Part 2
Despite the back-breaking labour that Anna was forced to undertake, she grew into an extremely attractive and self-reliant young woman. Unfortunately, this and the fact that she was still unattached at the age of sixteen, did nothing to repel the attention of Murdo MacLeish. Anna could see that eventually, with her Father still away fighting, Murdo would find some way around getting her Father's permission for her hand.
One afternoon, when she was on her own at home, Murdo paid her a spur of the moment visit.
"You already have your rent for this month!" she told him, angrily, "What do you want now?"
"I just thought I'd drop my to inform you that your rent is going up, as of next month…" Murdo told her, his slinking form resting against the corner of the room, in the shadows. Anna felt a flush of anger as her told her how much she would have to pay.
"I don't believe it…How many times do I have to tell you 'no' before you will leave me alone? You are never going to get what you want, it doesn't matter how much rent you demand from me…"
"You see, I think you will give in," Murdo interrupted her, "Word has it that you had to sell another one of your beasts, the other week. It won't be long until you have no more to sell…besides yourself, that is. And on that fateful day, I shall be waiting."
Anna picked up a piece of firewood from the fireplace and hurled it as hard as she could at the repulsive man. He only gave an infuriating laugh as he dodged the projectile and strode away. Anna slammed the front door closed, before she broke down into tears.
When she related the story to old Aonghas, the man was furious. So were all of the people of the clan. They saw Murdo's plan for what it was; an attempt to destroy not only one their own, but also the rest of them. They resented the power that he held over them and so devised a plan together, to make sure that he did not get any more.
When Murdo came to collect the rent, the next month, Anna had it ready for him.
"It's all there," she replied, testily, when he began to count it.
"Does this mean that some more of your beasts are gone?" he questioned, a sycophantic grin gracing his features.
"No," Anna replied, not giving him an ounce of satisfaction, "Some friends helped me out."
"Your friends won't always be able to help you out," Murdo attempted to rain on her parade.
"I'll think of something," Anna contended.
Thus, Murdo MacLeish left that day with less satisfaction than he had arrived with.
OOOO
Month after month, Anna managed to find the money from somewhere, even though she had to work her fingers to the bone to do so. Even other clan members could only help out so much, but Anna resolutely worked for every penny that she received from them.
Eventually, Murdo began to lose his patience.
One day, panic erupted in the village. Word had it that MacDonald troops had eluded capture and were now nearby, heading straight for the village, with the allied forces trailing behind them. There was no way their forces would be able to get to them in time, before the MacDonalds attacked.
Anna arrived home from them moors to witness the ensuing chaos. She couldn't find Elspeth or Aonghas in the frantic crowds and Iain was still up on the moors. Petrified families packed all of their belongings into carts and wagons and prepared to flee for their lives. Suddenly, through the crowds, Anna caught sight of the stone-cold face of Murdo MacLeish. The cold, detached way in which he looked at her and all of the chaos going on around them, made Anna shiver and the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Suddenly, it dawned on her exactly what Murdo had meant. The day he had predicted had come, she realised. Those near and dear to her were lost, at least for the moment and whoever was left was hardly going to worry about her when faced with the threat to their own lives. Murdo, Anna realised, had her exactly where he wanted her…
Anna was paralysed with fear as the evil man on horseback began to make his way towards her. Eventually, she regained the ability to move, but still knew the futility of her situation; there was no way that she would be able to out-run his horse. Murdo seemed to realise this too and as Anna glanced back at him, she saw an amused grin grace his face. However, as soon as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a look of absolute fury. At first, Anna thought that she must be mistaken, so stopped to take a better look. She saw that it was so and that Murdo seemed to be looking not at her, but some point behind her. Reflexively, her head whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of a chestnut mare running at full gallop, towards her. After this, her eyes moved to analyse the mare's rider. He was a young man, one whom she didn't recognise, but whom was calling her name. Anna couldn't explain why, maybe it was the danger she was still facing from Murdo, but she felt unexplainably drawn to this man. While wondering how on earth he knew her, Anna took in only a fleeting glimpse of the rest of her features, before his arms were reaching down to her and lifting her onto the back of the horse, behind him.
