A Healer For The Highlander

‘Good day to you, Colm,’ she called out to the boy.

Sitting in the unexpected morning sun revealed that there had been some improvement in his condition. His colouring, though not as pale and pasty as he had been, was a scant bit nearer to health than sickness now. A good sign that. Anna reached the boy and he reached out and tugged on her skirts.

‘Mistress Mackenzie, I sat up all day except for when I was asleep. Like you told me to.’

Suisan came to the opened doorway then, wiping her hands on the apron tucked at her waist.

‘Good morn to ye, Mistress Mackenzie,’ she said, nodding at the boy who was struggling to remain on the stool there. ‘He has been hoping ye would give yer permission for him to leave the cottage.’

Anna walked over and slid her hand across the boy’s hair and forehead. No fever. ‘Well, let me see how he is doing and we can talk about extending his prison walls.’

‘I have taken every one of your remedies,’ Colm said. ‘Even the brown one that smells putrid.’ He gagged loudly, showing his distaste for it.

‘Is that true, Mistress Cameron?’ Anna asked in a serious tone. ‘Has he followed my instructions?’ The lad’s enthusiastic words and manner spoke of his improvement, with or without Suisan’s confirmation.

‘’Tis true,’ Suisan said.

‘Come inside and let me check your breathing first, Colm.’

She smiled as the boy jumped up from the stool and ran into the cottage. The mistake to avoid would be to let him try too much too soon. Though, watching his increased vigour, she knew it would be hard to keep him from pushing himself.

Colm allowed her to push and prod him and he followed her instructions to test his breathing. He coughed, but it was not the uncontrollable, breath-stealing spasms it had been. This was good. He was not recovered, that would be a long process, but if the various things she’d given him eased the symptoms, she would be happy.

‘I think he can be permitted some time outside on the morrow, Mistress Cameron,’ Anna pronounced when she’d finished. ‘No running, course, but some time with his friends.’

‘Truly?’ Colm asked. ‘On the morrow?’

‘Aye. If you promise not to run.’

‘Aye, Mistress Mackenzie. Aye!’

Colm’s smile warmed her heart and she could see a bit of her own son in his reactions. They were but a few years apart in age with Iain being nigh to ten-and-three while Colm had eight years.

‘For now, you may sit outside and speak with your friends. Make your plans.’

The boy was up and outside before she could say another thing. True to what Anna asked of him, he sat on the stool next to the door and called out to his friends.

‘So, the vapour has worked then?’ she asked Suisan. ‘Has he been coughing much?’

‘Nay,’ the older woman said. ‘Some the first night, but less after each dosing or use of the vapour. He did not complain or refuse, nay, he did not. He is a good lad.’

‘Better than most others who have asked for my help,’ Anna said.

‘About those seeking your help...’ Anna raised her gaze to Suisan and waited for her to continue. ‘Word has already spread about ye being a healer.’

‘Those outside?’ Anna walked to the doorway and looked past the boy and his friends to see a growing crowd. ‘They are to see me?’

‘Aye, if ye would? Many have ailments that Old Ranald could not see to. Many have minor things, but I think ye could help a number of others with the things ye grow and make.’

Those waiting noticed her scrutiny and began to move closer. Anna nodded to them and they approached. She recognised a variety of symptoms and ailments as they grew closer.

‘Suisan, I would not see them in the road. Can I bring them inside your cottage? Or is there another I might use?’

‘Ye are welcome here and mayhap I could help ye a bit? Introduce ye to the villagers and such?’

* * *

Within a short time, Anna was speaking to the people who needed her services. Though it took several hours, with Suisan’s help, Anna managed to speak to each person who sought her aid. Some could be helped then, but others could not for she had not the ingredients or supplies to do so. A few more days and she would have some of what she needed, but it would be weeks of tending to the plots above the falls before she would be ready.

Colm sat by the door, greeting everyone who came by, but she could see the exhaustion growing in his face. Just as she finished with the last person, a loud voice rang out drawing her attention.

‘Malcolm Cameron, what do you think you are doing?’

