“Thank ye,” he said as he watched her lay out cheese, bread, and cold meat. “Will this nay be missed?”
“Och, nay. One thing we appear to have enough of is food. We are verra fortunate.”
“Aye. So what shall we do with this beast?” he asked, pushing the horse’s face away from his food.
“I fear he will need to be kept here. I dinnae think we can leave him outside. If there are men looking for you, the horse could lead them right to you.”
“True and I am in nay condition to fight them.” He scowled at his leg. “I willnae be much use for a good long time.”
“Nay, a month, or three. We but need to keep ye hidden until then. Or”—she frowned—“until ye can stand putting some weight on that foot. When ye can do that without much pain, ye can do more.”
“And when will that happen?”
“I dinnae ken. Six weeks, two months? I fear I havenae had much to do with broken limbs though I learned how to tend them. Colin broke his arm once and we managed but it wasnae a bad break.” She combed her fingers through her hair. “I just dinnae ken. I wish I had more knowledge but I dinnae.”
“Ye have done a fine job, lass.” Cautiously, he reached out a hand to take hold of hers and gently squeezed. “And I heal fast. T’will be fine.”
She was startled by how good that gentle hold felt and, disconcerted by that, she stood up, reached for the horse’s reins, and pulled him away from Callum. “I will settle him in the rear of the cave. Get this saddle and all off him and wipe him down.”
Callum swore as he watched her work. He hated being helpless. What he did notice, however, was how efficiently she worked all the while keeping a close eye on the little girl. Bethoc was obviously accustomed to work, to watching out for the young ones in her family.
She set the girl down and stepped out of the cave to collect some grass and flowers for the horse. Leaving a small pile of flowers next to Margaret, she dropped the rest in front of Stormcloud. Setting a shovel against the wall, she walked back to him.
“Ye need to be careful, nay do anything too quickly,” she said as she sat down in front of him.
“I ken it. I will be verra careful and cautious,” he promised. “I dinnae wish to slow the healing in any way.”
She nodded. “Good. That is good. Now, I need to ken what happened to ye. I mean, I ken ye were beaten and tossed aside, near drowned, but naught much else. Why were ye here? Why did they want to kill ye?”
“Weel, pour me some cider, if ye would be so kind, and I will tell ye what I can recall. I fear some of it may nay be as clear as ye, or I, would like for I was knocked in the head a lot. Aye, and nearly drowning didnae help. Thank ye,” he said as he accepted a tankard of cider and had a drink.
Taking a drink gave him some time to order his thoughts. Callum was not sure he should mention the boy. She may have saved his life but he knew nothing about her. He could not be sure he could trust her with such knowledge. It could also bring a lot of trouble to her door.
“There were five of them,” he said. “They caught up with me in the clearing down at the base of the trail. I tried to fight them off, even made some progress, but there was a mon I didnae see who swatted me from behind. Once down, weel, it wasnae pretty. They finally broke my leg and tossed me into the river to drown. I dinnae ken what was worse, their laughter or how they grabbed my wounded leg to toss me into the water.” Callum shook his head. “I lost consciousness for a wee while but woke in time to claw my way to the surface. They were gone so I made my way to shore where ye found me.”
“So, they didnae wait to make certain ye were dead?” she asked softly.
“Nay. None too clever of them, was it? I believe they assumed they had succeeded.”
“But what did they want? Your money? Your horse?”
Callum sighed, knowing he was going to have to tell her one of the things he had thought to keep a secret. “Ye could say they wanted my horse and what it was carrying. A boy. A wee lad I was helping.”
Her eyes wide, Bethoc said, “Cathan.”
“How did ye ken that?” he asked, afraid he had just made a terrible mistake.
Bethoc was a little surprised by how his voice had gone hard and cold, but decided to ignore it. “Cathan, who is about four, with big brown eyes?”
“Aye, how do ye ken who he is?”
“Because my father has him. Nay!” She grabbed him by the arm when he tried to get to his feet. “He willnae be hurt, nay badly,” she added softly, and winced at the look he gave her. “My father takes lads and uses them to care for his crops and animals. He has been doing it for years. With Cathan there are now seven. He must have taken the boy from the men though I cannae see how. Or why.”
“He just takes them?”
“I dinnae ken how he obtains them,” she replied, frustration tainting her words. “The boys are all too young when they arrive for them to ken either. At least, none has ever said anything about how they came to be there, only that my father had taken them. I only just fully realized it all, ne’er e’en asked how they got there for fear of my father’s anger. I have never given it a thought, e’en though I called them all Brother. It shames me to think of how witless I was.”
“Ye would have been naught but a child yourself,” Callum said quietly.
