A Lesson in Passion (6 page)

“My name is Ian McKenna and ya'll
never speak to me like that again.”

There was that burr again. Ginny was always a
sucker for any accent to come out of Great Britain. That, coupled
with him being one of the best looking guys she'd ever seen this
close up, was making her a bit frazzled. Regardless, she had to
stick to her guns. She knew that Aileana was hurt and she wanted
only to help her. Ginny decided that a different tact was
needed.

“Ian McKenna, I...”

“Ya'll refer to him as Laird
McKenna,” came a booming voice behind her. Ginny turned to see the
man who had been standing to Ian's right. He had one, big ugly
scowl on his face.  He looked absolutely primeval, wearing
nothing but a kilt, smeared with blood. He was bigger than Ian and
by far the scariest man to walk the planet.

Ginny was not about to hedge her bets on
pissing this guy off. Turning back to Ian, she said, “I'm sorry,
Laird McKenna. Aileana may need medical attention immediately. You
went to a lot of trouble to rescue her, wouldn't it be meaningless
to let her suffer more now.”

The scary man began to spout off to Ian in
Gaelic. Again, Ginny picked up a few words, enough to get the gist
of the conversation. Scary man thought Ginny was not to be trusted
and the clan should just leave now. Ginny watched Ian's face during
the speech. Ian never took his eyes off her while scary man was
speaking. Scary man finished his diatribe and Ian turned and spoke
to Alec.

“She's yar wife. Do ya want the
Englishwoman to heal her?”

It was Aileana who spoke first. “She came to
rescue me. I dinna think she means me any harm.” Alec began to
shake his head, but Aileana turned to him and said, “You can stay
with us if ya want. She is a good person, Alec. Trust
her.”

With a long sigh, Alec consented to the exam.
“Not here. I willnae have ya stay in this place a minute longer. Do
ya have yar potions with ya?” Ginny had no idea what he was talking
about.

“I don't have anything. I was
kidnapped and brought here just before you guys arrived,” Ginny
waited to hear their reply. It was obvious that they had little
trust for her and felt they had even less use for her.

It was Ian who spoke first. “Broderick, look
around this keep for a healer's den and grab whatever ya find. Alec
and I will bring the women out. Once ya're done, have Alistair and
Callen help ya with burning this vile place to the ground. We will
meet ya on the ridge beyond. Aye?”

“Aye, Laird,” was all Broderick
said in return. A moment later, he was gone. Ian then turned his
face to Ginny, “Ya'll come with us. Ya'll help with
Aileana.”
Isn't that what I said I'd
do
, Ginny thought nauseatingly, rolling her
eyes like a teenager.

With that, Ian grabbed Ginny's arm again and
started pulling her out. “You don't need to pull me along, I'm
willing to come. You are welcome to help Alec with
Aileana.”

“My brother doesnae need my help
with his wife.” Ian suddenly turned Ginny to face him. “What were
ya thinking by getting her on yar own?”

“You all seemed kind of busy, and I
wanted to help,” Ginny replied to the strange question.

Ian shook his head in disgust. This woman had
no idea how insulting it was to not allow them the duty of rescuing
one of their clan. The English, they never seem to get anything
right. He was tempted to leave her behind with the burning keep,
but she might prove useful. Ian would not admit that it was because
she was quite beautiful and might prove useful in other
ways.

“Where are ya from?” Ian asked,
knowing that she would probably never see it again. Although this
girl was innocent in the taking of his sister-in-law, Ian knew he
had to come away with something. The disgusting band of men who
made the mistake of stealing a member of his clan had paid the
ultimate price, but still, he would take anything of value that he
could. If the only thing this keep offered was a young
Englishwoman, he would take her.

