A Year and a Day (18 page)

Cait looked warily at the rocks, but didn’t argue. She tucked up her skirts, deciding that modesty around Ewan was pointless anyway, and then started across. She had made it half-way when an odd sound behind her made Cait turn around.

“Oh, no!” she shriek
ed, and nearly fell as surprise
knocked her off balance.

“What is it?” Ewan said, also turning. Then he cursed under his breath. “RED!!!!!!!!!!”

Cait watched as Ewan jumped off the stone, sloshing through the icy water back toward the bank and then taking off in a run after the dog- whose nose had been buried in the picnic basket. A loaf of bread was clenched between the animal’s mouth as he sprinted back into the woods.

“RED!!!!!!!!!!!!” Ewan howled, chasing him into the trees. Cait listened to him crashing through the brush until the sounds had died away.

Very carefully, she picked her way back to the shore, and then settled down to wait. She tried not to let herself be nervous. Ewan
would
come back for her. She
knew
that he had to- but that didn’t mean that she was happy being left alone. For the first time that morning she noticed how spare and menacing the naked winter trees looked, and felt the icy bite of the wind.

At least I have lunch…
She thought, making her way to the picnic basket, but even that bright spot was quickly dimmed. The dog had decimated the contents of the basket. Only one apple and a bottle of wine remained uneaten and uns
cat
hed.

Sighing heavily, Cait took a bite of the apple and then sat down on the bank. The soil was dry, but she could feel the frosty temperature seeping through the picnic blanket and her skirts. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

“Cold, Beauty?”

Cait gasped and looked up sharply as Ewan’s voice purred into her ear and his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

“Ewan?” she gasped, “I didn’t hear you!”

He shrugged and then chuckled, “I haven’t lost my touch then,” he said. Noting the blank look on her face, he explained: “Handy skill to have out on a raid.”

“Oh, of course,” Cait answered, blushing, feeling foolish for not having considered where Ewan might have learned to sneak up on people unexpectedly.

Ewan kissed the top of her head. “At any rate, I’m sorry that I frightened you.”

Cait waived the apology aside and then scooted over on the blanket to permit her husband to settle down beside her. He did so, reaching his arm around her waist to draw her closer. Then, just as he was tipping her chin to kiss her, Cait’s stomach growled.

Cait’s cheeks flushed in mortifi
ca
t
ion and she jerked away, crossing her arms around her stomach.

Ewan laughed at her distress, “Aye, my poor wife- starving to death,” he looked in the direction that the dog had run, “And Jame’s cursed hound has made off with our lunch. I suppose your husband ought to set about providing for you.”

“Providing?” Cait said slowly, “Providing what?”

Ewan made a sweeping Gesture back toward the stream. “Why, a fish, of course!” he responded. Then, when Cait arched her eyebrow skeptically, he chuckled, “You don’t think I’m as worthless as all that, do you? Even I can
catch
a fish!”

Cait grinned, feeling a lot of her earlier tension melt away in the face of Ewan’s ready smile. “I don’t doubt it…” she began slowly, “in the proper circumstances- but you don’t even have a fishhook!”

“Aw,” Ewan said in a conspiratorial tone, “Fishing hooks aren’t my style.”

“You have a style?”
 

Ewan winked at her. “Observe!”

Cait watched with interest as he kicked off his boots and waded shin-deep into the stream. She didn’t want to think of how icy that the water must be on his toes. Ewan didn’t seem to mind. He stooped over and picked up a good-sized stone, which he jogged in his hands for a moment, testing the shape and weight.

“What are you-?” Cait started to ask, but the question was lost in a squeak when, without any warning, Ewan pitched forward. There was a loud smash, a grunt of triumph, and then Ewan, the front of his clothing
soaked
was hauling something grey and slimy out of the brook.

“Lunch!” he announced proudly, turning to display a small, bloody trout.

Cait scrunched her nose, “You
bashed it on the head?
” she said, gaping- although she was faintly impressed with the show of speed and strength he had employed to make the kill.

“Aye,” Ewan said, wading back to the shore and collecting his boots and socks. “Messing and around with poles and nets was never
my forte
.”

“Too subtle,” Cait remarked wryly.

Ewan grinned and nodded. He wiped his feet on the edge of the blanket and then plunked himself down again, letting the fish fall on the grass. “Well?” he said, leaning toward her.

“Well?” she responded, perplexed.

“Here’s your fearless husband, returning home with the kill- doesn’t that earn a kiss?”

Cait rolled her eyes. “Fair enough,” she responded, leaning forward to dab a little smack on his cheek. She shrieked when his arms went unexpectedly around her shoulders, tossing her onto her back.

The icy wet of Ewan’s shirt seeped through her bodice, causing her to gasp in shock. He heard her, but he didn’t pull away.

“You-you’re getting me wet!” Cait finally managed to stammer.

“Good,” Ewan drawled into her ear, “Sounds like an excellent start.”

