High on a Mountain (6 page)

He took his arms from around her and stood,
grasped her hands and gently pulled her to her feet.

“Then you mean it?” she asked. “We really are
going to be married?”

“Yes, my love, just as soon as we can.”

Ailean took her in his arms and kissed the
top of her head, her brow, her wet cheeks. She melted into his
embrace and lifted her face to his. He kissed her lips, drew back
and looked into her eyes.

“Mùirne, my love, I’ll take care of you, and
I’ll love you forever.”

A tiny thought, a doubt, pressed against the
edges of his awareness. If he married Mùirne, what would become of
his dreams and plans of a life of high adventure? Of heroic
exploits? A small furrow traced itself onto his brow between his
eyes, but his rising passion smoothed it away and smothered his
hesitancy. Ailean pulled Mùirne tighter against his body, and his
kisses became more ardent and insistent.

Mùirne clung to him, returned his kisses. He
caressed her shoulders as he kissed her, and she allowed his hands
to travel down her back, along the curves of her body. Intense
desire engulfed him. He felt as if he were on the edge of a
precipice, about to plunge over, about to do something irrevocable,
and he pulled himself back, drew away from her embrace.

He took a ragged breath. “I have to go. If I
don’t go now, I might do something…something we’ll regret.”

SIX

Ailean ran most of the way home through the
chilly November evening. He arrived after sunset, as the family sat
down to supper. He hung his bonnet and sword on their pegs and took
his place by the fire.

“And who is this stranger coming to sit at my
hearth?” his father said. “Have I seen you before, young man? Don’t
you live somewhere over by the MacPhàrlains?”

They all laughed as Ailean ducked his head,
smiling and blushing. His mother filled a bowl from the iron pot
that hung over the fire, suspended on a chain from the rafters
above. She held it out to him. When he reached for it, he raised
his head and she saw the bruises and dried blood on his face.

“What’s this?” Brìghde asked. “What has
happened to you, son?”

His father and his younger brother, Niall,
saw his injured face but said nothing, waiting for him to
explain.

“Latharn Cambeul.”

“What happened?” Aodh asked, his voice quiet
but intense.

“I was visiting someone. He didn’t like it,
so he hit me. I tried to hit him back, but—”

“Looks like he hit you more than once,” said
Niall.

“Yes, well, if we’d fought with swords
instead of fists, it would be Latharn who’d be answering questions
about the marks on
his
face instead of me,” Ailean said, and
they all laughed, relieving the tension that had begun to build
when they saw his battered face.

They continued eating, and the laughter and
teasing resumed, all of them enjoying the warmth and love that
radiated from one to the other around the fire.

After they ate, Ailean said, “Da, can I talk
to you? Can we go outside?”

“No,” Brìghde said. “First let me see to
those wounds.”

“Later, please, Ma,” Ailean pleaded. “I have
to talk to Da first. Outside.”

“Outside? What do you have to say that can’t
be said here by the fire where it’s warm?” Aodh asked.

“I want to ask you something.”

“Ask.”

Ailean glanced at Ma and Niall. “Not here.”
He looked down at his hands, fidgeting with the folds of his
clothing and rubbing a foot back and forth on the dirt floor.

Aodh looked at him for a moment. “All right,
son, let’s go.”

When they walked outside, it took Ailean a
few moments to decide what to say. As he ran home, he’d gone over
in his mind what he would say to his father, but now he didn’t know
how it would sound.

He cleared his throat. “Da, I’ve found a girl
I want to marry.”

Aodh remained silent, waited for him to
continue.

“I need to know…I’m wondering…” He hesitated
for a moment, and the words all came out in a rush. “When Coinneach
got married, he built the cottage for Una here beside yours. What
about me? Can I build a cottage here, too? Can I stay here and help
and have a share in things, like Coinneach does?”

“I don’t know, son.” Aodh stroked his beard.
“This little croft, with its poor soil, it barely provides for all
the families who live here as it is. What about when you have a
family, too? How can we feed everyone?”

Ailean said nothing. Da allowed Coinneach to
build a cottage on the croft, but now that Ailean wanted to do the
same, the answer was “no.” Resentment fanned into flames the embers
of his jealousy. In his mind, he formed a biting reply, but before
he could say anything, Aodh broke the silence.

