'I remember. I was trying to compliment you, sir.'
'Why?'
She didn't answer him. 'What were you doing up here all by yourself?'
She answered his question with one of her own. 'Could you spare an hour and ride with me? I'm on a hunt to find a cave Auggie told me about. There's a treasure inside.'
'And what is this treasure?'
She shook her head. 'You'll have to help me find the cave first. Then I'll tell you what's inside. I know how busy you are, but surely one hour won't matter, will it?'
He frowned while he considered her request. He did have important duties set aside for today and they should come first, of course. Riding for sheer pleasure didn't make any sense at all to him. It wasn't… productive.
Yet the idea of spending a few minutes, and that was surely all he could spare, with his beautiful wife did appeal to him.
'You may lead the way, Johanna. I'll follow.'
'Thank you, m'lord.'
She looked overwhelmed with gratitude. His gentle little wife derived such joy from little pleasures. Gabriel suddenly felt like an ogre because he had taken time to consider her request.
Johanna wasn't about to give him time to change his mind. She wanted to get him away from his holding… and his responsibilities so that she could have a long talk in private with him. She grabbed the reins and goaded her mount into a full run down the hill.
She was a skilled rider. The realization surprised him. She seemed too delicate for any outdoor skills.
Gabriel was content to stay behind her until they reached the forest. Then he took over the lead.
They criss-crossed back and forth while they looked for the entrance to the cave. After an hour's search, Johanna was ready to give up. 'Next time we must ask Auggie to ride with us. He'll point the way.'
They broke through the trees and stopped in a narrow clearing next to the stream overlooking the valley.
'Are you ready to go back?' Gabriel asked.
'I wanted to talk to you first, m'lord, and if I weren't so hungry, I would beg you to stay here the rest of the day. It's so lovely. Do you notice how green and lush your valley is?' Her eyes sparkled with mischief when she added, 'And to think you have such a mild climate all year long. I count myself fortunate each and every day. Aye, I do.'
Gabriel found her enthusiasm refreshing. He'd never seen her in such a lighthearted mood before. It warmed his heart. God's truth, he was reluctant to leave, too.
'I can take care of satisfying your hunger, wife.'
She turned to look at him. 'Will you hunt for food?'
'Nay, I carry everything we'll need.'
Gabriel dismounted, then assisted her to the ground. 'You're too thin, Johanna. You barely weigh two stones.'
She ignored his criticism. 'Where is this food you boast of, husband? Will it appear like manna from the sky, do you suppose?'
He shook his head. She watched as he lifted the flap of his saddle and removed a flat metal plate. Behind the saddle was a bag tied with a string.
He motioned her to walk over to the clearing. He tied the reins of both their mounts to one of the branches before he joined her.
'Take off your plaid, Johanna. We'll use it for a blanket. Spread it on the ground near the pines.'
'It probably isn't decent.'
The sassy tone of her voice told him she didn't mind if she was decent or not. Her lighthearted mood puzzled him and made him determined to find out what had caused this change. Johanna was usually very reserved.
A few minutes later, she was seated on her plaid watching Gabriel prepare their food. He'd started a fire with peat and twigs, then placed the metal plate in the center of the flames. He then sprinkled oatmeal from the pouch into one cupped hand, added water he'd gathered from the stream, and quickly formed a thick oat cake. He dropped the mixture on the plate, and while it cooked, he made another.
The oatmeal cake tasted like baked sticks mixed with dust to Johanna, but because her husband had taken the time and trouble to prepare the food, she didn't let him know how horrid it tasted.
Gabriel thought the expression on her face while she nibbled on the oatmeal was comical. She made several trips to the stream for drinks of water to wash the food down, and she could only eat half the cake before she declared she was quite full.
'It was thoughtful of you to bring the food along,' she remarked.
'Every warrior always carries his food on his back, Johanna.' He sat down beside her, leaned back against the tree trunk, and added, 'We take everything we need for a hunt or a war. Highlanders are self-sufficient. We don't have need for bread or wine or carts loaded down with pots and caldrons like the pampered English soldiers. Our plaids are our tents or our blankets, and what other food we want, we take from the land.'
'Or steal from the other clans?'
'Yes.'
'It's wrong to take without permission.'
'It's our way,' he explained once again.
'Do the other clans steal from you?'
'We don't have anything they would want.'
'Do they all steal from each other?'
'Of course.'
'It's most barbaric,' she decided aloud. 'Don't any of the lairds ever barter for what they need?'
'Some do,' Gabriel answered. 'Twice a year council meetings are held near the Moray Firth. Clans not feuding attend. I've heard there's a fair amount of bartering done then.'
'You've heard? Then you've never attended any of these meetings?'
'No.'
She waited for further explanation. He remained silent. 'Haven't you been invited?'
She sounded incensed over the possible insult. 'Every laird is invited, wife.'
'Then why in heaven's name haven't you attended?'
'I haven't had the time or the inclination. Besides, as I've already explained to you several times now, we don't have anything to barter.'
'But if you did?' she asked. 'Would you attend the council meeting?'
He shrugged his answer.
She let out a sigh. 'What does Father MacKechnie have to say about stealing?'
His wife seemed obsessed with her worry about the priest's opinion. 'He doesn't criticize us if that's what you're thinking. He knows it would be pointless to argue. Survival conies before paltry concerns such as venial sins.'
She was quite astonished by her husband's attitude. Damned envious, too. It would be nice not to worry about sinning all the time.
'Father MacKechnie is an unusual priest.'
'Why do you say that?'
'He's very kind. That makes him unusual.'
Gabriel frowned over her comment. 'What are the priests in England like?'
'Cruel.' She blurted out her belief and immediately felt guilty because she'd lumped all the men of God in with the few mean-hearted ones she'd known. 'Some are probably kind-hearted,' she added with a nod. 'I'm certain some are very good men who don't believe women come last in God's love.'
'Women are what?'
'Last in God's love,' she explained. She straightened up but kept her head bowed. 'You might as well know I'm not in good standing with the church, Gabriel.'
She acted as though she was giving him a dark confession. 'And why is that, Johanna?'
