He stormed into the kitchen and all movement ceased, even Turbett blanched at the sight of him.
“Was no meal taken to Dawn today?” Cree demanded.
Flanna took a cautious step forward. “All but supper. We were informed that she would tend to that herself today.”
“Who told you that?” Cree snapped and Flanna jumped.
Flanna hurried to tell him as she took a step back. “Old Mary.”
Cree was out the door so fast that it took everyone a moment to realize he was gone and mumbling amongst themselves, they returned to their work.
With heavy footfalls Cree made his way to Old Mary’s cottage. Could the old woman have helped Kirk and Torr? He stopped abruptly when he saw Lucerne arguing with Elsa outside her cottage. He didn’t want to waste time on the matter and he was sure that Elsa could handle it but he could not ignore the chaotic scene, especially with villagers lingering about in curiosity.
“What goes on here?” Cree demanded as he approached the two women.
Lucerne turned on him, her eyes framed with tears ready to fall. “My head throbs mercilessly. I need more potions for the pain.” Lucerne grabbed hold of Cree’s arm, her grip tight. “Please.”
Her plea shocked him. It wasn’t like her to plead, though she made herself heard, she had never pleaded with him; she had always demanded. The desperation in her voice was also something unfamiliar to him. He turned to Elsa to order her to give Lucerne what she needed but the healer shook her head.
“Something is not right that she suffers so with these headaches. The potions should have at least eased them if not gotten rid of them, but the pain should not have escalated. There are questions I need to ask so that I may better help her but she refuses to talk with me.”
Sloan approached then and Cree took Lucerne’s hand and placed it on the startled man’s arm. “You will stay with Lucerne while Elsa speaks with her, and then you will see her safely back to her bedchamber so that she may rest.”
“I need the potion,” Lucerne begged.
Elsa took Lucerne’s other hand. “I will give it to you and then we will talk.”
Sloan looked to Cree with pleading eyes. To sit with the nagging, demanding woman while she talked with Elsa was a harsh punishment to suffer, though he supposed it could have been worse. He almost shook his head, for nothing could be worse than what he was about to suffer.
Cree shot him a fiery look and Sloan felt its sting. He nodded, complying with the command and accompanied the two women into the cottage, Lucerne’s fingers biting into his arm.
Cree had already turned away and nearly had reached Old Mary’s cottage when the old woman stepped out of nowhere startling him.
“A good time for a walk, my lord,” Old Mary said with a wrinkled grin.
Cree held out his arm, leaned down, and whispered, “And a talk.” He directed her away from curious faces to a more secluded spot where he dusted snow off a bench for her to sit. He stood towering over her, his broad back blocking anyone from seeing her.
He didn’t hesitate in asking her, “Why did you tell Flanna that Dawn was preparing her own meals today?”
“Dawn is where she needs to be at the moment.”
“I don’t care for riddles; I want answers.”
“Then go find Dawn, for by now she has them.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Ten and nine years ago I fell in love for the second time in my life,” Kirk said. “Some men would think her plain,” — Kirk smiled— “but to me she was beautiful and she had the most generous heart. Unfortunately for us both, she was already wed. However that didn’t stop us from loving each other. Until one day she told me that she feared that her husband had grown suspicious and she feared not only for her own life but mine as well. I would have battled the devil myself to make her mine, but she felt compelled to honor her marriage agreement. And so I reluctantly let her go.”
Dawn felt a catch to her heart. She was familiar with the pain he suffered, for she could never truly be with Cree, never be his wife. At least, though, she could stay with him. She did not know if she could bear the pain of being separated from him forever. Just the thought sent a sense of loss so strong through her that she shuddered.
“I found out months later that she had given birth to a daughter and I wondered if the child was mine. When I learned that the lass could speak and had her father’s blue eyes I knew the child was not mine.” Kirk choked back tears that pooled in his dark eyes.
Torr spoke while his father composed himself. “I was ten at the time and oblivious to my father’s suffering, though my sister Teressa who was barely six seemed to understand that something was wrong.”