But she knew the situation was closing in on them. Laird Allan’s men were already here. Who knew if the soldier Ewan had killedafter attacking her during the fight had been truthful. Allan’s army could be two days away, or ten minutes away. And when it arrived and joined forces with Gregory’s, the combined force would attack Ewan and his men. Ewan had told her himself he did not rate their chances of winning in an all-out battle, which was what Allan wanted. Allan wanted to destroy him, and there was every likelihood Ewan would be killed. And then, if he was right about Allan’s secret motives, so would Gregory.
The thought made Isla feel sick with dread. If anything happened to either of them she knew she would not be able to bear it. She would be more than heartbroken. Somehow, she knew she had to find a way to stop the clash from happening. But though she needed it now more than ever, that peaceful solution Ella had hinted at seemed further away than ever.
Just over half an hour later, they were standing at Ella’s door.
“Again? This is gettin’ tae be quite a habit,” her friend said with obvious surprise when she first opened the door and found them there, Isla dressed like a soldier. But when she saw how Ewan was leaning heavily on Isla’s shoulder and realized he was badly injured, she immediately got under his other shoulder and helped Isla get him inside the cottage.
“How did this happen?” she asked as they peeled away Ewan’s top clothing.
“’Tis a long story, but we were attacked by some enemy soldiers. We are Ballentine’s soldiers,” Isla explained as best she could to justify their appearance and the fact that was dressed as a manfor Ewan’s sake. Ella, of course, knew the whole truth but played along. She began removing her hastily applied dressing from earlier.
“We won,” Ewan muttered, grimacing as Ella pulled away the blood-soaked dressing and bent down to examine the wound closely. It was a long, bloody slit with a swollen lip on either side.
“Well, that’s makes this worthwhile, I suppose, eh?” She gestured at the nasty gash and shook her head. “Ye ken, ye’re very lucky the cut didnae go any deeper, and that ye’ve still got yer chest intact. Half an inch lower and things would have been much worse. The bad news is, ye’re gonnae need some stitches,” she told him as she straightened up.
“Grand,” Ewan replied with a resigned sigh, his shoulders sagging.
“He’s lost an awful lot of blood, Ella. D’ye think he’ll be all right?” Isla asked anxiously, wincing as she looked at the seeping wound.
“Aye, he’s fit and strong. So long as its kept clean and he daesnae pull the stitches out by movin’ about too much, and with the right salve, I think it’ll heal nicely. Get me some hot water in a bowl, will ye?” she asked Isla.
“Aye, right away,” Isla said, grabbing a bowl from one of the shelves and hurrying to fetch the water from the kettle hanging over the fire. While she did that, Ella turned to her shelves and began gathering the things she needed to clean and dressthe wound properly. These included a curved needle and some strong thread. When Isla returned with the bowl of water and saw them on the table, she felt queasy.
She acted as Ella’s assistant as the healer set to work. When it was time to put in the stitches—which she thought Ewan bore with amazing fortitude, gritting his teeth and only swearing a few times—she wielded the shears for Ella, snipping off the ends of the thread neatly each time.
“Another scar tae add tae me collection,” Ewan put in drily when the stitches were done, and Ella was painting the entirety of the wound with some strong-smelling salve. “This is much stronger than the one I gave ye fer yer head,” she told Isla, “so make sure tae use it when ye change the dressing. He’ll havetae come back tae have the stitches out once it’s healed enough.”
“I hope I’ll still be around fer that,” Ewan said.
“Ach, dinnae speak like that, Ewan,” Isla burst out, her nerves already terribly on edge because of the danger he was in. “Of course, ye’ll be here. I’ll bring ye back mesel’,” she added.
He caught one of her wrists gently in his large hand and made her look at him. His dark eyes were soft as he said, “Hey, hey, dinnae get upset, lass, I was only jokin’.”
“Well, dinnae joke about such things!”
“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” he agreed, releasing her wrist, a smile ghosting across his lips. Ella stood with her hands on her hips, watching them with obvious fascination. When Isla noticed, her friend winked at her. As always, Ella could read her like a book. To her chagrin, Isla found herself blushing.
Ella gave Ewan a concoction to help ease the pain, which he drank down obediently. He swallowed it and made a grimace of disgust.
Ella laughed. “The worse it tastes, the more effective it is, think of it like that.”
“Ugh! I’ll try,” he replied, and then added, “Can I have some water tae wash away the taste, please?”
The two women helped Ewan back into his clothes. He was anxious to get back to the camp. “I’m worried about the men,” he told them, frowning. “Allan’s army could be there right now.” His concern for his troops moved Isla deeply.
“We’re almost done,” Ella told him. “I’ll just give Annie some supplies tae take back with ye.” Ella grasped Isla’s arm and pulled her over to the shelves. Isla was grateful, for she desperately needed to speak to her friend without Ewan overhearing.
“D’ye still have some of the willow bark tea left that I gave ye fer yer head?” the healer asked in a normal voice. “Which I see has healed up very nicely, by the way,” she added, eyeing the yellowing bruise.
“Aye, and there’s still some of the stuff ye gave me fer a hangover cure left over,” Isla told her.
“Hmm, I think he’ll need something a bit stronger fer the first few days. But as soon as he starts tae feel more comfortable, ye can give him some of the other. I’ll give ye a stronger salve as well.”
“All right, thank ye so much, Ella,” Isla told her with gratitude.
Ella reached for a jar and began measuring out the dried mixture inside into a paper spill. “I can see ye’re in love with him,” she suddenly whispered to Isla.
“Is it that obvious?” Isla whispered back, annoyed at herself for being so transparent. “I-I kissed him last night,” she confessed, glancing over at Ewan to see if he was listening. But he had gone over to the hearth and was standing in front of the fire, tentatively moving his arms back and forth to gauge his pain threshold.
