Amanda listened with fear and sorrow filling her heart. Struan McNeill was monstrous, and he had not only stolen Hamish birthright but also had not the slightest interest in caring for his people. He might even be a murderer.
Yet, Hamish was bearing an almost unbearable burden. He was suffering under the responsibility of keeping his people alive while trying to find some way to retrieve the inheritance that had been wrenched away from him.
Hamish was working on the repair of a cottage near the hall, and he could see Amanda treating her patients through the big windows and the open door. He was hammering a nail into a piece of wood, repairing the roof of a cottage that had been damaged in the last gale force wind; however, he could not keep his eyes off Amanda.
She was exceptional, he thought. She had been kidnapped, tied to a tree, suffered illness and been made to sleep with a strange man, yet still, she had chosen kindness.
Although Struan was by nature cruel and selfish, Hamish was unprepared for the speed and ferocity of his coup. Their parents’ bodies were hardly cold in the ground before Struan’s hired thugs attacked him. Hamish had been angry at himself for not preparing for this because he knew what his half-brother wascapable of, but he had been determined not to give up without a fight.
When he managed to get out of the castle alive with some of his faithful guards, he had only survived by the skin of his teeth.
He had immediately headed for the nearby forest along with his men when one of the villagers from Inchkeith came across them while he was cutting wood. He recognised Hamish at once, and after listening to the story of the coup, took him into the village. After hearing his story, they embraced him as their leader since he was a man of honour and the rightful Laird, telling him that he had inspired them and given them hope.
Now, looking across at Amanda treating his people with such skill and gentleness, he wondered, after the way he had behaved towards her, if he deserved that respect.
Presently, Amanda came out of the hall and stretched, then placed her hands in the small of her back to massage it. It gave him a view of her shapely body once more, and he remembered how it had felt to hold her in his arms on his bed.
What is she doing to me?he thought.
Just then, he looked down as a small boy of about seven years old tapped his arm. Hamish smiled at the youngster, whom he had seen many times before.
“The elders asked me tae gie ye this,” he said as he handed over a small package wrapped in a piece of old cloth. “They said it was for the pretty healer.”
Hamish smiled and ruffled the little boy’s hair. “Tell them I said thank you, and I will give it to her as soon as she is finished.”
The boy ran to take the message back to the others, and Hamish put the little gift in his pocket and went back to work, but every now, and then he glanced at Amanda.
He had never before met anyone quite like her.
12
They returned to the camp just after sunset, and Amanda was so weary that it was all she could do to stay on her horse, and she was swaying in the saddle. Yet, she was smiling, even though her back was aching from bending over her patients because her heart was full of joy.
It had been a hard, exhausting day without a doubt, but she had been doing what she loved. As well as that, she felt as though the villagers appreciated her; they were not rude or hostile.
Tending to the sick, giving them warmth, medicine and comfort, was Amanda’s vocation. Because of her care, many of the people who had come into her makeshift hospital had returned to their homes much healthier than when they came in, and that made Amanda feel wonderful.
She looked across to see Gregor smiling broadly at her.
“What is making you so happy?” she asked, with an answering, but curious smile.
“I am so glad ye came tae us,” he replied. “It has made such a difference tae the village.”
“If you remember, I did not have much choice,” Amanda replied dryly.
Gregor’s smile vanished for a moment. “I am very sorry for the way that happened,” he replied sadly. “But today ye shone, Amanda, as I knew ye could. Ye helped so many people, an’ I am very happy about that. Ye have given them hope.” His look was grateful as he patted her hand.
“Thank you,” she replied. “But I was not alone, and I have a feeling that they are going to thrive in the future because I know that when you carry out your plan they will all be well again. Some of them are in bad shape, but I feel hopeful.”
Gregor nodded. “We feed them as best we can,” he replied, “but when we get Hamish’s lands back, they will a’ be treated as we treat ourselves and those we find worthy o’ respect.” Then he frowned. “But Struan willnae make it easy.” He stopped, as though afraid to say any more.
Amanda looked at Gregor’s grim expression, the determined set of his jaw, the ferocity in his eyes, and knew for certain that it would happen, even if many of the men had to give their lives to achieve it. She had never met such strong men, both physically and mentally, and was proud to be of use to them.
When they arrived back at the camp, Hamish had to help Amanda out of the saddle again, since she was swaying with tiredness. She was so ravenous with hunger that her tummy was rumbling, but she was simply too tired to eat, so she slipped away to her tent and lay down. She curled up in the soft woollen blankets and closed her eyes; sleep came almost instantly.
In the half-dark, Hamish had not seen Amanda moving away, and he looked around for her anxiously. Since the episode by the river when she had nearly drowned, he had been wary of letting her out of his sight. He no longer thought she would run away, but he needed to be sure that she was safe at all times because she was the only healer they had. As well as that, he had a feeling that she was one of the best; she had been born to it.
Hamish’s thoughts led him to the moment he had laid Amanda on the riverbank, sure that she was dead. He had known her for only hours, but he felt already that there was something special about her, something he could not quite fathom, but it did not pertain to her abilities as a healer. No, he finally had to admit to himself that he felt something more than admiration for Amanda Tewsbury.
