Page 2 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
“Who?”
“You know Margaret? The new girl?”
“The frail wee girl who doesn’t speak?” Sarah asked.
Ava nodded. “Do you know where she is?”
“The last I saw her was this morning. She was walkin’ with Henrietta,” Sarah explained.
“And where is Henrietta?”
“Ye’ll find her by the watering hole. If she’s still there.”
Ava nodded. “Thank you so much, Sarah.”
“Didn’t ye say that the girl doesn’t speak?” Jane’s curious voice rose into the air.
Ava’s grip tightened on the doorknob as her eyes darted to the girl. “Yes.”
“If she doesn’t speak, how did ye know that her name was Margaret? How did she tell ye?” Jane pressed.
“She did not tell me. That was the name I gave her,” Ava replied, her voice curt and sharp.
“The name ye gave her was Margaret?” Jane asked, an unreadable expression on her face.
“Yes. Doesn’t she look like a Margaret to you?”
Jane shook her head.
“Well,” Ava murmured, already pulling the door close, a sly smile on her face, “she looks like one to me!”
She kept her tight grip on the bowl as she hurried further down the hall. Her weight pushed her forward, almost giving her more momentum as her loud footsteps continued to echo off the walls.
She walked to the exit, the cold wind blowing against her face as she ran towards the watering hole.
Henrietta, a young girl in her late teens, sat by the broad watering hole, filling the empty pots that surrounded her.
“Henrietta,” Ava greeted. “Have you seen Margaret?”
Henrietta looked up from the pot she was filling and frowned at Ava. “Who?”
“The girl. The new one.”
“Oh. She ran away.”
Ava’s heart sank. “What?”
“No, not like that. She ran to the kitchen. I would have asked what happened, but—you know, I wouldn’t have gotten an answer.”
Ava nodded and proceeded back into the cottage. She headed straight to the kitchen, switching the bowl from one hand to the other.
She found Margaret on the floor, resting against one of the wooden cabinets attached to the wall. She hugged her knees tightly, her deep brown hair cascading down her back.
“There you are,” Ava whispered, finally letting herself take a deep breath. “You frightened me half to death, child.”
Sarah wasn’t exaggerating. Margaret was skinny and slightly malnourished.
“Do you want to eat?” Ava asked, holding out the bowl to her.
