“Those arrows look great,” said Shaw, helping Colina and Leith finish up their project. They’d stripped the bark from the sticks of wood and whittled down the ends. Then they attached the feathers with resin and twine to secure them.
It had been close to two hours and, still, Spring had not returned. Shaw worked in the courtyard with his children, keeping an eye on the gate. Why had he let her go? She’d asked him to trust her and, foolishly, he had. For all he knew, she might have gone straight back to her clan. After last night, he thought things would change between them. He was starting to fall in love with Spring and had hoped she felt the same way about him. Now, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“Where is Spring?” asked Colina.
“She promised she’d help us make the arrows,” said Leith.
“Did I hear ye ask about Spring?” Baen was walking by and stopped to talk. “I saw her earlier in the stable. She took a horse and rode away.”
“Where did she go?” asked Shaw. “And why did ye let her leave?”
“She said ye kent all about it. She didna say where she was goin’. She left right after Donel.”
“Donel left, too?” Shaw’s head snapped upward. “Has he returned yet?”
“No’ that I ken, my laird. I suppose he’ll be back soon.”
“I dinna want him out there by himself. It’s no’ safe. The Gunns are still lurkin’ in the shadows.”
“Ye worry too much,” said Baen.
“He’s my son,” said Shaw, knowing Baen was right. Since the death of his wife, he found himself being overprotective of his children.
“Shall we go look for them?” asked Baen.
“Aye. Let’s go.” Shaw threw down the arrow and brushed his hands together. They walked at a brisk pace toward the stable. His anger grew with each step. Why hadn’t he noticed his son had left the castle walls? And where the hell was his wife? None of this felt right at all.
The sound of horses’ hooves against the ground had Shaw looking out the open gate. Over the drawbridge, he saw both Spring and Donel on horseback heading toward the castle.
Relief swept through him. Thank God, they were alive and had returned.
“Stay with the children and keep them here, Baen. I need to talk to my son and wife alone.”
“Aye, my laird.” Baen headed back to keep the children from running to Spring.
“Where were ye two?” growled Shaw before they’d even stopped. Donel dismounted, but Spring stayed atop her horse.
“I’m sorry, Faither. I went out for a ride and lost track of the time,” said Donel.
“With Spring?” He looked at his son suspiciously.
“I went lookin’ for him.” Spring slid off the horse and handed the reins to Donel. “Will ye take care of my horse, Donel?”
“I’d be happy to, Spring.”
Shaw watched in amazement, not able to believe what he was witnessing. Donel had stopped scowling at Spring and was smiling as he led the horses to the stable, humming if Shaw wasn’t mistaken. What happened to the boy who claimed he hated her just this morning?
“What’s goin’ on here?” he asked.
“I dinna ken what ye mean.” Spring spotted the other children and headed toward them. “Donel went out for a ride and I was concerned since he left here in a huff,” she said over her shoulder. “Therefore, I decided to go after him.”
Shaw supposed it could be true, but he had a hard time believing the story. Something wasn’t right, here. “Why does Donel seem to like ye now? When he left here earlier today, he hated ye. What changed?”
“Is it so hard to believe that he might have just changed his mind about me?”
“Aye, it is.” He didn’t expect that to happen until hell froze over.
“Think whatever ye like. The important part is that Donel is home safely and I believe, from now on, he’s goin’ to accept me as his mathair.”
She greeted Colina and Leith. They ran excitedly to show her their arrows.
“Can ye show us how to shoot?” Colina asked Spring jumping up and down.
“Yes, show me, too,” said Leith excitedly.
Spring turned around and her eyes met Shaw’s. “I think we should wait until tomorrow,” she told the children. “That way, Donel will have time to make some arrows, too. Yer faither and I will both teach ye to shoot.”
Shaw nodded, liking the fact she had thought to involve him. He’d been enjoying the time he was spending with his children lately. He liked doing things with her as well. It made him feel like his broken family had been mended after all this time.
Perhaps he’d been too quick to judge her. She told him she would return and she had. She’d even cared enough to go after his son. He wasn’t sure what she’d said to Donel to make him like her, but mayhap it didn’t matter. After all, she’d proved today something that had been bothering him since the alliance. She proved that she could be trusted.
* * *
Spring headed to the orchard at the end of the day to be alone, holding onto the wooden pawn in her pocket. Shaw seemed to have been satisfied with their explanation that Donel had gone out riding and she went after him. He hadn’t even asked about it again at all. That should make her feel relieved but, for some reason, she felt even worse now about deceiving her husband. Sure, what they’d told him was true, but they’d left out a lot of important details. The fact was, Donel didn’t even know the half of it.
“Spring,” came a voice from behind her. It was Donel. She stopped and waited for him to join her. The sun was setting and a slight wind picked up. Since she didn’t wear a plaid like the rest of the clan, she had nothing to shelter her from the cold. That is, nothing but Shaw’s loving arms. How she missed that at the moment.
