“Please, wait!”
Maggie didn’t even pause in her steps but continued straight down the hall and into another room. Kate followed her, coming to an abrupt halt at the entrance.
The room was large! There was a heavy wooden bed against the south wall big enough to fit three people, but by the crisp look of it, no one slept in it. Daffodils, fresh and old, festooned every table, every window niche. The walls were painted with lush green vines, and in the corner was a small tent fashioned of dyed leather, long sticks, and heavy rope.
Maggie pushed the flap away from the opening of the tent and disappeared inside.
For a moment, Kate had no idea what to do. The room, the tent, Maggie’s appearance . . . everything overwhelmed her. But she had to apologize for hurting Maggie’s feelings. She went to the tent and knelt beside it.
“Please come out,” she prodded gently. “I didn’t mean you any insult.”
“Callum awaits ye in the great hall. Off with ye.”
Kate wrung her hands together trying to find a way to make her come out so that she could speak to her. “I . . . I feel as if I know you already.” She leaned closer to the flap. “Jamie has told me much about you.”
Maggie’s face appeared where the flap was, momentarily startling Kate. “What did he tell ye?”
“That you like yellow daffodils.”
Maggie rolled her eyes heavenward. “Mother Mary, I do not like them. I like orchids.” She crawled out of the tent and sat facing Kate. “I told him I like daffodils because he picks so many for me.”
Kate had the sudden urge to smile, but first she needed to apologize. “It was a long journey here. I did not mean to treat you unkindly.”
Maggie studied her for a moment, and then arrived at some conclusion that softened her features with a smile. She lifted her fingers to wipe a smudge of dirt from Kate’s brow even while her own face was streaked with it. “Ye were not hurt, were ye? Callum would never let ye be hurt.”
“I was not hurt,” Kate assured her. She could not keep herself from thinking about the years Maggie had spent in a dungeon, and what had happened to her there. Amazingly, though, there was tenderness and innocence in Maggie’s eyes that Callum lacked. “You said you already knew who I was. Then you know I’m a Campbell?” Kate added hesitantly. When Maggie nodded, Kate pushed on. “And you don’t hate me?”
Maggie patted her cheek, then stood up. “My brother has enough hate in him for both of us. D’ye want to come to the barn with me?”
The change in topic was so abrupt Kate didn’t answer her right away. Then, “The barn?”
“Aye, it’s verra peaceful there.”
Kate smiled and rose to her feet, accepting Maggie’s outstretched hand.
Though her body was bent, Maggie MacGregor had no trouble almost racing down the stairs, still clutching Kate’s hand, of course. The delicious aroma of food wafting through the air made Kate’s stomach ache. Panic filled her suddenly when she realized that Maggie was leading her to the great hall. Hell, Callum and his entire clan would probably be there and she had not even washed her face. It didn’t matter that they had all seen her less than an hour ago. Surely they expected her to wash the grime from her body after traveling for so long. Och, she must look like a village wench! She ran her free hand through her hair and yanked at some of the tangles, but it was no use. She was a mess. She also realized that this was the first time in her life she was concerned with her appearance. The idea pleased and disturbed her at the same time. It was wonderful to want to look pleasing, and even more wonderful to have someone to look pleasing for. Sadly, the man she wanted to please didn’t even like her. But he certainly had not kissed her like a man who held her in contempt . . . unless he was just so happy to be home.
His home. God’s teeth, what would her uncle think if he knew she was in the MacGregor holding? She looked around, soaking up the thick tapestries that provided warmth to the castle. The long corridors were illuminated in the soft glow of sconced torches. The furniture was plain but tremendously big. Exactly what a wondrously big man like Callum would choose, although poor Maggie likely ceased to exist when she sat in one of the carved walnut chairs sprinkled throughout the halls.
The two women rounded a corner that opened into an endlessly long great hall with a vaulted ceiling that rose upward two full landings. Kate’s face paled when she saw dozens of ladies, all with clean, untangled hair and unwrinkled gowns, seated at the long trestle table with Callum’s men. The light from the central hearth did not help her position, either. Every eye seemed to fall on her curiously being led by the hand by a wee hunched-back woman. Self-consciously, Kate ran her hand over her gown to smooth it and then wondered if breaking free of Maggie’s surprisingly strong grip and running for the doors would make her look even more foolish.
She spotted the object of her affliction and forgot everything else. Callum MacGregor stood a good head taller than the other men, save Angus. His long, dark hair was neatly combed and hung loose over his shoulders, the shadow of stubble gone now from his ruggedly chiseled features. He wore a loose-fitting white tunic unlaced at the neck and tucked at his waist beneath his folded plaid. He stood with Graham and a female of ample bosom and sultry green eyes.
Kate tightened her grip on Maggie’s hand, not wanting to go any further.
When he looked up from the flaxen-haired wench’s coy smile, Kate knew it was too late to flee, though she was no longer sure she wanted to. Callum looked pleased to see her. That is to say, he was not scowling. His eyes swept over her, his gaze a tender caress. But Maggie had stepped in front of her, and Kate wondered if he was looking at her or his sister.
“Greetings, Callum!”
Callum lifted his goblet and finished off its contents in one swallow, then returned his sister’s greeting.
“Did ye drag Kate oot of her room before she could bathe?”
Kate’s smiled vanished. If Maggie weren’t holding her hand so tightly she would have fled the hall and Camlochlin itself.
“She does not need to bathe,” his sister huffed. “She needs friends, so I am going to introduce her to Matilda and the others.”
Callum looked over her head at Kate. “Mayhap Kate would like somethin’ to eat first.”
