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C
aitlin listened for a moment. Silence. Heaven. She walked outside and Willie trailed behind her, sniffing the path. Winter still had them in its grasp, but Caitlin's nose detected a scent that spoke of spring. Maybe just in her memory. She would be glad when the weather did change to something not quite so fierce.
This silence was golden. Millie, Jack, Midge and Hector had gone back to the Cameron Estate and would be gone for several days. Alex and Daniel were in the south pasture with the lads trying to retrieve several sheep that had been trapped in the bog. And according to Alex, this was a dangerous undertaking. And Ian? She had no idea where that lad was off to. He'd just rushed in and rattled off some words about needing to make a quick trip down the mountain.
She was alone for the first time since she'd arrived in the Highlands. It was a nice reprieve from a regular day filled with people coming and going. Most of the time there was much talk and laughter, and once in a while a few angry words would be tossed about, but not often. It was so different from her life with Uncle Wabi. But she knew she was meant to be here. And she intended to follow through next week with her plan to start her healing in the village. She and Alex still had not discussed the matter since the day of their heated argument. It was a subject that was still the elephant in the room and she planned to discuss it with him this very evening. Might as well hash it out until they could come to some understanding. She doubted he'd ever agree with her, but she'd waited long enough now. Healing was her calling, and their difference of opinion was certainly putting a strain on their relationship. Alex still wanted to make all decisions, and she still wanted to resort to a temper fit.
Today she again felt a pull to return to the circle of stones. Her nightmares still came, though less often, and she recalled Uncle Wabi's belief the solution to her dreams would be found in the circle. She knew full well Alex would be steaming mad if she went back there, but Willie would be with her and he'd take care of anything that might try to harm her.
Pulling her arisaid around her shoulders, she started the climb up the moor. It was eerily quiet. No sounds anywhere. No wind. Most unusual. The closer she got, the more insistent the compulsion to enter the circle became. It was like being pulled by an unseen hand. As she reached the top of the moor, the wind immediately began to whip in every direction and began to howl.
"Willie, the wind is making that same sound you make when you call to your ancestors. Listen to that. I've never heard that before."
If Willie thought it was unusual, he didn’t indicate it. His nose was lifted, as always, and he stayed close to Caitlin. Walking closer to the circle of stones, the urge to enter was so great she never even considered not doing so.
Willie entered with her and lay prone, next to her feet. She once again saw the golden light that had surrounded her before. And that peaceful feeling, it was still here. Now, however, something else was here as well. Was that a voice whispering in her ear? No, that was just the wind. Then again. Whispering? Was it a voice? Maybe. But it was so far away. Not a voice. More a feeling of being called, needed. By whom?
The feeling grew stronger and Caitlin knelt. Her hands went to the small stone in the center, and she felt a small, pulsing vibration that warmed her throughout. The stone was smooth, the edges even. As her hands moved over it, she saw a very faint image, just as Ian had. But this image made no sense. It was a small child. No, not a child. An infant in a christening gown. And it called to Caitlin. Not a voice, but an emotional urging — a feeling that this child was crying, calling to her. In just a short moment, however, the crying drifted away, farther and farther . . . and finally the image faded and Caitlin knew it was gone and would not return this day. She bathed herself for another moment in the golden light and the calm spirit of the circle, then stepped out again into the harsh, real world.
As she walked back down the path, the wind shifted and came full blast from the opposite direction. The force of it frightened Caitlin and she stood still for a moment, now detecting something else.
"What's that odor? It's like something dead. No, worse than that."
The smell was so odious as to have her stomach in turmoil and a wave of nausea swept through her. Quickly her mind turned to the warnings that Alex had given her about going to the circle of stones alone. Did he know more than he had voiced to her? Perhaps he felt the same darkness that she did now. With her next step, she felt the darkness coming closer, pulling at her. She found herself off balance and fell to her knees. The darkness had tentacles that wrapped around her even as she tried to pull away from them. Her only hope was that her protector could help her. She finally managed to stand again and with trembling body she called out.
"Willie! I need you!"
