AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s no’ my fault Lord Beaufort favors ye three. I’ll borrow someone else’s horse.” She stretched her neck to see the horses in the stalls that belonged to Lord Beaufort’s visitors.
“Nay, dinna cause trouble, Morag. Just ride with me.” Fia helped her sister mount the horse and then pulled herself up into the saddle. “If we’re quick, we can sneak out and still make it back to the castle before the end of the celebration. Lord Beaufort will never ken we left.”
“Do ye think Lord Beaufort doesna ken ye sneak out?” asked Morag.
“He probably does, but he looks the other way,” said Fia, heading for the door. “He also kens that he canna control us, and we will go anyway. If he pretends no’ to see us, then he willna have to tell our faithers and have their wraths upon his head.”
“That’s right,” said Maira. “And if he doesn’t see us leave, he won’t have the chance to stop us either. Now, let’s go.”
* * *
A short time later,Fia led the girls into the secret garden where she expected to see Imanie waiting for them. Instead, the garden was empty.
“Imanie,” called out Maira. “Are you here?”
“Somethin’s wrong,” said Fia, scanning the grounds. Everything seemed too quiet. The birds were not even singing.
“Her horse is gone, so she has probably left to collect herbs or to fetch water from the stream,” said Willow nonchalantly.
“Mayhap we should wait and give Fia her present after Imanie returns.” Maira tied the reins of her horse to a tree. “After all, the gift was Imanie’s idea.”
“We canna stay long.” Morag followed after Maira. “Lord Beaufort is bound to ken we’re no’ there and send someone to find us.”
“She’s right,” agreed Fia. “As much as I dinna want to be at the castle, it is disrespectful to stay away long since the celebration is in my honor.”
“Then I suppose Imanie won’t mind if we give you your gift.” Maira walked over to the shed and disappeared inside.
“I’ll bet ye’ll never guess what it is,” said Morag excitedly.
“She probably won’t have to since you usually spill all the secrets,” sniffed Willow.
“Stop arguin’.” Fia acted as mediator between the cousins. “Did ye want me to guess what it is, or no’?”
“No need.” Maira handed Fia a small package wrapped in the broad leaves of the black poplar tree. It was tied closed with vines. The package looked very earthy.
Fia smiled. “This looks like somethin’ that Imanie wrapped.”
“Open it, open it,” Morag coaxed her. She was so excited that Fia expected her to start jumping up and down next.
Sitting down on the ground, Fia put the package on her lap and adjusted the crown on her head. All the three cousins wore their crowns today since Lord Beaufort had invited many rich and powerful lords to the castle. He tended to use the girls in his favor to gain respect from the other nobles.
Carefully removing the vines, Fia opened the leaves to see a handmade bracelet. Leather strips made an intricate design. Woven right into the bracelet were several personal items.
“We each put something into the bracelet for you,” said Willow. “I gave you a brass button off my favorite gown.” Willow’s hand went to her bodice.
Fia smiled. “I thought ye told me ye lost that button the last time ye went ridin’.”
“I did,” stated Willow with a sly smile. “I lost it right here when I added it to your present.”
“Thank ye, Willow. I know how much ye like yer brass buttons.”
Morag was next. “I added a piece of dried heather to yer bracelet. It is from our bonnie homeland of Scotland.” She got on her knees and leaned forward, pointing it out to Fia. “I thought ye might like it. Da gave me that sprig of heather the day he brought me to live at Castle Rothbury.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I used to hold it every night in bed as I went to sleep. It made me feel as if Da was with me.”
“Oh, Morag, I ken how much this means to ye. Thank ye.” Fia leaned over and gave her younger sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Morag was a pest most of the time, but she did have a big heart. This proved it.
“I added the shell we found when we used to play on the beach when you’d come to visit me in Whitehaven during the summer,” explained Maira.
Fia ran her fingers along the white, smooth shell with the hole in the center. “I remember this. We were only about four or five when I found it and gave it to ye.”
