“How is he?”
Startled by the voice when she had not heard anyone come in, Emily clasped a hand over her heart and looked at Matthew. The man stood on the opposite side of the bed and his expression was so rigid she knew he was deeply worried and fighting to hide it. Emily wished she knew more so that she could give him some uplifting news.
“Mrs. O’Neal says . . .”
“I ken what she says,” Matthew said, his tone almost snappish. “What do ye think?”
“I think what she does. I know nothing about wounds. I grew up in pastoral Hertfordshire, Matthew. I know little to nothing about doctoring. He is not feverish and I know that to be a good thing but, sadly, it is still early. His head is whole, no bones cracked or broken, and he is strong. Head wounds are a mystery to even the best of physicians.”
His shoulders slumped. “Fool stayed on the wrong side of the bar for too long, making sure the rest of us got behind it. Same damn thing he always does, puts himself out there while shielding us.”
Emily smiled. “He is the oldest. It is his place and he is very aware of that.”
“He has carried us for too long. Didnae even do so when the bairns were of an age to scream a lot. Hungry? Scream. Wet? Scream. Too much noise? Scream.” He shook his head. “He was even doing most of the watching of us when my parents were still alive. It was Iain who went after Geordie when he ran into our burning house. I always wondered why it wasnae our mither or da. I guess some people are just made that way.”
She nodded. “And that is what made him go after Albert, I suspect. That need to protect.”
“Weel, Albert was becoming a problem. I was getting fair sick of digging holes for all the fools he sent after us.”
“Oh.” She had never given a thought to what happened to the bodies left behind. “Rather gruesome thought.”
Matthew laughed at the face she made. “Had to be done. Draw the scavengers if ye dinnae.”
“Oh, Matthew.” She pressed a hand to her stomach as he laughed again and became aware of the fact that she still held Iain’s hand. “Maybe we can speak of other things?”
“I went and found the locals who helped defend us and thanked them. That is something I think old Albert didnae consider, that the others in the saloon would give us a hand.”
“No, he would not. I just wish I knew how he figured out where to set a trap for you. I have thought and thought and I do not believe he saw me that day I was in town.”
“I had a look around, looking at the line of sight from bank to store and then store to bank. I noticed something. If one looks in the bank windows at the right time of day, just about the time of day ye were in the shop, they just reflect all that is around them. He could have seen you in the short time you stood in the window or he recognized Mrs. O’Neal. Everyone kens who she is and who she works for.”
“I see. But if he saw me why did he not come after me?”
“Ye didnae have the boy with you.”
“Of course. And knowing I went to town, saw him, he would assume I would tell Iain.”
For a moment Matthew stared at Iain and said nothing. Emily felt uncomfortable, certain the brothers had to blame her, in some small way, for what had happened. Albert was her enemy. Without her and Neddy here the man would not pay any attention to the MacEnroys as, to Albert, they were just poor farmers. She would take that threat away if she could but she had to think of Neddy. If she and the child were on their own, she was certain they would soon be dead.
“I best get back to work. Ye will let us ken when he does wake, aye?”
“Yes, of course I will. I suspect I will also have to call on you for help now and then.”
“Call away. We will be near at hand and there is always at least one of us lurking close to the house.”
“Did you discover where Albert went to after the attack in the saloon?”
“Nay. He and his men all rode out and disappeared into the hills. We have been looking around the hills but have found nothing. Maybe he has fled home.”
“One can only hope.”
Matthew left and she sighed, idly patting Iain’s limp hand. What Matthew had told her about Iain came as no real surprise. It did worry her a bit, however, because Iain’s protective tendencies could keep putting him in Albert’s path and that could prove deadly next time. There was no changing a man’s nature, though. Iain would stand between danger and the weaker for as long as he could. She had guessed that about him and Matthew’s stories had confirmed her opinion.
“Brave fool,” she muttered. “This is not your fight and we shall have to have a good talk about that when you recover your senses.”
She could not have him getting himself killed for her sake. She would never survive that sacrifice. There had to be something she could do to get him to stop taking chances. There should be something she could do to get help in ridding her of Albert’s threat. Letters had gone out to Iain’s acquaintances so perhaps she should send a few out to hers. If she could get word to the duke perhaps he would finally accept that Albert was a threat and responsible for every family death in the last few years. He had not really believed her when she had claimed that Albert had killed her parents. It was true that her proof was thin and she mostly used her own feelings about the man but her grandfather had to have been considering the possibility that she was right.
The duke was a reasonable man so she was sure he must have been thinking on what she had said. It had not been quick enough for her but it might be useful now. The dead were piling up and she knew Albert would not stop until he added her and Neddy to that sad pile. What she had to do was compose a letter detailing all her suspicions, rational points needed to be made, and then he might consider the possibility.