She really didn't need to call him. He had already caught the scent himself and was responding with his teeth bared and hackles standing tall.
Her voice quivered, "There's evil here, Willie. I feel it."
Willie roughly nudged her behind her knee. She had learned long ago that this was his way of telling her to run quickly. She began to flee and he stayed close to her. Finally they reached the lodge, leaving the darkness behind.
Caitlin wished Uncle Wabi were here. He would know how to handle this situation. With that last incident, she knew she would take Alex's warnings to heart. But that image of the child. What did that mean? Again, she knew she would return.
~ * ~
IT WAS STILL EARLY when Caitlin got home. She went with Willie to the stable to check on Henson, his new friend. Caitlin was taken with the unusual cat, as they all were. He was more the size of a small bobcat than a house cat. She had noticed he often followed Ian up the stairs to bed at night. Sometimes, though, he would camp out here in the stable with the horses and Willie had found the stable to be a cozy place as well.
She returned to the lodge and her two companions tagged at her heels. Then, still looking for a task to occupy herself, she made another decision she knew wouldn't sit well with Alex. As it was, she and Alex gave each other a lot of room. She needed quiet on occasion and he gave it to her. If she had a problem, she always wanted to talk it out, whereas he wanted to brood over the issue for a while. Their lives were so full and both of them realized what a treasure the other was. Her skin still tingled at his touch and she hoped that would never change. He went to sleep every night with a strand of her hair wrapped around his finger.
"That way I'll know if ye try to sneak away."
His greatest fear was that she would tire of the Highlands and leave him. An unthinkable event.
Today, however, she just needed a change of pace and Alex needn't know about it.
"Willie, we're going to take a ride. We won't go far, but I need to see something besides this lodge. I can't sit here another minute twiddling my thumbs. Come."
She gathered her wrap and her medicine bag, an item she never went anywhere without, as she knew she might come upon one who needed her help. Then she returned to the stable and saddled her horse, the same horse she had stolen from Commander Campbell. She'd decided to call him Soldier — that seemed appropriate.
Caitlin had become quite at ease on a horse after having ridden one all the way from Inverness to the Cameron estate. And now as she began to canter, Willie stayed right with her. She had no idea where she would go but just a change of scenery would do her good. She let Soldier have his head for a ways and she loved feeling the wind blowing through her hair. Willie kept pace with them easily.
A short while later she came to a fork in the road and wasn't sure which way to go. Willie took off running to the right, so she decided that was as good a way as any, but she had trouble staying with him. Then he stopped rather abruptly right in front of Soldier, causing him to prance sideways and snort loudly.
"Willie? What's wrong?"
His growl was deep. Caitlin dismounted and tried to follow the beast as he fled into the woods.
"Hold on, Willie. I can't go so fast," she called out.
Then, from some distance away, she heard a cry.
"Help me. Please help me!" A woman's voice came crying through the trees. Caitlin listened again and followed the sound. Willie was headed down an incline and she was trying her darndest to stay with him.
"Willie, wait. It's steep."
She could hear water flowing nearby. A lot of water. And the smell that emanated from the entire area was not especially a pleasant one — sulphur. At home in Skye there were a number of sulphur springs and the locals often immersed themselves in them for therapeutic purposes. Caitlin knew sulphur was a good remedy for skin irritations and it also relieved arthritis.
For a moment a blurred memory drifted across her mind. A memory of the night she was kidnapped. This odor? But that night was fuzzy in her mind, so she put aside the thought and focused on finding the voice.
"Willie, that's a waterfall. See it? It's a ways from the top to the bottom."
"Help me. Can ye hear me? Please help me!" The voice was hysterical at this point.
Caitlin could tell the voice was female and that it was coming from behind the water, close to the bottom of the waterfall. Getting to her would take a few minutes.
"Yes, I hear you. Hold on. I'm coming. Be still and don't move. I'll help you."
The climb was not an easy one. As she slowly made her way, Caitlin was wondering how she would get this woman back to the top.
"Patience, dear girl. Patience." Uncle Wabi's voice whispered in her ears.
