I think it might, but then I wonder if this trick means it willnae be a direct threat. He may have been trying to get her to bring Cathan out when she came to him and that was what the argument was about. This implies they willnae act openly against me. Cathan willnae leave here either. So he should be safe.”
