Tess and the Highlander by May McGoldrick Read Free Book Online

Tess?”
    “Two…three.”
    “And did your sister go with them too?”
    “She did.”
    “But you didn’t say anything about your sister
before, Tess.”
    “You keep talking, and you shan’t finish your job.
And the way I was brought up, if you don’t work, you don’t
eat.”
    “Tell me, Tess. Why is it that you haven’t the
accent of the folk who fish these waters?”
    “That does it!” She turned sharply on him, a frown
darkening her fair features. “You are going out this instant.”
    “Not so fast, lassie. You can see I’m working.” With
a smile, he started sweeping the broom across the floor. As she
returned to her own tasks, Colin also started sweeping up undamaged
seashells along with the shards of broken ones. He glanced up at
her back. “I never thanked you properly for saving my life.”
    “Well, you might thank me by not getting rid of
things that I value.”
    She hadn’t turned, but she’d known what he was up
to. “Are you sure you are not a faerie, lass?”
    Tess turned slowly where she stood and shot him a
mysterious look. “Perhaps I am. And perhaps you should leave off
your talking and not rile my temper.”
    “I see.” He contained the smile that was pulling at
his lips. “And what will you do if I don’t do as I am told?”
    Tess scooped a spoonful of the hoof medicine out of
the cauldron.
    “I feed you this for your supper. Any more
questions?”

 
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 4
     
    The dying fire in the hearth cast an amber glow over
the chamber, sparking and crackling from time to time as a knot of
brine-soaked driftwood crumbled into the embers. Sheets of
wind-driven rain battered the stout walls, and crystalline mists
drifted into the room though the narrow windows. Sometimes, a gust
of wind would chase the acrid smelling smoke back down through the
chimney, but Tess—lying contently on her bedding—was oblivious to
all but the Highlander as he slept across the room.
    Until tonight, she hadn’t realized how much she
missed the company of another human being. She had her animals, her
gardens, her weaving, her fishing…all the tasks of living that
needed to be done if one were to survive alone on an island. She
had her shell collecting to keep her busy, as well. She had only
occasionally thought about having no one to talk to, but now she
realized that she missed hearing another human voice. And even more
than that, Tess realized that even when Auld Charlotte and Garth
were alive, she’d never known what it felt like to have a companion
who was interested in her, who challenged her…and who tested her
patience every other minute.
    And, to be truthful, she loved the feeling.
    Garth and Charlotte had been patient and kind, but
very quiet compared to this stranger. They rarely spoke to each
other, and for the most part, they would only speak to her to
instruct. And though they had genuinely cared for her, Tess had
always felt a barrier. Once, while she was helping Garth clean some
fish they’d caught in their nets, he’d looked out across the water.
A great ship with billowing white sails was moving southward.
Without looking at her, Garth said that one day a ship would come
and take her away from them. He’d said nothing else—and it had
never come to be—but she’d realized that day that they were
protecting themselves and their feelings. They knew they could lose
her at any time.
    Tess could only remember bits and pieces of her lost
family, but what she could recall she had never revealed. She knew
Charlotte and Garth always assumed that most of her family had died
in the same shipwreck that had placed her on their island. But the
knowledge that there might be others who wanted her back had made
the couple hide her away any time a fishermen or sailors or
pilgrims appeared on the rocky shore.
    She knew she had been a welcome addition in their
lives. To be sure, they had been a godsend for her. And she missed
them.
    The Highlander made a noise in his sleep. Tess