Page 3 of A Merry MacNaughton
“Well, I didna ken when I pulled him from the loch. After that…” He shrugged. “Well, I couldna just leave him to die. Craigg or no.”
She nodded and blew at a red curl that had escaped her kertch. “Well, get him into my room or the entire clan will ken he’s here. Strip him down while I find a dry shirt.”
Calum gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I kent I could count on ye, Enid.”
Pink stained her cheeks as she waved him away. Calum stuffed another hunk of bread into his mouth and then tossed the man over his shoulder again.
*
“Ye saved mylife. Considering our clans’ shared history, I doubt if my family would have been as welcoming.” Malachi Craigg shook his head. “My horse is young and he spooked at something in the wood. By the time I reined him in, I realized we were offshore.”
“Why did ye no’ grab on to the horse? He made it to land.” Calum settled onto the chair next to the bed. Black Angus sprawled out next to him, his head on his master’s foot.
The older man pursed his lips, red creeping up his neck. “When the ice cracked, the beast panicked and reared, slipping on the ice and falling backward. I’ve never learned to swim. By the time I wallowed my way to the broken edge, I had no more strength left to pull myself out. I tell ye, I watched my life passing before me, and it wasna pretty.”
“I dinna doubt it. Enid and I wondered if ye’d make it through the sweating.”
His fever had taken three days to break. With Enid’s healing hands, he began to regain some color and strength. After a week, he still looked peaked and unfit for travel. But Calum wouldn’t interfere with another man’s decisions, though that rumbly cough concerned him. Another surprise. He was lucky his great-grandfather didn’t reach down from the heavens to strike him smartly for caring about the life of a Craigg.
But he found he liked Malachi. Each time Calum had stopped in to check on the patient, they’d gotten lost in conversation. Both men were well read and shared similar political views concerning the future of Scotland. It was a shame their clans were at odds.
“To be truthful, my family has no idea ye are here. I thought it best to keep yer arrival quiet.” Calum smiled. “I respect my da, but I disagree with holding a grudge from generations past. He’d have tried to ransom ye or something as foolish, I’m sure.”
“My brothers are also tired of the feuding. We’ve tried to reason with our father but he willna listen.” Malachi sat up and swung his legs over the bed. “It is good to hear ye feel the same.”
“Feelings matter little when it comes to clan disputes. The fact is, most disputes we’ve had in the past fifty years have been started by yer side.” Calum eyed him suspiciously. “Yet here we are, talking peace. Why now?”
“The Craigg Clan has lost so many families since the noblemen began clearing the farmland for livestock. When the old English earl was given our lands by the Crown, he was fair for a Sassenach. He left things as they were and allowed the barter system to continue.” Malachi shook his head. “But his son, as ye ken, hadprogressiveideas. He turned the entire estate into grazing pastures and demanded cash for rent and the privilege of milking the livestock. Most families couldna afford to stay and resettled on the coast, others left for Edinburgh or sailed for America.”
“Aye, and I’m sorry for it. Ye’re no’ the only Scots booted from their land.” He did not add the MacNaughtons owned enough property to avoid being dictated to by the English. “I heard Lord Fulton offered yer family the role of estate manager but the Craigg refused.”
“The Craigg is a proud man with a long memory. Lord Fulton looked down his nose at Da, and got his hackles up. He spoke to Da as if he were a servant rather than the Chieftain of the Craiggs. He refused to work for the bloody welp, as he still calls him, and vowed that any clan member who did would be dead to him.”
“Pride willna fill a man’s belly in the winter.”
“Agreed. Our clan holds no vast amount of property as yer family does, and our resources are growing sparse. In another year, we willna be able to support more than our immediate kin. My oldest brother, Archibald, believes ye could help us.”
“I’ll agree the MacNaughtons are luckier than most. My younger brothers are in Virginia, trying their luck with tobacco. It’s been verra lucrative and allowed us to buy more looms and put our tenants to work spinning yarn and weaving cloth.”From wool yer English earl sends us.Calum rubbed his jaw, thinking how his da had cackled at turning a profit from the Craiggs’ misfortune. “So what were yer brothers thinking?”
“Our keep is crumbling around us, and those who settled on the coast have written they want to come home. We were no’ born fishermen. We must find a way to survive and help those clan members who are depending on us. The constant fighting between us benefits no one.” He held out a hand to indicate their surroundings. “If ye could put us to work here. It may be the only way to survive these times.”
Calum snorted. “I’m sure that advice was as welcome as the ice water bath I pulled ye from.”
“Da turned a deaf ear.” He studied Calum for a long moment. “So we thought a marriage between the clans might work instead. If we are joined by blood…”
“Marriage? A Craigg lass wed to a MacNaughton?”
He nodded. “These are desperate times. I admit I had my doubts, but yer actions at the loch have convinced me it’s possible.”
“So that was the reason ye were on our land? To see if ye could arrange a marriage between our families?” Calum guffawed. “The Craigg and my da would both be vying for yer hide. It might be the one thing they’d agree upon.”
“I was only to find out if ye were open to the possibility.” Malachi gave a sheepish grin. “Do ye wish ye let me drown now?”
“Och, no, mon. Anything that ends this ancient feud would be worth the trouble.”
“The Craigg’s health is declining.” Malachi sighed. “So Archie is looking to the future as it will be his responsibility soon enough, we fear. He would swear fealty once he was chieftain.”
Calum gripped the man’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “When that day comes, I will be happy to discuss a union between the clans. I believe Da could be persuaded to see reason under those circumstances. If we can live with Sassenach, we should be able to make peace with our own neighbors.”