"Hold on tightly," was his only explanation, before he urged the mare into a full-gallop, out of the village.
Anna took a good couple of minutes to shake out of her shocked state.
"Wait," she told her rescuer, insistently, "We have to go back…"
"MacLeish will not be far behind us," the young man replied, "This is your only chance to escape."
"But my clan…" Anna lamented, "They shall all be slaughtered by the MacDonalds…"
"The MacDonald forces are far from here. Our troops have them trapped at Dunvegan."
"But we were told that they were on their way here and that the MacKenzies were far behind them!"
"It was a lie," the mysterious stranger informed her, "Probably spread by Murdo, I'd say, to cause panic. Your Father knew that something was going to happen, so he sent me to come get you and take you to him."
"Wait," Anna interrupted him, "You know my Father? You fight with him?"
The man nodded.
"Why did he not come for me himself?"
"After years in battle, he is not the swift horseman that he once was. I owe my life to your Father, so offered to do this for him…and seeing as we have a past, I felt that I owed it to you, too…"
"Hey!" Anna protested, "Wait just a minute! I can assure you, we most definitely do not have 'a past,' as you like to call it…And you've got gall if you think I'm just going to sit here and …."
Anna didn't get the chance to continue any further, for the young man brought the horse to an abrupt halt and turned in the saddle to face her. The sight of those familiar blue-green eyes brought her tirade to an end and her mouth fell open, slightly. As her eyes swept over the familiar, yet changed features, Anna chided herself, silently. She should have known that smile, those eyes and that wavy hair anywhere! Although his hair had darkened substantially, that grin of his had barely changed!
"Alasdair MacKenzie!" Anna exclaimed, "What on earth brings you this far away from our troops?"
Later on, once Alasdair was satisfied with their progress, they stopped for the night. As he built and set a fire, he explained the purpose for his journey.
"Your Father caught wind of the trouble that MacLeish has been causing you. He was afraid that you might be in some danger, MacLeish is a powerful man, so he sent me to come and get you. I promised that I'd get to you as fast as I could and then bring you back to him. By that time, I suspect that they will already be marching towards Uig, so we'll have another day of riding ahead of us. Our troops plan to push the MacDonalds as far north as they can, before they launch their final attack…"
"Is my Father well?" Anna asked, cutting him off. She did not have time to be sorry, for Alasdair replied in the affirmative and a relief overtook the anxiety that had been with her for a long time.
"He's just a bit war-weary, is all. But still as strong as an ox…Is it true what we have heard about Uilleam? We were told that he was taken by the scarlet fever…"
Anna nodded, telling him, "Yes, four years ago this autumn…"
"I'm sorry," Alasdair told her, genuinely, "He was a wonderful wee laddie…"
Anna perked up at this and decided to ease the tension a bit.
"Like I was 'just a wee lassie'?" she asked, teasingly.
Alasdair just flushed, as he remembered the incident, all of those years before.
"I'm sorry about that, too," he replied.
"Well, I was," Anna conceded, "A wee lassie, I mean."
"But I was being obnoxious about it…" Alasdair admitted, "I don't know why I felt the need to impress the other boys at your expense..."
"We were only children," Anna told him, forgivingly, "All children are eejits, sometimes."
"I was, most of the time," he agreed, smiling.
And how Anna remembered that smile! Only, now it made her heart go pitter-patter and her knees go weak. It was a good thing that she was sitting down!
After a night of restless sleep, they set out again at first light and made good progress over the next morning. After this, they were hampered by driving rain and strong winds. But at least the rain would be washing away all of their tracks. That night, they stopped in a small, friendly village to take shelter, for the weather was too bad to sleep out of doors. Since it was not too far from where the troops had marched through, the day before, celebrations were only just winding down.
"Come," Alasdair helped Anna down from the horse, "We can shelter amongst friends, here."
It turned out that many injured men were being cared for, here and the village people were more than willing to share what little they had. After a warming dinner of venison stew and an even more warming welcome, Anna and Alasdair turned in for the night. Because of all of the extra inhabitants, they had to share the floor in front of the fire in somebody's house, but Anna didn't mind in the slightest, because she had come to trust Alasdair implicitly, despite having being reunited with him for a matter of days. At night, she would watch him in the firelight and marvel how the outgoing, confident little boy whom she had followed around after as a child, had become the strong warrior she now saw before her.
