Bathing in the freshwater pools of the nearby glen in the heat of midday was a daily highlight for him — it seemed to be the only time Maggie took a break. While he bathed, she would gather native herbs, fungi and berries that grew wild in the woods around the waterway. When he was done, Maggie would take her turn to bathe, while he shaved by a rock pool on the edge, with his back to her. He had to confess he wanted to turn and sneak a peek at the woman frolicking in the water behind him, but Maccon always watched him like a hawk and growled every time he so much as turned his head sideways.
But today, as Luke had recently built up a bit of a rapport with the animal, he picked up a stick, held it up in challenge to the wolf, then tossed it into the forest.
Maccon watched the stick go flying and then looked back to Luke as if to say, ‘Do you really think I’m that daft?’
‘Well, you can’t blame me for trying,’ Luke whispered, and the wolf yawned.
The howl of another wolf set Maccon on alert, and he went racing off through the wood in the direction from which it had come.
‘Oh dear.’ Luke stood, quietly delighted to have been granted an opportunity to be alone with Maggie for a minute. ‘It seems your guardian has abandoned you.’
‘I guess I shall just have to rely on your honour as a gentleman then,’ Maggie replied. ‘I believe Maccon has found a mate; how can I compete?’
‘And how about you, Maggie?’ Luke had been here a week and not heard her mention any suitors. ‘Do you not seek the same companionship?’
Her laughter tempted him to turn around, but he did not.
‘Why so amused?’
‘It is only in these last six months past that I have experienced what it is like not to have a man ordering me about all the time. I cannot say I’m in a hurry to revisit that dependent state of legal servitude. I would much rather do my work under my own volition and live my life on my own terms.’
‘Sooner or later you are going to need more reliable protection than a male wolf in mating season.’ He chanced a glance at her, to see her tipping her head back, eyes closed, as the sun glistened upon her wet torso and face. It was the single most beautiful vista he’d ever laid eyes upon, and it fuelled his desire to cement a life for himself here. As Maggie made a move to right herself, Luke averted his gaze once more.
‘Are you applying for the job?’ Maggie’s tone was a little teasing; as if the premise was not a serious consideration.
‘Why not?’ he proffered — he’d never met a woman he was so compatible with. She was patient, caring, sharp-witted and so very attractive. ‘We could make a great life here, you and I.’ He snuck another glance in her direction, to find her staring directly at him in shock.
‘You’re serious.’ She seemed a little disturbed by this.
‘You’re the most amazing woman I could ever hope to meet, Maggie. This past week has been a revelation for me, I’ve never felt so content and happy.’ He blushed with the confession, but he persisted nonetheless. ‘I feel a connection with you I’ve never felt with anyone else . . . have you not felt that too?’
She gasped as if winded by the question. ‘Aye, I have . . . but—’
‘But?’ He’d been filled with joy for a second there, why was there always a ‘but’?
‘What of your life before this?’
‘There was no life before this,’ Luke stated rather more whimsically than was usual for him. ‘I see that now. I feel like I died on that road and was reborn into a new and better way of being.’
‘You know that is not truly the case, Luke,’ Maggie said from her huddled position in the pool. ‘No one has found a body. The king’s soldiers are going to come looking for you eventually.’
‘You’re right.’ It was time to deal with the situation more rationally. ‘I shall go and report my whereabouts, collect my pay, and officially resign my post . . . if you will have me?’
‘Are you crazy?’ Maggie scolded. ‘You can make far more as a soldier than you will as a farmer.’
‘I don’t care,’ he appealed in all honesty. ‘I’ve seen so many horrors.’ He closed his eyes to endure the memory of the tortured screams of women being eviscerated and the stench of burning human fat. ‘This place is a godsend. You are.’
