Amanda blushed, completely mortified. “Nothing,” she replied, attempting a smile. “I’m fine.” She cast a glance at the pile of nightgowns, then quickly looked away. “How much do I owe you?”
The shopkeeper looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Dae ye need a nightgown?” she asked.
Amanda shook her head. “I will come back and buy one in a few days,” she said, avoiding the young woman’s gaze.
For an answer, the stallholder picked a gown out of a pile on the stall and gave it to her. “A trade,” she said. “Your old dress for my nightie.”
Amanda’s eyes widened in amazement and she shook her head. “But that dress is old and worn and yours is perfect! That is not a fair trade.”
“It is for me,” the stallholder replied, smiling.
“Thank you,” Amanda breathed, smiling. “How can I thank you properly?”
“Ye can dae the same thing for somebody else,” the shopkeeper replied, smiling at her with genuine warmth in her eyes. “Where dae ye come fae? England, is it?”
Amanda nodded and smiled gratefully, so overcome that her eyes filled with tears. She had begun to think that everyone in Scotland was unpleasant and mean-spirited, but here in this small town she had found that there were worthy people after all. Suddenly, she felt warm and hopeful inside; perhaps things were going to work out after all.
“Is that why ye talk sae funny?” she asked, laughing.
“We all talk like this where I come from,” Amanda replied, but she was smiling, for there was no malice in the young woman’s manner at all.
“Does it rain as much down in England as it does here?” she asked.
“Not quite,” Amanda replied cautiously. “It is a bit warmer, too.”
“Dae they drink whisky?” the girl asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Mostly the men,” Amanda replied. “They love it! They say it’s the best thing about Scotland. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go. Goodbye, and thank you again.”
“Nice chattin’, hen,” the young woman replied. “But dinnae tell my mother I was talkin’ tae a Sassenach, or she will have a fit!”
Amanda laughed, waved, then left, feeling happier than she had at any time since her arrival.
Having made her purchases, Amanda went in search of Hamish. He had told her not to leave the town square, but she was getting gradually more uncomfortable. She was in a strange place among people she did not know, most of whom were hostile to her.
She saw a path that led to the side of a small hillock that overlooked a wide burn, and she looked down at it, her thoughts once again with her sisters. Amanda had promised Hamish that she would not run away, and was touched by his trust in her, but she knew that if she could get back to her family, she would be safe with them, and she would forget about him. Then whatever he thought of her would be completely irrelevant.
It hurt her to think that she would be betraying him, but her family came first, and she had no doubt that she would soon be the last person on his mind.
Suddenly, she was startled by the sound of a twig snapping behind her, and she whipped around, relieved to see that it was only the elderly man she had seen at the market. He was tall with receding white hair and dark brown eyes, and he frowned at her, raising a finger in warning.
“Ye shouldnae be wanderin’ about on her own, hen,” he said, looking concerned. “There are a lot o’ nasty people about, especially when there is a big market on. Ye must be very careful. Ye hear terrible things that happen tae ladies walkin’ about on their own.”
Amanda relaxed a little and smiled at him. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re right. It was silly of me.”
She made to brush past him, but he sidestepped suddenly so that he was right in front of her, blocking her way.
Instinctively, Amanda took a step back, but for every step she took away from him, he took a forward one, till eventually she was backed against a tree and could go no further. Her heartbegan to hammer, and she let out a piercing, desperate scream for help, hoping that someone was close enough to hear her.
The man only laughed, a foul, sneering chuckle.
“It’s my lucky day. Even a Sassenach woman is still a woman, eh?”
He began to walk towards her, and Amanda frantically looked around herself for some kind of weapon with which to defend herself.
However, she had no need of one, since at that moment Hamish emerged from behind the hill and ran towards the man with a roar like a clap of thunder.
He picked the man up by the lapels of his jacket, lifting him off the ground as though he weighed nothing, then swiped him across the face with a bunched fist hard enough to make him scream. His head spun around with the force of the blow, and when Hamish let him go he dropped to the ground, moaning.
