“Here, I’ll brush yer hair and braid it fer ye. It will gi’ me something tae set me mind too.”
Selene handed over the brush, grateful for the attention.
“Whatever is wrong? You look as if the sky is falling.”
Maureen huffed. “The storm is worsening and it will likely blow for days. These storms come all the way across the ocean from the Americas and keep us trapped indoors.” She brushed out a particularly knotted section of Selene’s hair.
“Ow.”
“Sorry. I didnae mean tae tug it so hard.”
“There’ll be nay sailing tae or from Raasay or anywhere else, until the weather turns.”
“Ah.” Selene’s spirits plummeted. “So, I must give up hoping for a letter from my brother-in-law.”
“Aye. I’m afraid there’s naught else for it. And we’ll nae be walking outside while it lasts. We shall have tae find something tae occupy us fer the time being.”
Selene nodded, filled with dismay at the prospect of being confined to the grim castle for days. She was not immune to the irony. While the laird had told her she was free to come and go, the weather had other plans.
After Maureen had braided her hair and caught it in two giant loops which she tied up with velvet ribbons, the two women headed off to the solar.
There they diverted themselves with games of piquet until they were thoroughly tired of it, played the harpsichord and sang until the very sound sent them half mad, dined on little cakes and drank endless cups of tea and even imbibed a glass or two of claret until they could not eat another crumb or drink another drop.
In the course of her conversation with Maureen, Selene learned that Kenneth and Callum were both absent. They had been called down the coast to a small fishing village that had been half swept away by the surging waves. Once there they were to assist the villagers to higher ground and find them somewhere dry and safe to wait out the duration of the storm.
Finally, Selene and Maureen retreated to the library where they sat reading in companionable silence for the afternoon.
These were pleasant enough pastimes, but as three long, days crept by, each one as damp and dreary as the last, the time hung heavily and all such diversions lost their appeal. The storms did not merely buffet Duntulm Castle – they besieged it, howling across the headland as though intent on prizing every stone fromits ancient foundations. Rain lashed the narrow windows in relentless sheets, and thunder rolled so violently over the cliffs that Selene swore she could feel it in her bones.
But the constant roar of the storm set her nerves on edge, and before long she could hardly sit still.
When she was not in company with Maureen, she tried walking the corridors, but the castle was a draughty labyrinth of shadowed passageways, every one of them echoing with the sighs and groans of the wind. She tried peering out the arrow-slit windows, but each time she did so, she was rewarded with nothing but a cold salty spray and a view of nothing save the grey and forbidding expanse of the pounding waves of the Little Minch.
By the third evening, Selene was almost pulling her hair out with frustration. She was not made for idleness. The castle felt as though it were swallowing her whole inch by inch. And the lack of certainty about her fate only served to make things worse.
When will this come to an end?
By the time the storm finally broke, she was ready to fling herself into the sea merely for a change of scenery.
The morning of the fourth day dawned pale and cold, but gloriously dry. Selene wasted no time leaving her chamber. She wrapped her cloak tight and hurried down the corridor toward the great hall, her steps echoing hopefully. The faint scent ofoatcakes drifted to her from the kitchens – and she was suddenly ravenous.
But she halted at the entrance to the hall. Kenneth and Callum stood near the main doors, cloaked and booted; their hair still damp from the morning’s lingering mist. A small knot of armed men waited behind them, all looking grim and purposeful.
A grim-faced Kenneth glanced up as she passed, and afforded her a nod. He turned from the men and caught up with her, striding beside her into the hall.
“Are ye well, Lady Selene? I regret I have had nae chance of late tae ensure yer wellbeing. It was late when we returned last night, and today I must again leave the castle.”
Selene took her seat on the bench at the high table. Kenneth joined her while Callum slipped into the seat opposite, next to Maureen.
“Where, pray, are you all going? Some secret excursion?” She offered the faintest hint of a grin. “Or have you decided to abandon me to the ghosts I’m told dwell in this place?”
Kenneth turned, a slight grin breaking through his usual unyielding expression. “I didnae think our activities would be of any concern tae ye, milady.”
She lifted her chin. “Everything is my concern when I am held here against my will.”
Callum’s mouth twitched, as though he were valiantly suppressing a laugh. Kenneth scowled at him and then back at her.
“I regret the storm has forbidden yer freedom. We’ve been busy fer days helping the villagers.” His tone became clipped. “We’ve been moving fishermen’s boats up the strand tae keep them from being washed away and finding shelter fer the villagers.” He shook his head. “And now word has come that the heavy rains have flooded the low pastures. Cattle need moving tae higher ground before they’re swept away.”
