Ewan appeared genuinely distressed. “How can ye say that? She’s been our wee sister our whole lives!”
“She’ll be my wife. I’ll say no more.”
Ewan pursed his lips with frustration, but it was short-lived. “If ye say so,” he said. “But dunna say that we dinna warn ye.”
“About what?”
“Ye’ll find out.”
The pair giggled wickedly and Cam shook his head at them. He’d never had any brothers, and now he was to have two. He wondered if he was going to have to dole out a brotherly beat-down at some point.
He was looking forward to it.
As he stood there with Niall and the snickering brothers, Clova made an appearance. She was leaning heavily on a cane, having heard the fuss in the village, and had come to see what it was about. When Niall caught sight of her, he called out.
“Clova!” he said. “Come and join our happiness. Isadora and Cam are tae be married!”
Clova’s shuffling walk seemed to slow. Her clouded gaze was fixed on Cam and as she came closer, she was completely ignorant of Niall’s excitement. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek in celebration, but she didn’t react. She came up to Cam, gazing at him with an expression that suggested disappointment.
“Is it true?” she asked Cam. “Are ye marrying Issie?”
Cam nodded. “Niall has given me permission.”
Clova’s expression shifted. Disappointment turned to resignation, and resignation to acceptance. “For Issie’s sake, I’m happy,” she said, reaching out to take his hand in her gnarled one. “But for my sake… strange how there’s a bit of envy. I suppose I was hoping tae keep ye all tae myself.”
Cam squeezed her hand. “I canna replace what ye lost,” he whispered. “But I promise I’ll tend tae Isadora as carefully as Nikolaus would have attended tae ye.”
Clova forced a smile. “Ye have so much of him in ye,” she said. “He must have been very proud of ye.”
“And I of him.”
“Then live the life with Issie that Nikolaus and I couldna share. For us… be happy.”
Cam nodded and kissed her hand. Gently, she patted him on the cheek and shuffled away, finally accepting Niall’s hug when he came near her again. Cam watched the pair for a moment, feeling sorrow that Clova and his grandfather never knew what he and Isadora would. It was a sad little epitaph for a doomed Keith-Lindsay affair.
“What did she mean?” Ewan was standing beside him. “Who is Nikolaus?”
Cam hadn’t realized that Ewan was within earshot. His gaze lingered on the old woman. “If she doesna tell ye someday, then I will,” he said. “Leave it at that.”
Nosy Ewan would have a difficult time with that directive and was about to say so when they could all hear some commotion on the northern end of the village. There were some cries going up which turned into calls for help.
Immediately, Cam, Niall, and about half of the crowd that had gathered around them began to move in that direction only to see a hysterical young lass with dark hair being comforted by several villagers.
“Here, here!” Niall demanded. “What’s this about?”
The young woman looked at Niall, tears and dirt smeared on her face. “She sent me back,” she wept. “The Lindsay—they came and took my mother, but Isadora sent me back. She sent me tae tell ye!”
Fear stabbed Cam in the gut. “Where is Isadora?” he demanded.
The girl was sobbing. “In the vale,” she said. “She was going tae fight them. She sent me back!”
Niall dropped to his knees in front of the girl, grabbing her by the arms. “Where, Aggie?” he demanded. “Where did ye leave her?”
Aggie was a trembling mess. “The chestnut trees,” she said. “She was going tae gather chestnuts. But the Lindsay came and Isadora beat a man who grabbed me. She told me tae run!”
Niall looked at Cam and his sons, his face pale with terror. “Ewie, Ossian,” he said, his voice thin and breathless. “Arm yerselves. Go help them.”
Cam was beside himself, feeling panic like he’d never felt in his life. “There’s no time,” he said. “There are chestnut trees all through the vale. Which ones does she mean?”
