Highland Strength (Book 3)

Chapter 19

“Of course I will help.” Handing over her precious bundle to his father, who held him as if he were the only person in the world that could keep it from imploding in that moment, moving automatically to keep him slumbering. Just catching a hold of Hamish’s sleeve as he was about to move off, he paused to look at her with a sad smile which broke her heart to see. “He will be fine Hamish. He is too loud, obnoxious and annoying not to be.” Her smile was forced but she knew he appreciated her jest, trying to lighten the situation if only a little. As he turned to pace the length of the hall, mumbling quietly to their slumbering son she felt the lump grow in her throat and the tears sting her eyes as they fell in silent tracks down her cheeks. After a final glance at her small but growing family she never thought to have. She went to help his brother try and survive the night.

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Sheena fell to her knees by the three body like smudge shadows upon the ground. Crawling from the first who showed no signs of life, but with a bushy beard, giving her relief one of the others was Aonghus. It was the amount of blood which concerned her. The sticky substance tacky on her hands as she crawled to the next body. This one gasping for its next breath. Rubbing her hand upon her plaid, trying to rid it of as much of the first fellows blood as possible, she reached out, hoping it was Aonghus. Her touch met cool skin, life barely hanging on in the shell of a man before her. “Mother?” Tear sprang to her eyes, she recognised the voice. Russ had never liked her, had spent most of his youth pushing her in muddy puddles and making her life a general misery. And had spent his adult life trying to best her, even in the foulest of ways in the tilting yard. He had been the cause of many a broken bone in her body due to his attacks. Not that any other had come to her aid, some had even been worse than he. But the longing in his voice. The little boy tone he used, knowing his time was coming, it was heart wrenching.

“Mother?” His voice was tiny, she could hear the tears in his voice. For all the pain he had forced upon her over the years, she could not let him go into the afterlife alone. No one deserved that. “Aye Russ.” Her voice barely a whisper, she awkwardly patted the hand she found at his side, she did not know what to do. And in her mind all she could think was she needed to get to the next male, hoping it was Aonghus, while at the same time hoping it was not and that he had managed, somehow, to get away. The male before her tugged back at her attention as his gasping breaths turned into gasping sobs, his words disjointed and breathy as he spoke. “I am sorry, mother.” A bubbly breath over took him, and she knew it would not be long. “You said not…not to go. To leave…leave She…ena alone. I should have listened…mother…” His sobs and gasps unable to distinguished between. In a matter of moments, though it felt like hours, his final breath exhaled as his called for his mother in a whisper, he went limp beneath her and no more sound came from him again.

Saying a quick prayer over the male, to help him in his way, whichever direction God decided that would be. She crawled her way, painfully over sharp rocks and packed earth, small pointy sticks scratching at her skin, to the only other male left alive according to the harsh breathing coming from that direction, and the silence she had crawled away from. Her fingers coming into contact with thick strong ones, she gripped them tight as she tried to make out the features on the shadow before her. A thin silver stream of moonlight took that moment to piece through from the coverings it had hidden behind for so long. Her breath catching as she saw the pale complexion of the strong male felled before her. His head listing to one side as a breath left him, only she could have sworn that very breath sounded like a prayer, a prayer that was her name alone. Did he know she was here?

Crawling further up, so she was knelt by his head, she took his cold skin between her palms. “Aonghus? Can you hear me?” She received no response, but she was gratified, if only slightly, by the fact his breath came in an even rhythm, even if it was rather loud and gasped. She tapped his cheek a little, his whiskers scratching at her finger tips, and for some reason that made her throat clog with emotion. He liked to be clean shaven from what she had seen of him in the clan before winter, and had seen his annoyance over the last few days at the whiskers which plagued his face. A watery smile over took her as she tried to keep the tears at bay. He may have fallen into her life recently, but he had been in her thoughts for many moons now. Had been the reason she had come through the death of her brother without doing anything foolish.

A rush of anger over came her, how could he leave her now? He had promised to help her. Had promised, and he was going back on that now. How dare he? “Aonghus, you listen here.” she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “How dare you do this? You listen here, and you better be listening, I want to hear you repeat this word for word when you are well once more.” She leaned closer, the loose tendrils of her hair swaying in his harsh breath as it batted against the golden strands. “You are going to get well, and you are going to keep your promise, or I will follow you into the afterlife and make it a misery for eternity.” Her voice had started harsh, but ended with a wobbly note, as the tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and silent tracks made their way down her face. “You have to wake up Aonghus,” a noise had her eyes darting around the forest. The two horses causing her to jump slightly as she did not realise they were quite as close as they were.

“But first, we have to leave.” She snorted a laugh a little, some hysteria creeping into her voice. “And you are going to be no help here are you. Well is that not typical.” She half expected a witty retort from him, and when nothing came her heart sank once more. “Please Aonghus, just try and stay alive while I find some sort of help.” Looking around as if she would find it beside her, she was despondent knowing she would have to find her way in the dark to a place she had only ever been once in her life. It was not too far, but the journey itself could kill him. With another silent tear streaking down her cheek, she reached for his stallion’s reins to pull him closer. With a palm still cupping Aonghus’ cheek, she leant down and brushed her lips across his. She could not explain the desire to do so, but knew that she had to do so at that moment or all would be lost. Shaking her head, she used the horse to pull herself into a standing position and looked at the situation before her.

Now. How was she to get him upon the horse?