"He's just as tolerant of the wee lassie tagging along after him now," she noted to herself, with a smile. Some things didn't change, not even after all of these years they had spent apart.
"Allie?" she spoke up, into the darkness.
She just caught his smile as he was reminded of her childhood nickname for him, before he replied, "Mm-hm?"
"Do you think that my Father will be glad to see me?"
"I know he will be."
"But I have nothing left of what he entrusted to me…Not even his son."
"He understands that you tried your best, Anna. For years, you held everything together by yourself, under difficult circumstances. He knows that isn't easy to do."
"Hmm," Anna supposed.
"Besides, you're forgetting something even more obvious."
"What's that?"
"He hasn't seen you in seven years. He'll be too amazed at how beautiful you have grown to think about much else…"
Anna flushed bright red in the darkness.
"Thank you," she responded, softly.
She was used to receiving compliments, but from Allie, it seemed to mean so much more…
"You don't need to thank me for telling the truth, Anna," he replied.
Anna fell asleep that night feeling, for the first time in years, warm from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
Anna and Alasdair finally reached the allied encampment at dawn on the fourth day. As they passed through the crowds of warriors in various states of health, Anna unconsciously moved closer to Alasdair in front of her. She didn't like the way that some of these wretches were looking at her.
"Well, looky here!" one of them spoke up, "Looks like Swifty has got himself a wench…"
Allie quickly cautioned him, "I would watch who you call a wench, MacIver…This is the daughter of Dòhmnall the Sturdy."
The man quickly made his apologies and scurried away.
" 'Dòhmnall the Sturdy'?" Anna questioned.
"It is what they call your Father, here," Alasdair explained.
"And what is it that they call you?" Anna teased him with a grin, "Alasdair the Bloodthirsty?"
"No," the young man blushed right up to the dark roots of his hair, "Nothing like that…"
Anna didn't have the chance to question him any more, for she heard her name shouted from the crowds.
"Da?" she scanned the bodies, eagerly.
Alasdair pointed her in the right direction then helped lower her down to the ground.
"Da?" she shouted even louder, until the familiar figure of her Father appeared through the crowd.
"Da!" Anna exclaimed, running and throwing herself into those familiar, comforting arms.
"My! Look at what a young woman you have become!" her Father held her back to get good look at her, "You are every bit as beautiful as your Mother…"
"I'm only sorry that she and Uilleam aren't here to see this day," Anna expressed, tearily.
"I'm sure they are, lass," Dòhmnall comforted her, "And I'm sure that they are very proud of you, just as I am."
OOOO
"My Da' tells me that the two of you will be heading into battle, tomorrow," Anna commented, as she took a seat beside Alasdair around the huge, outdoor fire.
He nodded, looking as if transfixed by the tall flames in front of him.
Anna tucked her legs underneath her, contemplating what she was about to do.
"Please, Allie…" she reached out for his hand, taking it in hers, "I need to ask you to…"
"I promise, I'll watch over your Father in battle…" he quickly assured her.
"Thank you," Anna told him, smiling, "But that wasn't what I was about to ask… Take care of yourself, Allie. I want you to come home in one piece."
"I will," Alasdair promised her, looking at her small hand held within his, "I'm not that easy to kill. I've got my Father's warrior spirit watching over me."
"How long ago?" Anna asked, quietly.
"Nearly a year…He went the way he always wanted to go; In the middle of a glorious battle."
Anna just smiled, that sounded like the Seamus MacKenzie she remembered.
"So, you never told me before, what is it that they call you here?"
Alasdair blushed again and looked away, mumbling something.
"What was that?"
Finally, he looked up again. He seemed very hesitant to reveal this information.
"I said, 'Alasdair the Swift.' That's what they call me…"
"So!" Anna smiled, "That's why my father sent you for me…Unless they meant something else…"
"No!" Allie quickly protested, "I mean…it's because I'm swift on horseback…nothing else…"
Anna just smiled and gave his hand a squeeze, to let him know that she was only joking.
