Prescribed for Love (3 page)

The man nodded in consent.
As soon as
the horse came to a
halt,
Cat
leapt
off
the mount
and headed for the nearest copse of trees.
I
hope we don’t have too much further to ride—short dresses do not mix well with horses.
The last thing
I need is a dream
about chaf
ed thighs!

***

Alasdair
chuckled as he watched the witch run off.
She
was
in such a
hurry
she did not even notice when a low-hanging branch tore off her bonnet.
Personally, he hoped she forgot its existence.
Her appearance grew far less absurd, and much more appealing, without it.

Still
a few more hours from his home,
Alasdair
led his horse ove
r to a nearby stream
.
Deciding to also partake in
refreshment,
he
reached into his p
ouch for a couple of oatcakes.
As he
took his first bite
, the witch emerge
d
from the trees
and
stumbled
toward his location
.
Alasdair
really could not understand why she wore such ridiculous attire. He had not noticed before that her shoes had odd points on the back. Maybe this
helped with
her
short
stature, but
her gait was made difficult as the slippers sunk into the ground with each step
. He wondered how she had managed to run
without falling
after
she
had
first dismounted.

Once again seeing her exposed legs,
Alasdair
could not help but think of the rest of the body hid by her gown
.
After having the witch nestle
d
into his person for so many hours,
he
had become acutely aware
of
her
equally well-shaped
figure
.
It was almost as if
her form
had been contrived
by magic
to induce a man’s desire.
Alasdair
could not recall the last time a woman had raised such
an immediate
hunger in him.

As the witch finished her approach, Alasdair saw hunger reflected in the witch’s eyes, but hers was of an entirely different kind
.
He
shook his head
slightly
to clear his thoughts
and offered her the second oatcake—the actual object of her hunger
.

“Thank you,”
said
the witch.
“I didn’t catch your name by the way.”

“
Alasdair
MacLean.”

“Mind if I call you Al?
”

“If
Alasdair
is nae
to yer l
iking, ye can call me MacLean.”

“Alright
then
…
Mac it is!”
He cringed at the shortening of his name
.
However,
the witch seemed unconcerned with his irritation
.
Once
she finished
her cake
a few moments later, she asked,
“So Mac, where
are we going?”

“To my home, Duart Castle,”
he replied
.

“And why are
we he
aded there?”

Alasdair
did not immediately answer; he was not sure he should let the witch know the entirety of his problem.
He was worried about her actions if he revealed she was his last hope.
He did not need the
witch trying to
take advantage of his
misfortune
.
After a few moments of internal debate, he decided to
tell her
only the most basic of information.
“My sister has become verra
sick.
I
hope ye may be able to help her,
”
was his reply.

“Oh, that’s terrible.
I’m so sorry.
I hope she has not suffered too much.
” She paused for a moment before continuing,
“
I’m not sure if
I am your best option, but I
wi
ll definitely do as much as I can for her.
”
Alasdair
was not sure what to
think of the witch’s reply
.
On
the
one hand, he was pleased by
her
show o
f concern for his sister.
On the other,
the belittling of her skills worried him.
The rumors said she
was a healer with an ability to heal that far surpassed any other.
Alasdair
sincerely hoped she was not trying to manipulate him into some ridiculous form of payment.
I will need to keep a close on eye her.

“I thank ye,” replied
Alasdair
, “
But for now,
let us hurry back so ye can see to her
.”
Anxious to return
,
he
called
his
horse
.
Mounting
first, he reached down to help the witch up, this time behind him
.
As unlikely as it was, if her body was designed by magic, he did not want to risk falling under its spell
.
If he was going to keep a close watch on her, he could not afford any distractions.
Turning once again
for home, h
e hoped his
fears were unfounded and simply a result of his paranoia
.

***

Their ride continued, once again in silence, until they
reached
their destination.
Cat was dumbstruck
by the
monstrosity of
the castle in front of her. I
t
had clearly been built for protection
—there
was no
thing whimsical about the place
.
The structure gave its inhabitants
a distinct
advantage
with its strategic location atop
a hill
overlooking the surrounding area
.
The stone walls were thick, their only decoration
s
consisting of brutish looking men with gruesome weapons.
Unfortunately
for Catriona
, tho
se men appeared skeptical of
her
presence.
They eyed her warily as
she was
entered
the keep.
Her
and
Alasdair
’s progress only
s
lowed
long enough
to
dismount
before continuing into the
castle
.
They did not stop until they arrived before a chamber door.

Cat actually became
a bit nervous when she saw
how
Alasdair
paused before knocking
.
The way he braced himself made it
painfully
clear how
distressed
he was for his sister.
Once invited to enter, h
e opened the door
and directed
Cat
toward
the bed
before he headed to the furthest corner
, presumably
to allow for privacy
.
Catriona
tentatively
approached
the girl’s
side;
she
truly did look ver
y sick. In all honesty, Cat
did not know
much about diagnosing diseases. She had gone into pharmacy school because medicine fascinated her, but had no desire to actually touch anyone.
Looking briefly back
at
Alasdair
, she was moved by the concern for his sister t
hat was
etched
so
clearly
on his face;
Cat
hoped she would
not
disappoint him.
Wait a second…
why am I so worried? This is my
dream;
of co
urse I’ll know how to help her!

“Are ye the witch my brother rushed away to retrieve?” asked
the bedridden girl
.

Cat could not
bring herself to lie to someone so desperately sick, not even in a dream.
“No. I
didn’t even know he thought I
was a witch,” responded Cat.
“
I arrived at the hut where w
e met just moments before he showed up.
I
guess that must have been
the
witch’s residence.
”
Seeing the girls face drop in disappointment, she quickly continued, “But
when he asked for my help I agreed to come.
Luckily,
I am actually a healer.”
Cat figured that was not really a falsehood.
With her twenty-first century knowledge, she reasoned she automatically knew more about medicine than anyone in this time period.

“Th
en who are ye?” asked the girl.

“My name is Catriona, but everyone calls me Cat.
What is your name by the way?
Alasdair
never told me.”

“
Ailsa,” she replied.

“Well
Ailsa, I may not be the witch, but
I would still like to try
to help you
.
Would you mind if I tried?”
asked Cat
.

“Nay
,
I
dinnae
mind,” replied Ailsa, “I think it might give my brother some peace knowing his effort was
nae
for naught.”

“Excellent!” exclaime
d Cat. She was glad the girl was going to give her an opportunity to help.
“I
just
need to
ask you a few questions.”

***

As
Alasdair
watched the witch converse with his sister, he grew
increasingly
p
ensive
. She had talked to Ailsa for
nearly a quarter of an hour, yet
had taken no action.
By his reasoning,
she should have performed some spell or incantation by now.
Does
this mean
there
is nothing that can
be done?
Is my
sister t
ruly doomed to
waste away?
With the
s
e
dark thought
s
,
Alasdair
began to edge closer
in hopes of overhearing the
ir conversation—what
he heard astounded him.

“What
is this nonsense of which ye
speak
?” interrupted
Alasdair
, “I ask ye to help my sister, and instead
ye tell her to starve herself?”

“I’m not
telling Ailsa to starve herself. I’m
just
telling her
to stop eating things like bread,” replied the witch
, “She has
a
disease
which
prevents the body from digesting gluten. T
his is why she is malnourished. Trust me, if she does as I say, she will be as good as new in no time.”

“
What is
this
disease
?
I have
nae
heard of such a thing
!”
growled
Alasdair
.

“Look, you asked
me to come with you to help her,
and
that is what I am trying to do
.
If you will just
allow her to
follow my advice, you will quickly see her improve
,” said the witch testily.