“Of course, we’ll have to get Ruairidh’s
approval, like we did for Coinneach. But he usually agrees to what
we ask. And there is one thing in your favor. We’ve not been
planting that field on the other side of the upper woods. If
everyone is agreeable, you could work that field as your share. For
now.”

Relief flooded through Ailean and washed away
his resentment as though it had never been..

“Thanks, Da! I’ll clear that field myself.
I’ll do whatever has to be done. And Mùirne, she can help Ma and
Una with the sheep. She’s good with sheep.”

“Mùirne, eh? All right, son. I’m sure we’ll
all find a way to get by,” Aodh said, his voice sounding tired and
strained.

He started to go inside but turned back to
Ailean. “Why did you and Latharn fight?”

“He wants to marry Mùirne, too. But she chose
me, not him. And that made him angry.”

“That man will come to a bad end someday.
He’s been coddled and pampered, given everything he ever wanted.
That’s not good for anyone. It doesn’t build character.”

“He has no honor. He hit me when I wasn’t
looking. He didn’t give me a fair chance to fight.” Ailean touched
his bruised cheek with careful fingers. He frowned as he remembered
the fight.

“Honor is the important thing, not the
ability to swing a fist.” Aodh opened the door. “You coming?”

“No. I need to speak to Coinneach.”

“Your mother won’t be happy.” Aodh shook his
head, entered the cottage and closed the door.

____________

“It was better than I could have dreamed,”
Latharn said to his father. “The feel of my fist hitting his chin,
it was so satisfying. And Mùirne saw the whole thing. She—”

“You are serious about marrying this
girl?”

“Yes, Father. When you see her, you’ll
understand. She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Then you’d better ask for her hand, get her
family’s approval. Soon,” Eachann said.

Although he wasn’t sure about the suitability
of the girl, it was enough that Latharn wanted her. He seldom
denied his only child, this son of his old age, anything he
desired, and he would not interfere with Latharn’s choice of a
wife.

“But, I thought I’d better let her get over
her anger first. She was so angry—”

“Women don’t understand how things are with
men. She’ll get over it. But you should meet with her family and
get their approval right away, get the formalities settled, since
she has another suitor.”

Latharn looked at his father, his brows
drawing together, wrinkling his forehead. “How do I make sure
they’ll approve?”

“Impress them with your wealth. Dress in your
finest. Take your cousin Suibhne to speak for you, and take Odhran
and some other attendants. Her family will be intimidated by your
wealth and power. And take them a sumptuous gift. They won’t dare
say ‘no’ to a Cambeul. Especially not to a wealthy Cambeul.”

____________

Ailean went next door to Coinneach’s cottage.
“It’s me, brother,” he said and slapped the barred door. He heard
the scrape of the bar being lifted, and the door opened.

“What are you doing out so late? It’s almost
time for bed,” Coinneach said.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Come sit by the fire, then.” Coinneach led
the way to the hearth where his wife, Una, sat carding wool.

“Good evening,” Ailean said to Una as he took
a seat on one of the chairs by the small peat fire and put his
hands out over it to warm them. The children were already in bed
asleep.

“Well, what is so important that you had to
come keep me from my bed?” Coinneach asked.

“I’ve asked Mùirne to marry me.”

“You’re going to marry!” Coinneach jumped up
from his chair and clapped his younger brother on the shoulder.
“Congratulations. Mùirne? Is she the red-haired girl with the sheep
over by—” He stopped when he got a closer look at Ailean’s face,
cocked his head to one side and frowned. “What happened to you,
little brother?”

“Latharn Cambeul. He beat me with his fists.
In front of Mùirne,” Ailean said. “I thought I could never go see
her again, that I was disgraced, that she’d think me a weakling and
tell me not to come back. But she said she wants me. And she said
she’ll marry me.” Ailean shook his head, a wondering expression on
his face. “How can you tell what a woman will think or do?”

Coinneach laughed. “That is a question no man
will ever be able to answer.”

“At least, you are one man who seems never
able to answer it,” Una said, with a knowing glance at her
husband.

