A Gentle Feuding by Johanna Lindsey

  “And who’ll keep you company, now that your wife’s rejected you?”

  Jamie gripped her arm and shoved her away. “A wife canna reject her husband,” he said tightly. “And you intrude in what is none of your con­cern.”

  “I dinna think she agrees,” Jessie retorted, rub­bing her arm. “A wife can reject her husband if she so chooses.”

  Jamie grunted. “She’ll be coming around, once she’s used to being married.”

  “Will she now?” Jessie taunted angrily. “How will she do that, Jamie, when she’s no’ even here.”

  A number of emotions crossed Jamie’s face before he turned and made for the hall. But Jessie stopped him, her voice bitter, before he got very far.

  “You’ll waste your time looking for her. I’m no’ the only one who saw your precious Sheena leave. She’s made her rejection of you a public matter, proclaiming to one and all she wants naught to do with you.” Jamie turned and ran back toward the stable then, and Jessie shouted after him, “You canna still want her, Jamie! Have you no shame? No pride?”

  But Jamie continued on, ignoring the outburst, and Jessie stomped off in the other direction. She would have to tell Black Gawain she had failed. Jamie was going after his foolish wife after all.

  What an impossibly stubborn man. Couldn’t he see the little Lowlander was no good for him? Couldn’t he see what Jessie had to offer? He was blind‑and that was his misfortune.

  Jessie never should have stayed at Castle Kin­nion, she chided herself, enduring Black Gawain’s crude lovemaking just so she could be there. A waste of her time and talent. And Black Gawain didn’t even care for Jessie. It was Sheena he had wanted from the start, until he learned she was a Fergusson.

  Sheena‑always Sheena! Jessie worked herself into a blind rage, and as she stomped through the castle in search of Black Gawain, those she passed gave her a very wide berth.

  Chapter 38

  SHEENA was ready to mount her horse again and return to the castle. But as she was leaving the croft, Jamie galloped furiously toward her, coming to a skidding halt in the yard. Hearing the noise, the crofter and his wife came back out of their hut. They could only stand there, mute in the face of Jamie’s black rage.

  Sheena was equally mute and frightened. She had confessed to Jannet that she meant to leave the Highlands, and Jannet had effectively talked her out of it. But Jamie couldn’t know that, of course. And he was in no mood to be told.

  “Stopped to tarry on your way home, did you?” Jamie said, his voice harsh and accusing. “ ‘Tis well you did, so I found you ‘afore you left MacKinnion land.”

  “Well for whom?” Sheena dared to ask.

  Jamie’s frown deepened, his eyes turning almost green, smoldering dangerously. “You didna heed my warning, and now you dare to be impudent, as well?”

  “Jamie, I‑“

  “You mock me, you defy me, and you think noth­ing will come of it?” he raged, his anger robbing him of control.

  “Jamie!”

  “Nay!”

  He moved his horse closer and caught her arm, pulling her. He wanted to shake her violently, but he only held her, his fingers biting. Seeing her wince didn’t lessen his anger or make him feel better.

  “You misused the feeling I have for you, Sheena. I am lenient with you, so you’re thinking you can do as you please,” he shouted, “You’re my wife! There’s no excuse that will appease me this time!”

  Sheena yanked her arm away. Her chin went up stubbornly. “Then I’ll no’ give one!” she shouted back.

  She would have liked to explain, was the truth. She would have told him she’d changed her mind. She had tried to tell him, but his tirade had made it impossible. Now she refused to try. She had her pride.

  “I’ll no’ be taken back!” she said adamantly. “I’ll no’ live with such an arrogant, churlish knave!”

  Jamie glowered at her for an eternity, his fists clenching. An ominous gleam entered his eyes, and some of the steam went out of her then. He was fight­ing for control and she knew it.

  When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, too quiet. “I’m no’ here to bring you back, Sheena.”

  Confusion took over. “I dinna ken.”

  “You’re my wife‑that hasna changed. But I’ll no’ be shamed by you again. You’ve abused me for the last time, Sheena. I dinna want you back.” His mouth was a grim line. “That should make you happy. I certainly have failed to make you happy, Lord knows.”

