“Yes. Are they good?”
“Delicious,” he said, finishing the first and reaching for another. “They are very sweet.”
She noticed his accent was fading as he was less upset. She didn’t want to think about how strong it would be when he realized she was gone.
After his second oat cake, he took her hand and led her to his mother’s cottage next door. “Mother,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Alyssa hasn’t learned how to cook yet…”
Heather opened her door wide. “I’ll have to find someone to work with her on that. I’m not the best cook in the world.” She looked at Alyssa and her eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve just been told that I’m now a prisoner of the village, so not exactly.”
Heather looked at her son. “A prisoner of the village? How did this come about?” She folded her arms across her chest, all but daring him to tell her what her friend meant.
“She walked around the loch today, and one of the Campbell cousins frightened her. I told her not to leave the village unless she has either a guard or me at her side.” Kendrick said, as if it was all totally reasonable, he didn’t want his wife to leave the village.
Heather took a step closer to the large man and stuck her finger right in the middle of his chest. “You cannot keep a woman of the twenty-first century confined that way. She will leave, and then you will have to go and find her and bring her back unharmed. I understand your worries, but that is taking things much too far.”
“But ye have always—”
“What I have done to appease your father is not what every woman would do. You will allow her to walk with a female friend, or you will allow her to carry a weapon, once you have trained her in its use. There will be no prisoners in this village!” She stabbed him with her finger multiple times to get her point across.
Alyssa bit her lip to keep from laughing. She had only seen her friend as just that, her friend. Seeing her in mom-mode, getting onto her son who was at least half a foot taller than her and not backing down a single inch was almost comical.
“Mother, it’s not that simple—”
Heather took a step even closer to Kendrick. “Oh, yes, it is. Ye will not turn your wife into a prisoner. I know you care for her, and I know she cares for you, but this is ridiculous. Teach her to use a knife, or there is the sword all of you boys learned to fight with. Teach her, and you won’t have to worry anymore!”
Kendrick sighed deeply. “Would you agree to staying in the village until I was able to train you to use a sword?”
Alyssa nodded. “I would be happy to. It’s such a reasonable compromise.” In a way, she felt guilty about siccing his mother on him, but there was no way she was going to staylocked up in the small village with a whole world to explore just outside it.
“We will begin training tomorrow evening,” he told her.
Derek stood in the corner of the room, trying not to grin about the way his son was brought down a peg by his mother.
“What are we cooking tonight, Heather?” Alyssa asked. She would be happy to jump in and help if Heather needed it.
Heather shrugged. “I have some ground beef. I’ll probably throw some potatoes in with it, like sliced into tiny pieces. Add some carrots and some seasoning and call it a meal.”
“Sounds good to me!” Alyssa said. “Why don’t I start with the potatoes. I’ll peel and slice.”
They worked together to make supper, while Kendrick and Derek went for a walk.
As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Derek clapped his son on the shoulder. “Next time you want to make a rule for your wife, talk to me about it first.”
Kendrick shook his head. “Who would have thought Mother would fly off the handle like that when all I was doing was trying to keep her friend safe?”
“I could have told you how that would go. Your mother considers herself a woman of the twenty-first century, even though we are living in 1329. I know it doesn’t make sense, but she’s a woman.”
“Aye,” Kendrick said. “Now I must go home and find a way to tell my wife she may never run to my mother when we disagree again.”
Derek laughed heartily at that. “I don’t believe that’s what you really want, son.”
Kendrick shook his head. “Mother would be angry with me again, wouldn’t she?”
“Oh, aye, she would. She would be furious. Alyssa came here as one of your mother’s best friends. She didn’t expectto marry her friend’s son, but that’s what’s happened. She was here for your mother before you. Aye, she wanted love, but she missed her best friends. Your wife will seek refuge with someone else in the village or leave the clan territory completely if you tell her not to go anywhere. You must learn that these women of the future are different than our men who think the world is led only by men. In the future, women will be ruling some countries even. At least that’s what Heather and me own mother have told me.”
“But tis not right for her to run to mother if there’s a problem with me. We will never learn to settle our own disputes!”
