Kara Griffin - Gunn Guardsmen (16 page)

Kenneth nodded. “Sunny stayed with Bree and Grey since she was wee. Greer didn’t know how to be a father. She sometimes calls Bree mama, old habit. But Greer was her father.”

“I’m sorry, Kenneth. I didn’t mean to pry. Shall we leave?”

“Aye, let me say goodbye to Grey.” He approached his longtime friend and touched his shoulder. With a look, he said all he needed to. Grey rose and they bear-hugged each other. “The clan will be joyous when they hear. Will you make the announcement later today?”

“I’ll have Duff call the clan together. It might have to await the morrow. I shall likely sleep the day away.”

Grey nodded, looking as if he had tears in his eyes, for this was a joyful day for his friend and Kenneth was happy for him. He leaned forward to see the bairns who lay contentedly in their mother’s arms. A light kiss was placed on Bree’s cheek.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to Grey and to us.”

“Oh, Kenneth, … thank you.” Bree smiled widely at his compliment.

Kenneth turned and took Elisa’s hand. They had to elude Alexander and so he took the back exit and veered toward the lesser-known path. Only a few had risen for the day was still young. They passed the stables and Kenneth waved to Jonny who was carrying two buckets of water. The lad appeared to like working in the stables and probably got himself punished on purpose.

“Kenneth, oh, there ye be! I was going to send for you.”

“What is it, Jonny?”

“’Tis your Black. He’s ill. Stewart told me to get you this morn, and said ye might want to come. I was going to come for you when I finished filling the troughs with water …”

Kenneth knew something was wrong with his horse. He hadn’t been acting right of late, and he hadn’t been able to take him out again since his return. “I’ll come back and take a look at him.”

Elisa stopped. “Kenneth, let us have a look at him now. If he’s ill we should do something.”

“You’re tired. We should get you to the cottage and abed. You’ve had a long night.”

Elisa walked into the stables and up the incline, dismissing him and he had no choice but to follow. Jonny opened the stall for her and she entered. Kenneth didn’t trust the Black, for he could be ornery and so he took the lead and held it in case the horse decided to be difficult.

Elisa gasped when she beheld him. “He’s lost weight, hasn’t he? For you can now see his bones.” She opened the horse’s mouth. “His coloring is poor. Aye, his gums are too dark and there’s no pink anywhere. He must have infection.” She laid her head against his side, and the horse tried to rear, but Kenneth held fast, settling him. “He breathes with difficulty and I hear fluid. We must act hastily if we’re to save him.”

“Can you save him?”

“Mayhap, I’ll try. Jonny, I need you to run to Gell and bring back cabbage and chives. Hurry now. The cabbage will help his settle his stomach and the chives will help his breathing. I only hope it works. If not, he could die before the day is through.”

She checked the Black’s eyes and continued to assess him until Jonny returned. Once she’d mixed the cabbage and herbs, she fed it to the horse, making sure it ate a good amount. At first the horse resisted eating, but then she spoke to him, encouraging him to eat. An hour had passed, and Kenneth paced outside the stall. She held the bucket until it was almost emptied, and he took it from her. He didn’t believe there was any hope.

“I’ll have Jonny watch him and will check on him later.”

Elisa pulled at his tartan over his shirt until it came loose and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Nay, we’ll sit here and keep watch. I won’t leave him. I cannot help the horse if I’m not here.”

Kenneth knew better than to argue with her. Seemed Elisa was good at getting her way when it came to caring for animals. “Will you stay here and not move until I return?”

She nodded. “I shan’t move. Where are you going?”

“Never mind. The guardsmen can handle the trees. I’ll sit here with you.” Kenneth motioned to the floor outside the stall, just across from the Black. There they’d sit and wait.

“Have you had him for long?”

Kenneth sat with his legs stretched out, his back against a storage bin made of wood. He settled Elisa next to him and put his arm around her. “Aye, since he was a colt. I was but five when my father gave both my brother and me horses of our own.”

“Why so young?” She yawned.

“Greer was seven and started his training, so he needed a warhorse. My father decided we should both start our training even though I was a mite young. When Greer died, we put his horse down too, and buried them together.” Kenneth wasn’t about to state the obvious, that his father had not wanted him around which is why he’d been sent to train at an early age.

