Debra Kay Leland (8 page)

“Ah, ye know well how to drive a man to bargain with ye!  And what is it ye want
of me this day?”

“Two chickens and a rooster.”  He finally smiled.  “The men have a taste for eggs.”

The older man just laughed.  “We shall see.”

An hour later the man bid them good day at the edge of the village and turned to go back towards his farm again.  Phillip glanced over his shoulder with worried eyes as they rode on. 
“Did ye see Egan and the other men?!”

I did, but Alden has yet
to discourage us from coming.”

Phillip frowned and looked to his friend’s profile.
“So—we shall return again?”

“Aye, we shall return.”  He was sure that neither Phillip nor Thomas knew how important it was that they gain an ally in the occupants of Chadwick.  If they were to remain in this place, they need not fear those who lived around them.  And, if he ever intended for those who had fled Glenton Moor to return he needed to prove himself trustworthy—and this was the only way he knew how to
accomplish it!  He said nothing more to Phillip, though his thoughts were of Chadwick...  And yet, somehow they wandered to Alden’s daughter and Egan Wallace.  He shook his head, silently reminding himself that what happened in Chadwick was none of his business; but even as he tried not to think of it, he just couldn’t stop himself either.

Miranda sat in their house watching the men from a small crack in the shutters.

“Miranda, ’tis rude to watch them like that!”

“I know it is, but he cannot see me.  I just find the Englishman interesting.  Don’t ye ever wonder where he came from?  He has yet to say…”

“I do not.  I only wish him gone—though, I d
o not wish ill to befall him.”

Miranda peered through the crack again, knowing that if she could but choose a husband of her own she
would choose a man like that...  She watched them both clasp hands with her father, then settle up on the cart again before they turned to leave and yet her eyes followed them.

T
hey had only gone but half way home, when William pulled the cart over to the side without a word.

Phillip glancing around them; his hand already on the hilt of his sword—worried that he had not seen the threat as he turned to William with concerned eyes. 
“What?!  Why have we stopped?!”

“’Tis—nothing really, I—I seem to have a headache… 
I just—need to lie down in the back…”  William stood weakly, nearly stumbling off the seat as he eased himself down; somehow managing to catch himself before he fell to the ground.

Phillip jumped down and ran up behind him with a steadying hand on his friend’s back, before he put an arm around his waist as he took him to the rear of
the cart.  He pushed the crates to the side before he helped William up. 
“Are ye sure ye are well?”

William didn’t answer, didn’t opened his eyes; his jaw clenched tightly against the pain as he felt his friend push him down onto the rough wooden planks and settle his cloak under his head as a pillow.

“
William
?!”

He struggled for words
, only managing a choked reply.  “
Go—home
…”

Phillip spared him but a glance before he jumped to the seat, praying all would be well—and that none from Chadwick would fol
low them this day!  The bumpy road slowed their retreat as he glanced at his friends jarring body knowing he could go no faster without causing him more pain.  His face was pale, his lips tinged with blue, his jaw clenched tight against it…  And Phillip prayed…

Thomas turned from his work at the sound of the cart only to see Phillip motioning for him urgently before he ran to meet them.  “
Shhh…  I think he sleep, help me get him in the house...”

“What happened?!  Were ye attack?!  Good God, I shall make quick work of them if they dared attack thee!”

“Nay, there was no trouble.   He seemed fine, and then he complained of a headache, nigh stumbled and fell because of it.  I feared the worst for a moment…  Ye should have seen him, Thomas, his skin was so pale and tinged blue—I thanked the Lord that he rests now.”

The other man stared at him, his brows knit together with concern as he helped him lift their friend gently from the cart. 
“’Tis—‘tis possible the head wound has not healed properly...”

Phillip glanced at Thomas with a grim nod. 
“Aye, ’tis possible…”

“Could it be just be a passing thing then?”

“We can only hope it to be so, but they come and go…   Sometimes he tells us, sometimes he does not…”

The two men exchanged a concerned look as they drew the unconscious man up between them.  William didn’t even wake up with the motion, which only added to their fears as they laid him down and glanced at each other with worried eyes knowing he should have at least stirred a little from their actions.  Thomas turned a
nd caught the other man’s arm after they had laid him down gently. 
“Let him rest now, Phillip, he only needs to rest and all shall be well.  Yee shall see!”

Phillip knelt beside him anyway and laid a hand on his chest, feeling for the steady rhythm of his heart; trying all the while to convince himself that it was merely a passing thing and nothing else.  But the slow thudding of his heart and his ragged breathes gave him cause to worry as he whispered tensely,
“He—he could die…”

“Nay, do not speak it!  Cover him with a blanket and I shall stoke the fire, and all shall be well…!”

Through the long day he did not awake, did not even stir—his face pale and breaths ragged, and it only adding to their already worried thoughts…

William opened his eyes and blinked at the sunlight that threaded through the open shutter.  He didn’t remember coming home or lying down; and yet the eastern light told him it was morning.  He lifted a hand and rubbed his head where the scar still lay beneath his hair.  The pounding had stopped; at least for now, and thankfully the pain had gone with it, though just a light touch made him wince again.

Phillip touched his shoulder gently and murmured. 
“Are ye well, m’lord?”

He managed a weary smile as he answered, “Ye—are to address me as
William
, not ‘
m’lord,
Phillip.”

