Highlander Unchained(62)
“For me?” Dorrie asked incredulously.
Dawn nodded.
Tears rimmed Dorrie’s eyes. “Why? I have treated you so badly and yet you help me.”
Dawn patted her chest, shook her head and pointed at her.
Dorrie scrunched her brow and then as if understanding dawned on her she said, “It doesn’t matter what I’ve done,” —tears trickled down her cheeks— “you cannot see me suffer.”
Dawn nodded.
“I’m sorry, so very sorry,” Dorrie cried, her body shivering.
Dawn shook her head and urged her to drink more cider. Then she brought the bucket of heated rain water to rest beside Dorrie’s chair and once she put the tankard down, Dawn tugged at her blouse.
“I am soaked to the bone,” Dorrie said hurrying to strip off her clothes.
Dawn and Dorrie worked together washing the mud off Dorrie while the woman cried. Dawn wasn’t sure what to do. So when they finally finished and Dorrie was dressed in clean garments, Dawn ran and got a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around Dorrie hugging her, hoping to stop her shivers.
Dawn was shocked when Dorrie slipped her arms out of the blanket and hugged her tightly.
“I will not forget what you have done for me.”
Dawn smiled and handed her another piece of meat. Dorrie took it, smiled, and reached for a piece of meat handing it to Dawn.
~~~
Cree was ready to kill someone. “How did the culprit manage to elude my best tracker and warriors?”
Sloan rubbed his chin. “I don’t know.”
Cree glared at him. “Not an acceptable answer.”
“I agree, but it is the only answer that I presently have for you, my lord. The rainstorm has hampered attempts to continue tracking. We will try again in the morning whether it continues to rain or not. But I do not hold any hope.”
“You feel he has gotten away?”
Sloan nodded. “I do, though I wonder if he waits for another chance to get Dawn, not wanting to return to Colum having failed his mission.”
“Dawn will have a guard with her at all times. She is to go nowhere without one.” Cree poured himself another tankard of ale. “And make certain that the men are aware that she cannot scream out to them for help. They must keep an eye on her at all times.”
“I cannot imagine the terror she must have felt when she was attacked and could not scream out for help.”
Cree gripped his tankard so hard that his knuckles turned white and his expression murderous. That very thought had haunted him from when he had first laid eyes on Dawn’s bruises. She could not scream out in rage or fear, though no doubt she had wanted to. Her voice was forever trapped inside her, leaving her much too vulnerable.
He did not like the thought of her being vulnerable to anyone but him. Perhaps a few lessons in how to defend herself would prove helpful.
“I must say I admire her bravery. She did not surrender or give into the thug. She fought, even though he pummeled her face. And what amazes me even more is that she sought no help afterwards. She saw to her own wounds.” Sloan shook his head, as if he didn’t believe it.
Cree slammed his fist on the table causing Sloan to jump. “She did not seek help because she assumed no one would care what had happened to her. This land and these people belong to me and I want them all, every one of them, to know that they are now under my protection and that I will let no harm come to them. Dawn has been harmed and I want them to see with their own eyes what I do to those who attempt to harm what is mine.”
“I believe that you have made yourself clear by putting Dorrie in the stocks. Tongues have been wagging incessantly about it, though no one has dared speak against it.”
“They will learn to follow my decrees or suffer the consequences. Speak with Dorrie tomorrow and see what she can tell you about this Seth that she claims is the one who delivered Old Mary’s message. And have you spoken to Old Mary?”
“I have and she was quite upset that someone had used her to hurt Dawn.”
“Move Old Mary to Dawn’s cottage,” Cree ordered. “She is too old to be living removed from the village, besides her eyes and ears will better serve me here.”
“She is old and set in her ways, she may protest—”
“Did I say it was a request? And are you implying that the old woman intimidates you?”
Sloan leaned closer and lowered his voice. “The men believe that she is a witch, sometimes knowing things before they happen.”
“She is an old woman, no doubt wise for her years and she watches and listens. That is how she is able to predict what will happen. And she is friend to Dawn unlike the villagers who ignore her. Dawn treats her well and sees that she has food when no one else cares.”