For a moment, she lost her place and time. She heard the name and stumbled to the doorway, almost expecting to see her Malcolm there before her. Staring into the road there instead she saw Davidh’s approach. Anna shook herself from the shock and glanced at Colm, who sat there watching his father walk towards them.

Colm.

Malcolm.

He had truly named his son after his closest friend.

‘You are not supposed to be out here!’ Davidh said sharply.

* * *

‘Papa, Mistress Mackenzie said I could.’

Davidh had only been watching his son and now caught sight of the healer as she stepped into the sun’s light. He did not know who looked paler at that moment—her or his son. Crouching down before Colm where he sat on a stool, he studied his face and listened, as he always did, to his breathing. Though pale, he did not struggle to draw a breath.

‘Well, if Mistress Mackenzie gave her approval, I cannot naysay her.’ He read the relief on Colm’s face then. How long had it been since his son had been outside this cottage or theirs? He glanced up and met Anna’s gaze then. ‘And what else did Mistress Mackenzie have to say?’

‘If he rests today and follows my instructions, he may walk about in the village a bit with his friends on the morrow,’ she replied.

‘From the look of him, he has not done the first.’

‘Nay, not yet. This morn, I was grateful for his help with the others who came to see me.’

Davidh stood then and touched his son’s shoulder.

‘You look tired, son.’

He could see the struggle within the boy. He did not wish to go back inside and yet his strength was fading. Considering that he’d been up and about more in these last two days than he had in weeks and weeks, Davidh was more than willing to listen to the healer’s advice. Whatever doubts had initially assailed him had faded in the face of the results in his son.

‘Since we have finished our work, I think it a good time for you to rest, Mal-colm.’

She stuttered over his son’s name. Oh, she’d heard him use his proper name. But a glance at her face revealed something else or something more was behind her stammer.

‘There you go then. Mistress Mackenzie has so spoken and we cannot argue with her. Well, you could, but I suspect that her promise to release you from this doorway depends on you obeying now.’

Colm grumbled as he stood, waved farewell to his friends and walked in slow, delaying steps inside. Davidh fought the smile that threatened to break out on his face since it would ruin the serious attitude he was forcing himself to show. He found he needed to turn away rather than watch as Colm sighed over and over as he lay down on the pallet. It was the short time it took for his son to fall asleep that reminded Davidh of his true condition and need for rest.

‘I...’ There was so much to thank her for doing, yet the words would not come.

‘I have given Suisan something new to try over the next few days,’ she said. She blocked his view of his son then, standing closer so her words did not carry inside. ‘The vapours seem to be helping.’

‘Aye, they have. He barely coughs.’ Again, words of gratitude swirled around, but none seemed good enough for what she’d accomplished. ‘Anna...’

‘The thing is, Davidh, this is only the beginning. The weakness in his lungs will not stop because of a few concoctions or using the vapours for a couple of nights.’ Why was she trying to dissemble with her words? To what purpose was it to undermine what she’d accomplished here?

‘He has been ill for some time,’ he said. ‘I understand that it could take time.’

‘Or not.’

He heard her words, but he did not want to accept them. That tiny bit of hope that he always carried in his soul for his son had burst into a stronger one just over the last two days. Could he contain and dampen it now? Must he? She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.

‘Sometimes it does not proceed as I expect it to and if, if, this does not work...’ She paused then and stared out towards the village. ‘I do not wish to raise your hopes without making certain you understand the true situation here, Davidh.’

‘I am afraid ’tis too late for that, Anna.’

She blinked several times and looked at him. He shrugged.

‘I understand the situation, Colm’s situation, for I have watched other bairns and wee ones die of things like this.’ A single tear trickled from the corner of her left eye and he wanted to reach out and wipe it away. He stepped back instead. ‘I will take whatever days your treatments give him. The rest is in the Almighty’s hands.’

She walked past him then and he heard the soft groan as she did so. Watching her, he noticed the signs of discomfort or pain in the way she walked now.

‘Mistress Mackenzie, are you yourself in need of a healer?’

She laughed then and the sound of it made his heart beat faster.

‘Aye, I think I might. Do you know one?’