“That is sad. Why would you do that?” Elisa sounded affronted.

“A warrior should always be buried with his warhorse.”

“I don’t believe that, Kenneth. That poor animal died for no reason.”

“So did Greer.” Kenneth wanted to change the subject. “I wonder if Gell has more of that stew left. I couldn’t help but taste some of it last eve before I gave it to you.”

“It was delicious and I am hungry, but we shouldn’t leave, either of us. We’ll eat later.”

“I haven’t had chicken in a long time. Gell doesn’t usually cook them because he doesn’t like to chop their heads off and he says the lads are too weak to do a man’s job.” Kenneth yawned, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, as exhaustion was beginning to take over.

She elbowed his side. “What!? Are you saying there was chicken in the stew?”

“Aye, there was. Why? Don’t you like chicken?”

Elisa drew a gasp. “Oh, lord forgive me. I cannot believe I ate that. I shall pray for days.”

“What are you talking about?” Kenneth couldn’t help being confused, for she sometimes did that to him. “It’s just food.”

“I don’t eat meat, Kenneth, haven’t since I was a child.”

He frowned at that. “None? No meat at all? Everyone eats meat.”

“Not I.” She sounded outraged.

“‘Tis no wonder you’re so slight. How do you survive?”

Elisa rubbed her forehead, looking put out. “I never eat anything that has eyes. It’s a living, breathing thing. I survive well enough eating vegetables and bread and such. Promise me never to give me meat again. I deem I’m about to …” She gagged, but then collapsed back against his chest and he put his arm around her again.

“I won’t ever give you meat, Elisa. I promise.” It was one of the many promises Kenneth would concede on and then it occurred to him that they’d sworn no promises.

She became quiet and he enjoyed the solitude and peacefulness of being alone with her. Evening was coming on by the darkening of the stable. Kenneth didn’t notice any change in the Black’s condition. He saw Elisa had fallen asleep, her pretty face pressed against his chest. Closing his eyes, he thought he’d rest for a moment.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

More than a moment went by when Kenneth awakened and peered into the stall in front of him. A deep sadness came when he saw his Black lying on the floor; no breath moving his stomach. The Black lay with his eyes closed. If the horse had to die, he wished he’d fallen in battle as a great warrior should, and not with an illness which likely caused him to suffer.

The Black had been his since he could remember and Kenneth would miss him greatly. The horse had a willful spirit and training him had been a challenge. But Kenneth and he came to an understanding.

Serenity seemed to overtake the stables. All the horses within were calm and barely made any noise. The sound of a bird somewhere inside the stable flapped its wings, but made no other noise. The quietness of the stables seemed eerily comforting. Mayhap the horses mourned their friend as he was.

He noticed Elisa slept. Kenneth touched her cheek to awaken her, and she repositioned her face next to his chest. She still kept her eyes closed.

“Hmmm?”

“Elisa, time to awaken. It’s morning. We must have fallen asleep yesterday.”

Elisa moaned, stretched in his arms, and started to rub the small of her back. “I’m too sore to move. Oh, Kenneth, I think your horse died.” She sat up, peering in the stall then back at him.

He turned to look into the stall again. “I think he has too.” Kenneth rose and knelt next to the horse and set his hand on his side. His beloved friend was gone.

“I’m sure of it. He’s too still. I’m sorry, Kenneth, that I couldn’t save him.”

“It was only a horse, Elisa,” he said, without any hint of emotion or sadness. He returned to her side and sat next to her.

“Are you not saddened by the loss?”

“Horses die.”

“So do people,” Elisa said and hugged him. “Shall we get help?”

Kenneth kept her from moving away and held her around her waist. “Nay, let us just sit here a few more minutes. You never sit still, do you?”

“I confess it isn’t in my nature to be idle.”

“I didn’t think it was.”

Elisa drew a breath. “He wasn’t even my horse and I want to cry at the loss. Do you?”

He scowled thinking she’d gone mad. “What? Cry?”

“Aye, do you want to cry?”

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of their conversation, but instead he said, “Nay, I don’t want to cry. I don’t cry.”

“Verily I wish I were as strong as you. I sometimes cry when something is sad. The Black’s infection must have been too severe. I need to check the rest of the horses and make sure none of the others are sickened. If it is contagious, the entire stock will be in jeopardy.” She grabbed her medicinal satchel and rose. “Come, we must act hastily. Don’t sit there like a log, Kenneth. We’ve much to do. How many horses are in here?”

