Until the day when Cormag and his friends had stopped by his parents’ cottage to offer him a log and then urge him to accompany them on their way. Reluctantly, Finn had joined in and soon realised that he had not gone as unnoticed as he had feared.
“The situation with the runaways has been resolved,” Garrett said, his gaze intent on Cormag as he spoke. “All I could have done I did. There is no reason for me to remain here.”
Looking up, Finn found a look of great urgency on Garret’s face, his shoulders tense as he handed another log to Ian, who rolled his eyes as he overheard their conversation and then trudged up to the next cottage on the road. Garrett, however, failed to notice his friend’s annoyance as his attention was solely focused on their laird.
Narrowing his gaze, Cormag looked at him as he often did before he replied, a rather annoying calm resting on his features as though no emotions stirred under his skin. “I assure ye I understand yer desire to be off, and I dunno object to yer returning to England. However, I suggest ye allow reason to govern ye and hold off until the roads are safer for travel.” He glanced around them at the heaps of snow blocking every path leading to and from Seann Dachaigh Tower. Even the short distance down into the village with the heavy cart had taken most of the morning. “Ye willna find yer wife any faster if ye freeze on the road.”
Garrett’s shoulders slumped, and yet, there was a hint of a smirk on his face at Cormag’s rather rare attempt at a joke. “Aye, ye’re right,” he conceded, reaching for another log as Ian came trudging back. “But I canna deny that I long to be off. After all, I havena seen my wife in months.”
Moaning, Ian shook his head. “Am I the only one working today?” he complained, his face dark as he all but glared at Garrett. “And ye’re a fool for going after her. Ye married her after a drunken night at a tavern.” Ian scoffed in contempt. “If she had truly wanted to remain yer wife, she wouldna have run off.”
Garrett’s face darkened at his friend’s accusations. “She didna run off,” he snapped as they stood almost face to face like stags about to charge. “Her brother came for her and took her back home.”
“Why?” Ian huffed. “She’s yer wife. Or perhaps she doesna want to be, have ye ever thought of that?”
“Enough.” Cormag’s calm but commanding voice cut off any further remarks as he stepped forward, his boots crunching on the snow as he moved like a giant among dwarfs. His grey eyes shifted from Garrett to Ian before he spoke again. “Garrett, ye’re free to leave as soon as the roads are safe to travel.” Then his gaze turned to Ian and something silent passed between the two men. A moment later, Ian drew in a heavy breath and turned back to the cart, picking up another log before he once more headed down the road.
Silence fell over their little group as they continued on, slowly working their way down the road, visiting each house and sharing a few kind words with people they had known one way or another all their lives. Still, dark looks were exchanged between Ian and Garrett, and Finn wondered why his friend was so upset with Garrett’s desire to return to England and look for his wife. Their story had in fact proved quite popular among their clan.
Sent after two runaways, Garrett, Ian and Finn had travelled to Gretna Green and then split up to locate the youngsters. While Ian and Finn had searched high and low, Garrett had unexpectedly stumbled upon an English lass at the inn’s tavern. Finding himself head over heels in love, Garrett had married her right then and there, taking advantage of the presence of an anvil priest that night at the inn. Upon morning, he had left his sleeping wife to seek out Ian and Finn, who had in the meantime located the runaways. Finn remembered well the guilt that had stood on Garrett’s face as he had apologised for abandoning them in their quest. Still, his face had been aglow, and Finn had seen with one glance that he was in love.
Happy for his friend, Finn had congratulated Garrett and urged him to introduce them to his new bride. Garrett had been more than eager to do so. However, upon returning to their room, he had found her gone with no note to explain her whereabouts. Only from the innkeeper, they had learnt that her brother, an English lord, had come to Gretna Green and taken her back to England.
As far as Finn knew, the young lady had run off to Gretna Green with another, intending to marry him. Somehow, however, that marriage had not come to be and then her path had crossed Garrett’s.
Glancing at his friend, Finn wondered if Garrett was worried that his new bride’s family was less than happy to learn of their new connections and understood well his desire to be off and go after her.
Only Ian seemed less than sympathetic with Garrett’s current situation.
“Where will ye go?” Finn asked, handing a log to Garrett before picking one up himself. “Where will ye start looking for her?”
Garrett shrugged. “I dunno know where her family’s estate is, but Cormag suggested I speak to Lord Tynham, Maggie’s brother. He might be able to help, perhaps even know her family.”
Finn nodded before they split ways and each knocked on another door. He had all but forgotten that Ian’s wife, Maggie, had grown up in England, the daughter of an English lord, who had passed away a few
