Page 108 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
The blacksmith began his work early in the morning, just after sunrise, and that was when Tearlach’s day began too. Norah was expecting to have to wait for a while to meet him, but she had just sat down on the ground outside the forge when he came out of the front door bearing an empty bucket to fill at the well. He was yawning and still tousled from sleep, but to her girlish eyes he looked adorable.
Tearlach started when he saw her, then walked up to her, putting the bucket on the ground. He looked concerned. “It’s a wee bit early in the mornin’ to be up an’ about, Miss. Are you all right?”
Norah stood up and brushed her dress down, then smiled brightly at him. “I am fine. I just wanted to meet you.”
“Me?” He was astonished. “Why?”
“Because I have never met you or any of the other children before, and I wanted to, that’s all.” Norah looked at the ground, suddenly shy.
“You are the girl from the big house!” he said in sudden realization, smiling at her. She looked up and was dazzled by his eyes, which were a brighter shade of green than she had ever seen before. They were mesmerizing.
“I am Norah, and I want to come and play with you and the others as soon as I can,” she told him, grinning. “I had to sneak out today, but from now on I will come in the daytime.”
He laughed and picked up his bucket again. “I look forward to it. I am Tearlach, but I must get to work. Nice to meet ye, Norah!” Then, with a wave, he was gone, leaving Norah to run back to her house, her heart soaring with joy. However, there was a price to pay. Her father was incandescent with rage, and her governess was in hysterics, but she stood firm in her resolution to have more freedom.
Eventually Norah negotiated herself a playtime schedule with Tearlach and the other children of the village, and was allowed out for an hour a day. Her father had not done this out of the goodness of his heart though, but because he knew he would get no peace until he gave in to her demands. Now Norah had discovered that she had a knack for bargaining and making deals, a skill which would often come in useful in later life.
She was shaken abruptly out of her daydream when she heard Caitrin begin to weep. She wiped her hands and hastened over to her, but could only stand and watch, since Tearlach appeared to have the situation well in hand.
Eventually, when Caitrin had stopped sobbing, Tearlach urged her to sit down, but she refused, shaking her head firmly.
“Look at this silly old woman!” she rebuked herself angrily. “I dinnae know what came over me!” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the palms of her hands, scowling.
“I do,” Norah said, putting her arm around the old woman’s shoulders. “You have had too much fear and worry, Caitrin.Those men were bullies, but you stood up to them, and I am so proud of you.”
“Thank ye, hen.” She kissed Norah on the cheek then pulled on a shawl and collected her knitting. “I am goin’ to see Agnes next door for a wee while. I will be back soon.” Then she was gone before either of them could object.
9
The moment she had gone, Norah rounded on Tearlach, her eyes blazing with fury. “I hope you are happy with yourself!” she growled. “You selfish swine!”
Tearlach was completely taken aback by the change in her mood, and even more so when she turned around and made to follow Caitrin out of the front door.
He was too quick for her, however, as he rushed to get in front of her and stood with his back firmly pressed to the wood, making his body a solid and impenetrable barrier. Norah stopped, knowing that any further effort to leave would be futile. She glared at him in rage and frustration.
“Please tell me what the hell ye are talkin’ about,” he demanded, spreading his hands in exasperation. “What have I done to upset ye so much, Norah?”
She laughed bitterly and turned away to sit by the fire. She picked up her knitting, which was lying on the chair where shewas about to sit, not in order to work on it, but to finger the points of her needles in a sinister and deliberate way.
Tearlach regarded her warily, seeing the look on her face. The needles almost looked like weapons in her hands, although it was her eyes which looked deadlier as she gazed at him unflinchingly.
He had never seen her look so angry, but then he had not really looked at her as a woman till very recently; they had only become re-acquainted in the last few hours. He had a lot of new things to discover about her, and he had been looking forward to the journey of exploration, but now he was not so sure that it would be as enjoyable as he had first anticipated. Her pale grey eyes were dark with rage, and it was all directed firmly at him.
Tearlach’s feelings were conflicted. He should be feeling angry too, he thought, but instead her fury was making him uncomfortably aroused. The woman who was sitting before him now was far removed from the girl whose eyes had met his as she rode past in her carriage all those years ago. Neither was she the determined little miss who had come to introduce herself to him at the forge.
Now Norah was a fully grown, sensual woman who was clearly not afraid of him. He intimidated most people, but although Norah had more often been a watcher than a doer, she had never shrunk from him, and she had always been honest with him. She was being honest now; brutally so. In fact, she was beginning to scare him a little. What had he done?
“When you ran away to join the Jacobites,” she began, “did you have any kind of plan? Did you even know where to find any of the soldiers, or did you just hope to stumble across them? Shall Itell you what happened to your family then?” She glared at him, her eyes challenging.
“Your father spent weeks looking for you. Your mother stopped eating for a while and nearly starved herself to death. Your brothers and sisters asked everyone they met if they knew you, or had seen you. They were frantic with worry. I took some cake and pastries from the house to try to tempt your mother to eat, but she could not, because she was consumed with anxiety. Everything she swallowed came back up again.
I spoke to my father to see if he could hire some riders to find out what had happened to you but he laughed, and said you were not important enough.” She gave a bitter laugh. “But you were very important to your family! And to me - you were my best friend, then one day you kissed me and ran away. Or did you forget that you kissed me?”
Tearlach shook his head. “I could never forget that,” he said huskily. However, he looked away from her, avoiding her eyes. “Never.”
“When you were not available the next day I thought you were busy working for your father, and then everyone started talking about your absence.” She stood up and paced to the window, anger in every line of her agitated body.
Tearlach squirmed uncomfortably in his chair as he watched the sensual way she moved. The way her rounded hips swayed from side to side and the memory of her soft breast pressing against him when she was bending over him were conspiring to make him almost painfully hard. He felt ashamed. How could his body react this way at a time like this? When she turned to face him again she licked her lips to wet them before speaking again, andhe looked down at his lap as he pulled a blanket over the front of his body.