“Donel, what is it?” she asked the boy.
They stopped by a big, old apple tree that had a very thick trunk.
“Thank ye for no’ tellin’ my faither my secret today.”
“Ye’ll need to tell him sooner or later.”
“I ken.” The boy nodded. “I will. Sooner or later. Vika and I are thinkin’ about gettin’ married.”
“Shouldna that be the decision of both yer faithers? She will need to be betrothed to ye and there will need to be an alliance involved since our clans are enemies.”
“I dinna understand what ye mean,” he said. “Our clans are no’ enemies anymore. Thanks to ye and my faither, now our clans are allies. However, Vika and I are still a little leery of tellin’ our faithers. So, we are goin’ to keep it a secret for a while. I’m meetin’ with her again soon. We plan on tellin’ her faither first when we make our announcement.”
Her heart jumped into her throat. If they did that, it could be downright dangerous for both of them. “Donel, nay. Dinna do that.”
“Why no’? We’ll have two alliances with the Gunns if we get married. One with Vika and one with ye. That should make everyone happy.”
“Mayhap ye should tell yer faither first, instead,” she suggested, trying to find an easier solution.
“Nay. I have a feelin’ Da still doesna trust the Gunns. Once Vika’s faither comes to him to make an alliance, he’ll change his mind. Just like he did with ye.”
“Dinna count on that,” she said under her breath.
“I am glad we are friends now, Spring. I’m lookin’ forward to learnin’ to shoot the bow and arrows on the morrow.” He walked away before Spring had the chance to try to talk him out of telling Vika’s father anything.
“This is no’ good,” she said, fingering the wooden pawn furiously. She’d made a mess of things and didn’t know how to fix them. Leaning back against the big, old, apple tree, she looked to the sky. Letting out a deep breath, she felt as if, perhaps, she’d made a mistake by keeping Donel’s secret after all. But he had accepted her now and, for that, she was glad. Still, if he and Vika went to Dearg to tell them they wanted to marry, things were going to get even worse.
She couldn’t tell Donel that he could very well end up dead if he did that. In order to stop him, she would have to tell him her secret. That is something she would never do. She had hoped to have time to try to convince her father not to raid Edinvale Castle but, now, she wouldn’t even have a chance to do that. She had to convince Donel not to go. At the same time, she needed to keep her secret from him. Plus, her father said if she didn’t come back in a few days with information on how to get into the castle, he was going to attack anyway. “What am I goin’ to do?” she asked herself aloud.
“Perhaps I can help ye with yer troubles.”
She jumped in surprise and spun around. Leaving the chess piece in her pocket, she raised her hands to protect herself. It was a natural instinct. There, behind the tree, was the old woman that Shaw had called Nairnie. Things were going from bad to worse.
“Why were ye spyin’ on me?” she snapped.
“I wasna spyin’. I come here every day to pay my respects to Shaw’s late wife.”
“What?” She stood up straight and lowered her hands to her sides.
“Alpina’s grave is here, just beyond the apple trees. The woman loved the orchard and would often come here to be alone and think when things were troublin’ her.” The old woman pointed one gnarled finger to a wooden cross next to a small bush. Spring had never even noticed it before. So, that’s where Shaw buried his late wife. A shiver ran up her spine. She folded her arms over her chest to try to warm herself. It wasn’t bad enough that the old woman had heard her secret conversation with Donel, but Donel’s dead mother was right there, too! It just didn’t seem right. It made her feel . . . ashamed of herself.
“Oh. I didna ken her grave was here. How did the woman die?”
“She fell from a ladder, picking apples one day, and hit her head. She died instantly.”
“So, what she loved is what killed her?”
“Aye,” said Nairnie. “Sometimes a love of somethin’ can cause someone to do foolish things.”
“Or someone,” Spring said softly, thinking about herself.
“What is troublin’ ye, my dear?” The woman looked at her knowingly. Her translucent gray eyes almost seemed to be able to look right through her. Or through her lies, anyway.
“Nothin’,” she said, wrapping her arms around her in a false sense of protection. Sure enough, the old woman looked deeper, as if she could see into her very soul. Spring closed her eyes, trying not to feel so vulnerable. Right now, she felt as if she were a bowstring pulled so taut she was about to snap.
“Ye are hidin’ somethin’.”
Spring’s eyes flew open. “Why do ye say that?”
“I can tell. My eyes may be old and I canna see that well anymore, but I can see visions in my head clearly.”
“What kind of visions?”
“I saw when Shaw’s wife was goin’ to die and I saw the death of his parents as well.”
“Ye did? Yet ye did nothin’ to stop Shaw’s wife’s death from happenin’? What kind of friend are ye?”
