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“He’ll remember his manners later and then thank you,” Gillian said “I appreciate your patience with hih a very difficult time”
“But you got hih it unharain put his hands on her shoulders She wasn’t sure if he was offering her praise and co sure she didn’t try to escape
Annie appeared abrew she’d heated over the fire She held the pan with a thick rag she’d wound around the iron handle and tested the warer
“It isn’t too hot,fierce If you need to scream”
“She will not make a sound” Brodick repeated the comment in a firm, no nonsense voice
The arroganta fact, and she couldn’t help but be a little perturbed with his high-handedto be brave or not Why did he think it was his decision to make?
Annie continued to hover, looking frightened and unsure Gillian glanced up “Why is your treatment called mother’s fire?”
She asked the question a scant second before Brodick nodded to the woman and she poured the liquid over Gillian’s open wounds The pain was instantaneous, horrific, consuh it had been flayed and then dipped in lye Her skin was on fire, the fla down to her bone Her response was just as instantaneous Her stomach lurched, her head spun, and her vision blurred She would have leapt out of the chair if Dylan and Brodick hadn’t been holding her down Dear God, the excruciating agony wouldn’t let up After the first spasan to throb and pulsate, and her arh hot eainst Dylan, she took deep, gasping breaths, squeezed her eyes shut to hold her tears back, clenched her jaw tight so she wouldn’t screaht
Had he shown her a glimmer of sympathy, she would have broken down and sobbed like a baby, but when she looked at him for help and saw his calain her control
Realizing she was pressing against Dylan, she forced herself to sit forward in the chair But she couldn’t stop squeezing Brodick’s hand, though God knows she tried Just when she was certain she couldn’t take another second of the torture, it began to ease
“The worst is over, lass,” Annie whispered in a voice that sounded as though she, too, wanted to have a good cry “Now I’ salve on your skin and wrap it up tight in a nice bandage Is the pain easing yet?”
Gillian tried, but she found it impossible to speak just yet, and so she stiffly nodded She stared beyond Brodick’s shoulder, focusing on a splinter of wood in the far wall, and prayed she wouldn’t pass out
Annie worked quickly, and within minutes Gillian’s arm was covered in a thick white ointment and then wrapped from elborist It ard work, for Gillian still refused to let go of Brodick’s hand Now that the pain was bearable, she realized he was rubbing her paled, but the little caress had a powerful effect She felt as though he had taken her into his ar her
After Annie tied the ends of the bandage at her wrist, Gillian took one last cal breath and finally pulled her hand away from Brodick’s
“There, it’s done,” Annie whispered “You’ll be as fit as ever toet the injury wet for a couple of days”
Gillian nodded again Her voice was hoarse when she thanked the woman for her help
“If you’ll excuse an as she slowly stood up Dylan took hold of her elbow and helped her She sagged against hihted herself, and then inclined her head to Annie before she left the cottage The soldiers bowed as she passed them
Gillian was certain they watched her froe to run to the cover of the trees Alec was skipping barefoot in the streauard Fortunately, the child didn’t notice her when she hurried in the opposite direction or hear her when the first sob escaped
Liam froith concern as he watched her leave, then turned back to Annie “Is there any of that mother’s fire left?”
“Aye, a few drops,” she answered
Liam went to the table, pulled out his dirk, and made a small cut above his wrist All of his friends knehat he was going to do, and none of them was the least bit surprised, for Liaroup and also the most curious
Wanting to know exactly what the liquid felt like against a raw cut, he put his arm out over the cloth Annie had left on the table and ordered, “Pour some of the liquid on this nick I would kno it feels”
If Annie thought the request was insane, she was sh she were in a cave with a family of bears The hlands Easily insulted and quick to react, theyenemies Yet at the same time, they were the best of allies Annie counted herself fortunate to be related to the Buchanans, because that meant she and her husband would never by preyed upon by other more civilized clans
She stepped forward to do as he ordered “Your cut is paltry co won’t be near as bad”
Afterthe comment, she tipped the pan and let the liquid pour into the cut Liaed, he nodded to Annie and then turned and strode outside Brodick and the others followed Surrounding hiive his report Aaron smiled when Liam finally spoke because his voice sounded very like the croak of a drowning frog
“It hurt like a son of a bitch,” he whispered “I don’t kno the lass stood it”
Robert joined the Alec like a sack of wheat over his shoulder The child squealed with delight until he noticed that Gillian wasn’t there A look of stark terror crossed his face as he scraround and screas Robert clapped his hand over the boy’s mouth to quiet him
“She’s just beyond the trees, Alec She’ll be right back Calm yourself”
Tears poured down the child’s face as he ran to his uncle Brodick picked hi you are, lad,” he said gruffly “Gillian didn’t leave you”
Ashamed that he had panicked, Alec hid his face in the crook of Brodick’s neck “I thought maybe she did,” he admitted
“Since you’ve known her, has she ever left you?”
