“Why? I dinnae need a nursemaid.”
“Nay, but he is an experienced soldier who is headed in the same direction and that would be handy.”
“Ah, aye, it would. He maynae be willing though.”
“And I suspicion he will be. Always better to ride with someone than ride alone.”
For a while they spoke of the many ways he could make the journey. Geordie was not that interested in taking the train. He had heard it was dirty and crowded. Iain had no real knowledge on that to share, but he did think Geordie ought to at least look into using it if only for part of the way. It would make the journey shorter and Geordie liked the idea of that.
By the time he retired for the night, Geordie felt much calmer. The yearning was still there but it was quieter. He suspected it was because he had decided: He was going. Now the excitement was building. He was trying to find a way to tamp that down before it kept him from sleeping, when a knock sounded at the door. A moment later, Iain and Robbie came in, walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.
“What? I dinnae need company to go to sleep. Outgrew that years ago,” Geordie grumbled as he sat up.
“Ha! Funny guy,” Iain said. “We’ve come to talk about this trip you are going to take.”
“Thought we did. I’m going to go along with James.”
“Aye. And Robbie.”
Geordie looked at his grinning younger brother. “Ye want to come?”
“Aye,” Robbie answered. “I can manage.”
“Are ye sure? It is a long trip.”
“I am much stronger than I was. So long as we arenae galloping across the country for days at a time, I will manage just fine. And ye will have James with ye, so it will nay be just the two of us who dinnae usually travel much. I have been riding regularly, Geordie. I can hold up.”
Geordie looked at Iain. His eldest brother did not look worried about it or even inclined to argue with Robbie’s decision. Geordie could not decide if that was because Iain and Robbie had already argued over it or if Iain was truly not concerned. Iain was very skilled at saying what sounded right, just what you wanted to hear, but if you sat and looked very carefully at what he said, you would find it was a rather empty package of words, and that he was placating you.
“Weel, all right then. Now let me sleep.” He lay down with his back to them and tugged the covers up. “I need rest for the journey.”
“Rude,” Iain muttered as he stood up.
Geordie kept his eyes closed as he listened to them leave, then flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He had no real objection to Robbie coming along, but he did have a worry or two. Robbie’s leg injuries still left him with a serious limp and his hand could occasionally go so weak it was useless. It also remained too stiff for him to do some things, like the weaving he used to love doing. A long trip could possibly set him back in the healing he had done.
Then he shook his head and closed his eyes. Robbie still managed to work at the cider business he and Emily’s brother Reid had begun, and suffered little from it. He just had to trust that Robbie knew what he could or could not accomplish. It would also be a good adventure for him, and Geordie suspected his brother needed one, needed something to make him a little more sure of himself.
He hoped James would agree to travel with them. It would make Geordie feel even more at ease about taking Robbie. There was a lot of good the ocean could do for his brother. Many people felt the water had a healing effect on people. Geordie was not sure he believed that, but he did feel it could soothe a person and he strongly felt there was something in Robbie that needed some soothing.
Just sitting and watching the waves come in might do Robbie a lot of good. Geordie could easily recall how that worked. The years had soothed away the memories that could cause his brother to wake up screaming, but maybe a trip to the ocean would help even more. It was odd that the ocean could be so powerful, so destructive at times, yet, when it was calm, it could also soothe.
Sleep began to creep over him and he welcomed it. There was a lot that needed thinking on, but it could wait until morning. He would make better decisions with a well-rested mind.
* * *
Robbie rubbed the cream, which Abbie and Mrs. O’Neal swore would help him fight the aches he suffered at the end of the day, into his wounded leg. He had not told them that there were times during the day when it was painful. It did soothe it at night and he was grateful for how that helped him to fall asleep. It did nothing to quiet his mind, however. His mind was crowded with thoughts of all that could go wrong and doubts about his taking part in the journey, but he fought to banish them. He could not decide if that fear and worry was born of reason, or of unreasoning fear.
Shaking his head as he put the cream away, he settled down in his bed. He faced his fear and wrestled it down. His leg was ruined but it was also healed. Crooked and ugly, but healed. Travel could not ruin it more than it was already ruined. Robbie told himself yet again that he was fortunate he still had it despite the pain that too often troubled him. During the war, the solution for such an injury was usually amputation, a solution not everyone survived. At least he had escaped that fate.
He would have to have a talk with Reid. The East did seem to be the place with the innovations and ideas. He might find one that would help them take a big stride forward. Their business was doing well enough, but it needed to be built up a bit before it got them a really nice return for their efforts. It was probably a bad time to just go off for a while. He hoped he could explain why he felt he needed to.
As he closed his eyes he wondered if this trip would inspire him, if he would return with new ideas and new strength to work on the business. He promised himself he would go visit any cider mills in the area they were in while he was in the East. Sleep slipped over him as he wondered if that would be enough to calm any anger Reid might feel.
Chapter Two
Studying the clothes he had laid out on the bed, Geordie decided he had all the clothes he needed. It was probably more than many men would take for a short journey with no plans for a long stay, but he needed to be sure he would not have to wear dirty clothes. The journey they had taken to find their new home, with all the dirt and mud that had constantly assaulted them, had left him with an abhorrence of unwashed clothes. He was so particular he had even learned how to wash his clothes himself. His brothers questioned him about it often, wondering why he did not just wait for washing day when the women did it, but he knew several of them had picked up a few of their own odd habits. Mrs. O’Neal referred to them as “twists.”
Despite the fact that James had not yet arrived or agreed to travel with him and Robbie, Geordie had begun to pack the rucksack Iain had given him. When he was done he saw that he had a lot of room left in the bag. He was about to choose a few more clothes when he caught the scent of breakfast cooking and decided packing could wait. Tossing what he had chosen to add to the rucksack onto his bed, he followed the scent of food.
