Page 77 of Highland Spy

“Aye, lass, he is.”

“I’ll miss him, Caleb,” she said, crying on his shoulder. He picked her up in his arms and headed to his horse.

“Come on, Slink,” Caleb called out. “We’re goin’ home.”

Chapter 26

Bridget awoke the next morning in Caleb’s arms lying in the bed in the chamber that she and her father used to share. Caleb had stayed with her all night long, not wanting to leave her. She was glad because she needed him now more than ever. Slink was atop the covers, staring at them both.

“Guid mornin’, Slink,” she said, running a hand over the pine marten’s head.

“I’ve never seen such a bonnie sight,” said Caleb in a sleepy voice, his arm still around her. He lay on his back smiling up at her.

“Me, or Slink?” she asked him playfully.

“What do ye think?” he said with a seductive grin.

“Well, I ken how fond ye are of yer pine marten, so I’m no’ sure.”

“I might be fond of Slink, but I dinna want to marry him like I do ye.”

“Really, Caleb?” she asked, sitting up, staring down at him. “Are ye askin’ me to marry ye?”

“Ye ken I’ve been in love with ye from the moment I met ye, Bridget. I was tryin’ to win that contest money and land before I officially asked ye. I wanted to make sure I could give ye a guid home and a proper life, since it is what ye deserve.”

“I dinna need ye to give me anythin’ but a home with ye and the MacKeefes. However, I’m sorry ye didna win, Caleb, because ye deserved to. I heard talk last night that ye distracted the guards and dogs so Clement could make it to the finish line. Is this true?”

“It is true, lass.” He pulled her back down, hugging her, and Slink shot off the bed.

“Why would ye do somethin’ like that?”

“I will tell ye because I dinna want to ever have secrets between us. However, I want ye to promise me that ye willna tell anyone else.”

“I promise,” she said.

“Clement is a proud man and didna want anyone to ken, but his clan is in desperate need of that prize money. He just got caught up in makin’ a bad decision and never should have thought he could work with, or trust Valan.”

“What do you mean?”

Caleb explained to her exactly what happened, and Bridget could see now why Caleb chose to let Clement win the competition. “Ye did the right thing, Caleb. And I will keep Clement’s secret. I believe he has a guid heart and doesna deserve to be punished or die because of the things that Valan did.”

“But yer faither is dead, lass.”

“That wasna Clement’s fault. My da was auld and no’ in guid health. He couldna endure Valan’s beatin’. I will miss him, Caleb. He is the only family I had left.”

“I ken, lass. I will miss him, too.”

“There is somethin’ I need to tell ye, too,” she said, explaining to him Sorley and Sim’s secret, and also how much Sorley wanted to be the king’s chronicler. “Please dinna tell their secret.”

“I willna,” said Caleb. “I am glad that Sorley didna die. I think this will be a perfect opportunity for him to take over the position now that yer faither is no’ here to do it.”

“In a way, I think I’ll miss writin’ in the chronicles,” she told him. “It made me feel special, even if I couldna tell anyone what I did.”

“Ye are special, lass. And I will always think so, no matter what ye do. Now, stop playin’ games with me and tell me, will ye be my wife or no’?”

“Och, Caleb,” she said with a giggle. “I didna think I had to tell ye because I thought ye already kent. Aye, I want to be yer wife because ye are the man I love.”

She kissed him, sealing their promise of a new life together.