He smiled at her, turned to Ailean and
regarded him with a sigh. “So. My little brother is going to be a
married man. I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Can you help me?” Ailean asked. “Tell me
what I’m supposed to do?”

“I could do that,” Coinneach said with a
grin. “First, you have to ask the girl’s father for permission to
marry her.”

“She doesn’t have a father. He’s dead.”

“Oh. Doesn’t she have a brother, an uncle, a
grandfather?”

“I think she has a grandfather.”

“You think—don’t you know?”

“Well, I haven’t met her family yet—”

“What? You’ve been courting this girl,
haven’t you? How could you not have met her family?” Coinneach
paused. He compressed his lips, and his eyebrows drew together.
“You haven’t been courting her. You’ve been seeing her behind her
family’s back.”

“Well, I go to see her, but—”

“But not at her house, where her family can
supervise.”

“No. Was I supposed to?”

Coinneach shook his head, rubbed his hands
over his face, took them away and glared at his brother. “Ailean,
don’t you know anything? You’ve compromised her, compromised
yourself. You’ve behaved dishonorably. Who knows if they will
accept you now.”

Ailean sat in silence. A scarlet stain crept
up his throat and colored his face.

“Listen, you can’t go through life jumping in
and doing things just because they suit your fancy. You have to
behave. Do what you’re supposed to.”

“I didn’t know I was doing anything
wrong.”

“There’s no help for it now. You’ll have to
do the best you can to smooth things over.”

“How?”

“You’ll have to ask the grandfather for her
hand. And who will you take to speak for you?”

“What do you mean, speak for me?”

“You have to take someone with you to speak
to the grandfather. He’ll say things about what a good catch you
are.”

“But who can I take? Would you go?”

“No, it would be better if someone else goes,
not your brother. How about Raghnall? He spoke to Una’s father for
me,” Coinneach said, turning his eyes to his wife.

“Aye, that he did,” Una said with a
smile.

“So, how do I do this? How do I ask for her
hand?”

“Take Raghnall. He knows what to say. He’ll
help you.”

Ailean rubbed his bare foot back and forth
impatiently on the dirt floor. He’d had no idea what was involved
in setting up a wedding. He’d assumed he’d go ask her mother if he
could marry Mùirne, and then, well, he expected to get married.
Now, he was finding out there was much more to it. He wished he had
paid closer attention to the proceedings when Coinneach and Una
married.

“This is going to be more complicated than I
expected. And I told her I’d come tomorrow to ask for her
hand.”

“Then go ask Raghnall if he’ll go tomorrow.
What’s the problem with that?”

“Da says I have to talk to Ruairidh tomorrow
to ask for permission to build a house for Mùirne on the
croft.”

“Oh,” said Coinneach. “Then you’ll have to
talk to Ruairidh, like Da said.”

“But Mùirne is expecting me tomorrow. What
will she think when I don’t come?”

“You’ll have to go the next day. You can’t
ask for the girl’s hand in marriage if you have no home to take her
to.”

“But—”

“Listen to me,” Coinneach said, his voice
stern and hard. “I know how you are. You think you can do whatever
you please. Sometimes, you get away with it. But in an important
matter like this, you need to pay attention to what I’m telling you
and do the right thing. Maybe you can repair the damage you’ve
already done.”

He paused again, cocked his head and glared
at Ailean. “Does Da know what you’ve been doing? That you haven’t
been behaving honorably toward this girl?”

Ailean remained silent, and his face reddened
again.

Coinneach shook his head and audibly exhaled
in a disgusted grunt. “I thought not. Go home and get some sleep.
And do what Da tells you for once.”

Ailean said nothing for a moment, irritation
crawling up his backbone with a prickly insistence he could not
ignore. He muttered under his breath as he left Coinneach by the
fire. “Why can’t we just go to the parson and say our vows? Why all
this…nonsense?”

SEVEN

Night still clung to the western slopes and
darkness huddled beneath the thicket of trees overhanging the path
when Aodh and Ailean started for Ruairidh MacLachlainn’s home in
the half-light of early morning. Father and son trotted along
without a word, single-file, their exhaled breaths trailing behind
them in the cold air for a brief moment before dissipating.