‘Old Ranald is good if you need anything hacked away.’ The jesting relieved the tension in him.

‘Nay, not that. I just need to walk a bit after crouching and bending for so long. I will not keep you from your duties, Commander.’

‘Come,’ he said, motioning with his hand ahead of him. ‘I am not expected back for some time yet and I can show you the rest of the village if you have not walked it yourself.’

‘I would like that,’ she said, following him to the road, then walking at his side.

They walked along that main road and Davidh pointed out the important places of their village—the smithy she knew, but the baker, the miller near the stream and the weavers she did not. Word had spread about her and many came out to greet her. Some she called by name which surprised him at first, but she told him that she had seen them just a short while before his arrival.

Davidh guided her as far as the stream that led north to the river that connected Loch Arkaig to Loch Lochy. To reach the falls and her cottage she would follow the river to the mouth of Loch Arkaig, cross the small bridge there and head around to the northern side of the river. The river that rushed over the falls fed back into the River Arkaig. The most surprising thing about the walk was that Davidh found it easy to talk to her. Giving her bits of gossip and explaining the connections between this person and that one continued as they made their way back to the smithy.

‘You did not show me where you live.’

He had not time to ponder her curiosity, for a man came running towards them, shouting out his name. Only then did Davidh realise he’d lost all sense of time as he’d walked with Anna. Robert expected him after the noon meal to meet with the steward and Davidh had forgotten all about it.

He could blame it on the sight of his son, sitting outside for the first time in weeks. He could and that would have been part of it. The other part was that he’d been enjoying himself too much and, for that short time, he’d forgotten his duty. He’d forgotten his duty.

Davidh nodded at the messenger and faced Anna.

‘I must go.’ She nodded. ‘Will you be back on the morrow?’

‘I will be back in a few days. There is so much to do before I will have enough to help those in the village.’

He wanted to argue with her, but he could not now. Any anger or frustration he felt was his own fault, so he took his leave with a hurried word of gratitude. Davidh cursed silently first, with every step he ran to the smithy to claim his horse and then with every stride of his horse after he mounted and as he rode to the keep.

Never in his life, never since taking command, had he ever forgotten to carry out a task or duty or responsibility. Never. Not even when Colm suffered the worst of his affliction.

But this young woman arrived, bringing help to his son and appealing to him more than any woman before or since Mara, and he allowed her to distract him. From his duty.

This could not happen again.

Chapter Six

Three days passed and Davidh found the sense of distraction growing. Anna had not returned to the village since their encounter which saw him running off to the keep. Though Robert said nothing about his lateness that day, others whispered. And not all of the comments were meant in jest. With things still unsettled among the various factions in the Cameron clan, the last thing he needed to be was less than attentive and less than consistent in his duties.

When the last chief’s perfidy and betrayal had been uncovered, the clan broke apart. Gilbert’s supporters fled, unwilling to wait for their own guilt to be exposed and to pay for their part in his sins. Though Robert was the legitimate, pragmatic and reasonable choice to replace him, some elders and others well respected in the clan wondered if the man who’d served in silence to protect his own secrets could be trusted to lead them now.

Robert’s choices and decisions since taking the high chair were closely watched and examined for weakness or ill judgement. That included his own selection of who to command the warriors while Struan took over as steward. In the months since, and with the support of the powerful chief of the Chattan Confederation, Robert had made progress in re-establishing trust in the treaty that had been put in place between them.

Still, the laird did not need his commander to look unprepared or unready to train and manage all the warriors of the Cameron clan. For the last three days, Davidh had thrown himself into his duties. Knowing that Colm was improving, he remained at the keep from morning until dark.

He worked with his men in the training yard, he assigned guards and others to do needed repairs to the buildings in the castle and elsewhere. Though they might not have wanted to do it, such work strengthened them and their endurance and was a useful way of accomplishing both.

And no matter how exhausted he felt himself, thoughts of the green-eyed healer kept him from sleep. Like some callow youth who’d never had experience with a woman, his mind turned her words and every action over and over again, keeping him from rest. So, on the fourth morning after their walk, Davidh decided to seek her out. With Colm healthier than he’d been for months, he believed the boy could make the journey out to the falls. If he tired too quickly or easily, Davidh would turn back.

