Page 20 of Abducted By the Highlander
All the women were staring at her now. It was far worse being the focus of their attention than being ignored, but at least now they couldn’t overlook her when they served the food.
She couldn’t think about food, even though the aroma of roasting meat was all around her. She had to concentrate on showing these women she could be useful and not be distracted by her hungry stomach.
“All right then, Innis,” Elspeth said. “Ye do as ye see fit.”
“Rhona.” Innis, the younger woman who had spoken earlier, nodded her head at the elder of the two girls. “Fetch the basket, there’s a good lass.”
Rhona ran off in the direction of the tents, and the wee lad she had been playing with toddled after her, his arms outstretched, before he tumbled at Roisin’s feet. She smiled and crouched down, taking his hands to pull him upright, whereupon he instantly focused on Ecne.
Ecne was used to the bairns from the village in Eigg and didn’t twitch so much as an ear as the wee lad gave him a hug. Gently, she extricated him before he fell onto Ecne and distracted him with a wooden ball the bairns had been playing with.
“Do ye have bairns?” Innis adjusted her shawl and put her bairn against her shoulder as she patted the babe’s back. One of the other women soothed her fractious newborn, and it was only then Roisin noticed the wee thing was wearing one of the tiny outfits she had spent untold hours embroidering for Isolde.
She dragged her eyes away and caught Innis’s steady gaze. Now was not the time to fret over such a thing. “No,” she said in response to the other woman’s question. “I’m not wed.”
When the other women glanced at each other and smirked, heat rushed into her cheeks at her foolish remark. Why had she said such a thing? Now they would likely think she was so sheltered she believed one had to be wed before one could have a bairn.
Lord, maybe they thought she didn’t know how bairns were made.
“’Tis fortunate Symon and Hugh rescued ye from the bandits,” remarked one of the other women. “I doubt a lady such as yerself would’ve fared well among such barbarous men.”
“Aye, ’tis a cruel world for an unprotected woman,” Innis added. “We may have been brought low, but ye can be reassured our men won’t take advantage of ye while ye’re under the protection of Darragh MacGregor.”
“Hugh Campbell is another matter.” Elspeth cast her a calculating look and Roisin forced herself not to drop her gaze. She didn’t know anything about these women, but something told her if she withered beneath Elspeth’s scrutiny, she would lose all hope of gaining their respect. “Sleep with yer dagger handy if ye do not wish to end up…” The ghost of a smile hovered around her lips before she said, “wed.”
The women smiled, as though they shared a secret jest as they glanced at each other.Well, let them laugh at my expense.She knew full well what Elspeth really meant and although Hugh wasn’t the man she’d believed him to be, it still greatly irked her that Elspeth thought he was so lacking in honor that he’d resort to such contemptible behavior.
Still, it was good advice, for all of that. She’d be sure to sleep with a dagger in her hand for as long as she remained in this camp.
Rhona returned, dragging a large basket, and Roisin picked out the top garment. It was a man’s shirt with a long rip along the sleeve. She handed it to Grear and pulled out another damaged shirt. Well, at least these tasks were simple enough. Then she settled herself next to Grear as they threaded their needles and the women, losing interest in them, returned to their own tasks.
Innis attempted to coax her bairn into another feed, but the babe, whom Roisin guessed to be maybe a year or so, fussed and his mother sighed heavily. “He’s not taking enough.”
Another woman glanced at her. “How often is he feeding?”
Innis pressed her lips together before exhaling another measuredbreath. “Not often enough, I am certain.”
Roisin hastily tore her gaze from the women and concentrated on her work. She didn’t want them to think she was eavesdropping, even though it was impossible not to hear their conversation. But still, it was obvious she wasn’t included. They likely thought she wouldn’t even understand the true nature of their concern, but Freyja was passionate about such things, and had ensured both her sisters were well versed in all the ways that lowered the chances of conception. And if Innis’s babe was rejecting her milk, then all too soon her body would once again be receptive to a man’s seed.
Elspeth’s next words confirmed her suspicion. “Ye best start taking the tea again.”
“The stocks are low.” Frustration threaded through Innis’s voice. “Goddamn this life. I cannot fall again, Elspeth.”
She felt Elspeth’s glance fall her way and kept her head lowered over her work. She understood the older woman’s reluctance to speak with a stranger in their midst. Such things were women’s knowledge, to be sure, but the ancient secrets were not shared with those who couldn’t be trusted to keep their counsel.
After a heartbeat, it appeared Elspeth decided she posed no danger, likely because she believed Roisin had no idea how a bairn was even conceived, let alone the methods that had been used since the beginning of time to prevent such an occurrence. After all, how could one divulge a secret to a man if she didn’t realize it was a secret in the first place?
“We’ll forage farther afield tomorrow.” Elspeth kept her voice low. “There are always herbs to be gathered, after all.”
Silence hung in the air after her remark and Roisin chanced darting a swift glance around the women. There was, of course, another method of preventing pregnancy, but she hadn’t needed Freyja’s wisdom to learn that men did not take kindly to having their pleasure interrupted. There were enough women on the Small Isles who couldtestify to that.
As for the herbs, she had enough in her supplies that could be utilized in such a manner, but would the women take kindly to her offer? Or would they think she was pushing herself into business that had nothing to do with her?
She was still grappling with the conundrum of remaining silent or not when Elspeth stacked her work to the side and checked the food. “Call the men,” she instructed, and one of the other women left her tasks and made her way to the other side of the camp, where the horses and her wagon were, and vanished around a rocky outcrop where, presumably, the men had gathered. As Roisin finished mending the shirt she was working on, one of the older bairns appeared with a stack of plates, and the men approached.
Hastily, she stood, folded the shirt, and placed it back in the basket. Elspeth distributed the food, Darragh first, and then the rest of the men, with Hugh bringing up the rear. For a moment, their gazes met and she fancied she saw a ghost of a smile touch his lips. But perhaps it was the fading light or simply her own foolish imagination since he didn’t come over to her but turned away to sit with Symon.
She adjusted the satchel on her shoulder. It was heavy and her back ached, but it was a small price for the peace of mind of knowing at least a few of her possessions were safe.
