A Lesson in Passion (12 page)

Ginny stood up. “No one. I assumed
it was here for anyone who was thirsty.”

“Ya assumed incorrectly,” Ian face
was almost comical. Why would something so innocuous be such a
source of contempt.

Ian had been laird only a short
time, but had come to expect certain behavior from his clan. It was
high time that this Englishwoman learn her place, which was
extremely low in his estimation. His only problem was, he still
needed to figure out where she would fit in. Now, as on other
occasions, Ian realized that he had no idea where she would fit in.
The reactions of his clan proved that she would never be accepted.
Perhaps it was a bad idea to bring her here.

Ginny had enough. She was about to
start freaking out, when all of a sudden, surprising everyone,
including herself, she began to laugh. At first, just a giggle.
Then it exploded into full blown fits of doubled over laughter.
Tears were streaming from her eyes and she could barely breathe.
The situation was so ridiculous, she had no choice. She needed to
blow off steam and this was infinitely better than freaking out on
three men twice her size.

Ian watched her in disbelief. He
could feel Broderick stiffen and should do something to quash this
rebellion right now before things got out of hand, but Ian was
dumbfounded by her audacity. How could she not realize her danger?
Could she be that addle-brained not to recognize the level of
disrespect she was demonstrating?

Just as she was about to control
herself, she looked up to see Broderick coming toward her. She
looked him in the eye right before the blow sent her flying to the
ground. It took a full fifteen seconds before Ginny realized what
had happened. Frankenstein had back handed her. Pain shot through
Ginny's face like fire. She couldn't see straight, except for the
stars that wouldn't dissipate. A primal anger grew in Ginny's
chest, unlike anything she'd ever experienced before in her life.
It was one of those scary moments when you realize you could kill
someone. Like when a parent sees someone harm her child and knows
with absolute certainty that she could easily destroy another human
being.

Ginny stood up slowly. She pulled
herself to her full height and walked over to Broderick, who, for
the first time since she met him, had a smile on his face. He spoke
in his usual menacing tone, “Ya'll show respect to your
laird.”

“He's not my laird, you overgrown
piece of crap.” And before Frankenstein could react, Ginny punched
him square in the nuts. Not any punch... Ginny linked her hands
together and shot upward with all her strength. Since he was not
expecting it, she had a clear shot with no way for Broderick to
protect himself.

Broderick was twice her size and
easily three times her weight, but Ginny toppled him like shaky
house of cards. When he hit the floor, the building shook. She had
succeeded in knocking the breath out of him as well as eliminating
his chances of bearing children.
Thank God
there won't be any little Frankenstein's running
around
, she thought merrily.

Ginny looked at the other two men
standing there, gawking at her in amazement. Broderick still hadn't
tried to get up. Ginny stepped over his massive frame and stood
before Ian and Alec.

“You condone hitting defenseless
women in your clan? What kind of beasts are you?”

Alec was the first to regain the
ability to speak. “I'm not sure I would call ya defenseless, my
lady.”

Ginny turned and left the
building, with Ian and Alec still trying to comprehend what had
just occurred. Surely this tiny woman did not just bring down one
of the biggest and strongest members of the McKenna
clan.

*
*
*

Ginny walked down a small pathway
to the lake at the bottom of the hill. She knew that the water
would be extraordinarily cold, with their elevation and that was
just what she needed. She kept her head high as she walked past the
clansmen and women who made their disgust for her quite obvious the
day before. Many smiled when they saw the budding bruise on her
face.

She sat by the lake and pulled out
a small handkerchief from her pocket. She dipped it in the icy
water and applied it to her face. Ginny amazed herself by not
crying. She began to think she was in a perpetual state of shock
and couldn't muster the energy to cry anyway.

Ginny heard giggles behind her and
turned to see a group of four girls, not more than fifteen in her
estimation. They stared at her with open curiosity. One girl, a
beauty with long red hair and striking green eyes began to walk
toward her. The girl sat next to Ginny.

“What happened to ya?” the
teenager asked innocently.

“I disrespected the Laird and he
had his henchman deal with me,” Ginny said as she continued to blot
her bruise with the cool compress.

“Why would ya do that?”
A good question
, Ginny
thought.
Why do I provoke him so much. I
am obviously going to have to learn to live with the situation for
the time being, so can't I muster some strength to act the way he
wants
.

“What's your name?” Ginny
asked.

“Maude,” she said keeping her head
down.

Damn, it may have been a good name
to them, but only brought visions of bad 70's television to Ginny.
Ginny smiled and said, “My name is Ginny. Lady Chatham. And I don't
know why I did what I did.”

Ginny realized that this girl
didn't seem to suffer under the impression that she was there to
destroy the clan or carried some fatal disease. Ginny didn't want
the girl to suffer by being associated with her. The other clansmen
made it quite clear how they felt.

“Maybe you should go, Maude. I
wouldn't want you to get in trouble for speaking to the likes of
me. Your parents would undoubtedly be displeased.”

“I can see for myself yar not
evil. We have good reason to distrust the English, but I dinna
think ya alone are responsible for our troubles,”
Maude had a good head on her shoulders and would
make a good leader someday, if she weren't a
woman
, Ginny thought grimly.

The other girls started calling
Maude back to them. Ginny and Maude looked up in time to see Ian
charging his way down the hill.
Great
, thought Ginny,
here it comes
.

Before either girl could escape,
Ian was standing above them. “Maude, go home now.”

“Yes, Laird.”
Now why couldn't I be more like that
, Ginny thought.
Just obey, don't
think! It would keep me from getting smacked.

