Page 26 of Reviving Her Highland Spirit

“No,” Maggie said finally. “I don’t want tae stop, Callum. I don’t know how tae describe it, but I feel freer than I have in a long time. I feel… I feel almost like me again. I know Aunt Lyla approves, because we’d both hear it if she didn’t. This is the first time I’ve been able tae ride Stardust - with you. I’m not sure if I could do this without ye, Callum.”

Callum’s throat clenched. “Ah, ye could,” he said, keeping his voice as light as possible. “Ye don’t have enough faith in yourself, that’s for sure. Ye are far too modest. Ye can do anything ye set ye mind to, Maggie. I’m just here tae help ye along.”

She chuckled. He thought she was smiling, he could hear it in her voice, but he couldn’t see her face. He wished she would turn around and face him.

“Now who is being too modest? Ye have helped me, far more than ye take credit for. I’m grateful, Callum. I really am.”

“I think we are both ignoring the real hero here,” Callum said.

“Stardust?”

“Aye, o’ course, Stardust! Where would we be without this wee hero?”

Maggie laughed at that, reaching forward to ruffle Stardust’s mane. The horse whickered gently, too placid and well-trained to allow it to put her off the road ahead. They reached the treeline, and Callum gently touched the reins. Stardust came to a gentle stop.

“Why have ye stopped?” Maggie asked.

“I didn’t want tae make ye do too much.”

Maggie shrugged. “I feel good today. Look, I’m not shaking, not even a bit. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“Aye, ye are doing well. Do ye think ye could stand to back along the field, back tae the stables? That would be twice as long as we usually go.”

Maggie was quiet for another long moment. Callum found that he hoped she would agree. He didn’t want this to end. He often found himself taken aback when she suddenly said her goodbyes, realising that their session was over, had flown by faster than he’d realised.

It wasn’t good. He shouldn’t be enjoying this. He was here to accomplish a goal, and that goal was not to help Lady Maggie McAlister learn to ride.

Don’t forget who sent ye here, Callum thought. Don’t forget the man who raised ye.

“I was thinking we could go into the forest,” Maggie said hesitantly.

“The forest?” Callum frowned, looking ahead at the narrow, dark pathway. If he were riding alone, he’d love to take that track. But with Maggie, who was so nervous? He wasn’t sure it was the best idea.

“I used tae go down there all the time,” Maggie said, sounding wistful. “It’s a beautiful path. Ye can walk it too, but I only ever took Stardust. There’s a waterfall at the end of it. It’s warm, oddly warm for here. I used tae go swimming sometimes. I’d love tae see it again. Can’t we go?”

Callum bit his lip. The scene that Maggie described did sound beautiful. What would be the harm? It wasn’t as if they were going to go swimming. They’d just stand by the waterside, and enjoy the view.

Nothing to worry about. Maybe they wouldn’t even get off the horse. A quick trip into the forest, a glance at the waterfall, and back to the safety of the stables and solid, dry land.

What could go wrong? Besides, it would make Maggie happy. She seemed to have relaxed a little from her tension and anger earlier that morning. Lady Amilia’s thoughtless words were forgotten, as was the apparent tarnishing of Maggie’s reputation.

That whole idea was ridiculous. Why keep dozens upon dozens of male servants, and make it so that the ladies couldn’t be alone with any of them? It seemed a bit silly to Callum. But then, of course, he’d been brought up on battlefields and in a rotting, falling-down cottage. What did he know about the ways of lairds and ladies?

“Alright,” Callum said. “Let’s go.”

11

You could hear the waterfall long before you saw it. Maggie sat up in the saddle, craning her neck to see it.

It was as if she’d never been away. The old, familiar path was more reassuring than she’d thought. Far from feeling hemmed in and nervous, the dark greenery and low-hanging foliage seemed familiar and reassuring, not ominous. She could remember every gnarled bough, every branch stretching out across the path. It was all the same. Waiting for her.

Maggie shivered with delight. She’d seen this place in her dreams, after the accident. Never in her nightmares, only in those strange, longing dreams when she wanted so desperately to get somewhere, but never quite could. In some ways, they were worse than the nightmares, because Maggie woke tearful and miserable, feeling as though she’d never be happy again, never reach her goal again.

“Callum,” Maggie said suddenly, “Do ye ever get those dreams where ye are running as fast as ye can, but ye can’t get anywhere? Ye can see it, and sometimes ye are almost close enough to touch, but you can’t get there, no matter how fast ye run?”

There was a brief silence behind her. Maggie was tempted to twist around to see what Callum looked like, but forced herself to stay still. Besides, she didn’t want to overbalance.

“Aye, I think so,” Callum spoke eventually. “But in my dreams, I’m always running away from something. There’s something just behind me, something bad. Sometimes I know what it is, but sometimes I just know that it’s bad. That awful feeling o’ dread, ye know? And I run and run, until I cannot breathe, and my lungs are on fire, but I don’t get any further forward. And all the time, it’s getting closer and closer behind me.”