“Ach, nay!”
She paled so suddenly that Caitrin feared she might fall to her knees, so she grabbed her arm and put her other arm around her shoulders. “Come, let’s get ye seated and ye can tell me about him.”
Madeleine nodded and let Caitrin guide her to a seat near the hearth.
Caitrin sent a serving lass dozing by the fire to the kitchen for warm cider and some bread and cheese. Once the food arrived and Lady Madeleine’s pallor had eased, Caitrin urged her to talk.
“Magnus, the missing man, is a favorite of mine,” she related. “I met him when he was a young guardsman. He supported me while my son was still alive, at some risk to himself.”
“I’m so sorry,” Caitrin said when she stopped for a sip of her cider. She suspected Madeleine was being circumspect. Crossing her late son would have meant a great risk of a painful death.
“I would feel the same for any of those men who escorted me here. They all were special to me. They protected me while my son terrorized the women of the clan. Magnus was young enough at first for Alasdair to feel he could torment him with impunity, but I put my foot down and for once Alasdair obeyed me. Or if he didna, Magnus never complained to me about his treatment. At any rate, we looked out for each other, and as he got older and stronger, after he was in no more danger than any other MacGregor man, he never stopped being special to me.”
Caitrin reached across and clasped her hand. “Ye ken they will find him.”
“But will they find him alive?”
“It hasna been so very long. The men were dressed for the weather. I’m sure he simply got separated from yer other men. Perhaps he continued on toward home.”
Madeleine nodded. “I hope ye are right, lass.”
“The sun will be up in a few hours. Ye should sleep a few hours more,” Caitrin suggested.
“Nay, I couldna. Ye go back to bed, lass. I’ll stay here by the fire for a wee, then go help Cook in the kitchen. The lads will be hungry and cold when they return. We should have a good hot meal waiting for them.”
“Ye need yer rest, Madeleine.”
“So do ye, lass. I am old enough that I dinna sleep verra much, so it will do me nay harm to wait here until the rest of the keep rouses. Now go on with ye, aye?”
Caitrin went, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Instead, she checked on her father, who hadn’t roused to the commotion, then in her chamber removed her hastily donned clothes and dressed properly for the day. They would be busy, as Madeleinehad said, preparing for the men’s return, and there was much to do.
When she went back downstairs, she saw that Madeleine had dozed off in front of the fire. Caitrin left her there and as quietly as she could, opened the keep’s door, went out into the snow-covered bailey and made her way carefully across it to the stable.
Two of the stable lads were up and already clearing stalls for the MacGregor horses. They had food and water at hand, as well as brushes and rags to rub down the horses and warm them once they arrived.
“Good lads!” Caitrin praised them. “I should have kenned ye would be making ready.”
“Do ye think they’ll return soon?” The younger of the lads asked, and the older one nodded his agreement with the question.
“We all hope so, aye?”
“Aye, we do,” the other lad answered. “We’ll have everything settled to care for their mounts when they arrive.”
“Thank ye both. Should I rouse the stable master?”
“Nay, Lady Caitrin. We will be ready by the time he wakes.”
“Very good, then. I’ll leave ye to it.”
“Do ye want us to escort ye across the bailey? It will be slippery,” the younger lad offered.
“Thank ye, but ye have important work to do here. I will take care.”
Caitrin left them to their work, proud that they were so conscientious. The stable master had trained them well. She would tell him later in the morning about their efforts.
By the time she made her way back into the great hall, Lady Madeleine was gone. She found her, true to her word, in the kitchen, wielding a knife, cutting up meat for a stew, from the look of the other ingredients piled on the worktable around her.
Cook nodded a greeting as Caitrin surveyed the scene. The kitchen lasses were making bread and preparing a pot of porridge. Cook was cutting up more vegetables for Madeleine’s stew. They had things well in hand, so Caitrin left them to go about her normal day’s duties.
