Page 10 of Unforgotten
Sister Leanna didn’t answer, and slinging the satchel across her chest, Ella turned to her. She saw that the young woman’s face was shadowed, unnaturally somber. “I can’t imagine having no contact with my kin for that long,” she murmured. “I miss my parents so much, sometimes it hurts to breathe.”
Ella saw then that Sister Leanna’s gaze shone with unshed tears. Something deep inside Ella’s chest twisted. How heartless she must seem to the lass. She knew that Sister Leanna was very close to her family. She had confided in her one evening that the real reason for her joining the order was not out of religious fervor. Instead, it had been her father’s idea.
MacKinnon had wanted to wed Chieftain MacDonald of Sleat’s comely daughter. It had been a drastic move to send her to Kilbride, yet it was the only way they had managed to put MacKinnon off.
Sister Leanna had understood her father’s choice, although Ella had seen sadness shadow her hazel eyes at unguarded times—like now.
Stepping close to Sister Leanna, Ella put comforting arms around her. “It does get easier with time,” she whispered. As soon as the words left her lips, she realized how little solace they truly gave.
The two women left the cell and walked into the yard beyond. A balmy dawn greeted them. The sun had just risen over the tawny hills to the east, and the air had a sweet smell that promised another hot day ahead.
Ella huffed out a breath. There was so much to do here at the abbey; so much weeding, planting, and harvesting to carry out and oversee. She didn’t have time for this trip.
Even so, to change her mind would only cast her in a poor light. All the nuns now knew that her mother was gravely ill. They expected Ella to go to her.
But none of them had ever met Cait Fraser.
Sturdy leather sandals scuffling on the dirt, Ella led the way from the nuns’ lodgings to the stables. The abbey kept goats, sheep, fowl, and even a couple of pigs. Despite that the nuns didn’t travel much, they also had shaggy ponies, beasts that were native to the Isle, and an old sway-backed donkey.
One of the ponies, a bay gelding named Monadh, awaited her. The beast’s name was a beautiful one, meaning ‘moorland covered mountain’. However, the pony seemed wide as a barrel and hairy as a Highland cow beside the leggy grey courser that waited next to it. MacNichol had saddled both the mounts and was now ready to depart.
He stood, quietly conversing with Mother Shona. At hearing approaching footfalls, the clan-chief glanced up. His gaze tracked Ella’s path across the yard. Just like the day before, the sight of him unnerved her.
Ella inhaled sharply, her hand straying to the crucifix looped through her belt.Dear Lord, please give me the strength to keep company with this man.
Approaching the abbess, Ella dropped to one knee before her. “Good morning, Sister Ella,” Mother Shona greeted her with a smile, making the sign of the cross. “I’m glad to see ye plan to travel light.”
Ella forced a smile. “Aye … I’ve taken yer advice to heart.” She then glanced over her shoulder to see that a crowd of nuns had gathered behind her, including Sister Leanna.
Ella couldn’t fail to note either that some of the sisters weren’t looking at her. One or two of the younger ones were in fact openly gazing at Gavin MacNichol.
Ella frowned. There was a reason why very few men were admitted to the abbey. MacNichol’s presence here was a disruptive one. It was just as well he was leaving.
Oblivious to the stir his presence was creating, Gavin met Ella’s eye once more. “A sunny day lies before us,” he said pleasantly. “The perfect weather for traveling.”
“The perfect weather for sun-stroke too,” old Magda called out. “Make sure ye keep out of the noon sun, Sister Ella.”
“Worry not … I shall look after her,” Gavin replied to the elderly nun.
Ella tensed, her throat closing as nervousness got the better of her. Despite his self-confidence, she hated the idea of leaving the abbey. These solid stone walls had been her home for so long, she sometimes forgot that there was a world outside it. Panic fluttered up as she considered the two-day journey to Scorrybreac and what awaited her there.
Masking her rising anxiety with a stern look, Ella crossed to her pony. Then, placing her right foot in the stirrup and facing Monadh’s head, she mounted side-saddle. It wasn’t easy. She hadn’t been on horseback for many years. Once she’d been able to spring up into the saddle with ease, but today it was an effort. She hopped up and down, her habit flapping, as she attempted to launch herself upward. All the while, Monadh patiently waited.
Ella felt gazes boring into her as she scrambled in an ungainly fashion onto the pony’s back. Breathing hard, she adjusted her skirts and gathered up the reins.
Had Gavin watched that display?
When she chanced a glance his way, she saw that he too had mounted and was mercifully not looking in her direction. Instead, Gavin met Mother Shona’s eye, his cheek dimpling as he smiled. “As I said, Mother Shona, we should return no longer than two weeks hence.”
The abbess nodded, stepping back from them. “May the Lord’s blessings go with ye,” she replied her attention shifting to Ella. Their gazes fused, and the abbess’s full lips curved. “Make the most of this time with yer kin,” she advised softly. “For many of us never get the chance to say goodbye.”
Gavin and Ella rode out of Kilbride in silence.
Gavin’s mount, a spirited grey mare, didn’t like the quiet pace her rider had set this morning. Yet the pony the abbess had loaned Ella had a short stride. It was also grossly fat and would slow their progress north. Gavin didn’t mind. He was to have but a short time alone with Ella. It was stolen time, but he wanted to make the most of it.
Nonetheless, he sensed that his companion wished to keep her own counsel this morning. He cast a glance Ella’s way to see that she was deliberately staring at the road before her, steadfastly ignoring him.
Watching her, Gavin stifled the urge to fill the silence between them. Ella was probably just nervous, he told himself. Perhaps she would thaw once they got properly underway.
