Page 14 of Highland Crown
“Give it to me, I say.”
“Save yer wind, auld woman. I’m keeping it.”
“Ye’ll not be going out of here wi…”
The sound of the old woman’s cry was followed by a crash and splintering wood. Immediately, Isabella felt the wounded sailor struggle to move. She couldn’t sit still and let Jean be injured by this thieving bully. He was one person against the two of them. Safety be damned. As she began to untangle herself, Jean called out.
“It’ll take more of a man thanyeto hurt the likes of me,” she said in a voice that Isabella realized was intended for her. “But yer still a foul and nasty dog. True when ye was a wee chack, and truer now. Ye’ll burn in hell, to be sure.”
“Try to take this from me again, and I’ll send ye straight to hell ahead of me. Make no mistake,” Habbie taunted. “Come on, if ye want it. I’d as soon tie a rock around yer neck and throw ye off the Head as look at ye.”
“This is what we’ve come to in this village now, is it? Ye wait until the curate hears that ye struck me down.”
Thoughts of violence crossed Isabella’s mind, and she wasn’t alone. Her patient was straining against her hold on him. She pressed her cheek against his back, trying to instill patience.
“Ye go right ahead. Tell ’em all.” Habbie paused. “Go ahead, auld hag. Pick up that stick of yers. It’ll be the last thing ye do in this world.”
“If my auld man was still alive, he’d—”
“Yer auld man’s been gone many a year, so come on and raise a hand to me. Yer just another mouth to feed in this village. I tell ye, no one here’d miss ye.”
Let him go, Isabella pleaded silently. Please, Jean. Let him go.
The leather hide behind Isabella shivered as the cottage door opened. He was leaving. Thank God. She listened tothe fading footsteps as Jean continued to shout her complaints after him about a “vile world where folk rob their own and auld women are struck down by brutes.”
A moment later, the door closed, and Isabella heard the warning whisper.
“Stay where ye are.”
“Are you hurt?” Isabella asked.
“I’m fine. Don’t ye worry about that. If ye’d come out, it would have gone worse for all of us.”
Fear was slow to make room for any feeling of relief. Her heart continued to pound. In her mind’s eye, she saw him bursting back into the cottage, tearing away the hide, and dragging them out of their hiding place.
“Let me out of here.” The voice was deep and grim. He let go of her hand.
She inched backward, trying to make more room for him. But there was nowhere to go. His size filled the space, heated the air. Her body shaped itself against him. Isabella didn’t think she’d ever been this close to a man, other than her husband.
“Not yet. Jean will tell us when it’s safe.”
He didn’t like her answer. She could feel the muscles flex in his back.
“Where are we?”
“We’re in a cottage not far from Duff Head.”
“He’s still not gone back to the cart,” Jean’s whisper cut in. “Don’t ye move. Hear me?”
“Why are you hiding?”
He sounded abrupt, impatient, but his tone calmed her. Regardless of his injury, he exuded courage. She imagined it was a matter of time before he pushed her back and climbed out.
“Because I don’t belong in these parts,” she answered. “I’m only staying here for a few days.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re hiding.”
His voice carried a trace of the Highland burr. She wondered if he was from anywhere nearby.
