Page 61 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
Cameron turned to face the man once again. “I do not want his estate!” he replied, enunciating each word clearly as if he was talking to a child. “Tell him he can put his estate in a very darkplace - you know the place I mean, do ye no’? I want nothin’ from him!”
The shouting match might have ended in a fist fight at that moment had Ava not come up to them, holding a basket of Cameron’s cleaned and mended clothes. She looked from one to the other of the two men, puzzled. She had heard the altercation from a hundred yards away, and hurried up to see what the fight was about before it came to blows.
Cameron’s voice had a threat in it as he heard the disdainful note in James’s. “Now, Henderson, I would like it very much if ye would leave an’ no’ come back again.”
She saw Cameron standing in front of the shorter man, their faces almost touching. Cameron’s expression was thunderous as he turned away, then he swung back again as the smaller man began to speak.
As Ava approached them, they both turned to look at her. Henderson’s gaze swept over her from head to foot in a way that made her feel distinctly uncomfortable, then he turned back to Cameron. “Who is this?” he asked.
“A very good friend o’ mine,” Cameron answered, “Ava Struthers.”
James Henderson saw Cameron’s big hands clenching into fists that looked like clubs. “You have not heard the last of this.” His voice was threatening as he mounted his horse, but at that moment Ava stepped forward.
“Please wait,” she said, holding a hand up. “I heard what you said, an’ I would like to speak to Cameron, please.”
“Maybe you can talk some sense into him.” Henderson was derisive, but his expression had changed to one of frank appreciation as he looked at the young woman before him. “I will wait.”
Ava bristled at the look on his face, but said nothing as she took Cameron’s arm and they moved away to a safe distance. “What does he want?” she whispered.
“He wants me tae see the Laird,” Cameron growled, his brows drawn down and shadowing his bright eyes. “He says the Laird wants tae give me the estate, but I have told him what he can do wi’ it! I do not want it.”
6
Ava sucked in a great gasp and put her hand over her mouth. She had been about to congratulate him, since owning the estate would give him everything he had ever wanted: prosperity, security and independence. However, when she saw the expression on his face she knew that trouble lay ahead. “That is good news, is it not?” she asked doubtfully.
“He has treated me like muck a’ my life,” Cameron replied. “I said ‘no’ to goin’ tae see him, an’ ‘no’ to the estate. He would no’ even be botherin’ wi’ me if Brian was still alive, Ava. He despised me, but now I am useful tae him, he wants me tae come runnin’. I willnot.” The last word was said with such fury that it was almost a shout.
He was about to turn away again, but Ava put her hand on his arm again. “Wait,” she said softly. “Think a minute, Cam.”
“Think about what?” Cameron demanded. “I am no’ goin’, Ava.”
“Listenin’ to what he says will no’ hurt, will it?” she went on, “an’ if ye refuse straight to his face he might listen. His steward is only his messenger.”
Cameron looked down into her earnest face, then paused for a moment. “Maybe ye are right,” he said softly. He walked over to Henderson again. “I will come with ye, but only tae tell that eejit to give his estate to somebody that actually wants it.”
He strode away to saddle Jimmy and Ava went inside the house. She placed the mended clothes on a chair then went outside to stand beside the door, waiting for Cameron to appear. When he did, he kissed her forehead quickly then marched over to his horse and leapt into the saddle. She waved to him, her heart beating nineteen to the dozen.
She only hoped that she had done the right thing. She had known Cameron for a very long while and she knew that his pride was important to him, as it was to most men. However, he was in the kind of mood she had rarely seen him in before. He was absolutely incandescent with rage.
Cameron and James Henderson rode up the hill towards the castle in silence. It was an awkward silence, and a deeply hostile one, and if either had spoken one cross word violence might have erupted.
They arrived at the castle and one of the grooms came to take their horses. The young man recognised Cameron straight away.
“How are ye, Cam? Havenae seen ye for ages,” he smiled in a friendly fashion, and Cameron was just about to answer when James Henderson interrupted.
“Get back to work, you!” he yelled.
Something inside Cameron snapped. He grabbed Henderson by the front of his shirt and pulled him up so that the man had to stand on tiptoe. “Don’t talk to hardworking people like that in front o’ me!” he snapped, before pushing him away.
Henderson stumbled backwards, but did not fall. However, his face was red with indignation as he gasped, “you cannot talk to me that way!”
“Really?” Cameron laughed cynically, then cocked a sardonic eyebrow at Henderson. “I think I just did.” Then he turned to his friend again and clapped him on the shoulder. “I am well. Hope you are too - chat later, eh?”
He nodded, casting a furious glance at Henderson, who was stalking away.
Cameron did not look at the impressive architecture, the tiled and carpeted floors, or the portraits on the wall. He had only one aim; to have the audience with his so-called father over and done with quickly so that he could make his escape as fast as possible. After all, how long did it take to say,‘No!’?
They came to a door that was recessed into the wall a little. It was framed by two Corinthian pillars and a triangular gable over the door which had a shield with the clan crest carved on it. There was a name for the structure, Cameron knew, but for the life of him he could not think of it, and he felt simple suddenly. Even if he had wanted to, how could a man like him run an enormous property like this one if he could barely make a living out of his tiny patch of land?
