“But it was because o’ my daughter!” Joe cried triumphantly.
Leana laughed. “If ye say so, Paw.”
Joe looked at his lovely girl and his heart was overflowing with love. His life had been enriched a hundredfold by this loving loyal girl, who could have been married a dozen times over, but had stayed by his side through every hardship, even when his beloved Mary was gone.
“I am that proud o’ ye, Leana,” he said with a catch in his voice.
“I will tell ye a’ aboot Abigail by an’ by, Paw,” she promised him. “But there is aye work tae be done roon this place an’ that firewood willnae chop itsel’!”
A couple of days had passed since Leana was gone and Abi felt lonelier that she did before.
She loved to go and play with the servants’ children. Since she had no brothers or sisters of her own, they were her only companions and she enjoyed their company. Usually she met them at the far side of the courtyard where the servants’ quarters and the housekeeper’s office were, because it was a part of the castle where her father rarely went.
Two of the girls were close to her own age, and although they both worked in the castle as kitchen maids, she was able to talk to them during their breaks. She loved to hear about all the goings-on below stairs, and she felt that it brought her closer to all the people who made her life as pleasant and easy as it was. She also loved the little children, and could often be found throwing a ball or skipping rope with them.
Today, however, Fraser had come to speak to the housekeeper about an error in the accounts, and as he walked across to the end of the courtyard and turned the corner, he saw his daughter throwing a ball to a little redheaded girl of about seven years old. They were both giggling, and as he watched, he saw Abigail overbalance while trying to catch the ball, and land on her backside on the floor. She grimaced, then started to laugh, and the little girl came and straddled her lap, and in a moment they were both laughing heartily at Abi’s misfortune.
Fraser had had enough. He strode out from behind the corner of the wall and stood looking down menacingly at his daughter. The little redheaded girl took one look at Fraser’s face and bolted as fast as her legs would carry her.
Fraser bent down and hauled Abi to her feet. He looked into her eyes, his expression at his most ferocious and intimidating, and his voice was like ground glass as he spoke. “This is your last warning. If I find you here again I will lock you in your bedroom and put a guard at the door. Do you understand?”
Abi stared back at him defiantly. She stood silent and immobile while his face turned red with fury.
She had decided that her father’s last chance had already passed.This far and no further,she thought mutinously. She moved around him and walked in a calm and measured pace to her bedroom, where she packed a small bag of clothes. She went down to the stables and saddled Pansy, then she was gone, determined not to go back.
Only two days had passed since Leana’s stay at the Castle Dubhgnall Brae, but it felt more like a pleasant dream than a real memory. Leana was once again doing her dawn-to-darkness work, but she knew that as September gave way to October and winter replaced autumn, the night would begin to fall earlier and earlier as the sun drifted away to warmer climes. That was the part of the year Leana liked, since she rarely had to go outside except to feed the animals.
Some livestock would be butchered, and they would have good fresh meat for a while, then the rest would be dried or pickled in brine for use later, along with some of their vegetables.
Mending of all broken farm equipment could be done then, since the harvest was finished and nothing else could be planted till spring because of the frozen ground. It was a time of rest, when the hard labor of planting, tending, and harvesting was done, and even the earth itself seemed to be sleeping.
Only a few days after Leana’s visit to the castle, Abi accepted Leana’s invitation. She had made the offer to make Abi feel better, never guessing that she would actually take her up on it. Therefore, when the door was knocked on furiously one morning, Leana was shocked to find Abi on the other side.
“Abi!” Leana cried, ushering the girl inside. “Ye’re freezin’! Whit are ye daein’ here? Dis yer paw knaw where ye are?” She hugged the little body to her own and tried to rub some warmth into her before leading her over to the fireplace.
Abi shook her head as she looked at Leana with an expression of sorrow and anger.
“My...my father, Leana...since you left he has been like a sleeping volcano about to erupt.” She paused and bit her lip, trying not to weep. “He was angry about you wearing my mother’s dress, and I apologized for that, saying I had been thoughtless. But he saw me playing with one of the servants’ children and he went mad. I could do nothing to pacify him and Rory was nowhere to be found. I could not stand any more, Leana. I cannot live with someone who is always furious. I want to love him, I really do, but how can I love someone who treats me so badly?”
Leana looked at her with infinite pity in her eyes, and she felt a huge upwelling of anger against brutal Fraser Dubhgnall, who could reduce his own flesh and blood to this sorrowful state. If only she had him in front of her right now—he would not dare to shout her down!
“Yer faither is a troubled man hen,” she said soothingly, “but I dinnae think he is evil.”
Abi abruptly burst into tears against Leana’s shoulder, and Leana eased her down onto her mattress where they could sit in some comfort. Joe heated up some milk and put a tiny pinch of their precious cinnamon in it, then gave the cup to Leana, who urged Abi to sip from it.
Gradually Abi calmed down, took the cup, and drained it, then looked up and smiled gratefully at Joe. “I wish I had a father like you,” she said softly.
“Thank ye lass,” he replied. “But there is naethin’ wrang wi’ yer ain faither. He needs somebody tae talk tae, that is a’.”
Abi looked around her at the shabby little house. “I am so ashamed,” she murmured as she leaned her head on Leana’s shoulder. “I live in a great big castle and you live here. As soon as things are resolved between Father and me I will make sure you get something bigger.”
Leana shook her head firmly. “Naw ye willnae, Abi,” she said. “I hae lived in this hoose a’ my life, an’ it has been enough. We have a’ we need here. An’ whit wid everybody else say if the Laird treated us special?” She kissed Abi’s forehead. “Thank ye my wee darlin’ but we are quite content.”
“How can you be?” Abi frowned. “You have so little!”
“Aye, it’s true we dinnae hae mony things,” Leana conceded, “but we have each other.” She and Joe smiled at each other.
“Ye must go back, Abi,” Leana said after a while. “Yer paw will miss ye. I will hae Geordie an’ Hamish go wi’ ye. They have swords.”
