“What are your thoughts on the options available?” asked Adam, returning to their original conversation. “We are not moving the crofters, they cannot afford to pay more rent, and we’re running out of hands to maintain our own land and administer the rest of the holdings.”
He made a valid point. More than one valid point. Unfortunately, Finlay had no answer for him.
“We’ll manage,” he said with as much confidence as he could muster. “We always do.”
He would never admit it to his brothers, but inside he was as nervous as the rest of them on the fate of the McDougall clan. The difference, now, was it would become his responsibility, and not Callum’s, to do something about it.
He only wished he had some inkling of just what the next step should be.
* * *
Kyla urged her horse into a gallop, exhilaration growing within her as they raced through the trees. She bent low over the horse’s neck, evading small branches that reached out to slap at them when they hovered too close to the side of the path.
Every morning without fail, Kyla ran Cadarn through the MacTavish woodlands. While some enjoyed a cup of tea and a spot of porridge first thing, she found a jaunt through the woods cleared her head and stirred her blood better than any sustenance ever could. It was also time away from her father, a hard man who had aggravated her more than usual of late.
When Callum McDougall had remained in the Northwest Territories with his new bride, Niall MacTavish had been furious. At Callum, yes, and at the McDougalls in general, but also with Kyla. He berated her for not “securing” Callum while she had the chance, for not using her “feminine wiles” to woo him and make him stay, or, at the very least, come back for her and unite the clans in marriage.
How could she explain that Callum had never been particularly interested in her, and nothing she could do had ever made a difference?
Kyla had always understood that she had been spoken for, and she had been prepared to marry Callum. True, she had never felt any particular attraction to him, despite the fact he was handsome and charming and certainly a man who many girls would have fallen for. All the McDougalls had the same dark handsomeness as their father, though each in their own individual way. She liked Callum well enough and knew that she would have had an agreeable life with him—which was more than many had to be thankful for.
Callum, however, had always held himself back from her. She had questioned why he had kept such distance. She had wondered if there was another woman he was harboring affection for, but apparently not. She supposed now that he had been of the same mind as she, except that instead of accepting their family’s plans for them, he had held out for something more. She was glad for him that he had found whatever it was he had been searching for.
And, if she were being honest with herself, it was some relief to be released from a marriage to Callum. She had accepted that she would have a marriage without love, but now that it would no longer be the case, she welcomed the freedom of choosing her own destiny.
No longer was her sole purpose to unite the clans together for the long-term prosperity of both of them. There were many issues within her clan, and she didn’t think she could shoulder the heavy burden alone. Had she married Callum, he would have been some help, but she was well aware that he had never had a head for the business of caring for the lands and the crofters who lived on them.
Now, though, thoughts of her future were running through her mind as she and Cadarn raced alongside the river. Her worry now was who was going to see to the MacTavishes. What was she to do going forward? Her brother, Rory, would be chieftain of their clan one day, which was a bit of a terrifying thought. While her father was formidable, Rory was happy simply sitting in the keep and watching the days go by.
Rory had, through his visits to the cities, come up with a scheme of welcoming visiting Lowlanders, who paid to hunt on their lands, but she was yet to decide if the idea was his best or his worst. It had given some people jobs, such as gamekeeper and gillies to lead the Lowlanders around through the woods, but it also took away land which the people could use for their own purposes.
Despite his many faults, however, Kyla loved Rory, more than she did anyone else in the world. In many families, he would be the one expected to protect her, but she had spent her entire life mothering him and attempting to make up for his irresponsible ways.
She would always be grateful for his presence as a strong shoulder for her to lean on and an ear for her to pour her heart out to. If her father ever came down hard on her, Rory was there, letting her rage her frustrations or cry out her hurt. For that, she would always love him.
Now that she was no longer marrying, her plan was to remain with the clan to do all she could to help Rory.
She thought she could help him become a capable chief, if she were there to oversee the administration of the lands and their leases. A large part of that would include winning back the loyalty of their crofters. Her father had stripped so many of them of their homes and lands that many had left, and those who had stayed now hated Niall, and, by extension, Rory.
Rory apparently didn’t care. It didn’t seem as though he had much thought at all for their home
