“He willnae be able to be given to any family, will he?” She felt sad that Cathan would not be able to have a family of his own.
“Nay. It would be too dangerous. I have someone watching that cursed family of her husband’s but he clearly missed this plot.”
They arrived at the small graveyard just beyond the walls of the manor. Two guards stood near Cathan but so did all her boys. Liam stood the closest, his arm around young Cathan’s shoulders. Cathan had only been with them a short time but it was clear they considered him one of them.
“I do think I may be right and he willnae stay heartbroken for long,” whispered Callum as they moved closer. “He is not alone.”
“Nay, he isnae.” Bethoc stepped next to the boy and Cathan clutched her around the legs and buried his face in her skirts. She stroked his head as Callum began the service for the poor woman. “She is with the angels now, Cathan,” said Bethoc.
“Will the angels make her happy?” he asked.
“Oh, aye. Angels are verra good with that.”
“Good. She hasnae been happy since my da died.”
Bethoc thought about that and then smothered a sigh. The woman had had a bright, handsome little boy, a son to be proud of. Clearly that had not been enough. The woman had been ripe for a sly seduction. Her enemies had probably searched for some fool who had looked a lot like her husband. A few meetings, a few love notes, and she was his. She did wonder if he had been ordered to kill her or if there had been some argument. Perhaps Callum was right and her lover had asked Sarah to bring the boy but she had retained enough sense not to do that and it had cost Sarah her life.
Then she decided the way did not matter as much as the result. Sarah had been killed and it made it easier, or so their enemy thought, to get to the boy. She put her arm around him and held him close as the priest spoke over the woman’s coffin. The enemy was wrong. Cathan was not alone.
She led him over to the grave when the priest signaled and gently led him through the ritual of tossing dirt and a flower in the grave. He looked so small and lost Bethoc had to swallow hard to keep back the tears. Then, as the service trailed to an end, she saw Margaret march up to stand next to Cathan and take his hand in hers. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Then she stood close to him and pressed her cheek against his arm. Bethoc silently cursed when she felt the sting of tears again and then realized Liam was now standing on her other side. She turned to look at him.
“Lass has a way of kenning what is needed,” Liam said.
“Aye. Aye, she does,” Bethoc said as she fought down her urge to cry.
Callum stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “She is a clever, fierce, demanding wee angel with a verra big heart,” he whispered in her ear. “Now we need to get ye back to bed.”
Bethoc turned to Cathan and carefully crouched down in front of him. There were tears but he was not sobbing. As she looked at his face, something there told her he was fully aware that his mother was gone and would never return. She brushed his curls back from his face and kissed his forehead.
“Ye ken ye will always have a place with me, Margaret, and the lads, aye?”
“Aye.”
Nodding, she let Callum help her up and they started back to the house. As they drew near the gates she heard the sound of horses approaching and felt Callum tense. She turned with him but he nudged her until she stood behind him. Facing him were four rough men. They did not have their swords drawn but they did not look as if they were friendly, either.
“We have come for the laddie,” said one of the men.
“What laddie? I have quite a few running about.”
“Oh, I think ye ken weel which laddie. Cathan. His kin want him back.”
“They have made that clear. E’en killed the poor lad’s mother but she had already given me the rights o’er the care of her child.”
“Sarah is dead?”
“Aye, we just had the burial.”
“Weel, she had no right to give over the right to the boy.”
“Nay? She was the lad’s mother. The mon who has paid ye killed the lad’s father. Now he has hired some fool who beat her to death. So what do ye plan to do?”
“We have been paid naught,” the man snapped. “We are just here to collect the boy and take him home.”
“Ye do ken the one after the boy has already let five of his hirelings die. Then sent the last on a hunt he kenned he would lose, and he did. So, six dead and the one who actually benefits from all this deadly nonsense has yet to reveal himself. Ye, I think, are working for a coward.”
“We are nay working for anyone.”
The man just stared at Callum for a moment then exchanged long looks with each of the other men riding with him. Callum waited patiently, knowing they were considering all he had said. He just had to hope these men were smarter than the last ones. He needed this hunt ended.