  She felt a tightness in her chest, and her vision blurred. “You . . . you’re letting me leave?” she said softly, close to choking on the words.

  “Nay, Sheena.” His voice was overly tight, as if it was all he could do to keep it under control. “I forbid that. You’re a MacKinnion now, and you’ll live on MacKinnion land. I’ll have a dwelling built for you. You’ll live there‑alone, as is your wish. You can tend the land or no’. Whichever, I’ll see you dinna starve.”

  She was incredulous. “Jamie, you canna mean this.”

  “I didna think I would ever say such a thing. But you’ve said from the beginning that you wanted naught to do with me. Finally, I believe you.”

  Sheena fought to keep back both tears and fury. How could he?

  “You keep me as wife, but mean to deny me what that entails?” she stormed. “You think you can?”

  “I know I can.”

  “I refuse! You canna treat me that way!” she cried. “I’ll be going back to my father.”

  “You’ll stay!” he thundered. “I’ll give you this warning just once. You go home to your father, and I’ll tear his tower down piece by piece to find you. Heed me, Sheena MacKinnion, for I’m through with threats!”

  Jamie had said all he was going to. He grabbed her horse’s reins and rode off at a furious pace, her mare galloping along behind. The yellow‑gold of Jamie’s hair and the green and gold of his plaid became a blur as Sheena’s tears came.

  “Och, now, hinny, there’s nae need for that.” Jannet put her arm around Sheena and led her back inside their home. “Sir Jamie will be relenting, yer’ll see. He’s a temper is all, just like the auld laird, his father. But it willna last.”

  “Last!” Sheena echoed. “He’s been in a temper since the day I met him.”

  “And has there been a reason for that?” Jannet asked wisely. Seeing the two of them fight with so much emotion had told her what she’d suspected was true.

  Sheena didn’t answer. She was devastated. She tried to tell herself that the ache she felt was only because of Jamie’s anger, and because she wanted to go home and he was stopping her. But that wasn’t the whole truth, and she knew it.

  As Jannet tried to soothe her, insisting Sheena stay with them until Jamie came to his senses, all she could think of was that Jamie had left her, had ridden off and left her. And she didn’t even know what had happened in Angusshire between the clans.

  Chapter 39

  SHEENA curled up by the fire, wrapped in her cloak and in a plaid lent by Jannet. It wasn’t ter­ribly windy outside, but there was still a draft run­ning along the floor where she lay. At least she wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold dirt floor, for there was a narrow strip of plank on the ground, the cover­ing of a store.

  Sheena had been surprised, never having seen a store inside a crofter’s hut, but Roy explained that he had dug it for his wife. Jannet was from the south, where hot summers necessitated a cool place for keeping cream, butter, and fresh game. She had talked Roy into digging the hole before she learned that summers in the Highlands were not so hot as what she was used to.

  Sheena was glad to have a smooth surface to lie on, even if sleep did elude her. Roy and Jannet were long since fast asleep in the far corner, Roy after securing the outside and checking his goats and sheep, Jannet after grinding meal for the following day.

  They had been so kind to her, assuring her that Jamie wasn’t as terrible as he seemed and that everything would work out for them. She was to re­member that prophecy
later.

  She wasn’t sure what they were, those first swirls of smoke. They seeped in through the roof, and she was staring right at them without comprehending. Impossible. Yet she had to believe it when flames ap­peared, eating a hole in the thatch.

  Her first instinct was to flee, but that was stifled when she recalled the recent raid in which Jock’s and Hamish’s homes were fired. It could only be an­other raid. Sheena cursed the bastards for sneaking up on them, hoping to catch them all asleep. It was a dastardly thing to do, so devious, lacking any mea­sure of honor.

  Sheena was trying desperately to keep from pan­icking as she watched the hole in the roof getting bigger. They couldn’t leave the hut—or could they? Could the raiders have started the fire and then rid­den on? Or were they still outside?

  A torch fell through the roof, and she quickly smothered it with the plaid. A torch! That was how the fire had started. So it was a raid! Jannet screamed, having wakened to a nightmare, and Sheena turned to see Roy grabbing for his weapons. She was sickened. She couldn’t bear the thought of kind Roy going out there to meet his death. Yet they would all die if something wasn’t done quickly.

