“Ye couldnae ride out to meet us?” said Nicolas as he reined in right in front of Gybbon.
“Resting the horses,” Gybbon drawled, and grinned when Nicolas chuckled and shook his head.
“Ciaran, why is there a cat hiding behind you?”
“She didnae ken whether ye were friend or foe.” He grinned when Nicolas frowned in confusion.
“Since ye are here and so we now have a goodly force of men to protect us, I will free our passengers.” Gybbon rode around the cart, undoing all the ties that held the blanket over its back. “Harcourt’s men are here, Mora,” he said as he tossed aside the covering. “Ye two can be free to be seen now. Plenty of eyes to keep a sharp watch for your cousins,” he assured her as he dismounted and walked up to the side of the cart.
Although she was sorely tempted to immediately leap out of the cart, Mora stayed seated and frowned up at Gybbon. “But that will let them ken that I came here with you, aye? Ye cannae want that.”
“Lass, I believe they already ken it. They were fair certain Sigimor was hiding ye, but they didnae have the courage, or the men they needed to face him and his clan. We were just fortunate that they didnae realize how many of Sigimor’s men were laid down with an illness.”
“If ye are sure,” she said, and when he nodded, she steered Andrew to him.
Gybbon swung Andrew out of the cart and set him down, but the boy stayed close to him and studied Nicolas and his men. “Now ye,” Gybbon said, and grabbed her around the waist, careful to put his hands above her newly healed wound, and grinning when she squealed softly as he swung her out of the cart. Then, after he set her on the ground, she slapped his arm.
Mora clasped his arm after slapping it and smoothed down her clothing with her other hand. The dizziness that had seized her when he had picked her up was not fading as fast as it should. When she was steady again, she shook off that worry. Her wound was healed. Her fever from that had passed and she would not worry about her health like some old woman. Feeling more at ease, she watched Gybbon introduce all his brother’s men to her and Andrew.
The moment that was done, she turned her attention to her cat, who was rubbing her head against Ciaran’s arm and purring. “Are ye going to come to me or nay, ye shameless, unfaithful wretch?” Freya left a chuckling Ciaran and leapt onto her shoulder.
“What has Sigimor sent us then?” asked Nicolas as he dismounted, then walked over to the cart.
“Cider, a bit of ale, and some fruit. Apples and some berry things. They had a very good season and reaped a hearty harvest.”
“And he still insists his ale and cider are better than ours,” drawled Nicolas.
“Of course. He feels ye just need more taste comparisons.” Gybbon laughed along with Nicolas.
“Berry things?” Mora asked in confusion as she stepped closer and looked at the many covered jars that were in the crates. “Oh, lovely.” She looked at Andrew, who was also studying the things packed in the crates. “Ye can put some on your porridge when ye break your fast in the morning.”
“Mora? We are going to ride out now. Do ye want to get back in the cart or do ye wish to ride?” asked Gybbon.
“I would love to ride, if it willnae be a trouble.”
“Nay, no trouble.”
“I think ye need to remove Freya first.”
“Oh. Aye, that would be best.”
She reached up to pat her cat, then went to put her pet in her bag. When Freya immediately leapt out to go sit by Ciaran she just laughed and returned to Gybbon’s side. He swung her up into the saddle, but this time she suffered no overwhelming dizziness so cast aside her small concerns about her health.
It was nice to look around as they traveled. It was lovely land and the sparkle of water she could see off to the left told her it was well watered. She idly wondered if they did more grazing of animals than they did planting.
“’Tis verra pretty here,” she said.
“This is the end of Glencullaich land. The land for Gormfeurach starts just inside those trees. We share water from that burn but Glencullaich has the best land of the two keeps.”
“’Tis why a lot of folk call them sister keeps now,” added Nicolas. “We are verra intertwined now. A lot of our people are related to each other. A sister in one, the brothers in another. Parents in one, grown children at the other. If we ever fought each other it would be hard on both sides and a lot of people could weel just leave.”
“That is rather unusual, isnae it?”
“Verra unusual, but it works for the moment. The lairds are close friends and that helps.”
“’Tis a shame there is nay more of that.”
“Our swords would dull,” teased Nicolas.
