Page 83 of Sighs of the Highland Wind
He could be drowned in the burn that ran past her cottage and the castle, pushed off one of the turrets, poisoned, or even be trampled by one of the guards’ horses. James could use any one of dozens of poisons that were completely undetectable once a person was dead.
She shook her head and growled in frustration, because the truth was that the possibilities were endless. If anything happened to Cameron it would be her fault, though, because now that she knew what James was planning, it was her duty to stop it.
Ava waited, agitated beyond bearing, until the coming of dawn began to chase the darkness away and she could see the sky turning from grey to pink and finally showed the first fingers of blue. She paced the floor for a little longer, then threw on her clothes, splashed some water on her face and rushed down tothe stables. Then, much to the astonishment of the newly-risen stable hands, she saddled up her horse and galloped away as if the hounds of hell were after her.
The words‘save Cameron’repeated themselves over and over again in her mind to the rhythm of the horse’s gallop, and by the time she had covered the distance to Kilcarron, she had worked herself into such a frenzy of anger and anxiety that she was shaking with it.
She slowed her horse down to a walk just before reaching the entrance, to calm herself down and rehearse what she was going to say, although she was fairly certain that by the time she saw Cameron she would be unable to talk any sense at all.
She dismounted and walked her horse over the drawbridge and into the courtyard, where she was approached by a guard. “Mistress Struthers,” he greeted her, smiling. “What can I do for ye?”
“I would like to speak to the Laird, if ye can call him for me, please.” Ava returned his smile, looking around her at all the servants who were busy cleaning, polishing and sweeping. She decided to be as friendly and informal as she could. “I expect there is a lot o’ clearin’ up today.”
The guard laughed. “Indeed there was, Mistress,” he agreed, “but one good thing came out o’ it. Laird Dalziel asked us to give the leftover food to the poorest tenants so that nothin’ is wasted. He seems like a good man.”
“He is,” she agreed. “I know him well.” She looked up at the guard expectantly. He was a man in his middle years with blue eyes and greying fair hair, and there was something gentle about him. She could always sense such things.
“Sorry, Mistress,” the man said ruefully. “I will have one o’ the maidservants find him for ye.”
He walked away and came back a few moments later with a tall manservant. “I am sorry, Mistress Struthers, but the Laird has gone out to visit tenants.” He gave a proud smile as he said, “he told us a’ he wanted to waste no time in gettin’ started wi’ his work. As well as that, he is takin’ a’ the extra food around wi’ him.”
“Damn!” Ava said irritably. “He will likely know most of the tenants already!” Then she smiled. “You like him better than the old Laird, I take it?”
“Aye, Mistress, we a’ dae,” he replied. “The old man was a right tyrant an’ I was no’ sorry tae see him goin’.” He turned back to the guard. “A’ the lassies in the kitchen are singin’, an’ they only dae that at Hogmanay! No’ keen on that steward o’ his either, mind,” he said, shaking his head and frowning.
“Aye, no’ a very nice man!” the manservant agreed, before walking away.
They all laughed, but Ava’s mind was in turmoil. How could she get in touch with Cameron? Quite obviously she was not going to tell the guard what her message was, and even if she had been able to write she could not have put down on paper something that was so dangerous.
“Mistress?” the guard asked, jerking Ava out of her reverie.
She jumped. “Sorry.” She laughed nervously. “Daydreamin’. Could ye tell him I was here?”
“I will,” the guard assured her. “Do ye no’ have a message for him?”
“No.” Ava smiled again. “Just tell him that. Thank you.”
As she walked away, he frowned. The man had sensed by her preoccupied look that there was something worrying the young woman. She was nervous, and her smile looked forced. He knew that she had been a sweetheart of Cameron Dalziel before he became Laird, and wondered if there was something still between them.
It intrigued him, but it was none of his business, and he soon forgot all about it.
Cameron had had a very rewarding day. He knew most of his tenants, since they had mostly been old friends and neighbours, and everyone was delighted to see him. He was hugged, kissed, and told in no uncertain terms by everyone he met that he deserved every bit of his newly-acquired good fortune.
“It is aboot time that old swine recognized his son,” Aggie McGuire, one of the oldest women Cameron had ever seen, said bitterly. She claimed to be over a century old, but Cameron seriously doubted that, even though her face was fissured with wrinkles and her hair was snow white. “May God forgive me, but I am happy he’s deid - he was an angry, unhappy man, an’ he took it out on everybody!” Then she smiled a gap-toothed smile and put a hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “But you, Cam - I have known ye since ye were a wee bairn, an’ ye have always been a good boy, an’ I can see ye are a very good man too.”
“Thank ye, Auntie Aggie.” Cameron smiled at the old woman and gave her a tremendous hug that set her off in a peal of laughter.
“Will ye no’ let an old woman alone?” she protested. “Look at the muscles in those arms! Ye will break these old ribs!”
“I am sorry, Auntie Aggie,” he replied, trying to look suitably ashamed. The effect was rather spoiled when he burst out laughing. Everyone around him did too, and suddenly Cameron felt like the luckiest man alive. He was here amongst people he loved, people who loved him in return, and he had the means to make them happy by giving them the simple things they needed.
He had the feeling that this was the start of a new and fulfilling chapter in his life. Because Cameron had been poor like his tenants until very recently he knew what it was like to be without the good things in life, and sometimes even the essential things.
He was only one man, though, and could not do everything by himself, but he could inspire others to help him by setting a good example and being the kind of Laird they needed.
He had not brought James Henderson with him, however, since his steward had informed him that he would be busy with accounts for the whole of the day. Before, Cameron had wondered how that could be, but as he rode around his land and looked at the sheer extent of it, he realised that it would be perfectly possible to spend days adding up and taking away sums of money.
He was sure, however, that accounting was far more complicated than that, and was looking forward to learning all about it. Yet he was not sure that Henderson would be the right man to teach him.