With the ready excuse of a lack of those leaves for making the vapours and some coin to pay for her supplies in hand, he walked to Suisan’s to retrieve his son. Not ten paces from the door of his house, he almost slammed into a woman walking towards him.

‘Good day and my pardon, Lilias,’ he said as he grabbed his neighbour to keep her from falling. ‘I did not see you there.’

‘Good day, Davidh,’ Lilias said. She regained her balance and he released his hold. ‘Ye seem to be in a hurry this day. Is something wrong with the boy?’

Though he did not have time to waste if he wanted to get to the falls and back before dark, Davidh did not wish to be rude to a woman who had stepped in many times to help him care for his son.

‘Nay, Colm is doing well,’ he said. Smiling then at the thought of how well he was, Davidh nodded. ‘There has been some improvement of late. But,’ he said, gazing past her towards the smithy, ‘I am taking him to the healer now.’

‘Everyone has been expecting her to return here,’ Lilias said. ‘Is it wise to take him so far?’

There was an unfamiliar glint in Lilias’s gaze and Davidh could not tell if the woman was questioning his judgement or just curious. He shrugged.

‘That is another reason I go. She has not been seen in four days. The village boys have not caught sight of her near the falls. Robert extended his protection to her and...’ He did not lie so much as lead her to believe this was part of his duties.

‘Would ye come to supper upon yer return from the falls then? ’Tis been a long time since we shared a meal, Davidh.’ Lilias smiled. ‘And bring the boy. I have a stew cooking and there will be plenty.’

Davidh stopped and stared at the woman. He’d never noticed the primping and preening before, yet there it was right in front of him. It might have been a long time since he courted or wooed a woman—hell, it had been—but he recognised what she was doing now. As she twisted a loose lock of hair around her fingertips, he understood that she was flirting with him.

‘My thanks, Lilias. I do not know when I will return or if Colm will feel up to a visit.’ He fought to keep his impatience under control as he reminded himself, again, that she had done him and his son many kindnesses. As had many of the villagers. ‘I must go.’

‘Another night, then?’ Lilias said, stepping out of his path. ‘I hope the boy keeps well.’

Davidh nodded and strode away. His horse was at the smithy since Jamie had repaired one of the horse’s shoes. Jamie called out a greeting as Davidh walked to the cottage and found it empty. Jamie shouted to him and Davidh looked down the path towards the well near the centre of the village. Suisan and Colm were walking from the well and Davidh could see that his son carried a bucket.

And he did not have to stop and put it down once.

And he talked with Suisan as he walked.

Davidh could hardly breathe himself as he watched this new Colm approach. Every day saw a step towards health. Every day Davidh’s hopes rose in spite of Anna’s warnings about the true nature of Colm’s affliction. He had just been so sick for so long that this improvement, even if a temporary respite from the worst of it, seemed a godsend.

‘Papa!’ Colm called out as he noticed Davidh. ‘Look! Look!’

Colm shifted the bucket into both hands and began trotting towards him. He wanted to urge him to slow, but the expression of sheer joy on his son’s face forced him to remain silent and watch. When his son reached him, half of the water in the bucket had sloshed out. Davidh laughed as he crouched down and pulled his son into a hug.

‘Papa, I carried it all the way,’ Colm said. Suisan reached them and took the bucket.

‘Aye, he did,’ she said, never mentioning the lack of water in the bucket now.

‘How do you feel, Colm? How is your chest?’ Davidh placed a hand on his son’s chest and back, a way he could feel the strength or weakness of his son’s ability to draw breath.

‘I am fine, Papa. Suisan said so. And so did Mistress Mackenzie.’

‘Mistress Mackenzie? When did she visit you?’ Davidh stood and looked at Suisan.

‘She came very early this morn, Davidh,’ Suisan explained. ‘You’d barely ridden away before she knocked on my door.’

Anna had been here? Had she waited for him to leave before seeing to Colm?

