Page 15 of The Highlander's Captured Bride
A collective contemplation passed over the women’s faces and then one spoke, “Me mind ran on Isla, but she has green eyes, nay blue.”
“Could it be Donna’s eldest girl?” another proposed. “She had blue eyes…”
“But nay scar on her forehead,” the first cut in while rubbing her chin. “Kenning of it, it cannea be Catriona either as there is nay scar or blue eye…”
Ethan’s eyes shifted between the three as they began to talk amongst themselves instead of at him. It took them devolving into a squabble before he thought of getting their attention back to him. It was Violet who intervened.
“‘Scuse me, missus,” Ethan’s head nearly jerked with astonishment at her now scratchy boyish country-side accent. “Thank ye for taking time out to help me Lord, but back to the main problem, dae ye ken is any of these women have fallen on hard times? Did she have a bairn without the faither present or did she have her siblings or parents falling ill all o’ a sudden?”
Her interruption had the woman pressing their lips together and then one shaking her head, “Sorry, laddie, all the young lassies around here are married an’ their husbands are alive an’ kicking.”
A corroborating nod from the other two had Ethan thanking them for their time and moving on to another set of traders, who, again, gave no satisfactory answer about the woman they were seeking. After asking five sets of people, Ethan had to take Violet aside.
“This doesnae seem to be working,” he noted while looking over his shoulder. “Are ye sure these are the questions to ask?”
“I kent this is our best chance at finding her,” Violet whispered. “We might need to tweak our story if no one says something, but I am sure…well…I’mmostlysure this is the way to find her.”
Ah, hellfire and brimstone…
Staring at Violet’s beautiful face, he saw her eyes brimming with passion and hopeful innocence. Ethan knew he was walking a thin line with being drawn to her for too many reasons, and all of them were wrong. It was an assemblage of her natural beauty, the innocent yet worldly eyes, and most of all, the distraction she provided him from his pain in this time of misery.
Rubbing his forehead, he sighed, “Very well… if yer sure, we’ll continue.”
* * *
After going through the marketplace, Violet had decided that they were getting nowhere with the vendors, so she and Ethan went to the pub to wait. The evening was about to set, a time when patrons began to trickle in. From a shadowed corner, Violet's eyes were trained on the doorway, watching and evaluating each body that walked in.
They were mostly men wanting to be served and the wenches actively swerving through the tables with trays of ale. Another group of men stumbled in, laughing and jabbing at each other.
“…and that wench had the nerve to charge double,” one of the scoffed so loudly it floated over to them. “It wasnae as if her services were that good. Anyone could tell she’s new at it.”
Services…charge double…new at it…are they speaking about a strumpet?
Violet shot a look at Ethan, hoping that he had caught onto it, and with a subtle nod showing that he had, Ethan left their nook and approached the men. She cupped the goblet of sweet mead Ethan had bought her, while observing the room and hoping that Ethan would find out something useful.
Ethan perched on a stool near the group of men. She admired how the light from the fires and torches flicker over his hair, rendering the fair strands into burnt gold. She could not hear what he was saying but felt her heart flutter at the strong cut of his profile, his firm jaw, and noble cheekbones and the curve of his lips as he spoke.
One man shook his head, and Ethan gave a solemn nod. Returning to the nook, he shook his head and she sighed. The whole day felt wasted with no lead on the woman. She swallowed the dregs of the mead when joined her.
“The woman they were speaking of is red-haired,” Ethan said prodding at his empty goblet. “I ken we—”
“Ask the serving girls, perhaps they will ken something,” Violet said only to have Ethan shake his head with a wry, permissive smile.
“I meant that we should go home. It is going to take a while, and I want ye to get to yer faither before he uses me faither to send the search dogs out for us,” Ethan said. “I ken ye want to get this solved, but today is nay the day.”
Violet bit her lip then nodded, rather reluctantly. “I agree, but we’ll try tomorrow, agreed?”
“We’ll see,” Ethan murmured as he stood. “I dae thank ye for doing this for me. I’m grateful but Rome wasnae built in a day.”
“I ken,” she sighed while standing. “Yer right, it is time to go home. Thanks for coming along with me silly idea.”
“We’ll decide on that.” Ethan led her out of the tavern and the cooler air made gooseflesh rise on her arms. They loosened the tethering ropes from their horses, and he helped her up before mounting his.
“Just stay close to me and we’ll be fine,” he called. “I dae hope yer faither will still hold unto yer word about me taking ye for a ride of the countryside.”
“I hope he will,” Violet said. “But to make sure…before we go in, I will have to do a quick change.”
* * *
