Page 68 of Sins of a Scot
Her words took him by surprise, and feeling unable to reply, Owen could only stare back at her in stunned silence. Was he in love with her? Moreover, was she also in love with him? Could that possibly be, even though they had shared so little time together?
Ye have gone through more trials in the last two weeks than the last year o’ yer life. Ye cannae deny the bond that has grown between ye.
No, he couldn’t. In fact, as he thought more deeply about Ada’s words, he had to admit that perhaps this old healer might have seen right through him.
“Dinnae ye worry,” she said, patting his arm. “I have a feeling it’ll all work out in the end.”
Absently, Owen reached for his necklace. It was something he did when considering things, and it had long become a habit. But when he realized it was no longer around his neck, he gasped.
“Och, nae. I have lost it,” he exclaimed. “It must have fallen off when I was in the water. Dammit all tae hell!”
Ada did not appear worried at his outburst, and instead, nodded her head and looked at the table beside him. Owen jerked his head in the same direction, and felt a rush of relief as he saw it sitting there, perfectly safe.
“Thank the gods fer that. I thought it was gone forever.” But then he frowned. “But why is it nae at me throat?”
“Och, well, there is a simple answer tae that, me dear.” She smiled. “I simply couldnae heal ye while ye wore it.”
Owen frowned again, and then, suddenly realized what her words meant.
“Ye have powers too?” he gawked.
Until Eden had walked into his life, he had never known such gifts existed. Not once in all his years had he come across anybody who claimed such powers, and yet, since her arrival, his eyes had been truly opened, for he now knew there were farmore people than he could ever have imagined that were blessed with these gifts.
“Me gift is one o’ healing,” she said. “The whole purpose o’ me being, and something I believe I received for a reason. I have spent me life using it for good, as many others I ken dae, too.”
“I will admit, I have only discovered recently that people like yersel’ exist,” Owen replied. “But I realize now, I’ve probably been surrounded by people with gifts all me life and never kent it.”
The old woman nodded. “Aye, we have had tae hide what we ken. For many years, I have worked under the pretense that the herbs and tinctures I use have done the work. But really, the gift is in these.” She lifted her frail hands and turned them back and forth. “It was only when I discovered Iseabail had a gift that I felt safe tae use mine freely.”
“How did ye ken?” Owen asked.
The older woman laughed and shook her head, clearly remembering something. “As I said ‘afore, she has a way about her. When she first arrived, all panicked and in distress, she tried tae compel me tae help her. At the same time, she offered me her necklace in payment, and thus, I kent she was a good soul.” She looked at Owen with a soft gaze. “She’s a keeper. That’s fer certain.”
“But she didnae compel ye,” Owen said, deducing such by the old woman’s words.
Ada shook her head. “Nae. I kent when I’m being forced tae dae something. I’ve had it done by others who didnae mean well, and ye get a very specific feeling.”
Owen nodded, remembering it well when Iseabail had compelled him to drink.
“Later, when I asked her about her gift, she told me she had tae look someone in the eye tae get them tae dae her bidding. But she was so worried about ye, she didnae actually look at me. We laughed about it later. I could see she was desperate. I also sensed that her heart is good.”
“Aye,” he said, gazing back at Iseabail. “Nearly too good.”
“Well, ye are far better than ye were ‘afore,” Ada said. “That gash on yer arm was very deep, and ye had lost a lot o’ blood. That’s the reason it has taken ye three days tae heal.”
“I cannae thank ye enough,” Owen replied. “Truly. Ye are a good and kind soul, and I will ever be grateful fer what ye’ve done fer both o’ us.”
Ada looked at him and inclined her head. “What did ye mean just then when ye said, Iseabail was too good?”
Owen sighed, and while Ada was indeed, a good and kind woman, he was wary of telling her anything about their mission. He didn’t trust many people, and certainly not after such a short period of time.
Seeing his hesitation, she nodded to the necklace. “Has it anything tae dae with that powerful weapon ye usually wear around yer throat?”
Owen frowned. “What dae ye ken o’ it?”
“I ken it blocks powers. But I have a strange feeling that ye ken a lot more about it than I,” she said knowingly.
After yet another moment of consideration, Owen decided to take the plunge. She was, after all, an old woman. What harm could it do to tell her about what they had been doing?
