A/N: This chapter deals with severe depression. If you have issues with that or find it may be a trigger for you, please skip over the section in italics that begins and ends with a triple asterisk.
As always- thanks to my beta girls- Prettyflour and Ninmesarra- you guys rule the world! Without you, my story would be a pitiful attempt…. Thanks for your guidance and support!
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Plodding on, putting one foot in front of the other, Rose wiped the sweat from her brow. Her valise was feeling heavy in her hand, and she felt guilty for leaving without really saying good-bye to her new family. It was better that way. With a small amount of coercion from them, and Rose would have changed her mind. But she could not fathom the thought of placing them in danger again.
She had eaten the last of her bread and cheese during the night. Her stomach growled in protest of its emptiness. She'd spied some berries not far from her camp, but couldn't be sure if they were safe or not to eat. She'd contemplated eating them anyway, but decided that ending her life in such a way was the coward's way out.
She'd made it the place where the Hales' village had been, but it was still in ruins.
She'd wandered close to the charred remains that had been her home. The pain the sight caused drove her to her knees. She collapsed in a heap and curled in on herself to try and hold the pain in. It managed to escape in great, heaving, throat-ripping sobs.
She'd thought back to the happy times she'd shared with Ewan and the too brief time she'd been able to cuddle her son to her chest. That wee lad was their pride and joy- the apple of their eyes. Ewan would hurry home from his duties to spoil him with attention. He hadn't even had a chance to live. And Rose blamed herself.
Her fingertips traced the scabs that had formed on her cheek and she grimaced. The physical pain had helped release the emotional pain. Even if only for a moment.
***Thinking about how horrible her curse of beauty was and the consequences that it'd had on her life, she grabbed a sharp rock and slashed her cheek three times. Rose hoped that it would mar her enough that no one would consider her beautiful anymore. She hated her appearance. If she could have been an ugly shrew, her life would have turned out so differently. Or even if she could have just been plain- with nothing special to separate her from the other women.
Feeling the need to change more than just her face, she grabbed the handle of the knife she had hidden within her braid again and chopped her braid off. Her hair fell around her shoulders in uneven lengths. She couldn't bring herself to care at all.***
She startled at the sound of footsteps behind her. She'd thought herself well-hidden in the brush and undergrowth of the forest. Her heart pounded in her ears. Silent tears escaped and made tracks down her cheeks as terror flooded her soul.
Slowly she turned, looking behind for the maker of the noise. Her jaw dropped and she stared in surprise.
"Katie?" she whispered.
"Rosalie?" the woman whispered back. "Can it really be?" She reached out a hand and caressed Rosalie's cheek.
"I was about to ask ye the same. H-h-how are ye here?" Rose whispered. "Or am I only dreaming?"
"Tis nay any dream," the blonde girl said as she teasingly pinched Rose's arm.
"But I saw ye all dead in the house. Nay one got out. I dinnae understand."
"I heard ye scream, Rosalie. I could nae get Collin off of me to go with ye. I tried. I really did. By the time I managed to get out of the hut, ye were long gone. I could nae get the others to wake up either. I tried to drag Collin out, but I could nae. He was too heavy. The others…. Weel, I dinnae ken, I could nae get them though. And then, I could nae find ye. I looked for ye for a fortnight afore someone found me and took me with them. I tried to tell them to find ye, but they kenned who had taken ye. It took me years to let ye go, and now here ye are. How did ye get away from the MacDougald?" Katie paced the ground back and forth while waiting for Rosalie's answer.
"A m-merchant helped get away. When they MacDougald found out, he killed him, but I was safely ensconced with the Hales by then, where were ye Katie?" Rose whispered her question, and before giving her the time to answer, she sobbed out, "I'm so sorry! I dinnae mean for mama and papa to get killed! I'm so sorry. It was me they wanted. I should ne'er have lived past birth, Katie! I'm so-" the words were stuck deep in her throat. Her cries tore out from her body like an arrow shooting from a bow. Tears left streaks in the dirt on her cheeks.
Katie gathered her close and rocked her back and forth, "Rose, surely ye ken ye are nae to blame for what happened. I ne'er thought that! Never!" she vowed. "I thought ye must have died at the hands of that beast when we ne'er heard about ye. Mama and Papa would nae want ye to blame yerself either, ye ken. Nay one could e'er think that. They were proud of ye." Katie continued to rub soothing circles into Rosalie's back as she waited for her tears to abate.
Wiping her eyes, Rosalie pulled back and looked at the face so like her own. The blue eyes were mirrors of her own. The only difference she could see, besides a different nose shape, were etched laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. Katie's face was framed by brown hair streaked with gray instead of the honey gold color of Rose's hair.