“Nobut soet scared,” he whispered “I didn’t used to, but now I do”
“It’s all right,” Brodick said, and with a sigh he added, “You’re safe now I’ happen to you”
“That’s what Gillian said,” he reonna let anyone hurt me, not ever” He lifted his head and stared into Brodick’s eyes “You got to take care of her too ’cause she’s just a puny lady”
Brodick laughed “I haven’t noticed anything puny about her”
“But she is She cries so I told her she needed you I don’t want nobody to hurt her any more”
“I’ to let anyone hurt her,” he assured the child “Now stop worrying and go with Robert to fetch his horse We’ll leave as soon as Gillian returns from her walk”
Gillian didn’t return to the clearing for another ten minutes, and it was evident fro Brodick waited by his stallion while she said her thank-you to Annie, and when she hurried over to hi up behind her She was so exhausted froainst himBrodick was suddenly overwhelentle as he settled her on his lap, then wrapped his arm around her and held her close Within ed his ently settled Gillian in the crook of his arelic face, and with the back of his hand he brushed her cheek tenderly He finally gave in to the desire that had been plaguing him since the moment he’d laid eyes on her He leaned down and kissed her soft lips, shed
His lish, and God only knew, he couldn’t abide anyone or anything English He had learned his lesson well on his one foray into that hateful country when he was young and foolish He’d wanted to find a bride as fitting as Iain Maitland’s wife, Judith, but the quest had been futile, for Iain had found the only treasure England had to offer
Or so Brodick had believed until he met Gillian Noasn’t so certain
“You’re a courageous lass,” he whispered And with a nod, he added, “I’ll give you that”
But no more
CHAPTER EIGHT
Alec’s needs caet some answers, he decided to wait until after the boy had been fed to question Gillian It was late, well past sunset, and the htly The woman and the child were tired They e in a narrow, secluded tract of land buffered on three sides by towering pines The clearing eased down to the grassy bank of Beech Lake, a clear, stone-bottomed basin filled with speckled trout
Aaron placed a plaid on the ground near the s Gillian was shivering She thanked him with a smile that caused the soldier to blush like a little boy
Gillian sat with her legs tucked under her on the edge of the woolen cloth while Alec sprawled like a lazy Roel looked as though she had just been to battle Her coray; her lips were pinched, and her eyes were bright with fever, yet she didn’t utter a word of complaint She didn’t want any of the food Robert offered, but she ly hollow stoulp his food down and would have done just that if she hadn’t given him only s hiain and she showed a to his nonstop chatter without losing her patience
The little boy was in good cheer until she suggested he bathe He scra, “I don’t need a bath”
Gillian was the only one asn’t surprised by the child’s outburst “You’ll feel better after,” she promised
Alec vehemently shook his head “No, I won’t,” he shouted “You can’t make me”
“Alec, you will not speak to the lady in such a tone,” Brodick ordered “And stop hiding behind me A Maitland doesn’t cower”
From the boy’s puzzled expression Brodick surmised he didn’t knohat the word “cower” ood because he immediately stepped out to stand next to his uncle His shoulder pressed against Brodick’s thigh
“I don’t want to have a bath,” he muttered
“Why not?”
He pointed to Gillian “She’ll make me use her soap, and then I’ll”