Chapter Six
The following morning, Alyssa had ingredients to cook with, but she was also surprisingly chilly. She thought it didn’t get quite that cold in the Highlands, but maybe she’d been reading the wrong things. She wished she, Heather, and Holli, had made a trip there before they’d come back in time. It would be fascinating to see the differences between modern-day Scotland and medieval Scotland, where they now lived.
Before Kendrick left, he stoked the fire, and kissed her sweetly. “I’d like to stay in the house tonight,” he said. “I haven’t had any real time to get to know my beautiful wife.”
Alyssa smiled. She’d never been called beautiful before. “I’d like that.”
“Good,” Kendrick said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before leaving.
Alyssa found a broom, or what she thought passed as one in medieval Scotland, and she swept the floor. Then she made oatcakes for later. Holli had sent her home with some honey, so she made them slightly sweeter than what Bonnie had recommended.
While the cakes cooled, she walked to Bonnie’s cottage. Bonnie was pacing back and forth with the baby in her arms, and Alyssa could hear little Anella crying.
“Is she all right?” Alyssa asked.
Bonnie was upset, and it was obvious. “I dinna know what’s wrong! We must get Gavin.”
Alyssa nodded, remembering that Heather had said they lived next door to one another. She ran all the way to her cottage and looked at the ones on either side of it. She spotted Heather through a window, knocking on the door loudly.
Heather smiled when she saw Alyssa, but her smile quickly faded. “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s wrong with Bonnie’s baby.”
“I’ll get Gavin. You get back over there and help. No idea what it is?”
“None!” Alyssa called her answer over her shoulder as she ran to Bonnie and Collum’s house.
She hurried in the door without knocking and started asking questions. “Is she running fever?”
Bonnie shook her head. “I dinna think so.”
“Her diaper isn’t wet or dirty?”
“Twas the first thing I checked!”
“Is she hungry?” Alyssa knew she was grasping at straws.
“No! We need Gavin.”
“I’m here,” Gavin said as he walked into the room. For a man who had to be ninety, he was awfully spry.
“I dinna know what ta do!”
“I know, lass. It’ll be fine. Lay her on the table.”
Alyssa could see what a struggle it was for the other girl to put her baby down. She looked so tiny on the table, lying there with nothing around her.
Alyssa gripped Bonnie’s hand tightly as Gavin moved his hands over the infant, not touching her, his hands just above her body. After a moment, he said, “Aye, that’s it.” His hands focused on the tiny baby’s stomach. After a moment, she stopped crying.
Bonnie reached for her baby and held her to her chest, tears in her eyes. “What was wrong?”
Gavin sighed. “Her stomach was upset, and it was giving her pain. I’ve healed it, and she should be fine.”
“Thank you, Grandfather,” Bonnie said. “Thank you for helping my bairn.”
“Tis my job as the official healer of Clan McClain.”
After Gavin had left, Alyssa looked at Bonnie. “Your morning has been much too difficult for you to give me morecooking lessons. Could I make something for you while I’m here so you can tend to your baby?”
