Free Wee William's Woman, Book Three of the Clan MacDougall Series by Suzan Tisdale

hungry.”
    Wee William nodded his head as he removed the bag from the back of his saddle. “Then ’tis a feast we shall have, little one.”
    Nora stood next to the horse as she watched the giant of a man walk away with her little sister. He had managed, somehow, to bring a smile to Elise’s face, where only moments ago, Nora had seen fear and distrust. What was it about this man, this huge, hairy creature, that made her feel so safe and at peace? Moments ago she was questioning her decision to go to Scotland with them. Her heart had been filled with doubt over her decision and fear of the future. How on earth had he disarmed her senses so easily?
     

 
     
    Five
     
    J ohn seemed in slightly better humor once he had eaten. But to say he was at ease or happy would have been an outright lie. Nora, for now, would settle for a silent and contrite younger brother. Elise, ever bright and cheerful, was now rattling on about her their time at Firth, a place she hoped she’d never ever have to return to.
    “They were very mean to us, Nora,” Elise explained as she took another dried fig. “That mean man, Mr. Oliver would box John’s ears when he didn’t move fast enough! And once, he whipped him with a cane until he cried! I tried to stop him, but Mrs. Ellison tossed me in the larder! I didn’t like her at all!”
    Nora’s jaw fell open as she looked at her brother. His eyes were cast to the ground at his feet.
    “John, I am so sorry,” she told him as she choked back tears of guilt. “I tried to get to you sooner, I did...” her words trailed off with the realization that there was nothing she could do to erase from his memory the past year at Firth, nor anything she could do to alleviate her own guilt.
    “What in God’s name was the reason behind canin’ ye, lad?” Wee William asked, visibly angry.
    “I took food from the larder, not for me, but for Elise and the other little ones,” John said, as he looked Wee William directly in the eye. “I’d do it again, and take another beating for it too.” His voice was firm and unyielding. “So you may label me a thief if you wish, but I’ve no regrets for what I did.”
    Wee William, Daniel, and David looked at him with visible admiration, their opinion of the lad increasing a thousand fold at his admission.
    “’Tis a good man who does what he can fer his family. An even better man to see an injustice and do what he can to right it,” Wee William told him.
    He looked at Daniel and David before turning back to John. “We’d have done the same thing, lad, were we in your position. Tell me, have ye scars from the canin’ ye took?”
    John’s expression changed from pride to confusion and embarrassment. “Aye, a few.”
    The men nodded their heads approvingly. “’Tis good!” Daniel said. “They’ll serve ye well as a reminder of the injustices served on someone weaker than ye, and how ye became a man and stood up fer what was right.” He leaned over and squeezed John’s shoulder. “Ye did well, lad.”
    “Aye,” David said. “I couldna be more proud of ye if ye were me own brother by blood!”
    Nora felt like crying again, for a myriad of reasons. These men were holding no grudge against the boy who not more than half an hour ago had been calling them filthy Scots. Instead, they looked at him with approval and what could only be described as pride. While she felt guilty at not being there to protect her younger brother, she couldn’t help but feel proud of him. He had certainly matured and grown in this past year.
    “Now, lad,” Wee William said as he drew himself to his feet. “How well do ye ride?”
    John looked confused. “Ride? Ride what?”
    “Why a horse, lad!”
    John shook his head. “I’ve never been on a horse until this day.”
    The three men looked aghast. “Ye haven’t?” David asked.
    John stood taller. “Nay, I haven’t. If I’ve anywhere to go, I use my feet to take me.”
    The men laughed before informing him