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"Lass?"

"H?"

"Och, I told you not to fret so Now up you get, there ’s still work to be done and I’d do it while the lad sleeps " Kat rustled the overstuffed pocket of her green striped apron

"I’ve soar?"

"Aye, sugar, and what else?" Kat stared incredulously "You don’t use sugar where you’re fro to do?"

"’Tis the only thing to do " Kat shooed her off the bed "The sugar halts the bleeding and keeps the wound clean "

Lily had been relieved to find that, once cleaned up, the boy’s injuries weren ’t as dire as they had originally seeash on John’s head was shallow and only a few inches long, a s the lip of the tankard t hat struck hiash and wrapping it tight with strips of linen "A bhobain! " the maid mumbled "You wee rascal, I kent you ’d look trouble in the eye one of these days But who’d figure that trouble would appear in a kirtle and petticoat? Och, that girl " She knotted the bandage eirl! And to clout the lad on his head with a tappit hen? Losh! I kent froht But she ca of her, aye? He ’s no time for the jillets who try to catch his eye with flattery and their sighs and pouts But he sa the lad took a notion to her so Ewen opened his doors But give a beggar a be d and he ’ll pay you with a louse Aye it’s true," Kat responded to Lily’s widened eyes, "and that Rowena is a beggar if I ’ve seen a one But what can’t be helped must be endured, and I did endure that lass and her h "

Johnthe lad " Kat gently pushed the hair away frouSleep and I ’ll be here when you wake"

"Cos to discuss " The an to follow dutifully behind, but what she had to say couldn’t wait She grabbed the maid’s arm "Kat"--Lily’s voice threatened to crack--"I ’ve s "

Kat turned and studied her for a irl How’ve you made a mess? You saved the lad’s life is what you’ve done And proud you should be As I am And as the laird will be when he hears tell of it "

"But that’s just it, Kat Ewen’s in trouble, and Robert too probably Rowena said the MacKintosh man has fled the castle, and he’s surely on his way to find Ewen MacKintosh wants him dead"--Lily felt her chin start to treet to hieness and intensity of her situation suddenly overwhelather herself "I just…what should I do, Kat?"

"Lily," Kat tsked, "you ’ve a stouter heart than this, aye? What you’ll do nohat you’ve been doing since you set foot in Tor Castle " Kat cradled Lily’s face in her calloused hands "You’ll be the braw lass I ken you to be You ’ll fight for those you love As you did for John And as you will for your Ewen " Kat tightened her grip and smiled "Aye, lass, don’t look from me now I ken that you love our laird Just as he loves you And love you he does I can see it in his way, how he looks at you, speaks with you Och, the man can be as stubborn as a mule but I ’ve kent him since he was a wee laddie and I can tell you true, Lily, I ’ve never seen it and never thought to see it, but you ’ve our Ewen ’s heart "

"Thanks, Kat" Lily bea that she could conquer anything in her path Redcoats or one, " she added, "you and John should be safest here Now, I think I ’ve got me a laird to save "

"Why, Mistress Rowena! " Lennox swayed easily in the saddle, a look of befuddle across his worn face "Is that you?"

The stable-first into theover the side of a disinterested old mare, he babbled cheerfully,

"Miss Kat wanted that I should er bits into yon burn So it can wash away like The ly, as if privy to soe "Lochiel hi in the s "

Rowena shot hied to roll onto her side, but had been unable to loosen her ties Lennox warily approached her "Just what are you about out here, mum?" Concern filled his voice "Were you for another picnic, is it?"

Confounded, he studied her The front of her dress was sodden with filth, but her bound hands and feet ree that she had been rolling in "Don ’t you know you’re in the et you Theled to release her wrists but only soiled herself further She jeered, "You bloody tumfie, don’t stand there dus, revealing the bonds on her filthy calf "Help me out of this! "

"Och, ure He mumbled, "I cannot, mum"