Terri Brisbin - A Healer For The Highlander

‘This is your cottage?’ she asked, peering around him at the dwelling. ‘Is your wife within?’

Now, he stopped and turned to face her. His face had lost most of its colouring, making him appear gaunt and frightening. He took a step towards her and she fought not to shrink back away from him. He leaned down closer to her and spoke in a harsh whisper.

‘My wife died of fever a few years ago and I have raised him since.’

‘I...am...’ She could not speak the right words to him now.

‘I do not wish to discuss Mara before my son, so I pray you will not mention her within.’ His voice betrayed the emotions he must feel. She heard the loss and grief and yearning there and her own heart wanted to weep for his loss. ‘This...’ He paused then and cleared his throat making hers feel even tighter with the emotions she could see and hear within him. ‘This is where Jamie, the blacksmith...’ he nodded over her shoulder at the smithy ‘...and his wife Suisan live. She cares for Colm when I am on duty.’

‘I understand,’ she said softly.

He nodded, knocked on the door and then lifted the latch gently. She smiled at the efforts he took not to disturb those within. For all his strength and formidable size, he softened as he must for his ailing son.

The good thing about this cottage was that it was filled with light and fresh air. Often, those treating the sick closed the windows and built up the fire which allowed the smoke from the peat and wood being burned to fill the often cramped place. In her mother’s opinion, that did more harm than any possible good for most ailments and illnesses. Anna followed Davidh in, smiling at the anxious woman standing next to the pallet.

‘Suisan?’ she asked. At the woman’s nod, she introduced herself. ‘I am Anna Mackenzie.’

‘From the falls?’ the woman asked.

The damn rumours and stories always followed her and her mother before her. ‘Aye, from the falls.’

‘I am glad he sought ye out. The puir wee lad is not much better this morn than he has been these last days.’ Anna had learned early that suspicion was hard to fight and so this unexpected sense of welcome surprised her. ‘Let me show ye what the last healer gave us to treat him.’

‘I would see your son first,’ she said, lifting her head to meet his gaze.

Whether he’d known it or not, Davidh had placed himself between her and his son. The sense of protectiveness about his son pervaded his every action and deed and somehow that made her heart warm to him. It was something she’d never had in her life, so she always seemed to notice it elsewhere.

The chieftain’s commander eased his stance and stepped aside, allowing her closer to the small boy lying on the pallet. With his eyes closed, she could not tell if he slept or not. Kneeling down, she leaned in and watched the rise and fall of his chest. Not good. The rasping sounds and the shallow quickness of the breaths were not good.

A quick assessment of the colouring in his fingernails and lips told her more. His eyes fluttered and then opened when she laid the back of her hand on his forehead.

‘Good morn to you, Colm,’ she said softly. ‘How are you feeling this day?’

Anna leaned back and sat on her heels so that the boy could see those he knew behind her. Frightening him would make his condition worse. When he tried to sit up, she slid her arm behind him and used her other hand to guide him do so.

And then he began to cough.

Chapter Four

The boy shuddered in her arms, his body trembling, and his chest rattled as his body fought against the racking coughs. She heard Davidh move behind her and Suisan walked closer, but she waved them off with a nod of her head. ‘Wait,’ she whispered.

‘He needs this.’ Davidh thrust a small bottle in front of her. ‘The healer said three to four drops when he begins.’

He’d already removed the stopper and she could smell the concoction within the bottle. Juice of the poppy. A strong blend from the smell of it.

‘Nay.’

She shifted on to her knees and brought the boy up to sit. With an arm in front of him, she eased him to lean against her and she placed her hand on his back, trying to feel the source of the cough. Anna had seen this before, as had her mother. Poppy was the last thing the boy needed.

‘This will quiet the cough, Anna,’ Davidh said, holding the bottle out again before her. ‘He is in pain.’

Davidh was in pain, that much was certain. She heard it in his voice just as she heard the rattling in his son’s chest. She hated to make either of them suffer, but giving that concoction to Colm would calm the coughing even while making it more difficult to breathe.

‘Davidh.’ Suisan spoke then, whispering to the commander, and his shadow moved away.

Anna listened and watched until the boy’s fit eased and he could once more draw in breath. She did notice that he continued to pant, probably afraid that taking in too much would cause another round.

‘Now that it has ceased, can you stand up, Colm?’ The boy agreed just as his father said nay. After glancing nervously at his father for permission, Colm allowed her to help him up once Davidh nodded. ‘Come, I will help you. You may feel better sitting on that chair than lying down when the coughing strikes you.’

Once she’d seen him settled there, she took a small sack out of her basket and handed it to Suisan. ‘Would you brew this in a small pot for me? By the time it cools, ’twill be the right strength for him.’

Then she began her true work.

‘Davidh, ’tis better for him to sit up more and lie down less. Suisan, can you leave the shutters in the back of the cottage open like that for most of the time he is here? Smoke, from the fire or the smithy, is not good for him.’ Anna glanced at the pallet. ‘When he does lie there, he should not be flat. The higher his head, the better.’

She waited until the tisane had brewed and was cool enough for him to drink before saying anything else. Instead, she examined each bottle or jar and asked Colm about the taste. His remarkable sense of humour and resilience showed through as he made faces to describe each one.

‘How many years have you, Colm?’ She thought she remembered Davidh mentioning his age, but she wanted the lad to speak.

‘Eight years.’

‘Mistress Mackenzie,’ Davidh said over her shoulder.

‘Mistress Mackenzie,’ Colm repeated. ‘I have eight years.’

‘Nearly full grown, then?’ she said. His face lit up at her words and she saw the same eyes staring at her as his father had. The shape of his face and his colouring was not familiar so Anna knew those traits were from his mother. ‘So, you are old and wise enough to understand and follow instructions?’

Colm nodded and took another mouthful of the tea as if to show her how compliant he could be. ‘Aye, mistress.’

‘Firstly,’ she said, meeting his wide and serious gaze, ‘is that I want you to lay on the pallet only when you plan to sleep.’

‘He is weak...’ Davidh began.

She ignored him and spoke only to his son.

‘’Twill be hard at first because you are accustomed to lying abed, but soon you will feel strong enough to sit up or even stand all day long.’ She nodded at the boy. ‘What say you, Colm? Will you try this?’

‘Aye, Mistress Mackenzie!’ From the tears she saw in Suisan’s eyes now, Anna suspected that this enthusiasm was something not seen in the lad in some time.

‘And I fear I will have other concoctions that you must take. Some will have a terrible taste, but they will help you. Can you promise to do as I say?’

‘I will try, mistress. I will!’

* * *

Davidh could not stand this any longer. True, his son had rallied in a way he’d not seen recently, but it could not last. Had he made a mistake in bringing this woman to see Colm? Other than her appearance at Caig Falls, her claims of being a healer, and the bottles and jars that seemed to indicate it was so, he had no proof that she’d ever treated anyone successfully. And yet, he’d brought her to his son on what? His gut reaction to her?