Och, that? Jamies face relaxed a bit. Roger Mac had told me how his father was a priest and lived for a great many years at his manse in Inverness. We made three boxesit was a good bit of work to copy out all the letters, mindand I had them sealed and sent to three different banks in Edinburgh, with instructions that in such and such a year, each box was to be sent on to the Reverend Wakefield at the manse in Inverness. We hoped at least one would turn up; I put Jemmys whole name on each one, thinkin that would mean something to you, but no one else. Go on, thoughye smashed yon Cameron wi the box and then ?
It didnt knock him out all the way, but I got past him and into the hall. So I ran down to the hall treeits not the same as the one your parents have, she said to Ian, and then remembered what one of the last letters had said. Oh, God! Your father, Ian Im so sorry!
Oh. Aye, he said, looking down. Shed grasped his forearm, and he put his own big hand over hers and squeezed it lightly. Dinna fash, a nighean. I feel him wi me, now and then. And Uncle Jamie brought my mam back from Scotlandoh, Jesus. He stopped, looking at her round-eyed. She doesna ken yere here!
Shell find out soon enough, Jamie said testily. Will ye tell me what the devil happened to this gobshite Cameron?
Not enough, she said grimly, and finished the story, including Camerons conspirators and the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral.
So I took Jem and Mandy and went to Californiaits on the other side of Americato think what to do, and finally I decided that there wasnt any choice; we had to try to find Rogerhed left a letter that told me he was in Scotland, and when. And so we did, and She gestured widely to the wilderness around them. Here we are.
Jamie drew in air through his nose but said nothing. Nor did Ian, though he nodded briefly, as though to himself. Brianna felt strangely comforted by the proximity of her kin, eased by having told them the story, confided her fears. She felt protected in a way she hadnt for a good long time.
There it goes, Ian said suddenly, and she followed the direction of his gaze, seeing the sudden wild swaying as the rose briers gave way to the bears bulk, waddling slowly away. Ian stood up and offered Brianna a hand.
She stretched to her full height and swayed, easing her limbs. She felt so easy in mind that she barely heard what her father said, rising behind her.
Whats that? she said, turning to him.
I said, theres the one thing more, isnt there?
More? she said, with a half smile. Isnt this enough to be going on with?
Jamie made a Scottish noise in his throat, half apology, half warning.
Yon Robert Cameron, he said. He likely read our letters, ye said.
A trickle of ice water began a slow crawl down the groove of Briannas spine.
Yes. The sense of peaceful security had suddenly vanished.
Then he kens about the Jacobite gold we keep hidden wi the whisky, and he also kens where we are. If he knows, so do his friends. And he maybe canna travel through the stones, but there are maybe those who can. Jamie gave her a very direct blue look. Sooner or later, someone will come looking.
3
Rustic, Rural, and Very Romantic
THE SUN WAS BARELY up, but Jamie was long gone. Id awakened briefly when he kissed my forehead, whispered that he was going hunting with Brianna, then kissed my lips and vanished into the chilly dark. I woke again two hours later in the warm nest of old quiltsthese donated by the Crombies and the Lindsaysthat served us for a bed and sat up, cross-legged in my shift, combing leaves and grass heads out of my hair with my fingers and enjoying the rare feeling of waking slowly, rather than with the oft-experienced sensation of having been shot from a cannon.
I supposed, with a pleasant little thrill, that once the house was habitable and the MacKenzies, along with Fergus and Marsalis son Germain, and Fanny, an orphan left with us after the horrible death of her sister, were all ensconced within, mornings would once more resemble the exodus of bats from Carlsbad Cavern that Id seen once in a Disney nature special. For now, though, the world was bright and filled with peace.
A vividly red ladybug dropped out of my hair and down the front of my shift, which put an abrupt end to my ruminations. I leapt up and shook the beetle out into the long grass by the Big Log, went into the bushes for a private moment, and came out with a bunch of fresh mountain mint. There was just enough water left in the bucket for me to have a cup of tea, so I left the mint on the flat surface Jamie had adzed at one end of a huge fallen poplar log to serve as worktable and food preparation space, and went to build up the fire and set the kettle inside the ring of blackened stones.
At the far edge of the clearing below, a thin spiral of smoke rose from the Higginses chimney like a snake out of a charmers basket; someone had poked up their smoored fire as well.
Who would be my first visitor this morning? Germain, perhaps; hed slept at the Higgins cabin last night with Jemmybut he wasnt an early riser by temperament any more than I was. Fanny was a good distance away, with the Widow Donaldson and her enormous brood; shed be along later.
