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Augusta clapped her hands with joy, then paused, her eyes wandering upward, beginning at Scout’s hooves and stopping when they reached his saddle. “I’ll never get up there.”
Keir chuckled, then swept Augusta up and settled her on Scout. The girl squealed in delight, and yet Keir could all but sense her mother tense. Still, he did not look. Instead, he swung himself into the saddle behind the girl, careful not to upend her balance. “Gather the reins,” he instructed as the carriage pulled out onto the road ahead of them. “Aye, then give them a little tug, gently, so Scout knows where ye want him to go.”
Augusta held her breath, and Keir could all but sense her little body quivering with delight as Scout moved. “I love this!”
“Do ye never ride?”
Augusta shook her head. “I always wanted to, but… but there were no horses. I mean, there were, but they were too tall, like… like Scout. Only there was no one to ride with me.” She craned her neck and looked up at him. “Do you think I’ll ever be able to ride by myself?”
Keir smiled at her. “Aye, certainly. All ye need is a little practice.”
A sigh of longing left Augusta’s lips, and Keir knew that the best he could do for Katherine in the coming days was to keep her daughters engaged and happy. Perhaps then she would see that loosening her grip on them would not tear them from her side.
Chapter Five
A FAERIE TALE?
Over the next few days, as they continued to travel north, Kate noticed her gaze move toward what lay ahead. Thus far, all her thoughts had been focused upon the past, upon how it would affect her present and future. Every day had felt paralyzing, her mind and heart terrified of what was to come, unable to notice what was around her, right in front of her eyes.
Now, though, Kate felt herself beginning to blink, to clear her eyes, her gaze focusing on her children, not with fear but with hope.
For days now, Augusta had seized each and every opportunity to ride with Mr. MacKinnear—Keir. At first, of course, Kate had felt every inch of her body tense at the thought of her precious daughter leaving her side. It was irrational; of course, she knew it to be. Unfortunately, that knowledge did nothing to dissuade that tense, terrifying, utterly paralyzing emotion that seized her chest the moment Augusta moved a step too far away.
Yet with repetition, Kate’s body finally eased into a more relaxed state. Her gaze lingered upon Augusta with curiosity, seeing her eldest daughter laugh and smile, her blue eyes sparkling with joy and adventure. Kate could not remember the last time she had seen Augusta like this, and the thought broke her heart. Children should know joy, and yet her daughters’ lives had been shaped by emotions far darker.
Kate closed her eyes and heaved a deep, sorrowful sigh.I allowed it to happen. I failed them.
“Mother! Look how I’m doing this!” Augusta called, her voice echoing through the window of the carriage.
Instantly, Kate’s eyes flew open. She watched her child fly by, the reins tightly in her hands. For a split second, Kate felt a memory tug upon her mind, a memory of her seated upon her own pony chasing the wind across an endless meadow. It was a memory accompanied by joy and a sense of utter freedom, of a tomorrow full of promises and dreams that had not yet abandoned her.
And Kate smiled.
She felt an honest smile claim her face, and her heart remembered that this was what life was supposed to be.
“Our governess said that ladies are not to ride like that,” Dorothea remarked with a pout as she glanced out the window at her sister. Her right hand continued to stroke Loki’s fur as he lay curled up on her lap, purring softly. “She said it is not ladylike.”
Kate tensed, uncertain how to respond, how to—
“Things are right when they feel right,” Sarah answered Dorothea’s unspoken question, her voice steady and ringing with conviction. “Augusta is enjoying herself, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” She gently took one of Dorothea’s little hands into her own. “Never believe another over yourself, Thea.”
A tentative smile came to Dorothea’s face, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod. “Do you think… I could try it, too? Sometime?” With her teeth set into her lower lip, she glanced up at Sarah, hope shining in her green eyes.
“Of course, you can.” Sarah squeezed her hand in encouragement. “Life is full of possibilities, but we need to be brave enough to seize them.”
Thunderstruck, Kate stared at her sister. Never had she known Sarah to be so confident and daring. Indeed, when they had been children, Kate herself had been the one to test the limits set for their lives while Sarah had simply tagged along. Now, it seemed their roles had been reversed. How had this happened? How had Sarah found such strength?
Kate’s gaze moved toward the window where Augusta was still riding in front of Keir. Only now, her eyes did not linger upon her precious child but upon the man who had brought them here. Without a doubt, Kate knew him to be the reason for the change she saw in her sister. She had suspected so for a while now. He was a man unlike any she had ever met, urging Sarah to hold her head high, to brave whatever was coming at her, to make her own way. In Kate’s experience, men did not do that. Men liked being in control, having power over others. Her father was like that as was her husband and countless others she had encountered over the years.
But this was a new beginning, was it not? And the world at large was not like the small part she had lived in, was it? Indeed, Kate refused to believe that it was. After all, the Whickertons were different as well. That she had always known. Only for a time, it had slipped her mind. And now, there was Mr. MacKinnear.
Keir.
Kate smiled, another one of those smiles that felt honest.Yes, I do feel safer with him around!
While Mr. Garner kept to the background, driving the carriage and seeing to the horses, Keir spent his days trying his utmost to make her daughters laugh. Kate could see that he had already conquered Augusta’s heart, her love for horses paving that path. Dorothea, however, still looked a bit skeptical. Kate could not quite say what made Thea eye Keir with a hint of apprehension. Was it a natural sort of distrust? Or was it learned? Had life taught little Thea not to place her trust easily?
Kate hated that thought, and so, when she came upon Keir and Dorothea one afternoon as they took a break in a small grove near a stream, she could not bring herself to leave, to venture over to Mr. Garner who was seeing to the horses or to Sarah and Augusta who were gathering firewood.
