Page 24 of The Fierce Highlander

“I would enjoy that,” Leora said, and watched the young novice while Mother Abbess washed her hands in a bucket filled with clean water.

Novice Angelica was attractive or could be if she did not wear such an intense expression as she placed the small crock in a pouch. Leora wondered about her, about why any woman would commit her life to an abbey. Had she done so of her own free will? Or had she no choice, her family having sent her here? Or did she have no other place to go and sought the sanctuary of the abbey? Whatever reason the young woman appeared truly interested in learning from Mother Abbess.

Leora was surprised when the sun greeted them once outside the abbey, clouds having followed them there earlier and worried that another rainstorm might hit.

“This is our medicinal garden,” Mother Abbess said, walking to a large garden divided in two sections that was enclosed with a wooden fence. “Novice Angelica tends the garden well. She is a quick learner and will make an exceptional healer. And we are grateful that the good Lord has blessed us with a variety of plants, some local, while some merchants and travelers have shared their finds from foreign places with us, which is the reason for the divided garden. Even though the new plants’ healing properties were explained to us, we work with them first to make sure they work as explained.”

“What is that small garden over there so far removed from all planting fields?” Leora asked curiously, pointing to a fenced-in patch of land.

“Those plants are deadly,” Mother Abbess said.

“Then why have them?”

“Because they can help in certain situations but must be handled with care and knowledge,” Mother Abbess explained. “Now come and see the other fields.”

“Nettles,” Leora said, seeing a huge patch of them. “You can find them in abundance in the Highlands.”

“True, but we use a fair amount of nettles, the sisters favoring nettle broth, and it is easier for us to keep a patch of it close by.”

After viewing several more fields with a variety of plants, Leora stopped walking and turned to Mother Abbess. “Tell me if I am wrong but you show me these fields for a reason. Does it have anything to do with Clan Skirling?”

“You are astute,” Mother Abbess said with a soft smile.

“More logical,” Leora said. “There was truly no reason to show me the fields unless you believed it would be of use to me. Does Clan Skirling require work?”

“I am afraid so. The previous chieftain cared more about himself than his clan. He provided little in the way of leadership, and he neglected his clan’s needs. The two men now who fight over the chieftain title are much the same. They want the clan for what it can do for them, and the people know it. But they fear Lord Slayer interfering, for they worry they will suffer far worse under his command than the two fools that now vie for control.”

“Do the people fear my husband?” Leora asked, thinking it would not prove helpful.

“They more fear his reputation—the fiercest Gallowglass warrior—which to them means Noble would show no mercy that he would rule with a brutal hand as they believe Lord Slayer does.”

That news had Leora’s stomach roiling with worry for Sky. “Until I can see for myself, I am concerned about my sister being in Lord Slayer’s care. Do you know if she is safe with him?”

Mother Abbess’s hand went to the wood cross resting against her chest, and she patted it gently before her hand fell away. “When it comes to your sister’s safety, she could not be in any more capable hands than Lord Slayer. No one will get near her with him protecting her.”

“You tell me what everyone assures me and yet I feel I am not being told the whole of it,” Leora said, annoyed she received the same response time and again, telling her little and leaving her wondering what truly was happening to her sister.

“Lord Slayer is… can be a harsh man at times. His brother Warrand was trained from a young age to eventually lead Clan Ravinsher, Slayer was trained since he was young to be a relentless warrior, to never accept defeat, so that he could protect his brother and clan. Now with his father and brother’s deaths, it not only falls on him to lead the clan but to protect it as well while continuing to command the Gallowglass in this area.”

“It sounds like he would not even have time for my sister,” Leora said, feeling a bit relieved yet concerned Sky would find herself alone with no one befriending her. Though knowing her sister, all Sky would need were the animals in the area. She could sit for hours with the forest animals keeping her company or have the dogs and cats following her around. She once told Leora she was never lonely as long as she had animals around her.

“That is quite likely and since I have not been summoned to Clan Ravinsher since his return with your sister, I would assume she is well.”

“You tend to the ill at Clan Ravinsher?” Leora asked, a possibility forming in her mind.

“Aye, all at the abbey do, and we are midwives to Clan Ravinsher as well as Clan Skirling.”

“I have attended a few births, if you should ever need help,” Leora offered, though she hadn’t truly assisted in a birth. However, she had paid attention, learning all she could, having been determined to know what one day she herself would experience.

Mother Abbess smiled and nodded. “The women in Clan Skirling will be pleased to learn that.”

“My husband is going to be the new chieftain of Clan Skirling, isn’t he?” Leora asked, having learned from conversing with Mother Abbess that she knew more than she said and provided more information than was spoken, if one knew how to understand her responses.

“Wagging tongues seem to believe so and where rumors prevail you will always find a smidgen of truth,” Mother Abbess said. “If so, I believe Clan Skirling will be pleased with their new mistress. They will find you knowledgeable, caring, and a woman of great strength.”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, Mother Abbess, and any guidance you can offer me would be most welcome,” Leora said. She already missed talking with her sisters, so it was nice to know she would have a woman to talk with now and again.

Still, though, Mother Abbess was not versed in the ways of a wife or mother having no experience with either, but the woman was well versed in patience and that was something Leora lacked… at times.

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