Phillip laughed softly then turned to Thomas who sat by the fire; both men feeling relief at their friend’s light hearted words. 
“Then, the pain is gone?”

“Pain?  Aye, ‘tis gone.”

“I have never seen anything like it before—it pulled thee away from us and we didn’t know what to do!”

William merely frowned as he tried to sit up
, wanting nothing more than to change the subject.  “I am very much better, I assure thee; and very much hungry.  Have ye started the food yet?”

“Good God, no!  We feared for thy life not our stomachs!  Lie still and I shall start something.”

“Nay, I shall rise, no sense letting the thing keep me down any longer than it already has.”

Thomas came over and helped h
im to his feet.  “Are ye weak?”

William looked at him and smiled, then nodded slowly.  There was no sense denying it, for he was sure that they would see it yet again
.  “Some, but I shall recover.”

Thomas threw Phillip a worried glance that spoke of each other’s troubling thoughts, neither could deny it; they both knew that he was just making light of something very dangerous and yet prayed they were both wrong.

E
gan stopped in the field where Alden Blair stood sharpening a sickle as he harvested his wheat in the hot autumn sun.  “Good day to ye, Alden.”

The older man glanced up; then back down at his work again.  “And to ye.  What brings ye to my farm, Egan?”  He said with more annoyance than he knew he should.

The man shifted and crossed his arms over his broad chest like he always did.  “The men are nervous about the English that comes here.”

“He does naught but barter and leaves me with a feast in the process; and one which ye might remember
I share evenly with ye also.”

“We know that, Alden, but the man could be up to no good and using ye in the process to accomplish it!  Ye know him not well, and yet ye leave yur own daug
hter to go with him unprotected!”

Alden took his eyes from his work long enough to throw the man beside him a warily look.  “Is this what yur visit is all about?  Well, Miranda is never far from the village nor our farm…  And need I remind ye that she has a knife, and she knows well how to use it!  Though, I think that yur wrong about the English, I don’t see violence in his eyes.”

“Ye see what ye wish to see!”

“Do not bring harm to the man, Egan.  He is English; and if ye attack him, ye shall likely bring an army down u
pon our heads in the process!”

The younger man’s only pursed his thin lips, his nostrils flaring angrily knowing it was true.  “
Aye, he is English and all the better reason to keep him away from our village…! 
He paused and drew a
calming breath that did not work.  “
Alright
—
we shall not lend to his trouble; but let me be clear, Alden, we shall watch the man, and if he dare lend to ours, he best beware!”

“Well and good.”

The younger man stood there for a moment longer; and Alden looked up at him again. 
“Is there aught else that bothers ye, Egan?”

“…Aye, ‘tis Miranda… I—I wish to ask if I may take the lass for a walk.”

Alden stiffened, but didn’t look up.  “The lass ‘tis not yet even six and ten summers, Egan.  She feels she is too young to accept a suitor and so do I.”

Egan shifted with a hard scowl
.  “’Tis true that the lass is young; but yet some girls have married and had children by her age.  I—I have been patient with her, and ye know it well.”
He shifted on long legs as he spoke in an annoyed sincerely tone
, “…I would be good to her and am able keep her safe, ye know that…”

Alden stood and set the tool down as he looked at the man squarely.  “I thank ye for yur honesty, Egan Wallace, but the lass has no mind to wed yet; and I shall not force her to do so.  If ye are true, then ye shall show her by waiting till she be ready!  Show the lass she can trust ye!  But until that time, I shall not let her go off with ye alone; nor any other man for that matter!”

“She wanders away with the English!”

“Ye know yurself that every eye in the village is upon them, and one can see the village from the bend as well as my farm!  I would not do so if I felt that the man meant harm, and ye know that to be true!”

The younger man shifted on rigid legs and dropped his hands to his hips as he let out tense breath. 
“Alright then, I see ye are in no mind to be reasonable...!  Good day to ye, Alden.”

“I am being reasonable; Egan—and ye shall wait!”
  He watched the younger man go with an uneasy feeling.  Miranda was too young for the likes of him and he knew it well, but young or not, he would rather she found another than the likes Egan Wallace!

Miranda stood in the shadows of the barn and listened to Egan and her father talk; a sickening feeling settling in her stomach as she did so.  She bit her lips softly and prayed that her father would not give into the man’s angry request.  He had told Egan
no
before this, but yet the man persisted and she could only pray that her father would again stand his ground.

When the man finally left she came out with a w
orried look on her young face.

“Ye heard then?”

“…Aye.”

“Are ye sorry for it, lass?”

“Nay, da, I do not wish to go off alone with him, ye know that!”

He looked at her then lowered his gaze.  “I shall not force ye to marry, lass, though Egan is determined.  But remember,
that the older ye get, the less men shall want ye—and if Egan has placed a claim on ye, then no other shall dare seek thy hand…”

She blushed and picked up her basket of eggs trying to avoid the weight of his words.  “All well and good for me then, aye?  I shall not marry at all then and be too old for the
likes of him or anyone else!”

He somehow managed a smile at her smug words as he watched her turn towards the house.  She was a bonny lass; and it would be hard to keep the men away.  He wished she would find one to her liking and be well and wed before Egan or any other could stop her; but for today he could only wait and hope
that all would be well…

A
s the week passed, the late autumn sun made the fields golden with unharvested grain; it was slow work for the three men, but soon they had enough stored in the barn to see them and their livestock through the cold winter ahead.