‘She said she was in the middle of many things at the cottage, but wanted to bring some supplies for Colm and some of the others in need.’ Suisan gestured to the basket sitting by the doorway that now held trinkets and wrapped bits that were payment for Anna’s help. The woman shrugged and put her bucket down next to it. ‘Colm and I saw that everything was given out.’

He was both disappointed and elated at the same time. That his son was strong enough to walk the length and breadth of the village made that hope within him grow. And yet, Davidh was not pleased that Anna seemed to come and go without seeing him.

‘Did she speak of her return? For I had planned to seek her out.’ Davidh nodded at his son. ‘I thought we could ride out to the falls since the day is a fair one and Colm seems much stronger.’

His son reacted as he thought he would and Davidh had to caution him not to wear himself out before they rode. Soon, Davidh, Colm and the basket for Anna were on their way north, to the end of the loch and on to the falls. He kept the horse from galloping and held his son before him, protecting him from the worst of the jostling along the road.

They rode most of the way in silence, but as they approached the falls Colm began questioning him about them. Davidh spoke of his times as a boy when he and his closest friend Malcolm would try their best to climb the slippery rocks, as Tavish and countless others had, and their failures. When they arrived before the deep pool that captured the flowing water before sending it south to the river, Colm stilled and stared at the falls as they rose overhead.

‘’Tis a long way down.’

‘Aye,’ Davidh said. ‘Tavish is lucky that he broke only his foot and not every bone in his body. Let that be a warning to you and your friends about the danger here.’

He doubted his words would work any better than those of his own father all those years ago. The boys Davidh grew up with spent every possible moment out here trying to make their way up the falls once word of the witch spread. Rumours tied her abilities to the illness the cattle suffered one summer. Other stories spoke of her curses...and of the love philters she could make.

Malcolm had gone looking for one of those.

‘So, how do we find Anna?’ his son asked.

‘’Tis a secret path and I must have your word of honour that you will not share the way with anyone. Not your friends. Not anyone.’ Now that someone lived above, it was for her safety as much as anyone seeking her.

With the solemnity of a man taking Holy Orders, Colm nodded his agreement. Davidh lifted him down to the ground, dismounted and tied the horse to a tree there. Then he crouched down and told Colm to climb on his back—it would be the easiest way to carry him up the steep path. Soon, they were headed to the copse of trees that hid the entrance to the cave and the way up the falls.

It was a slower pace than when he climbed alone, but soon he took the last few climbing steps and stood at the top of the falls not far from Anna’s cottage. As he approached it, the door was open and no one seemed to be within. She must be working in the field she called a garden. The last time he’d seen it, it was much too big to be called a garden.

‘Anna!’ Colm called out over Davidh’s shoulder. Reminded that he yet carried his son, he bent down and let the boy off his back. ‘Anna.’ He scampered towards the woman who was on her knees, digging at something in the dirt. ‘Papa brought me to see you.’

She jumped up at his words, quickly rubbing the dirt from her hands and taking him by the shoulders. She knelt before Colm and touched the back of her hand to his cheeks and forehead. She thought him ill. She’d told Davidh to seek her out if he worsened.

‘Anna, he is well,’ Davidh said, walking to them. ‘He is well.’

The worry did not leave her gaze immediately and did not dissipate until she listened to his breaths and studied his face. She stood and shook out her skirts to remove the dirt she’d collected on them while kneeling there in the field.

‘When you had not returned to the village, I wanted to make certain you were safe up here alone.’ The explanation sounded suspect even to his own ears, but she nodded.

‘I saw this one just this morn,’ she said. ‘But I appreciate having my basket back.’ Davidh had forgotten about the basket his son now held out to her. ‘What are these?’

‘They are...’ he began. ‘Tavish’s mother sent the cheese. The bread is from the baker and his wife. The thread is from Mistress Cameron—the one they call “Peggy”. Oh, and Old Ranald said you can have his needles and threads when you come down next since he willna be using them.’ It all came out of him in an unstopping burst of words and gestures as he explained each and every little thing in the basket and who’d sent it.