Page 54 of Unforgotten
Ella paced the chapter house, awaiting the arrival of Sister Leanna and Sister Coira. She was to leave Kilbride in secret, but when Ella had begged Mother Shona to allow her to say goodbye to her two closest friends at the abbey, the abbess had finally relented.
It was to be a hurried farewell, but Ella was relieved she would be permitted to have it.
Leaving Kilbride was unthinkable. She felt as if she’d strayed into a dark dream.
The chapter house door creaked open, and two black garbed figures appeared: one small and slight, the other tall and broad-shouldered.
“Sister Ella!” The shock in Leanna’s voice nearly made Ella smile. “Why aren’t ye dressed in yer habit?”
Ella turned to face her friends. She was sure she presented an odd sight indeed. It had been so many years since she had dressed in common-place garb that she felt as if she stood naked before them. The clothes she had arrived at the abbey in had long been given away to the poor. Ella stood before them in far humbler clothing: a plain ankle-length léine covered with a kirtle made of faded blue plaid, laced across the bodice. Around her shoulders she wore a threadbare woolen shawl. Her head was uncovered, her hair braided down her back.
“It’s just Ella now,” she replied, before attempting a smile. She was sure the expression was more of a grimace. “I’m leaving the order.”
Both women gaped at her. Sister Coira’s lips parted, her violet eyes growing huge. “But how is that possible? Ye have taken yer vows of perpetuity … they cannot be broken.”
Ella sighed. “Apparently they can, if a nun has broken her vows and does not intend to repent for them.”
The color drained from Sister Leanna’s face at this admission. “Mother Mary,” she whispered, aghast, “what have ye done?”
“We returned to Kilbride via Dunan,” Ella replied. “There was an … incident there. Duncan MacKinnon burst into my bed-chamber and tried to rape me. I stabbed him, knocked him out with a jug, and then fled.”
Both women stared at her, shock filtering across their faces. Guilt knifed Ella. Mother Shona had told her to keep the story of what had befallen her at Dunan to herself, but Sisters Leanna and Coira were her friends; she wanted them at least to know the truth of things.
Their reactions were interesting, especially Sister Coira’s. A shadow moved across her gaze, and a nerve flickered under one eye. She looked almost … guilty. In contrast, Leanna clenched her jaw, fury tightening her face.
“That filthy bastard,” Leanna growled. “I wish ye had gutted him like a pig.” The words were shocking coming from one as delicate and sweet-tongued as Sister Leanna. Her sunny disposition and ready smile were what the other sisters were used to seeing—not this fierce, sharp-tongued young woman.
“That’s not all,” Ella continued. “MacKinnon gave me a message for ye, Sister Leanna. He said to tell ye that he’s free to wed again … he said ‘tell her that I’m coming for her’.” Ella paused there, hating the words she was having to relay to her friend. “He said that the walls of Kilbride will not stop him from taking what is his.”
Silence followed her words. Sister Leanna reached out, grasping Sister Coira’s arm for support. “He can’t touch me here,” she gasped out the words. “Da won’t permit it.”
“Of course he can’t,” Sister Coira soothed. However, the nun’s gaze now looked haunted, her face strained. “It’s just bluster.”
“Hewillcome looking for me here,” Ella interjected. “And that is why I must go … I just wanted to warn ye first, Sister Leanna. I hope Sister Coira is right, and that it is just an empty threat. In the meantime, ye may want to advise yer father that MacKinnon hasn’t given up on taking ye as his wife.”
Sister Leanna nodded, determination filtering over her face. “I will do that.” She released Sister Coira’s arm and stepped forward. “So this is it, Ella … we are to never see ye again?”
Ella nodded, her throat thickening. “I’m afraid not. Gavin MacNichol has agreed to take me away … I will wed him.”
Sister Coira gasped at this news, drawing close. “What’s this?” she demanded. “Ye never said anything about wedding anyone!”
Ella managed a smile then. Her admissions were shocking, and yet she had little time to explain them to her friends. Nonetheless, she would try. “Come and sit down for a few moments.” She motioned to the wooden bench below the stained glass windows behind them. “I don’t have much time, but ye both deserve to know the truth about me.”
24
Don’t Look Back
HEARING FOOTFALLS BEHIND him, Gavin turned.
A woman approached. A few feet away, Gavin heard Ceard grunt in surprise, while one of his other men murmured an oath.
Aye, it was like traveling back in time. The woman who held the skirt of her kirtle up as she crossed the dirt yard was no longer eighteen, her blue eyes brimming with excitement, but Annella Fraser still moved with unconscious grace, her head held high. The passing of time hadn’t diminished her. There was a strength to her delicate face at thirty-six that had been lacking at eighteen, and a steadiness to her gaze.
Life had battered Ella, but it hadn’t broken her. Instead, it had molded her.
She dressed in poor cloth, yet to Gavin she had never looked lovelier. The kirtle had once belonged to a taller, thinner woman than Ella. As such, it was slightly too tight across the bodice, straining against her full breasts, while the skirt dragged upon the ground. Around her shoulders she wore a shabby blue woolen shawl.
The yard was deserted. All the nuns, save Mother Shona, who followed behind Ella, were in the refectory consuming their noon meal.
