Page 117 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
“An’ makes a nice rabbit stew wi’ all those mushrooms she finds,” Murdo remarked. “Aye, I could get used to havin’ Norah around.” He sighed. “Pity ye have to go, hen.”
Norah shrugged and smiled at both of them. “My friend Caitrin likes to have a man around the house,” she told them. “So it seems that we need each other, and I have had no problem living with you ‘animals’. You have all been perfect gentlemen, and nobody has ever complimented my cooking before!”
A few days after their arrival at the hideout, when she was just about to prepare supper, Norah was pleasantly surprised to find a book lying on the floor beside the foodstuffs.
“Gulliver's Travels!” she gasped in wonder, as a smile spread over her face. She held the volume up for the group of men to see. “Whose is this?”
Murdo laughed. “I suppose ye could say it is mine, Norah,” he answered. “I stole it out of a dead Redcoat’s pack. I thought I might read it sometime, but -” He shrugged his shoulders. “I havenae had time, an’ to be truthful, it is a wee bit beyond my skills. I am no’ much of a reader.”
“Would you like me to read it to you?” Norah asked eagerly. She had heard that the story was excellent, but had never managed to acquire a copy of the book, since her father did not approve of learned women. God forbid that she should be cleverer than her husband! “I haven’t read it myself yet, and I would love to.”
There was a chorus of approval. “That would be grand, Norah!” Murdo said, grinning. “I was that tired o’ playin’ dice wi’ this lot!”
“Only because ye always lost!” Alec protested.
Norah was glad that she could repay the men for their kindness in some little way, and began to read the book that evening, glad to see that they were fascinated by the story. It turned out to be the most pleasant evening she had spent in ages.
Before she lay down to sleep she kissed Tearlach’s forehead. “I promise I will read this to you as soon as I can, love,” she whispered. “Goodnight.” She thought she saw a ghost of a smile on his face. Or was it her imagination?
Tearlach finally woke up on the morning of the third day after their arrival at the hideout. He was groggy and his voice was hoarse from lack of use, but the injury from the musket ball was beginning to heal.
“It is no’ infected,” Tommy announced, smiling as he looked at the wound. “It will take a wee while to close up, big man, but knowin’ you, it will happen twice as fast as anybody else. Ye will always have a scar, but the lassies like scars. They make ye look like a hero.” He reached into his pocket and produced a small ball made of a dull grey metal. “Here is what did the damage. Dae ye want to keep it as a keepsake?”
Tearlach smiled weakly, “I think I can dae without it,” he replied, shuddering in revulsion.
Then Tearlach saw Norah, his face lit up, and he opened his arms. He had never been so glad to see anyone in his life.
She knelt down beside him, and hugged him gently, trying not to press against his wound. “Are you feeling better?” she asked softly. “I have been so worried about you.”
“I am feelin’ fine,” he whispered, kissing her cheek. “I think I might be a wee bit stiff for a while, but I know I have been well looked after. Tommy can work miracles.”
Norah looked into his apple-green eyes and stroked some of his shaggy red hair off his forehead, then she frowned. “I need to shave you.” Her words were firm, her face determined.
“An’ I need to kiss you,” he replied, grinning.
His wish might have come true, but at that moment the rest of the men came bursting in, each of them looking as though they had been running for miles without a break, which indeed theyhad. They collapsed into chairs or on the floor, trying to recover their breath before finally Davie managed to speak.
“Redcoats!” he gasped. “I was huntin’ near the burn an’ I had a nice big doe in my sight when I saw seven redcoats on the other side. They a’ have muskets, an’ it looked as if they have plenty o’ ammunition too. We need to get out of here!”
“But you have muskets too,” Norah observed, frowning. “I have seen them.”
Davie was still breathing heavily, but he said, “we have pistols, lass, but our last raid failed. We needed some lead for our muskets, an’ we were goin’ to steal it fae the redcoats, but we messed the raid up an’ now we have nae ammunition. If they catch us in here we are trapped. They might decide we are more trouble to them alive than dead an’ shoot us where we stand. An’ I hate to think what they would dae to you - a woman will be easy game for them, if ye know what I mean.”
Norah was horrified at the meaning of his words, so much so that she could not speak for a moment. She nodded. “I do,” she said grimly.
“There really isnae any way out - we need to run,” Davie said grimly.
Tearlach gazed at Norah for a moment, knowing that this was goodbye. He took in the beautiful angles of her face, her silver-grey eyes, and even the animated way her hands moved when she spoke.
Now she was reaching out to the others, begging them to see things her way. “But Tearlach is not ready to move!” she cried. “Look at him! He is too weak to walk!”
Tommy moved over to Tearlach’s side and helped him to his feet. “Will ye try, Tearlach? We dinnae want to leave ye behind.”
Tearlach hesitated, but Norah did not. She moved over to his side and put her arm around his waist. “I helped him before,” she stated firmly. “I will help him again.”
Tommy looked at Tearlach as if to seek approval, but Tearlach only shrugged. “Ye might as well try to wrestle wi’ a bull, Tommy,” he said, sighing. “She has a will of iron.”
Tommy looked at Norah doubtfully but she stared back at him, her gaze defiant, till he turned and walked away. She said nothing more, but began to pack away Tearlach’s few clothes and other possessions into a bag.