  She ran to the window, praying that the raiders had gone on. But outside, in the glow from the fire, she saw five mounted men. They were just sitting there, waiting. Waiting until everyone inside had been burned alive.

  At first the faces were a blur. All she could see was the color of their plaids. Her colors. Her mind would not accept what her eyes saw. But then she saw faces a little more clearly. She was such a fool not to have guessed before. William! That was William’s face!

  Part of the roof fell in, and Sheena screamed, stopping Roy as he was about to open the door. She rushed to him, pulling him back with all her strength.

  “You canna, man! There’s too many of them, and ‘tis what they want. They’re waiting for you!”

  He pulled her fingers off his jerkin and said, “Get back, lass. Get under the bed wi’ my Jannet. I’ll hold them off until help comes. We’re no’ sae far from the castle.”

  “But there’s five of them!” Sheena was crying. Couldn’t he understand? “Jannet, tell him no’ to do it! Have you no water? We can fight the fire!”

  Jannet was coming forward with a tin of water. Sheena’s skirt had just caught fire, and she doused it. She was calm, more so than either Sheena or her husband.

  “She’s right, Roy. Yer canna go out there.”

  “We’ve no’ enough water, Jannet!”

  “I know. But there’s another way. We’ve the store. We’ve a better chance of surviving there than wi’ you being cut to pieces outside. Do as I say, man.”

  “The fire will still reach us,” he insisted, even as he let her pull him toward the plank in the floor.

  “It may,” she agreed, keeping her voice calm for their sake. “But no’ as quickly. Now open the trap and get inside,” she ordered as she splashed the rest of the water over the planks. “You, too, lassie. Quickly.”

  The space was tiny, with just enough room for one person to move between the shelves lining each wall. But it was also deep, with steps carved into the earth. Roy went down. Sheena followed. Jannet was the last to enter, closing the trapdoor above them with a sickening finality. They were crammed tightly into the hole, Roy pressed against the back wall, Jannet crouched on the stairs, Sheena in between them. It was very difficult to breathe.

  “I told yer yer should’ve made the store bigger, Roy,” Jannet joked, knowing how frightened her companions were.

  “What difference does that make if we’re sealed in a tomb?” Roy retorted.

  The fire was burning too quickly. They heard it. Sheena couldn’t believe help would come in time. But she had to believe it.

  Roy was growing more and more agitated. “Enough, Jannet! They’ve gone by now. Let’s go.”

  “Mayhap they have gone, but the fire hasna. We’ve nae choice but to wait till the flames die down some.”

  It might have worked out that way if part of the roof hadn’t fallen on the trapdoor instead of to the side of it. At the sound of the crash, Jannet tried to push open the door. It wouldn’t budge. Through the cracks in the door there was only a white blaze. They couldn’t see smoke, but they could smell it, taste it, and their eyes burned. Breathing was next to impossible.

  How long could that little bit of water on the planks keep the fire back? How long before the boards caved in on them?

  Sheena was asking herself why Jamie had left her to this. And she was grieving for Roy and Jannet. Poor souls, none of this was their fault.

  Jamie was racing blindly down the mountainside.

  When he had been told of the fire and whose but was being consumed, he couldn’t believe it. He still wouldn’t accept it, not even when he saw it for himself. The flames had lessened, but were still lapping greedily at anything that hadn’t been destroyed. Jamie charged in, a man gone wild, burning himself as he tossed aside flaming wood and debris, praying, however futilely, that he would find Sheena alive, that she wouldn’t be dead, as reason insisted she must be.

  “Mayhap you ken how I felt when my sister died this way.” Black Gawain’s quiet voice penetrated Jamie’s crazed state of mind. “She’s no’ dead! And if you’re no’ here to help find her, then get out!”

  Black Gawain stumbled outside, running into Colen, who had just arrived that minute. “He’s lost his senses, lad. Try to get him out of there ‘afore the walls cave in and we lose him, too.”