“Ewan!” Cait gasped, but notably didn’t struggle as he continued to bear down on her body, pressing his lean, damp weight down and holding her in place. She arched her neck and sighed when his lips brushed the side of her neck. He skimmed the tendon there with his lips, before retracing the route with his teeth and tongue.

“I promised you lunch, didn’t I,” Ewan said, pretending to draw away- though it was patently obvious to both lovers the threat was made merely for the purpose of having Cait clutch at the neck of his shirt, dragging him back. She held his lips against her skin, moaning and sighing as he rained kisses over her face and shoulders.

“Oh, Cait,” his voice fluttered against her ear even as his hands sank lower down her body. His fingers stretched as far as they could go, and then began inching up her skirts. “You
know
what I want.”

Cait caught her breath. His simple declaration sizzled through her consciousness. She
did
know- and the knowledge was exhilarating.

“Ewan, I-!” she began, reaching for the hem of his skirt, but at that very moment, an unwelcome sound carried through the forest.

“Ewan??? Cait???”

Both bodies froze and tensed. Ewan let Cait’s skirts fall back again as he turned his head and strained to listen as their names were called again.

“
James
,” he growled darkly. The expression on his face was somewhere between puzzlement and annoyance.

Ewan pulled away, and Cait quickly tidied her appearance. There was nothing to be done for her flushed skin and swollen lips, but she managed to straighten her dress and hair before James Cameron, Ewan’s younger brother, appeared over the top of a ridge.

“Oh, there you are!” the young man said, grinning brightly, either oblivious to or unconcerned with what he had interrupted.

Ewan shot his brother a dark look. “Yes. Here I am. You found me- now go away.”

James chuckled and ignored him, continuing to walk toward the pair, “Ah now- don’t you want my news? I’ve ridden all night to deliver it.”

“You have?” Ewan’s expression changed. He glanced nervously at Cait, and then back to his brother. “It’s about
Lachlan
.” James nodded and so his brother continued. “He’s returned?” James shook his head in the negative, and Ewan’s stomach clenched with dread. “What is it?” he demanded.

James took a breath. “
Lachlan
isn’t coming back.”

“What???” Both Ewan and Cait gasped at the same time. Ewan’s fingers tightened into a fist. Automatically, his mind raced into action. He would need his horse. It was still early. He could ride along most of the e
astern borders before nightfall and send someone to the Fraser
s for help. He was almost ready to sprint back through the woods to the house when James continued speaking.

“He’s not coming back
for now
,” the younger man corrected, “He’s headed down to
Glasgow
.”

“
Glasgow
?” Ewan echoed. His mind was slow to process the information.
Lachlan
wasn’t dead, thank God, but he’d gone far beyond their initial reconnaissance scheme.

“Aye,” James nodded. Without being asked he plopped himself onto the blanket and smiled back up at his brother, “He’s gone to chase some rumors. At least, that’s what the messenger said.”

“What are the lowlanders going to know about rumors?” Ewan snarled back, suspiciously. He’d never trusted the city dwellers, cut off from their clans, practically adopting English ways. “Unless…” he began unsteadily. “Unless he thinks that the English were involved?”
 

James watched the expression on his brother’s face, and then tipped his head. “The letter didn’t flat out say it- no doubt he was wary of it being intercepted- but that’s the consensus.”

“But
would they really come up so
far?” Ewan said, frowning darkly. He’d heard of the English threatening the far southern borders of some of the other clans, but rarely had they threatened and of the lands as insulated as the Camerons.

James nodded, “Aye. It seems unlikely- but do you doubt
Lachlan
? I don’t think he’d go so far with
Muira in the state she’s in, unless he was pretty damn certain.”

Ewan frowned at the mention of his sister and her husband in the same sentence. Even after seven years, he wasn’t quite resigned to the circumstances of their marriage. Still, he respected the other man as a warrior, and as a
Laird
. He agreed with James-
Lachlan
wouldn’t travel so far afield merely in a hunch.

“What are we meant to do then?” Ewan asked, still frowning faintly. Now that some of the tension had leaked from his body, he sank back down on the cloth next to Cait and drew her into his arms.

“Sit tight,” James said brightly.

Ewan arched a brow, “The
Laird
sent you all this way to tell us
that
?”

“Well, I didn’t want you worrying about Muira!” James replied brightly. “Besides, I thought that I might join you for a while.”

“What?” Ewan yelped, instantly on his feet again.

James shrugged sheepishly, “Well, there is
n’t much going on at the castle,
and I didn’t want you two to get lonely.”

“We have PLENTY of company,” Ewan growled back. “And Mrs. Fitz is-“

“Ah, about Mrs. Fitz
patrick
…” James said sheepishly.

Ewan had a sense that he should brace himself for what came next. “Yes?” he said, through gritted teeth.

“She’s…uh…left.”

“Left?” Ewan answered, agog.

“She…er…might have decided to visit her sister when I arrived,” James said, and then continued almost proudly, “Said she wouldn’t stay in a house with me and my wickedness under its roof. Said I was likely to bring the daughter of the devil himself home slung across my shoulder,” he chuckled.