Ginny thought for a moment about
Ian's question. Just as she thought she would have to make
something up, it all came to her in a flash. Ginny wasn't Ginny
anymore, she was Lady Genevieve Chatham, daughter of the late Lord
Royce Chatham. No siblings, no family, just her now dead father.
Her mother died in childbirth, her family land stolen by traitors.
She knew some Gaelic because they lived so near the lowlands of
Scotland. Ginny rolled her eyes at the soap opera-ish drama that
was this girl's life.
Of all the bodies,
in all the romance novels...

At least she had something to tell him. “I'm
Lady Genevieve Chatham. My father was murdered and his lands
stolen. I was taken by this band of merry men as payment for their
loyalty to those who orchestrated the plot against my father. You
may call me Ginny,” Ginny started talking like she was writing the
novel now.

“Hmmm. I wonder if they will be
lookin' for ya.”

“Why would they look. They
obviously wanted me dead anyway. I'm sure they'll assume as much
when news of what happened here gets to them,” Ginny wondered if
Ian was looking for another fight. Curiosity won out, “Why do you
care?”

In a low, whispered voice, he said, “When I
take ya, I dinna want any trouble with anyone looking for
ya.”

“Ooookaaaay.”

*
*
*

They continued to walk outside the keep. A
young boy in a kilt walked a very large horse over to Ian. Ian
climbed onto the horse with ease and looked down at Ginny. Ginny
had no idea what he wanted her to do, so she started to walk in the
direction of the other warriors. After just a few steps, Ian angled
his horse in front of her, blocking her escape.

“What?” was all Ginny could
say.

Ian, not one for words, reached his
hand down to her.
Does he think I'm
getting on that horse with him
, Ginny
thought anxiously. The horse, a beauty by most standards, was at
least two feet taller than the top of her head. It had a chestnut
brown hide and big soulful brown eyes. Ginny could admire the
horse's beauty, as long as it was far enough away.

Ian began to get impatient. He was
trying to be a gentleman and offer her a ride.
Does she really want to walk to the ridge?
he thought.
Why must she
make things difficult.

“Did you want to give me a ride?”
Ginny giggled nervously over the thought of riding on that thing.
She was pretty sure where this story was going, but could she
manage to hold onto some of her dignity. She began to walk away,
toward the ridge with the other warriors, when all of sudden she
was being lifted up on top of the horse. “Dear God, what are you
doing?” was all she could ask before he plopped her on his lap and
began to gallop away.

Ginny grabbed hold of Ian around his waist and
buried her head in his shoulder. She was quite certain she was
going to fall off and die. Or worse, be paralyzed, waiting to
slowly die. Up, down, up, down, over and over again until Ginny was
certain she would be sick. “Are we there yet?”

Ian chuckled to himself. It was quite amusing
to see this poor girl so frightened over something so ridiculous.
It was also a little insulting considering his skill. Did she
really think he would drop her? Was this the same girl who stood up
to him and his men? Ian reached the ridge and dropped Ginny to the
ground. She landed on her butt and let out a few choice
curses.

Ian raised his right eyebrow,
listening to her unladylike litany.
She is
quite a feisty thing
, he thought
amusingly.
What am I ever going to do with
her?
Ian's face turned dark thinking about
her safety. Bringing her home would not guarantee she would be
safe, since his clan would undoubtedly want to do her harm as well.
He couldn't send her to her home just to be slaughtered. It seemed
he had some thinking to do.

Ginny looked up at Ian with a murderous look.
As she tried to get up, Ian reached down and lifted her up again.
“Thanks,” Ginny murmured before sending a few other whispered words
his way. She turned around to see the warriors walking up the hill.
On the other side of the ridge was where they had set themselves up
for battle. There were horses and tents, some fires were burning as
well.

“This way,” Ian sounded surly. He
brought her to a tent and opened the flap. Ginny ducked her head to
enter and saw Aileana lying on some blankets on the one side. Ginny
rushed to her side and asked if there was anything she could fetch.
Alec, her husband, quickly got defensive. “I will tend to her
needs, Englishwoman. Ya said ya could heal her. Now is the
time.”