‘I do wish you would stop crediting me with supernatural status. I keep telling you I’m just a woman.’ Maggie seemed a little exasperated with him, and perhaps she saw the disappointment on his face, as she changed her tone to one that was more sympathetic. ‘I enjoy your company also, I think you are the finest suitor I shall ever have . . . I just don’t know if I’m quite ready to commit to a married life just yet.’ She motioned with her hand for him to turn away.
As he complied with her request he found her lack of enthusiasm underwhelming.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I like you, very much—’
‘Like me?’ How deflating.
‘Well, I don’t have much experience with love. But I can assure you, you are very handsome and your proposal is not an entirely unattractive one.’
Luke gave a laugh. ‘Am I to be encouraged by that?’ He turned about to find Maggie dressed and wringing the water from her long fair hair.
‘Well, if you are discouraged so easily you’d not be worth considering,’ Maggie teased with a broad grin.
‘Are you toying with me, lass?’ He approached to corner her on the water’s edge.
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ Amused, she backed up as far as she could without toppling into the pool. ‘I do hope you are not planning to press your advantage?’
‘I most certainly am,’ he stated cheerfully, and then drew intimately close. ‘If you have no objection?’
‘I have . . .’ she forestalled him and then melted into a smile, ‘none.’
Her kiss was so sweet, so trusting, that he didn’t feel comfortable pressing for anything more. Luke was rather surprised that she’d allowed him to be so familiar as Maggie was not a flirt and had, up to this moment, kept any feelings she may have been harbouring for him very much to herself.
‘You make a very good argument for our cause,’ Maggie allowed, as she slinked away from him and back to the safety of the bank where she could not be cornered.
‘I should be happy to plead my case all day long.’
‘I’m sure you would.’ She fetched up her basket of spoils. ‘But there is work to be done.’
It felt good to have aired his feelings, and despite what Maggie said, her kiss told him she was more interested in his suit than she was letting on. Still, he wouldn’t push his cause — Maggie wasn’t the kind of woman to do anything without serious consideration — it was up to her to make the next move.
‘Oh my goodness.’ Maggie’s eyes were drawn to Maccon, who had reappeared by the pool with several young wolf cubs trailing behind him.
‘Looks like he’s brought the whole family for supper.’ The scene brought a huge smile to Luke’s face.
‘And what a beautiful family you have.’ Maggie moved to approach the brood. ‘What a clever boy you are.’
The sound of another wolf snarling stopped Maggie in her tracks and they spied Maccon’s mate on guard, watching them very closely.
‘Don’t move,’ Luke cautioned as Maccon let out a snarl of his own in his mate’s direction and approached Maggie to stand guard by her.
The she-wolf backed down.
‘Don’t be too hard on her, Maccon.’ Maggie patted him affectionately. ‘These are her precious babies, of course she’ll be wary around strangers.’
The cubs were climbing all over Maggie’s skirt and jumping on her, demanding attention, but aware that their mother was still uneasy, she gently rose. ‘Maybe some food will break the ice?’ she suggested, scratching Maccon between the ears. ‘Let’s go and see what we can find. Come on.’ She encouraged the pups and their mother to follow her and Maccon back to the house.
The scene was so adorable Luke thought his heart might burst, but noting that the she-wolf was still
observing him warily, he moved off after Maggie and her wolf clan.
* * *
As Luke had been hard at work doing repairs around the farm, Maggie allowed him to sleep past the usual up-at-sunrise time. He was not the first to make her a marriage proposal, but her father had insisted she should marry for love, as he had, so she had rejected all to date. Luke hadn’t mentioned his suit or made any advances towards her since their kiss in the glen, but she suspected his zealous work ethic over the past few days was to demonstrate what a good farmer and husband he’d make. Just quietly she was impressed, and grew more fond of Luke with each passing day.
The sun was well on the rise as she struggled to hitch up the cart to Geneth — the little garron kept shifting forward to avoid the duty. In the midst of the struggle, Maggie felt a hand upon her waist gently shifting her out of the way as the burden was suddenly lifted from her.
