Free Elusive by Linda Rae Blair

beautiful,
flowing script, although it took her some time to decipher the old
Scottish spellings.

    12 Dae Aprill 1726
    Ma oan wee bairn,
    First ah wunt yu ti ken that ah, yur muther,
luve yu maire tha lyfe, an wunt the best fer yu That is the singil
reison in ma sendin yu a far waer yu ar saef, in kin grow bonnie an
well caird fer.

    “12 th April 1726” she read aloud
to herself.
    “My own small child,
    First I want you to understand that I, your
mother, love you more than life, and want the best for you. That is
the single reason in my sending you afar where you are safe, and
can grow happy and well cared for.”
    It braeks ma heart to lose yu so nae aftir
yur first cry, neer to see yur fais, na yur first smyl, first step,
first luve, but yur welfaer, aye yur vaery lyfe is the ane best
gift ah kin give yu, in tis best givin soon aftir yur burth.

    “It breaks my heart to lose you so near after
your first cry, never to see your face, not your first smile, first
step, first love, but your welfare, yes your very life is the one
best gift I can give you, and it is best given soon after your
birth.”

    Sòlas is a gude man, an the luv of ma lyfe,
in I dinna kin any wun tha wad caer fer yu with maire luve tither
myne oan self. Guhen ye ar olde enuf, Sòlas wul tell yu guhy we hae
bin parted.

    “Sòlas is a good man, and the love of my
life, and I do not know anyone that would care for you with more
love other than mine own self. When you are old enough, Sòlas will
tell you why we have been parted.”

    I prae that yu grow strawng of mynde, bonnie
of heart, in luvely of faes. I wul think of yu this wae to the end
of ma days.
    Yur luving muther,
    Caena, Dawter of Finnean Nic a’ Donnoch

    “I pray that you grow strong of mind, happy
of heart, and lovely of face. I will think of you this way to the
end of my days.
    Your loving mother,
    Caena, Daughter of Finnean McDonnough”
    She found tears were streaming down her face
once more. After everything that had happened in the last two
weeks, she marveled that she had any tears left. How sad, she
thought, that a baby would be separated from its mother immediately
after birth. What, she wondered, could have driven a woman who so
obviously loved her child to send her away from her? Reaching for
the next letter, she hoped for more information.

    **************************

    Chapter 9: Caena Makes Her Decision
    Castle Donnach, Scotland - 1725

    Caena and Sòlas were to meet at the cliff.
She had to tell him her decision, and she knew she would break his
heart—just as hers was already. Once she was alone, she went to her
private chapel behind her room. She closed the door between her
room and the chapel, knowing that no one would dare to interrupt
her during her prayers. She exited using the door hidden by the
tapestry that hung on the wall behind the little alter. Quickly
moving down the steep stone stairway to the exit that left her in
the private garden, she made her way through the thick hedge and up
the hidden path to the cliff.
    As she approached the end of the path, she
was able to see him standing there, his back to her, looking out
over the loch. Her heart was nothing more than a thick lump in her
throat as she soaked in the look of him. His fair hair, long and
flowing, was blowing about him in the breeze. He was a vision
standing there against the bright blue sky. The long, loose sleeves
of his white homespun shirt, the scarf pinned to it at the
shoulder, and his solid black kilt touched by the breeze. He seemed
to sense her. Turning slowly toward her, she saw his pale blue eyes
light up when he caught sight of her.
    Holding that eye contact with the girl he
loved more than life, he walked to her.
    “Well, lass, I’ve missed you,” he whispered
in her ear as he pulled her so very close that she could feel the
fullness of the man she knew she would love for the rest of her
days. He was her own age in years, but had the old soul of a poet,
and the body any man of more