“I have to go.” He pulled away from her and turned, stumbling, then fell, hard, hitting the ground with a thud on his injured shoulder. His cry was anguished.
“Rory!” Kate dropped down beside him. He looked at her and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he was once again unconscious.
“I should have stayed out of sight.” Max joined her.
“Who is this, Max?” Essie was soon beside them, lifting Rory’s eyelids.
“My brother.”
“At last,” Essie sighed. “He is not in a good state, however.”
“He took a bullet to his shoulder, Essie. I found him bound and gagged on the beach.”
“Dear Lord, thank God you were there, Kate. Josiah, Bertie!”
Two brothers looked after the Sinclair family when they were in residence—Josiah and Bertie Temple. The both appeared.
“Go and ready the bed in the surgery and stoke the fires,” Essie directed. “Then make up Dev’s old bed. He’ll need to be transferred there after I’ve looked him over.”
The brothers rushed away to do her bidding.
“Pick him up,” she directed the men, who until that moment had stood silently observing. “Hurry now, we must get him inside and out of the cold.”
“I can’t believe he’s here. My brother,” Max rasped.
She’d only ever known this man as the strong silent one who made up part of the backbone that was the Sinclair and Raven families. A man who loved his own with every corner of his heart. A man who could be relied on for his strength and honor. She’d never seen him unsettled, but he was now, and justifiably so.
They walked slowly forward careful not to jostle Rory. Passing gardens and a herb patch. Some were flowering, but most were dormant awaiting spring and summer.
“Easy up the steps,” Essie cautioned.
Inside the house, there were walls still showing scuff marks and worn floor coverings from the seven children who had been raised here. This was a home with a heart, and Kate loved it.
A huge bough of greenery hung from a hook on the wall, a large red bow securing it. Christmas was in the air. The scents of cinnamon and spices followed them through the house.
“Kate?” Alice, her sister, appeared in a doorway looking worried.
“I am well, Alice, and will explain everything soon.”
Nicholas stood with Alice as the others entered the surgery.
“On the table, please,” Essie said.
The men lowered a still unconscious Rory to the table. A scurry of claws had them looking to the door, and in bounded Bran.
“I can’t have him in here, Max,” Essie said.
The dog was soon dispatched—after it had put both paws on the table and looked at Rory.
“At least someone is pleased to see me,” Max muttered, returning to the table where his brother lay unmoving.
“Nicholas, James, and anyone else without a heightened sense may leave,” Essie said. “Max, help me get him out of his clothes. Bertie, get them food and make tea. Perhaps prepare some broth for the patient. Josiah, I need you to heat bricks; we must get him warm.”
“And leave some food for us,” Cam demanded as the Raven men left.
Kate had noticed that about Essex Huntington. She was considered the gentle Sinclair sibling until she was healing, and then she was like an officer issuing orders in the military.
“Cam, I need boiled water and the cloths readied for surgery should they be needed.”
