Free Prescribed for Love by Mallory Moutinho

ed Cat.
    “ Aye, and severely. A few years back, there had been a winter much harsher than in years previous. We barely made it through. The Camerons were nae as fortunate; they lost many souls that season . Desperate to avoid repeating the disaster of the winter, he tried to take our land from us. Our father fought his army back, but was fatally wounded in the battle. We had barely laid him to rest when the Camerons struck again . They set fire to our farmland and villages . My mother had been visiting one of the villages most viciously attacked by the Camerons. She was nae able to escape the flames.”
    “ I…I don’t know what to say… that’s truly horrific. I’m so sorry ” whispered Cat.
    “Aye, it was terrible . But , my brother has done his best to be a better laird. We have finally started to put away greater stores of food, and he prepares the men well for a potential attack. Alasdair feels another fight w it h the Camerons is unavoidable since they still want our land . I can only pray he is wrong—though their recent activities lend credence to Alasdair’s suspicions .”
    Ailsa finished her explanation as they once again stepped within the confines of the keep. “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” asked Cat. Lady Help still has work to do!
    “Would ye like to join me and the other women? We could always use an extra set of hands for the mending and weaving, ” suggested Ailsa.
    “Sure. Although , I must warn you, I am not very good at either.” While Cat was doubtful she had been sent into the past to patch holes in socks, she knew going to a room full of women could work to her advantage. If there was one thing that never changed over time, it was women’s habit of gossip. She could listen to the idle chatter to hopefully ferret out the needs of the castle. Although Ailsa said the keep was finally coming to rights, Cat still bet she could find a way to improve upon something.
    Unfortunately, Cat quickly grew to regret her decision . She was so inept at sewing Ailsa had to show her everything, step by step. Cat could hear the other women try to suppress their giggle s as she was walked thr ough the m ost basic stitches . Instead of gossiping as Cat had hoped, all the women were giving her pointers on how best to improve her technique. She knew the women were not being mean, but it was still embarrassing. It was not as if Cat had never developed a craft, the problem was simply that crocheting had not yet become a common practice. It was a shame she had not learned to k nit instead; she saw plenty of women engaged in that activity.
    An idea popped into Cat’s head as she spied a broken knitting needle across the room . “I’ll be back in a little while.” Catriona grabbed the damaged needle and put it in her purse before going outside. Needing to be away from any wander ing eyes, she wandered ab out the keep to find a secluded area .
    Satisfied she was now a lone, Cat found a place to sit and took the broken piece from her purse . Digging even deeper she withdrew her Swiss Army K nife. To the best of her ability, she began to whittle the needle into a crochet hook. It actually turned out to be fairly easy. She short en ed the needle to a more blunt point, and then carved out the indent needed to form the hook. However, the new areas were now rough and would catch on the thread. Unsure if it would work, Cat reached into her purse and pulled out her emery board.
    She began to file her new hook with gusto. The board did not work quite as well and sandpaper would have, but C at was still satisfied. “ H a! Success !"
    ***
    As if attuned to Catriona’s every movement, Alasdair noticed as she left the castle, wandering to a little-used part of the keep. As if afraid of discovery, she kept looking behind her. Intrigued, Alasdair followed her, but kept his distance to ensure he would not be discovered —he was curious to learn what she was doing . From a few yards away, Alasdair