Page 23 of Hold Fast

CHAPTER9

If Una sat any straighter, Ewan was certain her spine would snap in two. It made riding immensely uncomfortable as it required him to sit equally stiff in the saddle in an attempt to give her space. As they rode in silence, Ewan pushing the horse as fast as was safe, he was flooded by endless thoughts of Connor lying in his bed, feverish and dying. It made his stomach roll. Needing to distract himself, he decided to talk to Una.

“How came ye to be a healer? Is yer father in the trade?”

He almost didn’t expect her answer, but then she turned to look over her shoulder enough that he caught a glimpse of a blue eye.

“Nay,” she said. “He couldnae find good bedside manner if his life depended on it. I learned from a woman named Agatha. She was our healer. I was always lurking around her cottage as a child, peeking through the window as she worked. One day, she flung the door open and grabbed me by the arm before I could run. She looked down at me and said, ‘Either you help me, lassie, or you stop skulking about like Lucifer himself.’” She shrugged. “So I helped.”

He grunted. “How old were ye?”

“Och, I dinnae ken. Eight or nine? She said she’d take me in on a trial basis. But on my first day, one of the blacksmith’s sons came to her with a nasty burn. When she saw I didnae grow faint at the sight of blood—or even a bad burn—she decided to keep me on.”

Calman’s breath sent fog rushing into the cold air.

“Where is Agatha now?”

“Dead,” Una said flatly, seeming to grow smaller in the saddle. “She was old when I met her, and I suppose the years finally caught up to her. She died in the summer while I was… away. I was nae allowed to attend the burial.”

“Bastard,” Ewan cursed through his teeth.

“Aye,” she said. “At first when she died, I planned to take up residence at her cottage and continue her work there.”

“And now?”

“Now I am here, with you, headed to the MacDonalds.”

It was an evasive answer.

“But that wasnae your plan. You were nae headed for the MacDonalds when I found you.”

“Nay,” she said with a sigh. “I meant to go to the Stewarts. Lady Stewart said I would always be welcome.”

“Alone?” Ewan asked, unable to hide his shock. “Ye meant to go to the Stewarts. On foot.Alone?”

“Aye,” she said, stiffening and pulling even farther away from him. “’Tis but a day’s walk.”

“Aye,” he answered sarcastically. “’Tis but a long day’s walk over rough terrain where anything could happen to you with nary a soul to help.”

He heard her slow, controlled inhale.

“Christ, Una. You cannae be so foolish as that. Whatever would possess you to undertake such a journey alone?”

She sniffed, as if she was fighting back tears and all the fight left him. He felt like a bastard. A whole herd of donkeys.

“Una, I—”

“I didnae have a choice,” she said, her teeth clenched tightly around the words.

God’s bones, he thought to himself. Could he do nothing right?Saynothing right?

“I am sorry, Una. I meant nae offense. I—”

“’Tis nothing, Laird MacDonald,” she said softly. “Best to forget it and move forward.”

Through the cage of his own teeth, he muttered, “Verra well.”

They rode through the morning, and Ewan’s spirits sank lower with every step Calman took. A cold dread snaked through his belly as he wondered just how badly Connor fared. He tried to squash the rising panic. Una would save Connor. Shewould. All would be well. But no matter how many times he repeated the litany, he couldn’t make himself believe it.