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Never-ending damnation, he silently reminded himself.
“I am sure you and your men will be busy hunting and erecting your shelter.”
Erecting. Why did she have to use that word?
“That we will,” he said quickly and wondered over the wisdom of his decision to remain there, especially since the only women he and his men would be around were five attractive nuns.
Lachlan and his men settled for the night not far from the common shelter. They had built a fire and afterward enjoyed the warm sweet cakes Megan and Hester had brought out to them. The men were quick to sleep after that, even Lachlan found himself more tired than usual.
He blamed it on the long, strenuous journey. He had intended to decide tonight on who would return to Caithness, but his exhausted body had other ideas. Morning would be soon enough. He pulled the blanket up over him to fully surrender to sleep. Just as his eyes were about to close, he thought he caught a glimpse of a moving shadow approaching their camp. He struggled to keep his eyes open, told himself to get up, wake the men and admonished himself for not posting a guard. Why hadn’t he posted a guard?
His thoughts were foggy and he fought the heavy hand of sleep that seemed to squeeze at him. His eyes shot open wide, but only briefly. In that single moment he saw not one, but several moving shadows descending on him and his men. He thought to yell out, but instead his eyes shut and darkness swallowed him.
“Did he see us?” Terese asked Rowena.
“Not clear enough to identify anyone,” she assured.
“How much time do we have?” Hester asked.
“Three hours to be safe, though the lot of them will probably sleep through until morning,” Rowena said.
“We can’t take any chances,” Terese said. “Let’s be done with it.”
The five women hurried to the storage hut. They were quick and agile, though they had only the moonlight to guide their steps. Three went inside and shifted the baskets of food around, then brushed an area of dirt aside on the floor to expose a hatch. Hester swung it open and Piper dropped down inside.
Light suddenly spewed from the opening followed by bows and a cache of arrows. Rowena collected the weapons Piper handed up. In turn Terese, Hester, and Megan took them and one by one hurried them to their quarters.
When the women were finished and the storage hut returned to normal, the five nuns met in the common room. They sat around the long table looking from one to other.
Terese finally spoke. “We knew something like this could happen.”
The other women nodded.
“If we keep our wits about us, we can get through this,” Terese said. “I will insist that Lachlan make certain that the church knows that our work here has been successful. Once church superiors hear we are converting the pagans they will issue orders for us to continue. Lachlan and his men will leave and we will be left to ourselves once more.”
Megan shook her head. “With the time they are going to spend here, they could easily discover the truth.”
“She’s right,” Hester agreed. “They think to protect us so they will constantly be watching us.”
“And we will be watching them,” Piper reminded.
“And when the people need our help?” Megan asked. “How do we ride out of here with our weapons in full view?”
“That is why we are holding this meeting,” Terese said. “We need to make plans, be prepared.” She looked from Piper to Rowena. “I need you both to find a spot in the woods to hide our weapons.”
“I know the perfect spot,” Piper said. “We can have it done tonight.”
Terese nodded and turned to Megan. “Make excuses to visit the farmers; while I know they will not betray us, they need to be aware of the situation.”
Megan nodded and clenched her hands tightly.
Terese reached out, resting her hands over Megan’s. “It will be all right. We will survive this.”
Megan grabbed hold of Terese’s hand. “The time I’ve spent here at Everagis is the only time in my life that I have ever felt safe.”
Terese watched as in turn each woman nodded. “We have survived and grown strong together. We will remain so. I promise you that.”
“But the church—”
Terese didn’t let Megan finish. “I will do whatever is necessary for all of us to stay safe.”
“You’ve already proved that,” Hester said.
“Then trust me once more when I tell you we will be fine.”
Piper jumped up, a flourish of dirt drifting off her. “There’s time to get the first cache of weapons hidden.”
As each woman stood Terese knew they proclaimed their trust in her. She was the last to stand.
“Together,” Terese said and the women echoed her command.
A few hours later with perhaps four hours left until sunrise, Terese fell into bed exhausted. She hoped to drop right off to sleep, but past events came flooding back to torment her, as did worries for the future.
