Page 20 of Highland Storm

“Nay, she is not here now. She is at the MacKeefe camp in the Highlands. The MacKeefes have two places where they stay interchangeably.”

“I see,” she said, wondering about Hawke’s mother and wanting to learn more. But when the sorcerer opened the door and she got a glimpse inside, she forgot all about it. “This is amazin’.” She anxiously followed Orrick into his tower room, noticing the guard stayed outside the door.

Shelves lined every wall inside the tower. Books, candles, crystals and gemstones filled the shelves. There even looked to be jars of herbs and things she couldn’t identify. It was a mysterious place and she longed to see more.

“Aye, this is where I work.” Orrick lit a candle even though light was coming in through the open window. Infatuated by the room, Phoebe hurried inside.

“I’ll be right outside the door,” said the guard, doing something that puzzled her. He reached over without stepping directly into the room and closed the door, leaving her alone with the sorcerer.

“He’s no’ comin’ in the chamber?” she asked, not sure how she felt about being alone in a room with a strange man.

“Nay. It seems there are a lot of Scots as well as English who are superstitious. They fear me and want nothing to do with anything that might be considered magic.”

“Can ye do magic?” she asked excitedly, being fascinated and not frightened at all.

Orrick looked at her from the sides of his eyes and headed across the room to some jars on the shelves. “There is nothing magical about healing herbs. They are nature’s gift for us to use, but most people don’t believe it.”

“Oh, I do,” she told him excitedly. “I’ve been studyin’ herbs, but our healer back home canna teach me the things I want to learn.”

“What is it you’d like to know? Perhaps I can help you.”

“Would ye?” Phoebe’s heart fluttered with excitement. Never would she have the chance to learn from a sorcerer again. Perhaps he could tell her what she needed to heal her father. However, she couldn’t come out and ask him. If she told him the sad state of her father’s condition, he might relay the information to the MacKeefes. Then they’d attack the MacNabs knowing their defenses were low. Nay, she had to do it in a roundabout way without asking him directly. “I would love to learn everythin’ ye ken.”

“Everything?” The sorcerer chuckled, pulling several jars from the shelves. “It would take years for that.”

“How many years did it take ye?” she asked. “Ten? Twenty? Fifty?”

His hand stilled over one of the jars and the smile faded from his face. “It would take hundreds of years to gain the knowledge I have.”

“Hundreds?” Phoebe laughed. “That canna be. After all, ye have the knowledge and ye are only . . . how old are ye?”

“Age is only a state of mind,” said the sorcerer. “It doesn’t matter. Now, let’s get the herbs we need to heal Hawke and be on our way. What do you use to heal wounds?”

“I’ve been usin’ comfrey made into a salve,” she told him. “And of course, sage, thyme and St. John’s wort, too.”

“Those are all good, but there are other herbs that will work faster.” He opened a jar and showed her a cream mixture.

“What is it?” she asked, peering at the ointment, taking a sniff.

“This is self-heal,” he explained. “It’s mixed with goldenrod and butter to help heal wounds.”

“Is there anythin’ else it’s used for?” Wondering if it would be good to help her father’s internal problems, she had to know more.

“The leaves are used for sore throats or ulcers in the mouth. And a bruised leaf of self-heal can stop the flow of blood if one is cut.”

“What about this?” she asked, pointing to a jar with a dried herb in it that looked to have had pinkish white flowers at one time.

“That’s valerian,” he told her. “It helps nerves, stress and headaches and can cause one to sleep.”

“Oh, that sounds handy.”

“Beware,” he warned her, taking a dried sprig from the jar and putting it into his pouch and then screwing the lid back on. “Too much of this can be very dangerous. You shouldn’t use it if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“How about mugwort? Do ye have some of that?” she asked excitedly. “I came to the border lookin’ for it, but couldna find any.”

“I do,” he said with a nod of his head, pulling down a wooden box and opening the lid. “What do you need it for?”

“I’ve heard it can keep disease away,” she told him, wanting more than anything to bring some back to hopefully use to cure her father.