Page 62 of Highland Sky

“I have to talk to Caitlin and Jamie.”

Nash’s head snapped up. “I thought ye werena goin’ to tell them what happened.”

“I’m no’. I canna. No’ now, anyway. Mayhap when they are much older, I’ll change my mind. Right now, if they kent, it would scar them for life, I’m sure. They never really kent our parents, but they admired Ciaran and Lorna and thought of them as their parents after the deaths of ours.”

“I think it’s the right decision to keep silent. No guid can come from exposin’ the nasty truth now, lass. What’s done is in the past, and we canna change that. Let us focus on the present. However, I do believe we can change our future, and I think we need to do so.”

“Change our future? How? I hate Ciaran! Dinna ye hate him, too? This was all his fault.”

“Despisin’ a man who is deceased, isna goin’ to bring our parents back from the dead. All we can do is learn from his mistakes. We need to be sure to be better people – better parents – than he was. Ye’ve got to move on, Kellina. We all do. At least we ken the truth now about what happened, no matter how much it really hurts. So now we can put it to rest, and no’ live the rest of our lives wonderin’ what and how it happened.”

“I will spit on Ciaran’s grave until the day I die,” she ground out. “But I will also be strong – for Caitlin and Jamie . . . even if they might no’ really be my siblin’s after all.”

She hung her head in sadness, and Nash felt her anguish and her pain.

“Will ye be all right, love?” he whispered in her ear, kissing the back of her neck as he held her closely in his arms as they rode.

Kellina let out a deep sigh. “I will move on, as ye suggest, Nash. I ken it is for the best. However, I canna forgive Ciaran for what he did, and I will never, ever forget!”

*

Nash closed thedoor to the infirmary, and made his way over to the fire where his brother was drinking whisky with Tomas. The rest of the clan was sleeping for the night. The sun had set hours ago, filling the vast sky with beautiful streaks of orange and red as the fiery ball slipped down below the horizon.

Earlier, they’d buried the chieftain’s body up on the hill next to his wife and daughters. The clan didn’t know all the information that Nash was privy to, so they felt the pain of the loss of their chieftain. Spirits were solemn on this night. A clan had lost the life of their leader. Nash, Tomas, and the rest let them mourn as was proper. Everyone was quiet and kept to themselves, thinking about the dead.

“How is Kellina?” asked North, handing Nash a tankard of whisky.

“She’s finally sleepin’,” Nash reported, sitting down on a stump by the fire. “Caitlin and Jamie were havin’ a hard time with their uncle’s death. Kellina let them both sleep in the box bed with her. They closed the curtains for privacy from the rest of the clan. I heard a lot of cryin’.”

“This was a hard day for everyone,” said Tomas. “Especially, comin’ so close to the Sutherlands’ last attack.”

“Aye, it was hard.” Nash took a drink of whisky, smacking his lips and looking over to his brother. “Is this Mountain Magic?” he asked, his spirits suddenly rising.

“It is,” confirmed North with a smile.

“Where did it come from?”

“Shaw and Spring sent it with the thatch,” he told him. “I guess they thought we might need it, with the chieftain dyin’ and all.”

“Well, they were right. It’s just what I need after a day like today.” Nash took a long draw and let out a satisfied sigh.

“I sent a missive to the MacKeefe camp, lettin’ them ken that our chieftain has died, and that I am the new chieftain of the MacKenzie Clan,” said Tomas. “I also told them that I honor and cherish the new alliance between our clans brought on by the marriage of Nash and Kellina.”

“Guid,” said North, taking another swig of Mountain Magic. “Mayhap Old Callum will feel pity on us, and let us come home now.”

“Nay.” Nash shook his head. “I willna leave until all the roofs are thatched. It is what I was sent here to do, and I will finish my sentence. Besides, I want to do it, to help rebuild the camp for the clan.”

“But that could take quite a while,” complained North, breaking up a stick and tossing it into the fire. “I’m really tired of bein’ here, are no’ ye?”

“Ye have no idea,” Nash mumbled into his cup. “However, I willna leave without Kellina, and I’m no’ sure she wants to live with the MacKeefes.”

“Well, ye’re no’ stayin’ here are ye?” asked his brother. “Nash, we’ve always been together, ever since bein’ in our mathair’s womb.”

“I dinna want to leave the MacKeefes,” said Nash. “They are my family. But I dinna want Kellina to have to leave her family either.”

“She doesna seem to have any family left,” said North, pouring himself some more whisky. “I mean, besides Caitlin and Jamie. Mayhap. We dinna even ken that for sure.”

“North, please,” said Nash, looking around, not wanting anyone to hear about the fact that Kellina might be the chieftain’s daughter. “I’ll let her decide where we’ll go, but I willna abandon my wife. I think she needs to get her mind off of all this, but I dinna ken how to help her.”