Katie was appraising Rose's appearance too. She took in the dirty, bedraggled state of her, and the scratches down her face. Taking note of the way her hung in different lengths around her shoulders, Katie sighed, her heart heavy. "What happened to ye, Rose? Ye look like ye've been in a fight. Are ye still being chased by evil men?" she questioned quietly.
"I dinnae think so. It is nae men I run from now, anyhow. Nay, I run from memories and my own curse," Rose told her quietly.
"I dinnae understand. Ye're own curse?"
Rose found herself spilling her story out to Katie. It came in fits and starts among many tears. Katie cried for Rose too. She'd been through so much. When the tale was finished, Katie sighed again. "I wish I could tell ye how sorry I am, but there are nay words to describe it."
Rosalie stood and helped Katie to her feet as well. "I am so glad ye dinnae die in the fire, Katie! I can nae believe my sister is still alive!" she exclaimed. She grinned widely for the first time since leaving Cullshire.
Katie hugged Rosalie tightly to her again and whispered her agreement. Pulling back, Rosalie glanced around for the first time since laying eyes on her sister. She noticed the wagon and contingent of men surrounding them. Rose's eyes widened in fear before quickly glancing back at Katie.
"Katie? What's going on? Where are ye going?"
"Rose, dinnae fret. I promise we will both be fine. Ye can come with me to see Laird Cunningham. I am travelling with my daughter, Siobhan, so he and she can sign the betrothal papers. Why dinnae ye come with us? It will be good to have ye along. We can talk more whilst we are there. We plan to stay two months there so Seth and Siobhan can acquaint themselves. I ken they will have room for ye too."
Rose chewed her lip as she thought. Should she risk going with her sister? She'd thought her dead all these years, only to find her again. Could it be the fates finally smiling on her? With a quick nod, she joined Katie in the waiting carriage and was introduced to her niece.
~*HR*~
The food sat like a boulder in his stomach. He couldn't sleep either. The bags under his eyes only served to emphasize the emptiness within their glorious orbs. The one glittering blue was now lifeless. His hair hung in dirty curls and wild disarray. He forced himself to get up and run to the edge of the forest to empty his stomach again. When the retching stopped, he returned to the hall and sat at the table with Bella and Edward.
"Emmett, ye can nae keep on like this. We have to either find her or ye have to get over her. Ye are wasting away to nothing and I can nae stand it."
With a roll of his eyes, Emmett stood from the table and trudged to his chamber. He sat on the bed and held the pillow she'd used tightly to him. His heart was gone. Rose had ripped it from his chest when she'd left. He couldn't eat without remembering the conversations they'd partaken of at the table. He couldn't sleep without her invading his dreams and tantalizing him, only for him to wake gripping a cold pillow. The memory of the precious commodity her laughter and smile had been mocked him. He had no desire to bathe either. Edward was threatening to tie him up and plunge him in the freezing loch before long if he didn't clean himself up soon.
Motivation was a thing of the past. With his heart gone, his reason for existing was gone as well. It hurt to breathe. He stared out the window, praying she'd return soon. After hours would go by and there was still no Rosalie, he'd make his way to the chapel and light a candle, praying for her safety. He begged God to not let any more harm come to her. He wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to her because he'd driven her off.
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Two Weeks Later
Emmett sat sharpening his claidhmor for lack of anything else to do as he stared, still watching, out the window. There was a ruckus at the gate. The messenger finally made it in the hall. Soon there was a loud knock upon his chamber door.
"Emmett!" his twin yelled.
With a sigh, he lay down his sword and opened the thick door. He grunted a greeting at his unwelcome visitor.
Edward slapped his shoulder and held the missive out to him. "Read this. Ye need to do it. Right. Now."
Emmett grabbed the parchment and began reading. His eyes moving back and forth over the paper. A frown appeared on his face before he quickly looked up, his blues eyes meeting the topaz eyes of his brother. "Is this for real?"
"Weel, I certainly dinnae write it and neither did Bella. It bears looking into, dinnae ye think?" Edward questioned.
With a nod, Emmett gathered a change of clothes, a clean plaid, and a saddle bag. Grabbing Edward in bear hug, he pounded his back and laughed for the first time in close to a month. Setting Edward back on his feet, Emmett ran down the stairs and loaded another sack with hard tack and salted meats, bread, cheese and fruit for the journey he was making.
Leaving the keep, taking two steps at a time, he noticed Jacob had their horses saddled. He grabbed the reins and mounted up, spurring his horse on with Jacob right behind him.
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A/N: So? What do you think? Rose's sister managed to escape the fire too! That's good news, right? I'll do my best to have Chapter 10 posted next week. It's not flowing so well right now, though. :(