Page 115 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
Norah sighed with relief. For a tiny moment she had been terrified that the man she had been dreaming of all these years had perished before she had a chance to tell him how she felt about him.
Tommy applied some honey to the wound and bound it up with some clean strips of linen. “There is nothin’ more I can dae for him now, hen.” He washed his hands and patted Norah on the shoulder.
“How are ye? Ye look tired. Draggin’ a man as big as Tearlach McLachlan a’ that way would be hard for anybody, never mind a wee lassie your size. Ye must be as strong as an ox!” he asked in a concerned voice.
“I am not, I assure you,” Norah replied, passing a hand in front of her eyes. “Do you think he will live?”
“He has lost a lot of blood,” McAllister said quietly. “But I have done my best, lass. A’ we can dae now is hope an’ pray, an’ let him rest. I have always found that rest is the body’s best medicine.” He looked at her anxiously. “An’ you need to rest as well as eat. I will wager that nothing has passed your lips since midday yesterday.”
Norah laughed softly. “How did you guess?”
Tommy smiled. He had a pleasant smile, even though there was a gap where two of his upper teeth should have been. “When ye have been a soldier ye have been trained to spot an enemy’s weaknesses,” he answered. “I can tell these things. Anyway, your stomach is rumblin’ like thunder!”
Norah laughed, then her face grew grave again as she watched the men move Tearlach onto a pallet. He was face down, since the wound was in his back, and he looked deeply uncomfortable, but they maneuvered him onto his side and forced a pillow behind him to stop him rolling back again.
Norah accepted a plate of porridge and a glass of warm ale. She had to force it down, for although her body was hungry, she hadno real desire to eat. The last few hours had been amongst the worst of her entire life and although she knew she had to rest, she was unsure if she would be able to sleep at all.
She slipped outside to wash herself in the burn, then came in and lay down on a mattress next to Tearlach, looking into his face. His arms were sprawled out in front of him, and she reached across and put her hand over his. She closed her eyes and sighed. She had thought she would be too wakeful to sleep, but somehow his touch soothed her, and soon she was slumbering deeply.
14
Norah was sitting in the sunshine beside the seaside in her favorite place in the whole world, the village of Kenmar, which was only a few miles away from the bustling city of Aberdeen. The sky was absolutely clear that day, and seagulls were wheeling and mewling overhead in the sunlight. It was the kind of day that was rare in the Highlands, and Norah was soaking up the sunshine.
She had been told that sitting in the sunshine was bad for her fair complexion, and that if she spent too long in it her skin would become red and burnt. Then, a few days later it would all peel off. Therefore, she was always careful, since she did not wish to undergo the treatment for it, which was a cold bath full of vinegar solution, and receive a tongue-lashing from her governess.
She stood up and walked across the sand into the edge of the sea, where she watched little wavelets lapping over her toes and felt them tickling her toes. Then suddenly, she felt a surge of rebellion inside her. She was not allowed to go above her knees in the seawater, but who was there to stop her?
She giggled and began to jump up and down in the water, suddenly not caring about her wet dress or her sunburnt skin or the vinegar bath. She was only twelve years old and she was allowed to have fun, was she not? The governess would have to lecture her, since it was her job to do so, but she did not have to listen.
Norah stood at the edge of the water for a long time thinking about Tearlach. She knew that men grew beards, and that Tearlach was growing into a man. Heavens, he was already so tall that he towered over her by at least six inches!
Moreover, she could see that the sunlight glinted off golden-red bristles on his cheeks, and his voice had changed. It had never been a high pitched voice, but it had certainly not had the deep timbre it had acquired until quite recently. Tearlach was changing: when would she change too? When would she become as shapely as some of her other friends and have the same round breasts as they did? Where were her tiny waist and curvy hips? Tearlach would never look at her as he did at some of the other girls unless her body changed to that of a proper woman.
Now, as she walked back up the beach, she saw him standing, waiting for her. He had his arms folded across his chest, his bare feet were planted widely apart on the sand, and he was smiling at her.
Norah’s heart began to beat faster in her chest. His arms were bulky now, and she could see that there was a dusting of hair on his chest. How handsome he was!
“Norah, it is time we were goin’ home,” he said, as he held out his big hand and she put hers in it trustingly as led her away.
Norah sighed and opened her eyes. It had been a lovely dream, and she had been surprised when she opened her eyes, not to find sand under her feet and the sun on her skin. It took her a moment to realized where she was, and as she looked around her she felt a plunging sense of disappointment at not being near the white sand and the seaside of her dreams. She was in an altogether strange place.
She looked sideways and saw Tearlach, and realized that at least one part of her dream was real; he was holding her hand. It took a moment for the events of the previous day to come back to her, and when they did, she groaned. Was Tearlach badly hurt? Was he even now beginning to slide towards death? Would he ever be the whole man he had been before?
Tommy McAllister came to kneel down beside him and feel the pulse in his neck again, then nodded to Norah, smiling. “He is fine, lass,” he whispered. “An’ he is only sleepin’, although very deeply, I think. I gave him a drop o’ poppy syrup to kill any pain, an’ it also makes him sleep, but I will have tae be sparin’ with it, since there is only a wee bit left.”
Norah sighed with relief and put her hand on her chest as if to slow down the beating of her heart. “That is good to know,” she murmured. “Thank you for everything you have done for him, Tommy.”
Tommy smiled at her again. “I dinnae suppose ye know, Norah,” he said ruefully. “But I am the eejit that talked Tearlach into to come an’ join us. So a’ the pain he is sufferin’ now is my fault, and all of your pain too. I needed to prove that I was a true an’ brave Scotsman willin’ to do my bit for my country after my brother was killed in battle, an’ I needed a friend.” He glanced at her, then looked away, clearly ashamed.
Surprisingly, Norah did not feel angry. “No, Tommy,” she said firmly. “You were both young and stupid, but Tearlach has a will of his own. He made up his own mind to do what he did.”
Just then, Murdo came in holding up a brace of rabbits and looking triumphant. “Look what we are havin’ for breakfast!” he cried gleefully.
Norah smiled tightly and tried not to be sick; the sight of dead animals did not sit well with her.
Seeing her expression, Tommy shooed Alec away and began to attend to Tearlach. Norah looked on anxiously, but Tommy smiled. “It looks fine, Norah. We will let him sleep, but we need to a’ have a wee talk.”
The rabbits were cooked on a spit over the fire, and everyone was silent while they ate, thinking their own thoughts. However, when they were finished, Norah found that all eyes were on her, and she felt distinctly uncomfortable.