It would be Roger, I thought, and felt a lifting of my heart. Roger and the children.
The fire was licking at the tin kettle; I lifted the lid and shredded a good handful of mint leaves into the waterfirst shaking the stems to dislodge any hitchhikers. The rest I bound with a twist of thread and hung among the other herbs suspended from the rafters of my makeshift surgerythis consisting of four poles with a lattice laid across the top, covered with hemlock branches for shade and shelter. I had two stoolsone for me and one for the patient of the momentand a small, crudely built table to hold whatever implements I needed to have easily to hand.
Jamie had put up a canvas lean-to beside the shelter, to provide privacy for such cases as required it, and also as storage for food or medicines kept in raccoon-proof casks, jars, or boxes.
It was rural, rustic, and very romantic. In a bug-ridden, grimy-ankled, exposed-to-the-elements, occasional-creeping-sensation-on-the-back-of-the-neck-indicating-that-you-were-being-eyed-up-by-something-considering-eating-you sort of way, but still.
I cast a longing look at the new foundation.
The house would have two handsome fieldstone chimneys; one had been halfway built and stood sturdy as a monolith amid the framing timbers of what would shortlyI hopedbe our kitchen and eating space. Jamie had assured me that he would frame the large room and tack on a temporary canvas roof within the next few weeks, so we could resume sleeping and cooking indoors. The rest of the house
That might depend on whatever grandiose notions he and Brianna had conceived during their conversation the night before. I seemed to recall wild remarks about concrete and indoor plumbing, which I rather hoped wouldnt take root, at least not until we had a roof over our heads and a floor under our feet. On the other hand
The sound of voices on the path below indicated that my expected company had arrived, and I smiled. On the other hand, wed have two more pairs of experienced and competent hands to help with the building.
Jems disheveled red head popped into view, and he broke into a huge grin at sight of me.
Grannie! he shouted, and brandished a slightly mangled corn dodger. We brought you breakfast!
THEY HAD BROUGHT me breakfast, lavish by my present standards: two fresh corn dodgers, griddled sausage patties wrapped in layers between burdock leaves, a boiled egg, still hot, and a quarter inch of Amys last years huckleberry jam, in the bottom of its jar.
Mrs. Higgins says to send back the empty jar, Jemmy informed me, handing it over. Only one eye was on the jar; the other was on the Big Log, which had been hidden by darkness the night before. Wow! What kind of tree is that?
Poplar, I said, closing my eyes in ecstasy at the first bite of sausage. The Big Log was roughly sixty feet long. It had been a good bit longer before Jamie had scavenged wood from the top for building and fires. Your grandfather says it was likely more than a hundred feet tall before it fell.
Mandy was trying to get up onto the log; Jem gave her a casual boost then leaned over to look down the length of the trunk, mostly smooth and pale but scabbed here and there with remnants of bark and odd little forests of toadstools and moss.
Did it blow down in a storm?
Yes, I said. The top had been struck by lightning, but I dont know whether that was the same storm that knocked it down. It might have died because of the lightning and then the next big storm blew it over. We found it like this when we came back to the Ridge. Mandy, be careful there!
Shed scrambled to her feet and was walking along the trunk, arms stretched out like a gymnast, one foot in front of the other. The trunk was a good five feet in diameter at that point; there was plenty of room atop it, but it would be a hard bump if she fell off.
Here, sweetheart. Roger, who had been looking at the house site with interest, came over and plucked her off the log. Why dont you and Jem go gather wood for Grannie? Dye remember what good firewood looks like?
Aye, of course. Jem looked lofty. Ill show her how.
I knows how! Mandy said, glowering at him.
You have to look out for snakes, he informed her.
She perked up at once, pique forgotten. Wanna see a snake!
Jem Roger began, but Jemmy rolled his eyes.
I know, Dad, he said. If I find a little one, Ill let her touch it, but not if its got rattles or a cotton mouth.
Oh, Jesus, Roger muttered, watching them go off hand in hand.
I swallowed the last of the corn dodgers, licked sugary jam from the corner of my mouth, and gave him a sympathetic look.
Nobody died the last time you lived here, I reminded him. He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again, and I remembered. Mandy nearly had died last time. Which meant that whatever had made them come back now
Its all right, he said firmly, in answer to what must have been a very apprehensive look on my face. He smiled a little and took me by the elbow, drawing me into the shade of my surgery.
Its okay, he said, and cleared his throat. Were okay, he said, more loudly. Were all here and sound. Nothing else matters right now.