LITMIR.BIZ

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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.

      ‘My thanks for bringing me such treats,’ she said, smiling as she held the basket closer. ‘Though I could have got these when I visited next.’

      ‘The baker’s bread would have been stale,’ Colm said.

      ‘They like to pay their debts promptly,’ Davidh added.

      ‘Ah. I had not thought on that,’ Anna said.

      ‘More than that, they wanted you to have something for your care and kindness to them.’

      She smiled then, first at his son, then she raised her gaze to his and he saw tears shimmering there. Had she not thought those who’d benefited from her treatments would respond like this? Mayhap that was not how it was done in the place where she’d lived before? It mattered not, for she was here now and this was how they would thank her. And in other ways.

      ‘Do you need help there?’ he asked, trying to change their conversation. The plots of land laid out were covered in overgrown weeds though he knew there must be some plants within the brush and leaves that she wanted to save and cultivate. ‘I could send some of my men to take care of the heaviest work.’

      For a moment, she looked as if she would refuse. Then, she stood back and turned away, putting her hands on her hips, her lovely hips, and stared out at the work before her. ‘But you would have to tell them how to get up here.’

      ‘I could let them try to climb the falls, but I suspect there would not be many willing to do that.’

      She laughed then. She turned to face him and let out another burst of merriment that made him smile, as well.

      ‘You jest!’ she said, nodding at Colm who stared at him as though he spoke a language he did not understand.

      ‘Of course I jest. I will have them swear an oath as my son did before showing them the way,’ he offered. ‘One that will make them shrivel and die if they reveal the truth.’

      Now it was Colm who laughed and Davidh swore he would do whatever was necessary to make such a sound a regular occurrence for his son. He wanted the smile that

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