After a minute, Allie spoke up again.
"Your Father is a great man. I would follow him anywhere, into any battle."
"He is a good man," Anna nodded, then joked, "But I still don't like him spouting off about 'dying a glorious death on the battle field'…I hope you're not entertaining similar notions. I mean, I respect what your Father believed, but…"
Alasdair just shook his head, smiling.
"No," he confided, "That's not for me. When I go, I want to be warm in my bed, with my woman by my side…"
Neither of them could think of anything to say after that, so they sat in silence, staring at the flames for a while.
After that, Dòhmnall joined them and Alasdair was quick to bid his 'goodnight.'
Sitting with her Father, Anna thought back to what Allie had said, his words echoing in her head;
"…how beautiful you have grown" …"Your Father is a great man. I would follow him anywhere, into any battle"…"When I go, I want to be warm in my bed, with my woman by my side…"
After just watching his daughter for a while, Dòhmnall commented, "He's a good lad, that Alasdair…well, a good man…he's not a boy, anymore…"
"He is," Anna agreed, quietly.
"And you've turned into quite the young lady."
"Thank you, Da'…"
"I knew that if anybody could get to you in time, it was Alasdair."
"That's why they call him 'Swifty'?"
"Uh-huh, he's saved a lot of our men, in battle. He's fast on horseback and he's able to see things, before they happen. He's a sharp one, he is…he gets there before anyone else has even realised what is happening."
"He said he owes his life to you."
"He's more than repaid that debt to me," Dòhmnall revealed, "He was still just a boy when that happened. He was not wise in the ways of war. I just happened to be nearby…But he learned fast, after that day…Listen, Anna…I want you to move back to the village, tomorrow, when Alasdair and I march with the troops. This is no place for a woman on her own."
Anna just nodded, she was sensitive to her Father's worries and didn't want to distract him when he would have so much else to worry about.
"Okay," she conceded, "Maybe I could help them tend to the injured?"
"Aye," her Father nodded, "I'm sure that they could use the help…You're a good lass."
OOOO
The next morning dawned cold and crisp and Anna tacked up a horse, to get her back to the village.
"Do you think you can find the way well enough yourself?" Alasdair asked her, anxiously, from where he was tacking up his own horse, "I could ride there with you, then ride back and catch up with the troops…"
"I'll find the way there no problem, Swifty," Anna teased him, "Just you take care of yourself."
"I will do…Look after yourself, too…" Alasdair replied, "Anything else?"
Anna just looked at him, smiling softly and requested, "Just return to me, okay?"
Not trusting his voice at that moment, Alasdair nodded and returned her smile.
Afterwards, he would berate himself for not kissing her, not taking her hand in his, anything to get across what he was feeling, to show how he felt about her. After her Father had kissed her goodbye, the two men rode away towards the misty north, while Anna turned back south, the way they had come, the day before.
OOOO
A solid week of work saw Anna set off on horseback again. She volunteered to ride to the next town and collect supplies, which were running low with the number of invalids convalescing in the village. However, Anna didn't appreciate how difficult the journey was going to be and the rain began to pour, soon after she entered a thick forest. Despite the fact that she was dripping wet, Anna's pride refused to let her turn back. Soon, light was beginning to fade and Anna realised that she had been going in circles.
"God almighty!" she cursed, angrily, upset at having got herself into this situation. Things, however, turned deadly when her horse was frightened after a sudden noise sounded amongst the underbrush.
"Easy!" she tried to calm the frightened animal, "Easy, there!"
But the horse continued to back up, frantically then lost it's footing in the soft earth. Anna's piercing scream echoed through the forest as she was thrown from the horse's back and sent tumbling down an embankment. After endless minutes of tumbling, Anna finally felt the shock of ice-cold water as she fell into a slow running stream. After picking herself up and dusting the leaf-litter off her, she began the arduous task of climbing back up the steep hill. She wasn't even half way up when she was surprised by the sound of someone calling her name.
"I'm down here," she cried, as her feet slid in the mud that was now cascading down, around her. Through the driving rain emerged Alasdair's familiar form.
"Anna!" he called in alarm, "Are you alright?"