“Of course,” Ginny was not certain
what his problem was, but didn't want to make anyone angry with
her. This was a camp of very large men with very big swords. Not to
mention, it would do little to help Aileana.

Ginny wanted to examine her, but both Ian and
Alec still lingered in the tent. “May I speak to you both outside,
please,” she asked sweetly. Both men exchanged a glance that
indicated that that wasn't an option. “Please, not in front of
Aileana,” she whispered.

Begrudgingly, both men left the tent, but
would go no further than the very front. They stared at Ginny like
this was beyond an inconvenience and to get on with it. “I need to
examine your wife, from head to toe. Do you really want your
brother standing there while she's undressed?” Ginny had dealt with
abusive partners, worried parents and unreasonable patients, but
his went above and beyond.

“Ya will not put my poor wife
through any more humiliation,” Alec stated.

Ginny could feel her patience wearing thin.
“What, then, would you have me do for her?” she said making sure
that her voice didn't carry into the tent.

Alec and Ian exchanged glances. They obviously
had no idea what needed to be done. Ginny let out a sigh of
exasperation. “Look, I'm trying to help. Your poor wife has been
through a real trial, and I just want to try to ease any suffering.
I will not harm her further, but I can't help her if I don't know
the extent of her injuries.”

Alec bowed his head. Without looking up, he
said, “I know. I couldnae protect her. Do what ya must to help her.
I willnae disturb ya.” There was so much pain in his voice. He
truly believed he'd failed her in the most important job he brought
to his marriage and now he suffered along with her. He would never
be able to atone for his mistake in letting her out of his sight,
away from the village, but he could do something to help her
now.

Ginny smiled a soft smile and re-entered the
tent. As Ginny went about what ministrations she could provide,
considering her lack of supplies, Aileana sat quietly and answered
what questions she could. The examination took only a few minutes.
Aileana had been raped repeatedly, by many different men, who cared
little about her safety. Ginny never dealt with a rape victim
before and didn't know what she could do for this woman now. She
had no antibiotics to give her in case of venereal disease. She had
no way to ease her discomfort with pain medications. So, in the
end, she did what she could by gently washing Aileana from head to
toe and soothing her with impotent words.

Calling out to Alec, Ginny ordered hot water
and soap. When those things were brought in, she asked for a comb
and scissors as well. The poor woman, above everything else, had
lice. Ginny used a washcloth to wash off the filth the woman had
been living in for weeks. Bowls of hot water needed to be replaced
every few minutes, since it took no time to turn the water
grayish-brown.

Hating to ask it of her, Ginny knew a good way
to get rid of lice was by cutting her hair. Not being much of a
history buff, she seemed to remember that long hair was important
during this era. “I need to cut your hair, to help get rid of the
lice. If you don't want me to, I'll do my best, but can't promise
anything.”

Aileana was silent for a moment. It seemed
that she had lived through so much humiliation, what was one more
thing. She had been growing her hair since childhood. Her golden
brown tresses now reached to her backside and had waves of natural
highlights. Alec loved her hair, loved the way it tickled his chest
when she made love to him up top. For some reason, Aileana wanted
it gone. She didn't feel beautiful anymore, so what did it matter.
“Cut it,” came her whispered answer.

Ginny chopped her hair and began using the
comb to remove the nits. Having a horrible dislike for most bugs,
this duty was nearly overwhelming her. After every few minutes,
Ginny would wash her hands to prevent them from transferring to
her. Still, she thought she could feel them crawling over her,
making her tremble.

Ginny was trying to think of some of the
natural cures for lice and remembered something about oils. She
knew there were several that you could use together, like lavender
and olive. Thinking about the time period, there were few choices.
Eucalyptus was definitely out, rosemary was a likely choice. Olive
oil was probably ridiculously expensive and not likely available.
In the end, Ginny did her best and would check what the supplies
that soldier brings back from the keep.