‘What are you doing?’ She protested, hands on hips, as Luke took over the task. ‘I usually manage.’
‘I’m sure you do.’ He finished strapping the horse to the cart. ‘I gather this means you are going into the village today?’
‘Aye.’ Maggie collected her baskets containing bottles of potions and small hessian bags stuffed with dried herbs and tied off at the top. ‘I have medicines and produce to deliver and supplies to pick up.’
Again Luke intervened, took the baskets from her and placed them in the cart. She was unaccustomed to men being gallant, it felt a little patronising, but she curbed her annoyance, knowing that was not Luke’s intent.
‘I should come with you.’
He appeared so concerned that Maggie couldn’t help but find his obvious want to protect her a little exaggerated. ‘I do this every fortnight, you realise? But you are welcome to come, if you feel up to it.’
Luke took hold of her waist and lifted her high into the air, twirling her around. ‘Maggie, I feel great!’
She squealed in surprise as he brought her back to earth and then stepped away from him, concerned. ‘Luke, your wound . . . that’s really not going to help.’
‘It’s fine now, truly. Besides, it’s a glorious day for an outing.’
He was going to want to take the reins, but if she was seriously considering his proposal of marriage, she was just going to have to get used to it. ‘Well . . . some company for the trip would be welcome.’
* * *
The village was crowded this day, both the store fronts and market stalls were abuzz with people bargaining goods. Street musicians played merry tunes, creating an atmosphere of good cheer as children playing games and livestock being sold added to the general turmoil.
Luke accompanied Maggie to the general store, carrying her baskets for her.
‘This is the place.’ She held out her hands for him to pass her stock over. ‘This could take a little while.’
Luke was keen to find out if any of the king’s commission had been stationed in the town; firstly, to keep Maggie well away from them and secondly, to hand in his resignation. ‘I might go for a wander then. I’ll meet you back here.’
‘Good plan.’ Maggie smiled, pleased with the arrangement.
He suspected that he was cramping her independence somewhat and thought it best to give her a little space.
Luke wandered through the busy marketplace, observing the commotion around him with much delight, but he didn’t miss it. Now that he’d experienced the bliss of rural life he didn’t expect that he’d ever grow tired of it, especially with Maggie at his side. Beyond the main stall he spied the tavern, overflowing with the king’s soldiers entertaining the local whores.
‘Luke Hamilton?’
Out of the rabble emerged Stephen Douglas, a man with whom Luke had joined the king’s service, and he considered the soldier a good friend and brother in arms.
‘Stephen!’ It would have been fantastic to see him, if not for what it meant.
‘Luke, thank God, when you did not arrive at the castle ahead of us we thought you’d surely fallen victim to foul play. I barely recognise you!’ Stephen was drunk and staggering to a degree as he referred to Luke’s attire. ‘Taken to farming, have you?’ He laughed out loud at the notion.
‘You might say that.’ Luke shrugged off his friend’s amusement. ‘What are you doing in Dingwall? Should you not be in Kildary?’
‘We were sent ahead to root out a witch that the Mackenzies claim lives close by here.’
‘The Mackenzies?’ Given the feud that existed between them and the Munros, it wasn’t hard to surmise who that witch was, and the fact struck the fear of God into Luke. He couldn’t allow the woman he’d fallen in love with to be subjected to torture as a witch — once they caught her she was as good as dead. ‘I have to go.’
‘Luke?’ Stephen gave pursuit. ‘What’s the matter?’
At the general store, Luke’s eyes met with the horrifying sight of Maggie being dragged by her hair from the store, by the commission’s soldiers. A man stood accusing her out front, and there was no doubt in Luke’s mind that he was a Mackenzie.
‘Lotions and potions, bringing people back from the brink of death. We’ve all seen it,’ he maintained, as his shocked audience of onlookers began to frown and nod. ‘She has even enchanted a wolf to her service — a vessel of the devil — what more proof of witchcraft do you need?’
