AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instantly, Kate forced her eyes back open, only to see Sarah take Augusta and Dorothea by the hand, holding them by her side. “You go ahead,” her sister said, nodding to Keir, her gaze meeting Kate’s for a brief moment. “We’ll follow. Won’t we, girls?”
Augusta and Dorothea cheered.
Walking upon Keir’s arm, Kate was grateful when they reached the carriage. She shifted Frederica from one arm to the other and then stepped inside, welcoming the thin barrier between herself and the rest of the world. Augusta and Dorothea quickly joined her, and then Sarah, too, seated herself in the carriage, Loki following on her heel. Keir stood in the open door, his hand still holding Sarah’s, his gaze directed at her. “I shall follow with the horses,” he told her reassuringly, then smiled at the girls. “I’ll see ye soon.” He squeezed Sarah’s hand one more time and then left, closing the door.
As the carriage pulled away from the docks, rumbling along the cobblestone street, they all looked out the windows, taking in their new surroundings. Even with the harsh wind blowing in from the sea, everybody seemed to be outdoors, tending to some work or another. The girls stared wide-eyed, whispering to one another, completely lost in this fairytale come true.
“How do you feel?” Sarah asked, and she turned her head away from the window.
“I hardly know,” Kate replied with a shrug. “All this is so overwhelming.”
Sarah nodded, understanding clear in her eyes.
As the carriage moved up the small slope toward the cliff, they could see farther inland, their eyes drifting over endless meadows and thick woods growing in the far distance. “I’ve seen meadows and woods before,” Kate remarked, “and yet this place feels so utterly foreign.”
Again, Sarah nodded, and yet her gaze seemed distant. “It reminds me of the many stories Keir told me when we were alone in the woods. Somehow, I imagined his home just like this.” A deep smile touched her face, and it took Kate a moment to realize what her sister had just said.
“Alone in the woods?”
At her question, Sarah suddenly became still. Then she lifted her gaze and met Kate’s eyes. “I suppose I forgot you do not know.” She shook her head, then glanced at Augusta and Dorothea, who were still whispering animatedly with one another. Scooting to the edge of her seat, Sarah leaned closer, her voice dropping to a mere whisper. “It was Keir who took me from our parents’ house that night.”
Kate tensed without quite knowing why. Of course, it made sense, perhaps on some level, she had already suspected it. Still…
“He brought me to a small cabin deep in the woods,” Sarah continued in hushed tones, her blue eyes sparkling with something Kate could not help but envy. “We hid out there and waited for the ransom to be paid.”
Even if Sarah had not yet revealed to Kate that her kidnapping had been far from an ordeal, any fool could see that… it was a cherished memory for her. “How long did you hide out? Only the two of you?” Kate whispered, trying to imagine Sarah and Keir alone in a small cabin in the woods. What had they done all day? No doubt, Keir had told her countless stories, perhaps seated together by a roaring fire, a cup of hot tea in their hands.
Kate almost shook her head, trying to wipe away the image. Yet it remained, making her wish—
“About a fortnight,” Sarah replied in that wistful voice again. “Oh, Kate, it was wonderful! I never expected it to be. Of course not! At first, I was terribly frightened of him. After all, he was a stranger. But then…” She shrugged, clearly helpless to explain how easily Keir had won her heart… because he had—Kate had known so for a while. She simply had not known how it had happened. “Within a matter of days, I knew that bidding him farewell would break my heart. We came to know each other so well, spoke of so many things. I spoke to him of you and your daughters, and he told me of his family, his home.” Again, her gaze swept out the window, and Kate wondered what Keir had said to Sarah, how he had spoken of this place. No doubt he had painted a beautiful image, and Kate wished she could have been there to hear his words.
Uncertain why her chest suddenly felt so tight, Kate lifted her head, her eyes sweeping over the small houses lining the road until she caught sight of Keir. He sat upon Scout’s back, leading Autumn behind him. He waved and exchanged words here and there. Then he suddenly drew to a halt, and Kate saw a red-haired man move toward him through the small crowd, a wide smile on his face.
Who is he?Kate asked herself, for it was a question much safer than the one she felt growing within her heart.
Chapter Fourteen
HOMECOMING
The moment Eoghan’s voice echoed to Keir’s ears, his head whipped around, and he felt utter joy seize his heart. “What kept ye away for so long?” Eoghan demanded as he strode toward him, his red hair aglow in the sunshine and a smile upon his face. “Do I dare guess that ’twas a lassie?” He glanced at the carriage, the smile upon his face turning into a wicked grin.
Keir pulled Scout to a halt and then leaned forward to clasp Eoghan’s outstretched hand. “It has been too long, old friend.”
Eoghan chuckled. “I canna fail to notice that ye have not answered my question.” Then he nodded, dropping the subject. “’Tis good to see ye again. Verra good.”
The carriage moved onward, and Keir cast his friend an apologetic look. “We shall talk later.”
Eoghan nodded. “We shall. I will be up at the fortress when they call the gathering.”
Keir frowned. “What gathering?”
Eoghan grinned at him. “Do ye not know yer own family?” he chuckled and then stepped away, waving to Keir, urging him to catch up to the carriage.
Eager to see his family, Keir spurred Scout onward, his gaze directed upward at the fortress that had been his home all his life. As he rode through the gates and into the courtyard, memories assailed him. Memories he would treasure forever. Memories that never failed to weigh heavily upon his heart, though.
Keir could not remember all the many times he had returned from a hunting trip or an exploration of one of the smaller islands nearby only to find Yvaine rushing down these very steps to greet him, her green eyes flashing with excitement and her unruly red curls dancing upon the breeze. Keir closed his eyes, and for a brief moment, a part of him felt utterly certain that he need only to open them again to see his sister. His mind argued against it, reminding him it could not be; yet his heart remained steadfast in its belief.
The moment Keir opened his eyes, his heart twisted painfully at the renewed sense of loss. For the thousandth time, he wondered if the day would ever come that he would finally find out what had happened to his sister. He doubted it, and yet his heart was not yet ready to abandon hope.
