Claray swallowed and managed a smile at this news. But her new uncle wasn’t done.
“The Campbell sent news that he’d learned that before Allissaid escaped, MacNaughton had sent men both to MacFarlane and here, to kill Claray and her brother and sisters as they could.”
Claray stiffened again, and felt Conall cover her hands where they rested in her lap.
“’Tis fine though,” Payton added quickly. “Yer da has men searching the woods surrounding MacFarlane, looking fer the ones sent there, and,” he added with a smile, “the Sutherland already took care o’ the men sent here.”
“The Sutherland?” Conall asked with surprise.
“Aye. They must ha’e camped just across yer southern border on Sutherland land to avoid detection. But they ran afoul o’ a patrol o’ Sutherland soldiers and were killed in the ensuing battle,” Laird MacKay informed them. “The Sutherland himself told us the tale when we stopped there fer the night on our way back here.”
“Aye.” Payton grinned. “So, ye’ll ha’e no more arrows flyin’ at ye now and can let go that worry, give up yer guards and concentrate on the future.”
“What about the old trouble?” Roderick asked, and there was a moment of silence.
“I’m hopin’ it’s been so long that whoever was behind that attack is long dead. But we can no’ be sure,” Ross MacKay said slowly, and then frowned and shook his head and told Conall, “It might be good to keep a couple o’ guards on ye, nephew. At least fer a little bit longer. Just to be sure all is well.”
Conall nodded solemnly.
Claray finished the mat she was working on, and set it on the small pile growing next to her on the great hall floor. Glancing around at the other women working with her, she noted that they were all making quick work of the task. Soon they could start sewing the mats together to make larger ones to carpet the stone floor. They’d need several to cover the great hall alone, and then they planned to make them for the bedchambers and barracks as well.
Pushing aside the thought of the amount of work yet ahead of them, Claray turned her attention to gathering more rushes. As she began braiding another three-foot-wide and six-foot-long mat, her mind turned to Conall and all that they’d already accomplished. They’d got a lot done with the help of his family. The keep walls were whitewashed, the kitchen organized, the gardens planted and already sprouting. There were now several pens and small buildings for the new animals, the curtain wall was nearly completely repaired and the soldiers had even cleared the area around the castle. Now, while fifty men still worked on the curtain wall, Conall had set a hundred men to clear and plow the old fields where he thought they’d been, so they could start planting.
Claray truly hadn’t thought they could get so much done so quickly, and they couldn’t have done it all without the help of the MacKays and their soldiers. She smiled faintly as she thought of Conall’s aunt and uncle and Kenna. Promising to visit often, the family had left that morning to head back to MacKay. All but Payton. She suspected he and Roderick would remain at Deagh Fhortan until they were sure that Conall’s parents’ murderer wasn’t still around to cause trouble.
“M’lady, I thought ye might like something to drink while yer weavin’ the mats.”
Claray glanced up from her braiding with surprise, a smile lifting her lips when she saw Mhairi approaching with a mug in hand.
“Thank ye, Mhairi. That would be lovely. I—Ah!” she cried out with surprise as the maid tripped and fell forward, nearly landing in her lap. The woman managed to save herself by grabbing the arm of the chair next to where Claray knelt, but had to drop the drink to do it.
Claray stared down blankly at the cold liquid dripping down her face and chest, soaking into her gown.
“Oh, heavens! Oh, dear Lord, m’lady, I’m ever so sorry,” Mhairi moaned, snatching the mug out of her lap and kneeling next to her to try to sop up the mess with her own skirts.
“’Tis fine, Mhairi,” Claray assured her, catching the woman’s hands to stop her and then getting to her feet. “Do no’ fret yerself. Accidents happen. I’ll just go change.”
“Oh, I am sorry, m’lady,” the woman repeated unhappily.
Claray patted her arm and then glanced down to the wolf when he started to rise. “Stay, Lovey. I’ll be right back.”
The wolf hesitated, but then dropped back to the floor and laid his head on his paws to watch her walk away. Much to her annoyance, Hendrie and Colban didn’t stay though. The two men immediately leapt up from the trestle tables where they’d been watching her work, and hurried to take up position on either side of her to escort her across the great hall.
While she no longer had to put up with four men following her everywhere, Conall still wanted two guarding her until they were sure all was well. He had also agreed to keep Roderick and Payton with him as guards for a while too. Claray understood his concern, but felt silly being followed about by the two younger soldiers inside the keep.
“I am only going to change, gentlemen. There’s no need to come with me. I’m sure ye can see the door to me bedchamber from here,” she said with a touch of irritation.
“But from down here we could no’ stop someone from givin’ ye a push as ye descend the stairs, could we?” Hendrie asked quietly.
Claray scowled at the suggestion. One, because she hadn’t thought of it, and two, because it wasn’t nice thinking that someone might want to do that to her. Sighing, she just shook her head and made no more protests as she headed up the stairs to the bedchamber she shared with Conall.
She was caught by surprise when she reached the landing and Hendrie rushed ahead of her. Claray thought he was just going to open the door for her, and he did, but then he held up his hand to keep her from entering, and stepped inside himself. She watched with disbelief as he peered around the empty room, knowing he was looking about to be sure there was no one in there, but she thought it was ridiculous. Claray didn’t say so, however. She just shook her head, and then proceeded into the room when he stepped back out and waved her in.
Hendrie pulled the door closed for her once she was inside and Claray started across the room, but found her footsteps slowing before she’d got halfway across. She also began glancing nervously around the chamber. It was empty, and silent and still, yet the hair on the back of her neck was prickling with unease. Which was silly, she told herself firmly. There was no one there. The men’s ridiculously overcautious behavior was just making her paranoid. Still, she had that creeping sensation that she often got when she knew someone was watching her, even though there was no one there to do so.
Claray gave herself a little shake to try to chase off the feeling, and then made herself move to the chests of clothes along the wall opposite the door. The one closest to the window held her older gowns, the ones she preferred to work in because she didn’t mind them getting soiled or ruined. Opening that chest, she fetched out the pale, yellow gown that lay on top, and then peered out the window and down at the bailey below as she closed the chest.
Spying her husband by the wall, Claray paused to watch him. He was standing talking to Roderick and Payton, and she found herself comparing the three men and smiling to herself as she thought her husband was the fairest of them all. Not that she was biased or anything, she assured herself with amusement, and then made herself turn her back on the pleasant view, and walk to the bed.