'How does one hunt for crops?'
'We steal them.'
She let out a loud gasp. 'But that's a sin,' she blurted out.
Gabriel was vastly amused by the look of horror on his wife's face. Stealing seemed to upset her. He couldn't imagine why.
'If Father MacKechnie gets wind of this, he'll have your hide.'
'MacKechnie's not back yet. By then all my sins will have been committed.'
'You cannot be serious.'
'I'm most serious, Johanna.'
'Gabriel, you aren't just committing the sin of theft,' she instructed. 'You're also committing the sin of contemplation.''
She looked like she expected some sort of answer. He shrugged. She shook her head at him.
'It isn't your place to censure me, wife.'
He expected an apology. He got a contradiction instead. 'Oh, yes, it is my place to censure you, m'lord, when the topic is your soul. It is my place to instruct you, sir, for I am your wife, and I, therefore, must worry about your soul.'
'That's ridiculous,' he countered.
She gasped again. He almost laughed but stopped himself in time. 'You think it ridiculous that I worry about you?'
'Do you?'
'Yes, of course.'
'Then you are beginning to have affection for me?'
'I didn't say that, m'lord. You turn my words on me. I worry about your soul.'
'I do not need your worry or your lectures.'
'A wife is allowed to give her opinions, is she not?'
'Yes,' he agreed. 'When asked for her opinions, of course.'
She ignored his qualification. 'It is my opinion that you should barter for what you need.'
He couldn't control his exasperation. 'We don't have anything of value to trade,' he told her. 'Besides, if the other clans can't protect what they own, they deserve to have their supplies taken. It's our way, wife. You'll get used to it.'
He was finished discussing the topic. She wasn't. 'Such justification…'
'Rest,' Gabriel ordered as he pulled the door closed behind him.
She was married to a stubborn man. Johanna decided not to bring up the topic of stealing again. Gabriel was right. It wasn't her place to instruct him or any of the other clansmen. If they all wanted to spend their eternities in hell, so be it. What did she care?
Johanna spent the morning practicing with her bow and arrows and spent the afternoon playing Auggie's senseless, yet vastly enjoyable, game.
Auggie had become her only real friend. He spoke only Gaelic to her, and she found the more relaxed she was, the less difficult the language became. The older man was patient and understanding with her and answered every question she put to him.
She told him how upsetting she found Gabriel's thievery. Auggie wasn't sympathetic and, in fact, championed his laird's cunning.
They were standing on the ridge, striking long shots while they discussed her worry. Most of the stones shattered from the force of the blow.
'The English destroyed our reserves. Our laird will make certain the clan doesn't go hungry this winter,' he announced. 'How can you call that a sin, lass?'
'He's stealing,' she countered.
Auggie shook his head. 'God will understand.'
'There's more than one way into a castle, Auggie. Gabriel should find another way to feed the clan.'
The old man positioned his staff against the round stone, braced his legs apart, and gave a swing. He squinted against the sunlight to see how far he'd hit the stone, nodded with satisfaction, and turned back to his mistress.
'My stone traveled thrice the distance of an arrow. Beat that one, little worrier. See if you can't put your stone right next to mine.'
Johanna turned her attention to the game. She surprised a whoop of laughter out of Auggie when she matched his distance. Her stone came to rest just inches away from his.
'You've a knack for the game, lass,' Auggie praised. 'We'd best go back now. I've kept you from your duties longer than I had a right.'
'I don't have duties,' she blurted out. She tucked her staff under her arm and turned to her friend. 'I've tried to take over the running of the household, but no one listens to me. The MacBains are more polite though. They smile while I instruct them, then go about their business without paying any heed to what I've said. The Maclaurin servants are far more rude, embarrassingly so. They completely ignore me.'
'What does our laird have to say about this behavior?'
'I haven't told him. I'm not going to either, Auggie. This is my dilemma to solve, not his.'
Auggie took hold of Johanna's arm and started down the steep hill. 'You've been here how long now?'
'Almost twelve weeks.'
'You were content for a time, weren't you now?'
She nodded. 'I was content.'
'Why?'
She was surprised by his question. She shrugged. 'Coming here made me… free. And safe,' she hastily added.
'You were like a dove with a broken wing,' Auggie said. He patted her hand before continuing. 'And as timid as I've ever seen.'
'I'm not timid now,' she countered. 'At least not when I'm with you.'
'I've seen the changes in you. The others haven't. In time I imagine they will notice you've got a bit of gumption.'
She didn't know if she'd just been given a setdown or praise. 'But the stealing, Auggie. What should I do about my husband?'
'Leave it be for now,' he suggested. ' 'Tis the truth I can't get riled up about a little thieving. My laird promised to bring me barley, and I'm anxious to have it, sin or not. It's for the making of my brew,' he added with a nod. 'The English drank all of my reserves, lass.' He snorted with laughter, leaned closer to her side, and whispered, 'They didn't get to the barrels of liquid gold though.'
'What are barrels of liquid gold?'
'Do you remember the break in the pines beyond the ridge?'
'Yes.'
'There's a cave directly behind,' he announced. 'It's full of oak barrels.'
'But what's inside the barrels?'
'The water of life,' he answered. 'Brew as old as ten, even fifteen, years now. It should be tasting like gold I'll wager. One of these days I'll take you there to have a look for yourself. The only reason it's stayed untouched is because the English didn't know it was there for the taking.'
'Does my husband know about the cave?'
Auggie thought about the question a long while before answering. 'I don't recall telling him,' he admitted. 'And I'm the only one who remembers when the old Maclaurin chieftains stored the barrels there. They weren't telling, of course, but I followed them one afternoon without their knowing. I can be quiet when I set my mind to the task,' he added with a nod.
'When did you last go inside the cave?'
'A few years back,' Auggie told her. 'Do you notice, Johanna, that when you wear the MacBain plaid you play a fair game, but when you're wearing the Maclaurin colors, you can't hit a thing?'
He was talking nonsense, of course. He liked to tease her. She thought it was just his way of showing
