Free Amanda Scott by Abducted Heiress Page B

indeed,” Molly agreed, involuntarily putting a hand on her left breast as a sudden, unexpected memory swept over
     her of the pain she had endured.
    The little woman nodded, watching her. “I ken fine that ye sometimes still ha’ nightmares about it, for all that we try tae
     divert them tae others wha’ deserve more tae suffer them,” she said quietly. “But in time, an all goes well, that scar will
     fade, mayhap even disappear, just as memories fade and disappear.”
    Again, Molly had the feeling that Maggie Malloch could read her mind, but she did not like thinking about that night and was
     grateful when curiosity pushed the uncomfortable memories aside. “You divert my nightmares to others?”
    “Aye, well, it be me bounden duty tae look after the Maid o’ Dunsithe—mine and Claud’s, as well—and we ha’ done it right cheerfully,
     although it required little effort whilst ye lived here at Dunakin. Nae more than aiding ye in learning tae speak the Gaelic
     and helping wi’ your lessons—and keeping the laird happy by seeing that he always wins at chess.”
    “Is that how he does it?”
    “Aye,” Maggie said with a long sigh.
    “Forgive me for saying so, but you do not appear to be very cheerful now.”
    “Nay, then, but ye can lay me dour face at Claud’s door. I’ll grant ye that, like him, I had begun tae fear that Donald the
     Grim didna mean tae to his duty by ye and see ye suitably wedded. That man be as wicked as a man can be, and nae mistake,
     but I’d no ha’ taken such a rash step as what Claud did, and he shouldna ha’ done it, either—on anyone’s account. I canna
     doubt it ha’ vexed ye, too, since ’tis sure ye’ll feel some alarm at leaving the only home ye’ve known for years.”
    Despite years of practice at shielding herself and others from her deeper emotions, Molly had felt more than a twinge of alarm
     about leaving Dunakin, especially at having to leave with Kintail. She said with careful calm, “I would remind you that, altogether,
     men have uprooted me three times before now—from Dunsithe to Tantallon, then to Dunsgaith, and from Dunsgaith here to Dunakin.
     Most young women know they must leave home when they marry, of course, but the sudden way this happened does put me forcibly
     in mind of the night my uncle snatched my sister and me away from Dunsithe.”
    “Ye were both too young tae take from your mother,” Maggie said with a grimace. “And Angus were nae man tae look after bairns.
     ’Twas a pity and all, though, that the wee one were so delicate and failed as quick as she did.”
    Not wanting to dwell on thoughts of wee Bessie’s death, which even so many years later had the power to devastate her, Molly
     said, “But what did Claud do, exactly, that was so rash and annoyed you so?”
    “Why, ’twere my Claud who caused that feckless King James tae transfer your writ o’ wardship from Donald tae Kintail. Claud
     said he thought such an act would move things along and soon see ye married. Tae that same end, it were Claud who revealed
     ye tae Kintail last night when he and his men were riding past.”
    “May God have mercy,” Molly exclaimed. “Why would he do such a thing?”
    She spoke to air, however, for Maggie Malloch had vanished and the wildcat had vanished with her. Even the spiral of smoke
     had disappeared.

Chapter 5
    M olly stood gaping at the now vacant bed for several moments and then rubbed her eyes. But the hallucination—for it surely
     must have been one—failed to reappear. Indeed, no sign whatsoever remained to show that a large furry wildcat and a plump,
     middle-aged woman two-thirds its size had been resting there only moments before. The coverlet was not even indented.
    “Will ye be wantin’ hot water, mistress?”
    The maidservant’s voice, sounding from the doorway behind her, startled her into remembering why she had come into her bedchamber
     in the first place. So intently were her senses fixed upon the bed