“I said I saw when she would die, but not how. I only sometimes have vivid visions. But even if I had seen the event that took her life ahead of time, I wouldna have said anythin’ to her.”
“Why no’? I dinna understand.”
“Because we make our own future by our choices,” Nairnie told her. “I canna stop anyone from doin’ what they are intent on doin’ no matter if it is wrong or right.”
Spring wondered if the woman was a seer. Had she been able to see Spring as a young girl stealing the bow and arrows from Shaw’s late father? She had to know.
“Did ye see how Shaw’s parents would die ahead of time?”
The old woman slowly nodded. “I did, but it wasna until after they’d left for the Lowlands. Even if I wanted to warn them, it was too late to do so. I saw Shaw’s faither protectin’ his wife. It was his downfall and what took both their lives.”
“How so?”
“If he had been payin’ more attention to the soldiers around him instead of his wife, they might both be alive today. Jean had become addled and tripped and fell on the night of Burnt Candlemas. Norval took his eyes off the soldiers, so worried that his wife might have hurt herself, that he didna see the English soldier sneakin’ up on him until it was too late. The soldier was too close for Norval to use his bow and arrows on the man. He died from – ”
“Gettin’ his throat slit with a blade,” she answered for her.
The woman cocked her head and stared at Spring. “Yes, that’s right. He fell atop his wife and the soldier rammed a blade right through her heart as well. Ye were there, I can see it now.” The old woman seemed to be looking into her memory. “Ye were just a child at the time. A verra frightened child.”
“I saw the turmoil in Norval’s eyes,” she admitted, closing her eyes momentarily, feeling a shiver wrack her body that had nothing to do with the cold breeze. Instead, it was from a horrific memory of an event she would never forget. “He loved his wife verra much, didna he?”
“Sometimes love makes a man strong – and sometimes it is the nail in his coffin.”
“Well, it’s in the past and I choose no’ to think about it anymore.” Spring tried to push the thoughts from her head.
“Who said I was talkin’ about the past?” she asked. “I’ve seen turmoil and strife in Shaw’s life and it is because of his love for ye. Dinna deceive him, lassie, because it might be the last thing he remembers.”
“What are ye sayin’?” she asked, feeling a sudden sense of doom. “Did ye have a vision that Shaw will die? Please tell me that isna so.”
“I havena had a vision of his death, but I have seen him verra sad as well as angry. He is in for some hardships and even more sorrow than he’s already endured.”
“Nay, ye’re wrong! He is happy.”
“My visions are never wrong,” said Nairnie.
“This vision – is there any way to change it?” she asked.
“We always have choices,” said the wise woman. “Although, sometimes we make the wrong choices. If ye care for him and his children at all, dinna make the wrong choice that will seal yer husband’s fate.” Nairnie started to walk away, but Spring stopped her.
“Wait!” she said. “Tell me what ye’ve heard regardin’ my conversation with Donel.”
“I didna need to hear anythin’ to ken what he’s done,” said the old woman without turning around. “I’ve already seen it in a vision.”
“What does that mean? What did ye see?”
She turned her wrinkled face toward Spring. Her eyes bore into her again, feeling as hot as the fires of hell – where Spring would probably end up because of her deception. “Donel’s lover is bairned, although they dinna ken it yet.”
“Bairned?” she asked, feeling a sense of dread. That meant something needed to be done right away.
“Be honest with yer husband. He trusts ye and also loves ye. I canna say he’ll still feel the same way when he discovers ye have nothin’ but deceit, lies, and greed in yer heart.”
The woman left Spring standing there, not able to speak. Had Nairnie been talking about what happened with Donel and Vika? Or was she talking about Spring’s deception having to do with the plan to help her clan attack the castle? Either way, it didn’t matter, because Spring felt so alone. Had she made the wrong decision keeping Donel’s secret? She had wanted so much for the boy to like her. And now that she’d stayed quiet, how could she go back on her word? Donel would hate her forever.
Nay, she couldn’t tell Shaw. She would just have to convince Donel to be the one to tell him instead. Shaw was sure to be furious since he hated the Gunn Clan. To know he was going to be a grandfather of a baby from Clan Gunn, would be enough to push him over the edge. If only the clans were truly united, things would be so different and so much easier.
This wasn’t even the worst of her problems. What had she done by agreeing to her father’s plan of attack in the first place? She couldn’t let her father go through with it now. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Shaw or his children, or even anyone from the Gordon Clan. She’d grown to like them all and considered herself part of the family now.
Nay, she could not tell Shaw the truth and expect him to trust her and love her once he found out what she’d planned to do. Not even if she explained to him that she’d had a change of heart would he ever trust her again. Mayhap, she was truly greedy like the old woman said, because she didn’t want to give up her happiness and her life with Shaw and his family. Nay, neither did she want to give up his love.