Anna nodded, even as her legs shook exhaustedly beneath her, "I lost my way then my horse spooked and threw me…Stupid beast!"
Alasdair supported most of her weight as they struggled the rest of the way up the hill.
"Oh, Anna!" he exclaimed, once he got a better look at her, "You're soaking…we need to get you back to the village."
"I've lost my horse, Allie, I don't know where she's gone…"
"She's probably half-way there, by now. Come, we'll take my horse, she's just a little further up this way."
Allie held her around the waist as she struggled to walk, but Anna was by now so exhausted that every piece of debris seemed like a tall wall.
"Allie…" she spoke up, "My legs…I can't…"
Alasdair took this in his stride and lifted her up into his arms, carrying her the rest of the way to where he had tied up his horse.
"Allie," Anna questioned, tiredly, "How did you find me?"
"I always know where you are, Anna," he replied, softly.
After lifting Anna into the saddle, Allie mounted behind her and spurred the horse on, guiding it with one hand, while his other arm held her securely against him. During the long ride back to the village, Anna let her head drop to rest against Allie's chest, where it gently bumped as the horse moved. With the continuing sheets of icy rain and the fierce, whistling wind, Anna was shaking uncontrollably by the time they arrived back at the village. Allie carried her inside the modest hut that she now called home, set her down beside the fireplace and began to set a fire.
"We need to get you warm," he told her, "You'll catch your death if you stay in those clothes, you're soaking…"
Even in her chilled state, Anna noticed that he was far from dry, himself. Still, she began to strip off her soaking clothes, until she remained clad only in her long cloak top. Once Allie had the fire going, he stood and, seeing her state of undress, quickly looked away and began to make his way to the door.
"Wait!" Anna exclaimed, "Where are you going?"
"I just…" Allie stammered, struggling to find the words, "I thought I should…"
"Do they need you back on the battlefield tonight? Why don't you stay?"
"But you…No, I should…You have to…" Allie tried to get all of his thoughts out at once.
"Don't go," Anna pleaded with him, her deep brown eyes stirring something within his very soul, "Don't leave me, not now…"
"Anna," Allie tried to hold himself back, but in vain, "We shouldn't…"
"Please?" Anna pleaded with him, one last time, "Stay with me, tonight."
Allie was now helpless to do anything but go to the open arms that beckoned him. All his resolve left him as he put his own arms around her and felt her mold her own cold, scantily clad body to his. His lips closed over hers and he felt a flush of cold as Anna released first the broach on his, then the one on her own cloak. All conscious thought left their heads as their bare skin came flush together in the dancing lights reflected from the fireplace.
OOOO
"How romantic!" Harriet sighed.
"I can't believe that he managed to find her, Ma'am!" Bud exclaimed in amazement, "How did he even know that she was in trouble?"
"Maybe he just knew," Harm suggested, quietly.
"But how did he manage to find her in the woods?" Sturgis questioned, "It wasn't as simple as just following her tracks, she'd been walking around all day."
"Maybe he just knew that, too," Mac suggested, sharing a knowing look with Harm.
OOOO
When Anna woke, the next day, her first thought was to wonder how she had gotten so tired…and sore. As the events of the previous night flooded back to her, she smiled, stretching lazily. Yep, the slight sore, sticky sensation between her legs attested as to just how she and Allie had passed the previous night…
Anna's eyes shot back open, with a start. Allie!
It was now well after dawn and Allie's place next to her was now long-empty and cold…Although Anna understood that Allie would have had to get back to the fighting before dawn, she could not help but be a little disappointed that he had not woken her to say goodbye. Then Anna smiled as she noticed the sprig of white heather that Allie had left on the mattress of straw, next to her.
OOOO
As Alasdair rode out with the troops, his mind strayed back to the amazing night he and Anna had shared. He'd never even comprehended that the relationship between a man and a woman could be as intense as that. It surpassed just the physical, the only way to adequately describe it was 'spiritual.' Alasdair grinned, oblivious to much else, remembering those liquid-brown eyes. Anna MacKenzie was 'his woman'! He fought the urge to laugh aloud with joy.
"Now what could possibly have our young Swifty so entranced that he's led his horse through the rough?"
