Highland Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page B

work would calm him as it always did and allow him to think more clearly. There were obviously a lot more secrets to uncover at Dunncraig than he had thought. He would need to remain calm and avoid drawing any suspicions his way as he hunted for the truth. James just hoped the truth would not reveal that he had been a blind fool who had fallen victim to a sweet smile and pretty blushes, thus bringing his enemies into the heart of his home.
     
    “Where have ye been, Meggie?” asked Annora as the little girl skipped up to her side. “Did ye need to drink a bucketful of water?”
    Meggie giggled and shook her head. “Nay, I was talking to that mon who carves wood into pretty pictures.”
    Annora glanced back toward the keep and then frowned at Meggie. “Ye shouldnaepester the mon whilst he is working.”
    “He didnae mind.”
    “He may have been too polite to tell ye to leave him be.”
    “Nay, he talked to me.”
    “Weel, that was verra good of him, but ye should still leave him to do his work.”
    “He said I could come back and touch the wood once my hands were clean.”
    Annora’s first impulse was to say a resounding nay, but she bit back the word. The man did do some exquisite work. She could easily understand Meggie’s interest. It would also be wrong to deny the child the chance to make a friend just because she held so many fears for Meggie’s safety. Such fears could smother the child’s spirit, and simply living at Dunncraig under Donnell’s rule did enough of that.
    “Weel, then, ye may go and look at his work when ye are clean again,” Annora finally said. “E’en more than once if he says it is all right. But ye are nay to pester him too often, and no talking to the mon until his ears burn.”
    “I like to talk.”
    “Everyone likes to talk, but he is a mon who has work to do. Your father has hired him to make things, things that will make Dunncraig beautiful.”
    “Dunncraig is already beautiful.”
    “Aye, I think it is, but—”
    “And that monisnae my father.”
    Annora had a few doubts about Donnell’s claim of paternity as well, but she would never admit that to Meggie. “Donnell says he is,” she murmured.
    “He lies.”
    He did, Annora thought, and suspected it was more often than even she could guess, but she could not say such things to Meggie. “Meggie, ye were but a wee bairn when your mother died,” Annora began even though she was not sure about what she should or could say to the little girl.
    “The monisnae my da! I ken that he kissed my mother, but that doesnae make him my da!”
    Quickly pulling Meggie into her arms, Annora held the tense child close and stroked her hair. “Then he isnae your da. Now, ye must calm yourself ere ye make yourself ill. I wasnae crying ye a liar. ’Tis just that I was puzzled o’er how such a young bairn, as ye were then, could ken, with such utter confidence, just who her father was.”
    “Because my da wouldnae hit me. Or ye. My da was handsome, and he smiled and laughed and gave me kisses.”
    That certainly did not describe Donnell, Annora mused. “’Tis also that ye have ne’er denied it before.”
    “Because he would hit me. Or ye. I didnae want that.” Meggie stared down at her hand as she threaded her fingers through the laces of Annora’s plain, aging gown. “And I thought he might be like my da someday, after he learned to love me. But I dinnae think he e’er will. I dinnae think Donnell loves anyone.”
    Annora’s heart felt as if someone had stuck his fist into her chest and was squeezing it. There was such painful longing in Meggie’s voice, a longing Annora understood all too well. Even though no one was certain if Sir James Drummond was dead yet, Meggie was an orphan. Her mother was dead and her father had to remain hidden or he soon would be. Poor Meggie wanted and needed a family and all she hadgotten was Donnell MacKay. Annora also knew that no matter how much love she gave the child it simply could not