Willie had already scampered far ahead of her and she could hear him barking. Then the barking ceased, and the sound she heard now got her attention — a deep-throated growl.
It was a sound she knew meant someone was in danger from one angry wolf. But why in the world would Willie be growling at a woman who was obviously in pain and needed help?
"Willie. Stay now. Stay."
Caitlin reached the bottom of the incline and called out. "Where are you? I can't see you."
"I'm here, underneath the waterfall. I'm hurt and I can't move my leg. Help me!"
Caitlin looked carefully over the waterfall then quickly moved back again, retreating from the edge.
Holy Rusephus, that's a long way down there.
She kept her spine flat against the rock wall and followed the path that led behind the flowing water. There she found the woman splayed out on a rocky ledge about halfway down the waterfall. She hadn't fallen all the way, but far enough to have caused injury for sure. She was lucky to have landed on the ledge where she had.
How am I ever going to get the two of us to the top?
Caitlin's mind was spinning, trying to think what to do in this situation.
"Hold on, I'm almost there."
She made her way onto the ledge, knelt down and lifted the woman's head gently. The woman looked at Caitlin and it was difficult to tell who was the more surprised, Caitlin or the injured woman.
"Deirdre? What happened? What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, Caitlin. I was taking a bath in the sulphur water. It's warm and I thought to ease my aching back and soothe the blisters on my hands. I burned them trying to make stew for me mam. She's not eating much these days, but she'll eat a bite of lamb stew if I prepare it. I spilled it on my hands and there were blisters in just a few minutes."
"Let me take a look at you. Where do you hurt? Can you move?"
"Aye. I can move, but I landed on my hip. It hurts like the very devil. But my foot is the worst. I don't know if I can stand on it. Now my back hurts even more than before I got in the water. I don't know if I can walk, Caitlin. What am I going to do?"
Caitlin took a few moments to make her assessment. She couldn't tell if there were any broken bones, but Deirdre definitely had suffered a hard fall. Her hip may indeed be fractured, and she had either sprained or broken her ankle in the fall. In any event, they had to get to the top and make their way home.
The struggle to get to the top was more than Caitlin had bargained for. She pulled and lifted Deirdre, stopping every few feet. Every muscle in her body was screaming out in pain, all but refusing to lift anything another second.
"I'm about done for, myself, Deirdre. But we're almost there now and we'll have Willie bring Soldier closer. That'll save us a few steps. Here, rest a moment."
Caitlin had not failed to notice Willie continued a low-level growl the entire time they were climbing, but she'd not think about that now. They needed to get Deirdre home so she could see what she could do to help her.
The healer took the wolf by his jowls and looked directly into his dark eyes. "Willie, get Soldier. Bring him here. Quickly. Go now."
Deirdre watched as the great beast flew through the forest.
"Do ye think he understood ye?"
Caitlin smiled, as she'd been asked this before. "Oh, aye. He understands more than you would believe. Not sure but what he can even read my mind."
Soldier was standing at the top of the incline shortly and Caitlin forced herself to make a final effort. "Come on, now. We've got to do this. Just keep your arm around my shoulders and we'll make it."
"Caitlin, I don't think I can get on that horse. My foot is broken. I know it is."
"Come on now. I'll help you. We'll manage."
Caitlin dragged Deirdre the last few steps and, finally, with the woman screaming and crying, coerced her to try and get into the saddle.
"Put your foot in my hand, I'll give you a boost. You can make it. Now, come on. I'll lift you."
Deirdre tried to get on the horse several times before she succeeded.
"Caitlin, it hurts. Aieeeeee!"
Deirdre understood she was in trouble and needed help, but Caitlin was the last person she would have ever expected to help her. Now she wondered if maybe Alex had not figured out she was responsible for Caitlin's disappearance. However, she knew Alex MacKinnon was an intelligent man, and she'd do well to remember that.
"Good. Now I'll get behind you. It's not too terribly far to the lodge from here. Come, Willie, let's get home."
She eased the reins and Soldier started for home. He knew the way even better than she did. She shook her head as her next worry came to her. Whatever am I going to tell Alex?