Alasdair had not heard Dòhmnall approach. As he looked down at the ground below his horse, he realised that they were indeed in marshy ground.
"Thinking about anyone I would know?" Dòhmnall asked, knowingly.
"Somebody, who you might say is dear to both of us," Allie replied, honestly.
Dòhmnall just nodded his head with a satisfied smile and rode on. As Allie spurred his horse into a trot, his last thought was how, when he returned, he would make an honest woman of Anna MacKenzie.
OOOO
Anna ducked to exit under the low doorway of the house that was being used to administer to the injured combatants. With her basket of linen bandages on her hip, she crossed town and set out towards the small glen that ran alongside the chapel. All who had met Anna had noticed a change in her over the last few weeks. Since the morning when that young warrior was witnessed leaving her home, she had not so much walked amongst the other villagers as floated amongst them. But despite looking as if she had ascended to another spiritual plane, she had still thrown herself into the duties that were designated to every member of the village. Take right now, for instance. She was up to her elbows in bloody, soiled bandages. Her day was split between tending to the injured, changing their dressings and cleaning their weeping, sometimes rotting wounds. Even the vilest of infections didn't affect her, although the high number of fatalities did. The other half of her day was spent boiling all of the linen and scrubbing it clean so that there were clean bandages to do it all again the next day. It was hardly a pleasant task, but Anna tackled it all with a passion that was unsurpassed.
After dropping off the soiled bandages to be boiled and soaped, she picked up a load that had been newly cleaned ones and carried them to the glen to rinse them through. Once she had returned and rinsed four more loads, she set them out to dry in the wind and sunshine and went to return to the infirmary. On her way, she caught sight of a group of combatants heading in from the north. Anna always made a point of scanning the riders, then those lying injured in the wagon, just to make sure, before launching into her duties. This day, however, she knew there was something wrong when she spotted her Father at the front of the wagon, guiding the horses. Quickly, she scanned the men riding alongside him, searching for the figure that had become as familiar as her sturdy Father's.
"Your Father is a great man. I would follow him anywhere, into any battle."
Why wasn't Allie riding alongside her Father? She knew that he wouldn't leave his side unless he could help it. Anna still was not frightened, for she knew within her heart, she felt him, knew that he was still there with her. That could only mean one thing…
"Da?" she called loudly, to her Father.
He jerked his head, indicating towards the bed of the wagon, behind him.
Anna barely waited for it to stop before she climbed into the wagon bed, moving over other injured men to get to hers.
"Allie?" she asked anxiously, turning the unmoving form from his front onto his back.
Through pain-clouded eyes, he took in the sight of her above him and smiled, despite his pain.
"Anna," he breathed, softly.
"He took a hit in his side from the shot of a musket," Dòhmnall filled her in, "Those bastards got their weapons from the Sassenachs and filled them with debris…"
Anna gasped as she assessed Aladair's wounds. Both his cloak and his side had been reduced to shreds. He'd already lost a good deal of blood, although she couldn't tell what was his and what was that of others, painting the bed of the wagon. They would have a job of getting all of the shot out of his side and keeping his wounds from mortifying.
"Anna…" Allie moaned, delirious with pain.
"Hiya!" Anna greeted him, taking his head and cradling it in her lap, "What did you think you were doing, huh? What did I tell you about coming back to me, safe and sound? We've got plans, you know? I see that you weren't swift enough to dodge most of this shot."
She said this only teasingly, with a soft smile on her face and her caressing hands never leaving his face, which was staring up at her with near-reverence.
"He was swift enough to get in front of that musket," Dòhmnall revealed.
At Anna's questioning look, he elaborated, "Before Swifty's hulking form was in front of that musket, it was aimed right at my head."
With her mouth hanging open, Anna looked from her Father to Alasdair in amazement.
"Looks like I'm the one in your debt, now, son," Dòhmnall told the younger man, smiling.
"Don't tell him that!" Anna joked, "We'll never hear the end of it."
Allie choked out a chuckle.
"C'mon, a chuisle," Anna told him, "Lets get you into the infirmary…"
The term of endearment was not missed by her Father, but he didn't comment on it as they carried Alasdair inside.