Ian crouched down next to Ginny.
She could see his powerful thighs under his kilt. To buy some time
before the inevitable confrontation, Ginny put her handkerchief
back in the water and reapplied it to her cheek. Ginny noticed that
Ian smelled good, compared to her surroundings and the other
clansmen. He smelled like the outdoors, with a hint of musk. He
wasn't hard on the eyes either.
Typical
romance novel,
Ginny thought,
the hero smells clean while the rest wallow in
filth.

The silence carried on for a
while. Ginny figured he was stalling from telling her that he would
now have to kill her for her disrespect. Not to mention, it would
gain him valuable points amongst the clan that so hated the
English. Or was he using a tactic to try to earn a confession from
her. Did Ian think that she couldn't withstand a long silence and
would start spouting off like a prisoner in an interrogation
room.
Damn unlikely
, she thought to herself.

“Do ya want to explain ya'self?”
Ian tried to be gentle. He realized that he had been far too unfair
to her. His behavior was unacceptable for a man of his position.
Ian wanted to make this work, since Lady Chatham would be staying
for a long while.

“Do you really want to hear what I
have to say?” Ginny knew she should take another tact with Ian, but
she was tired and fed up with all she had dealt with. Ginny's face
was like stone, revealing nothing of the warring emotions she was
experiencing at that moment.

“I wouldnae have asked if I
werenae willing to listen.” Ian realized that this woman could very
well be the death of him. He had the urge to pull her to him and
kiss away the insolence. He smiled at the notion that would be so
shocking to someone so innocent.

“I am trying, Laird. But in the
time since our arrival, I've been yelled at, spit on, made into
some kind of pariah, given nothing to eat or drink, made to sleep
like an animal and beaten by a man twice my size. Every time I try
to do something, you come along and tell me I've done something
wrong. I don't know your ways and I don't see how I've done
anything so horrible to deserve the treatment I've received from
both you and your clan,” Ginny could feel her composure breaking,
but she would be damned before she cried in front of the likes of
him.

“If you don't want me, can someone
take me back to England and dump me off somewhere. I'll figure out
what to do from there and you and your people will never have to
deal with me again,” Ginny was sincere, but was utterly empty
inside. She knew she'd reached her limit.

Ian stared at her for a time. He
was amazed that someone so young and small could be so brave. He
also knew that she was his and he was unlikely to let her go. He
carried such a strong need to keep her safe, and could not
understand why he was trying so hard to push her away. Ian was not
ready to admit how much he wanted to bed her. How just seeing her
made him hard. He knew that was why he was so surly to her most of
the time.

“Yar not going anywhere,” Ian
could see the disappointment in her face. “Ya will learn our ways
and the clan will eventually accept ya.”

Ginny made a noise that indicated
that she did not believe that would ever happen. Of course, if this
situation was like the romance novel, Ian should be seducing her
soon and the clan will come to love her. As far as Ginny could
remember, no women get back handed in the books she'd read, so
maybe she'd already changed the storyline.

“And...” Ian spoke just above a
whisper...”Ya must be punished.”

Ginny had been waiting for the
other shoe to fall. She lifted her face and met his eyes. She tried
to maintain a stoic look. “How am I to be punished? I can't imagine
how it could get worse.” That was the wrong thing to say, as things
can always get worse.

“Ya'll be paddled in front of the
entire clan. It will be a demonstration that no disrespect will be
tolerated,” Ian stated.

“And what will be Frank..., I
mean, Broderick's punishment?” Ian looked incredulous. Did she mean
to indicate that Broderick had done something wrong? Surely he
misheard her.

“Broderick has done nothing
wrong,” Ian said putting an end to the discussion. But, of course,
Ginny could not let things lie.

“Done nothing wrong? He attacked
me!” Ginny could feel her blood starting to boil. She was disgusted
that he could think it perfectly alright for the big bully to beat
up the defenseless. All of sudden, Ginny stopped. “What am I being
punished for... exactly?”

“Ya laughed at my command. I take
my leadership seriously, as ya should as well.”

“So, Broderick hitting
me...”

“You hit him back. It seems the
matter has resolved itself.”

Ginny was about to laugh, but
didn't want to insult the laird again. She wondered if Ian actually
admired how she handled the situation. She didn't go crying to him,
but defended herself. She could see that he looked at her
differently, perhaps with a little more respect than an hour ago.
Somehow, it made the episode more tolerable.

“Very well... let's go and get
this over with.” Ginny stood up and started walking back up the
hill. If she had to be paddled for laughing, she might as well get
it done with. She might not agree with their rules, but they were
their rules and she was not the one to change things.

Ian could not believe his ears.
This young, impetuous English girl was going to take her punishment
without argument. It seemed that the last few days were nothing but
arguments when it came to her. She stopped and turned around to
look at him. “Are you coming?” she asked indignantly.

“
Aye, I'm coming.” Ian
stood and followed her up the hill. She had no idea what she was in
for and he did not relish making her cry, especially in front of
the entire clan.

• * Chapter 12 *
  

Word spread quickly about the
punishment to be meted out to the Englishwoman. Clansmen dropped
everything they were doing for a chance to witness it. Some
commented on how it would be more fun than a festival. Others
pulled out stools and blankets to make a picnic of it. Almost
everyone was excited to witness the suffering of one of the
English, everyone except Maude. She had never appreciated the need
for such humiliation.

Ginny watched as two men wheeled
out a contraption made of wood. It was simple... just a box with a
rope strung across the top. It had a sturdy base, so it wouldn't
tip over. It occurred to Ginny that it was meant for her paddling
and the rest of the day would really suck.
When am I going to learn to keep my big trap shut!
Ginny thought despairingly as she walked over to
the box.