  Colen ignored Black Gawain, ordering the men he’d brought with him to help search. He followed them in. Gawain shook his head and left the scene. As much as he had hated Sheena, he wouldn’t have wished that kind of death on her‑not even to avenge his sister.

  Every piece of rubble and scarred wood was moved. The search was for bodies now, for nothing could have lived through that fire. Jamie was nearly out of his mind, but the one little bit of sanity left demanded proof. He wouldn’t believe she was dead until he had proof.

  There was great excitement when the plank door was found, charred but intact. In his haste to reach the door, Jamie threw men aside. He lifted the door. Three bodies were there, cloths covering their faces, unmoving. Unmoving! Jamie couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Then one of the bodies coughed, a tiny sound, and he couldn’t move fast enough.

  He lifted Jannet out and handed her to Colen, then took Sheena in his arms and carried her out of the house, leaving others to see to Roy. Tears coursed down his face as he set her down in the cool air away from the house. No one came near him. Those watching turned away as Jamie knelt by his wife and began shaking her, slapping her, all the while shouting prayers and curses, one after another.

  The first thought Sheena had when feeling returned was that the flames must have reached them, for her lungs were on fire. Suddenly she was racked by coughing so violent she could hardly catch her breath. But she did manage to breathe a little, and the air was so cooling, soothing her raw throat and burning lungs.

  Then she was crushed in someone’s mighty arms and couldn’t breathe again. She began to struggle, fighting, and the grip lessened a bit.

  Colen approached, so relieved he felt giddy. He could well imagine what his brother was feeling.

  “Jannet and Roy are alive,” he informed Jamie. Then he delivered the bad news. “The croft below didna fair as well. Sheena and Roy and Jannet would be dead now, too, wi’out that place to hide. Do you know that?”

  “I know.”

  “What possessed you to leave her here unprotected, I’d like to be knowing?”

  Jamie looked at Colen over the top of Sheena’s head, his face tormented. “Do you think I can ever forgive myself? I was so consumed with anger, lad, I didna think to post a watch over her. But that’s no excuse. Because of my fool temper, she might have died.”

  Colen shook his head. “Then may I hope you’ll make an effort to control your fool temper next time?”

  “There’ll be no next time,” Jamie s
aid quietly.

  “Will we be riding directly this time? They canna be too far ahead,” Colen said.

  “Aye, as soon as I take Sheena to the castle.”

  There was nothing wrong with Sheena’s hearing. Joy at being alive fought with bitterness. She pushed Jamie away from her.

  “You havena asked if I want to be taken to your castle.” Her voice was only a whisper, and she rubbed at her burning eyes.

  “Nay, I havena, nor do I intend to,” was Jamie’s reply. It left no room for argument. “Och, Sheena, forgive me. I know you feel this is all my fault, and I dinna shirk the blame. Can you no’ see how sorry I am?”

  “I see it—but it doesna help.” She started to cry and hid her face in her hands. “You didna have to leave me here!”

  Jamie gathered her to him again, and Colen discreetly left. “Hush, Sheena, hush.” He rocked her. “Do you think I really wanted to leave you? The things I said to you today, I meant none of them. I was hurt. Do you ken, Sheena? I’m no’ used to having my life controlled by another. But you control me, you do. You have the power to give me pain or joy, and when ‘tis pain, I react badly. But no more, sweetheart. I swear I’ll never put you from me again.”

  He was terrified, afraid that was not what she wanted to hear. What if she really wanted to hear that he would let her go? He could never do that, not even to make amends for what he’d done. Sheena was part of him, whether she accepted it or not, and he couldn’t let her go.

  But Jamie needn’t have worried. The fight had gone out of Sheena­either because of his declaration or from exhaustion. She put her arms around him, leaning against him, and he nearly burst with joy.

  “I’ll take you home now, lass, and put you in my aunt’s care until I return,” he said gently.

  Jamie carried her to his horse and held her ahead of him as they rode back to the castle. She was quiet all the way home, and he couldn’t help wondering why.

  In fact, Sheena was speechless because of the power he claimed she held over him. Power? She had always known she could arouse his anger easily. But for Jamie to be so deeply affected by her, that she could cause him pain or joy . . . Was it possible?