Kenneth looked at her crossly before standing. “I don’t know, mayhap fifty or so. It’s a large stable.”

“I will see each one this morn.”

“You can’t be serious. Can we not we break our fast first? I’m starved.” He wasn’t about to take on such a massive task without at least filling his stomach.

“How can you think of food at a time like this? Animals are in danger. Nay, we cannot leave. If you wish, go to the kitchens and bring me back something to eat, nothing with meat in it,” she said, giving him a good glare to remind him of their conversation of yesterday. “I’ll eat it later. I shall be busy for hours.”

Kenneth nodded and called Jonny. “Stay with her, lad. I’ll have men come and take the Black away. Don’t let her leave the stables until I return. Elisa, don’t forget who is in residence. Keep hidden here the stables and wait for me. Do you understand?”

She waved to him as he walked away. “Now Jonny, I’ll need your assistance …”

Kenneth bounded out of the stables and hurried toward the keep. First thing he wanted to do was assure himself of Alexander and Donal’s departure. Second, check on the bairns, and then make sure the men had planted the trees in the place Grey had instructed. Then he’d take care of his stomach and take food to Elisa.

As he approached the keep, he saw Grey and the guardsmen standing in the courtyard. A dead goat was lying on the ground beside a small bonfire. Kenneth was glad he’d left Elisa at the stables, for she’d be raising holy hell if she knew what was going on. They would never hear the end of it – the sacrificing of the goat. But their rituals were important to them and the animals were a crucial part of it.

Duff handed Grey a large cross made from the planks of a beech tree. He then dipped the four points in the fire until they became ignited. Grey put out the flames by dipping the points in the goat’s blood. He then handed the cross to Sean.

“Aye, Laird, I’ll take it to all the Gunns.”

Colm stepped forward. “I’ll go with him, Laird. By afternoon all will assemble.”

“Good, be quick, men. I don’t want you gone long,” Grey said. “Don’t worry about the outlying farmsteads. They’re burdened now with the harvest nearly completed. I’ll visit them later and take the news.”

Kenneth watched them leave to take the message to the rest of the Gunn clan. Every clansman above age sixteen was obligated to rally at the main keep. The ‘fiery cross’ was used to call men to arms for war. None would disregard the call, for if they did they’d incur ‘fire and sword’ and no one wanted to suffer the cuts and burns of refuting their laird’s call.

“Are we to war?” Kenneth tried to figure out what the hell he’d missed since he’d left yestermorn. The only time the ‘fiery cross’ was sent out was a call of arms. The only reason he could think Grey would do something so extreme was that Domhnall mac Raghnaill was approaching. If that was the case then Elisa was in danger.

“Nay, we’re to have a celebration for the bairns’ birth. I want to announce it to the entire clan this night. I might as well call as many together at once.”

Kenneth didn’t think it was wise to have such a celebration yet since they still had to contend with Elisa’s situation. But Grey was laird and he couldn’t object as much as he’d like to. “Have Alexander and Donal left?”

Grey motioned him inside the keep and he followed. On the table were trays of sweet meats and various kinds of cheese. He began stuffing his mouth as hungry as he was.

“Aye, they left last eve. I tried to find you. I thought you were hiding with Elisa somewhere for you weren’t at the cottage. Where were you?”

“I was in the stables. My horse became ill and Elisa was tending it. We fell asleep there and I just woke. So you’ll have a celebration? Does your wife know you planned this without her assistance?”

Grey swallowed the food he’d shoved in his mouth and nodded. “Ha! For once my wife is being docile and lying in her bed content to let others do all the work.”

“That’s quite remarkable. I suppose having two bairns would do that to her.”

“Two, Kenneth, can you believe it?” Grey beamed proudly as if God himself had blown good fortune his way. “Who would have guessed she had two within her?”

Kenneth smirked. “By the look of her, I would. She was huge, Grey.”

Grey let out a bellowing laugh. “Aye, she was. Shhh, I swear she can hear through the floorboards.”

“I deem she can too.”

“Would you mind if we called the lad Greer? Bree is set on it and I fear I won’t be able to change her mind. If it bothers you, I’ll make her understand.”