“As you say, my lady. It is indeed not too much to ask. There’s shelter no far from here where we will see to yer water. And a meal.”
Their current path carried them close to the high pastures where the flocks summered. There he could locate one of the scattered shelters the shepherds used. Huts, really, no more than a thatch-covered roof and four walls. But he could build a fire to warm her, and there were a few provisions Cook had sent along with them to eat. And nearby, a stream where she could get all the water she wanted.
“YOU’RE KIDDING ME, right?”
Dani looked from the stream she squatted beside back up at Malcolm. He stood there, beaming from ear to ear like some idiot who’d just led her to a treasure.
“You said you wanted water and it’s water I give you.”
“To drink.” Surely he didn’t really expect her to drink from this stream. They’d just ridden their horses across it, not five feet from this very spot. “I want water to drink. Do you have any idea how many germs are in here?”
His blank expression assured her he did not. Lord, did he even know what a germ was?
“Okay, fine. I need something to put this in so I can boil it.”
Without a word he disappeared into the ramshackle structure he’d brought them to, reappearing with a disapproving frown and an iron pot that had obviously seen better days.
“You dinna say you wanted yer water hot.”
He leaned down and scooped the pot full before turning his back on her to head into the hut.
Dani scrambled to her feet to follow him inside through the small opening.
Four walls, no windows and a hard-packed dirt floor greeted her. The only two features in the building, if she could even call it that, were the opening that served as a doorway and a small protrusion in the far wall that was meant to be a fireplace.
Malcolm worked over whatever materials were stacked there and within minutes a tiny flame flickered to life, quickly growing into a crackling fire.
Now that was better. Much better.
She huddled close to the fire, holding her hands extended toward it, surprised to realize how badly her fingers ached with the cold.
Next to her, the iron pot hung over the fire, flames licking up around the bottom of the metal.
“Give me yer wraps.”
Dani did as asked, too tired to argue over the obvious cold in the room. Instead she scooted closer to the fire, turning her back to it to watch as Malcolm shook the woolen and furs just outside the doorway, sending droplets of water flying.
When he stepped back inside, he stretched something over the doorway, looping one corner over a hook in the wall.
“Tanned hide,” he said when he caught her watching. “It will keep the better part of the weather out.”
Offering to help as he bustled around the little room might have been the proper thing to do but she simply sat, watching while Malcolm unpacked the contents of the bag he’d carried on his horse.
As her hands and feet warmed, they swelled and tingled and every movement shot burning needles through the skin. Even the ring she wore felt as if it was cutting off her circulation. Clumsily, she twisted the band, working it round and round to get it off her swollen finger in an attempt to remove it before it was too late. When at last it gave way, it flew from her grip and she pushed herself to her knees, feeling around the dirt floor, hunting for her treasure.
“What are you doing?” Malcolm paused in his chores to stare at her.
“I dropped my ring. It has to be here somewhere.” A flicker of panic formed in her stomach at the thought of losing the only physical reminder she had of her old life.
Malcolm dropped to his knees beside her, helping her search, and a moment later, he was successful.
“Here it is.” He held the ring up toward the fire to examine it before handing it over to her. “I’ve no ever seen the like of this delicate jewelwork. It must be very valuable.”
“Only to me,” she said, accepting the ring and placing it on her little finger for safekeeping until the swelling in her hands subsided. “Thank you for helping me find it. It was a birthday gift from the aunt who raised me. It’s not worth much money, but it means more to me than anything in the world.”
Aunt Jean had been the only mother Dani could really remember, and the ring was her only tie to her memories of her aunt.
Silence reigned in the little hut as Malcolm spread a small cloth between them and laid out bread, cheese, and bits of hard, dried meat.
