A CHRISTMAS WISH

Chapter 23: The Highlands

Sarah was just glad that the McLaughlin settlement wasn’t situated in Glean Comhan. Darkly Beautiful it might have been but it was definitely not the kind of environment one could live in. It was too imposing for mere humans to sully it. The place had been fashioned by God Himself to proclaim His artistry to the world; it had been created to be looked at, not touched.

Today she had seen the most amazing scenery imaginable. They had ridden through verdant meadows awash with colourful flowers, they had trekked through eerie, never ending hilly forests with gigantic trees rising up from the earth towards the heavens like a thousand spokes, she had glimpsed so many wonderful lakes, or lochs as Iain called them, shimmering in the distance like sapphires dotted across the terrain. But no matter what she had seen so far, Glean Comhan would forever be her most favourite place in the Highlands.

 It had been several hours since they had crossed the densely forested foothills of the massive mountains; which had pretty much faded into the background as the day had progressed. The route they were following now was invisible to Sarah. The track out of Lachlan had all but vanished, now they rode over grassy meadows and stony valleys without any roads or markings to guide them. She could see the ever present shroud of trees dotting the periphery of her vision but for now they didnt have to struggle through the thick vegetation, it seemed the trekking bit of their journey was finally over. The forests were still there but for the last hour or so they hadnt been trudging through them, which was a bloody relief as far as Sarah was concerned. 

So many times today Sarah had felt like she was travelling over the surface of some alien land.

It was so isolated and untouched.

 She hadn’t seen so much as a hint of human habitation. 

But she did know there were people around even though you couldn’t see them. Today Iain had told her why he wanted her to be quiet; it was because not all the clans in the Highlands were on good terms. The McLaughlin’s for instance had a deep seated enmity with several other clans. Which wasn’t very surprising to her unfortunately; Iain didn’t really come across as the friendly type. The guy could rub any one the wrong way, he did have a tendency to bully, and that quality seldom gets you many friends Sarah had decided uncharitably and a tad unfairly too.

But she had understood why silence was the best policy; so many times today she had felt a chill run down her spine when she had seen the expression on Iain’s face as they had ridden through enemy territory.

The tension at those times had been palpable, Sarah had kept her mouth well and truly zipped. Fortunately everyone had seemed a lot more relaxed after crossing the treacherous foothills.

 The rest of the men didn’t flank Iain’s horse anymore, instead they were scattered all around the place.

In the last few hours or so Sarah had even heard one or two guffaws of laughter. She could hear the Highlanders engaged in their own conversations, loud and cheerful. Sarah felt like smiling, for the first time since she had met them they seemed as normal as everyone else, she didn’t understand their language but she could feel the camaraderie.

One thing was bothering her though, and it was the never ending journey itself, she needed it to be over already, her arse couldn’t take much more. She remembered Benedict telling her that the McLaughlin’s ruled over an immense territory and she was afraid there might still be a hell of a lot longer to go. Sarah decided to ask Iain but he answered her before she could voice the question,

“We are almost there lass,”

Sarah didn’t say anything, but she had to suppress a mighty sigh of relief. It was galling that he knew how fed up she was of travelling on horseback but at least he didn’t make fun of her.