OOOO
Over the next few days Anna stayed by Allie's side almost constantly. When he was in pain, she'd gently lift him to lean into her arms, cuddling his head to her breast and stroking his face until he calmed and drifted back into sleep. Anna did not leave to get sleep, only to personally launder Allie's soiled bandages to make sure that they were free of all contamination. Despite removing as much of the shot as possible, Allie's wounds ran freely with infection, bringing with it all manner of materials; the metallic bits and bobs that had been packed in with the shot, shreds of his tartan cloak, organic debris from the battlefield where he had fallen. Day after day, Anna tended to his wounds, until the blood from them ran clear. Still, the next time the dressings were removed, there was always more infection, both on the surface and below it. In between that time, Anna bathed him with cool water, just as she had done for her brother, to bring down the fever caused by the infection. Finally, as Anna thought that she might really start to despair, she pulled away Allie's dressings to find only black clots of dried blood. On closer inspection, the skin around the wound sites was no longer the puffy, bright-red shade it had been. Anna tended and dressed the wounds again then left them to start healing.
"How's the lad doing?" Dòhmnall asked, as Anna exited the hut with the soiled linen.
"His wounds are clear, now…I just need to watch him tonight, to make sure that his fever doesn't spike again."
"Why don't you get some sleep, Anna, love?" I could watch him tonight."
"No…Don't think that I don't appreciate it, Da'…I just…I need to be there, to know that I'm doing all that I can and can't do any more."
"But you haven't had a wink of proper sleep in days. Besides, he saved my life out there…and he's saved your life more than once. I feel that I owe it to him and if there is anything that I can't handle, I'll come and wake you."
Anna grudgingly conceded defeat, then realised her Father's words.
"Wait… 'he saved my life more than once?' When?"
"That night he came back to find you, when he knew there was something wrong…"
"He told you about that?"
"Well, about how he got you home…nothing else…but he didn't need to…"
Anna just gave him an appraising look, her cheeks beginning to colour as Dòhmnall looked knowingly back at her.
"What?" he asked her, chuckling, "You afraid that your old Da's been checking up on you and your boyfriend's comings and goings?"
"How…What do you know about that?" Anna tried to keep her voice cool.
"I'm nae daft, lass!" Dòhmnall snorted, "I have just one question; do you love him?"
Anna nodded and Dòhmnall could see no hesitation whatsoever in her expression.
"Then that's enough for me…"
He turned and went back inside, to watch over Alasdair while Anna continued on to go and boil wash the linen.
That evening, once Anna had finally eaten for the first time in days, she got some much-needed sleep. It was pitch-black outside when she woke, but despite the late hour, she got up and made her way back over to the infirmary.
She let out an amused breath when she got inside and straightened up. Allie was sleeping peacefully on his pallet on the floor. Dòhmnall was by his side, propped up against a wall, in a similar state of slumber. Anna crossed to her injured warrior's side and checked his forehead for any sign of fever. It was perfectly cool. With a sigh of relief and a silent prayer of thanks, Anna carefully lay down beside Allie. Before she closed her eyes, she watched him. How she longed to touch him, longed to be closer to him. Anna fought the impulse, for she knew that Allie was sleeping a healing sleep. She didn't want to disturb or accidentally hurt him. So she stayed where she was, closed her eyes and contented herself with basking in the slight warmth radiating from Allie.
The next time Anna woke, there was a glow to the sky that predicted the coming dawn. Her Father was now gone, probably having sloped off to bed at some point during the night. When she looked to Alasdair's face, she met his brilliant blue-green eyes.
"Hey there!" she greeted him, softly, "You're finally awake. How are you feeling?"
"Better," Allie responded, his voice rough and husky because he hadn't used it in so long, "now that you're here…"
"I've been here almost all of the time, over the past six days," Anna revealed, "Where have you been?"
"I don't know," Allie pondered, "The other side, I guess…"
"Yeah, well, they must have realised that you belong to me," she joked.
"There's no place I'd rather be," Allies replied, moving to take Anna's hand, grimacing even at the slight movement.
"Don't," Anna urged, hurting even as he did, but he carried on anyway, taking her hand and raising it to his lips, pressing a kiss there.
OOOO