‘You are the devil, Mackenzie,’ Maggie attempted to kick out at her foe, but fell short of the mark. ‘It was not so long ago my kin drove you out of this town for your clan’s thievery! This is just another attempt to take my land.’
‘In a fair fight,’ the man hissed back at her. ‘We did not resort to witchcraft!’
As the crowd began booing and tossing things at her, Maggie was overwhelmed by the abuse that suddenly surrounded her, and she was shoved into an enclosed cart with several other women.
Luke was horrified for her, and this must have been apparent on his face.
‘Do you know this woman?’ Stephen asked and when Luke nodded to confirm it, his friend placed a hand on his shoulder, concerned for his wellbeing.
‘There is nothing you can do for her now, save being accused yourself. With any luck the minister’s witch will look upon her and not condemn her.’
‘I know how it works,’ Luke stated resentfully as he watched the cart carry the condemned away to the castle for trial.
THE GREAT WITCH OF BALWEARIE
A dark basement storage room at the castle at Kildary had been cleared out to house the accused witches until their audience with the commission.
If acquitted of the charge they would be released. Were the commission to conclude the charge had merit, the accused would be interrogated, and once a confession was extracted under torture, they would face the king’s justice. Should the condemned not recant their ways, they would be disembowelled alive and burned.
It was in this dark cramped underground chamber, rife with the stench of all the human excretions, that Maggie learned the full extent of how her tribulation would unfold.
‘All summer there has been a great business for the trial of witches.’ A woman spoke, though Maggie did not know which one. She suspected it might have been the eldest, whom she’d seen by the light of the soldier’s torch as he cast her, and others, within. ‘This enterprise is due to the declarations of one Margaret Aitken, whom they now call the Great Witch of Balwearie.’
‘This witch hunt is being led by a witch?’ Maggie was dumbfounded to learn this.
‘Aye,’ came the reply. ‘She was arrested at Fife in spring and, under threat of torture, confessed her guilt. She then offered to work with the king’s commission to detect all of her sort and purge Scotland of witches in exchange for her life.’
‘But how does this woman claim to know a true witch?’ On this point, Maggie was most curious, indeed desperate, to know.
‘She maintains that the devil leaves a secret mark in the eyes of all of her sort, whereby, as soon as she looks upon them, she can surely tell whethe
r they be a witch or no.’
‘And they just take her word?’ This was surely madness.
‘Without question. All up the eastern coast she has been paraded from town to town to make such discoveries along with the minister, Jon Cowper. She has condemned thousands in just one town! Indeed, there have been towns and villages left completely barren of their women in her wake . . . all burned.’
The news made Maggie gasp.
‘And the king has condoned these proceedings?’ She found this hard to believe of a well-educated and discerning man.
‘The king personally presides over such trials in normal circumstances and with close consideration and reason has dismissed many cases. But at present our king is being secreted from one estate to another to avoid plague.’
‘Plague!’ That news was most alarming — if any of the women in this room were infected they were all dead already.
‘There have been outbreaks reported all over Scotland, blamed on witches also. The king believes witches are out to end his reign, just as they attempted to thwart his marriage.’
‘If only we were really so powerful,’ Maggie quipped. ‘We’d not be rotting in this place.’
The irony of the statement would have been amusing were it not so tragic.
‘You must be from the highlands to have not heard of these perils before now,’ her informant noted.
‘How I wish I’d never left there,’ Maggie admitted, imagining how she might have fled from the commission into the wilderness with Luke, her wolf, and dear grey garron.
‘If you’ve been named, they would have hunted you down eventually.’
The reality of the matter snatched Maggie from her whimsy. What must Luke think of her now? She’d seen the disdain in his eyes when he’d first thought her to be that which she was now being put on trial for. It had been her intent to accept Luke’s proposal of marriage on the way back from market this day. But given what had happened, she suspected Luke was now on his way back to wherever he’d come from.