Page 106 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
When Caitrin had explained the work that needed to be done before winter she clapped her hands. “I love being busy!” she told her friend, and Caitrin had smiled in satisfaction. Norah was infinitely glad, because she wanted to earn her keep, and this was one small way she could begin to do it. Now, that seemed like a lifetime ago.
“How many of them redcoats are there?” Caitrin asked in a low murmur as she looked at Norah. “Dozens?”
“Only three so far,” Norah answered quietly. “But they might have sent for more. Caitrin, when they come here, I think you should pretend to be a little… senile. You know, absentminded in the way some older people become.” Then she went on in a rush, in case she was misunderstood. “I know you are not senile, but can you act that way for a wee while?”
Caitrin chuckled. “I think I can, hen. I dinnae know why, but I will do as ye say.”
“You must pretend to be very angry too,” Norah told her. “It’s part of the act.”
Caitrin raised her eyebrows. “Angry? Wi’ redcoats?” she gave a bitter laugh. “Nae need to pretend that, Norah! I am always angry wi’ redcoats!”
The words were hardly out of her mouth when a sudden loud rapping sounded at the door. The person outside obviously meant business, because the door shuddered and rattled on its hinges with every blow. Norah damped down the fire of indignation that sprang up inside her, wondering how she was going to survive the next few minutes without losing her temper.
Caitrin leapt out of her chair and wrenched the door open, brandishing her knitting like a weapon in the air. One of the men had to jump back to avoid a serious casualty caused by a knitting needle in the eye. “What dae ye want?” she yelled. “Disturbin’ a poor old woman like me?”
Each of the two men who were standing on the other side of the door could have made two of her, but the old woman stood her ground while they both took a step backwards.
“Well?” Caitrin demanded. “Tell me what ye want before I chase ye away!” She grabbed a broomstick from beside the door and brandished it at them fiercely, glaring at them from under her eyebrows.
Just then, Norah came up behind her and put a hand gently on each of her shoulders. “Auntie, go and sit down and do your knitting. I will speak to these men. They are not going to be here for long.” She gave them a meaningful look that said,‘humor her, please.’
Caitrin gave the soldiers a venomous glance then turned and sat down, muttering something about disturbing poor old ladies and not giving her any peace.
The redcoats were two ordinary young men, not tall, not short and both in their twenties. At first they looked as though they would have liked to be a hundred miles away. However, as they looked at Norah, their gazes became openly admiring.
“Forgive my auntie.” Norah leaned forward and whispered, “she is getting old and does not like to be interrupted when she is knitting. It is the one thing that she remembers how to do.” She tapped the side of her forehead. “She is becoming a little forgetful and it frustrates her.”
One of the young officers smiled at her sympathetically. “I know what it’s like. My grandma is the same.”
Norah gifted him a dazzling smile. “Thank you for your understanding. It’s very hard to live with sometimes. Now, what can I do for you?”
“We had heard that a wanted man is hiding in the village,” the other redcoat explained. “We need to come into your house and have a look to make sure you are not hiding him. Everyone is under suspicion until we find him.”
Norah shrugged. “You can come and search if you wish, but there is hardly enough space in here for my auntie and me. I doubt if a man could hide in here unless he was the size of a cat.”
While she was speaking, Norah was trying not to tremble with fear. She hoped the men could not hear the thudding of her heartbeat, since it sounded as loud as a drum to her ears. She knew it was a ridiculous thought, but although she was actingwith the purest of motives, she was sure that there was guilt written all over her face.
The redcoats looked a little awkward, as if they felt out of place, and after a quick and somewhat less than thorough look around, they took their leave.
One of them paused at the door to address Norah. “This man is dangerous, so if you see him, for your own safety, you must let us know. As well as that, the law will come down hard on you if you are found to be hiding him.”
If he was trying to strike even more fear into her heart, he was succeeding, Norah thought. Yet, as well as that, there was an inferno of anger which she kept in check by a tremendous act of will. Instead, she gave him another bright, false smile.
“If I come across him, you will be the first to know, I promise,” she replied. “I have to protect my auntie. As you can see she is a frail old lady, and I am all she has. I don’t want both of us to be murdered in our beds.”
“Thank you,” the young man nodded, lifted his hat to her, and the two men left.
Norah was boiling with rage, but took no time to give vent to it. Instead, she rushed to the small cupboard into which they had squeezed Tearlach.
8
Tearlach was not sure how much longer he could stand being in the cupboard. His toes were numb from being squashed against the wooden side of it, and his knee, ankle and elbow joints were aching from the strain of being held in such an unnatural position for so long. He thought that if he were ever to torture someone, this was what he would do to them. He felt as if he wanted to scream, but he did not dare.
He felt a blackness creeping over him, slow and insidious like a noisome fog. He knew somehow that he was about to lose consciousness, and that the redcoats would find him, but he could do nothing about it.
Suddenly a blinding flash of light stabbed his eyes, and he grunted as the world seemed to tumble and whirl in front of him before he rolled on the floor and came to a stop, groaning. He screwed his eyes shut, then he heard the most welcome sound he could ever remember: Norah’s voice.
“Are you all right, Tearlach?” she asked in a soft murmur. “Can you hear me?”
