A Healer For The Highlander. Terri Brisbin

to what Anna asked of him, he sat on the stool next to the door and called out to his friends.

      ‘So, the vapour has worked then?’ she asked Suisan. ‘Has he been coughing much?’

      ‘Nay,’ the older woman said. ‘Some the first night, but less after each dosing or use of the vapour. He did not complain or refuse, nay, he did not. He is a good lad.’

      ‘Better than most others who have asked for my help,’ Anna said.

      ‘About those seeking your help...’ Anna raised her gaze to Suisan and waited for her to continue. ‘Word has already spread about ye being a healer.’

      ‘Those outside?’ Anna walked to the doorway and looked past the boy and his friends to see a growing crowd. ‘They are to see me?’

      ‘Aye, if ye would? Many have ailments that Old Ranald could not see to. Many have minor things, but I think ye could help a number of others with the things ye grow and make.’

      Those waiting noticed her scrutiny and began to move closer. Anna nodded to them and they approached. She recognised a variety of symptoms and ailments as they grew closer.

      ‘Suisan, I would not see them in the road. Can I bring them inside your cottage? Or is there another I might use?’

      ‘Ye are welcome here and mayhap I could help ye a bit? Introduce ye to the villagers and such?’

      * * *

      Within a short time, Anna was speaking to the people who needed her services. Though it took several hours, with Suisan’s help, Anna managed to speak to each person who sought her aid. Some could be helped then, but others could not for she had not the ingredients or supplies to do so. A few more days and she would have some of what she needed, but it would be weeks of tending to the plots above the falls before she would be ready.

      Colm sat by the door, greeting everyone who came by, but she could see the exhaustion growing in his face. Just as she finished with the last person, a loud voice rang out drawing her attention.

      ‘Malcolm Cameron, what do you think you are doing?’

      For a moment, she lost her place and time. She heard the name and stumbled to the doorway, almost expecting to see her Malcolm there before her. Staring into the road there instead she saw Davidh’s approach. Anna shook herself from the shock and glanced at Colm, who sat there watching his father walk towards them.

      Colm.

      Malcolm.

      He had truly named his son after his closest friend.

      ‘You are not supposed to be out here!’ Davidh said sharply.

      * * *

      ‘Papa, Mistress Mackenzie said I could.’

      Davidh had only been watching his son and now caught sight of the healer as she stepped into the sun’s light. He did not know who looked paler at that moment—her or his son. Crouching down before Colm where he sat on a stool, he studied his face and listened, as he always did, to his breathing. Though pale, he did not struggle to draw a breath.

      ‘Well, if Mistress Mackenzie gave her approval, I cannot naysay her.’ He read the relief on Colm’s face then. How long had it been since his son had been outside this cottage or theirs? He glanced up and met Anna’s gaze then. ‘And what else did Mistress Mackenzie have to say?’

      ‘If he rests today and follows my instructions, he may walk about in the village a bit with his friends on the morrow,’ she replied.

      ‘From the look of him, he has not done the first.’

      ‘Nay, not yet. This morn, I was grateful for his help with the others who came to see me.’

      Davidh stood then and touched his son’s shoulder.

      ‘You look tired, son.’

      He could see the struggle within the boy. He did not wish to go back inside and yet his strength was fading. Considering that he’d been up and about more in these last two days than he had in weeks and weeks, Davidh was more than willing to listen to the healer’s advice. Whatever doubts had initially assailed him had faded in the face of the results in his son.

      ‘Since we have finished our work, I think it a good time for you to rest, Mal-colm.’

      She stuttered over his son’s name. Oh, she’d heard him use his proper name. But a glance at her face revealed something else or something more was behind her stammer.

      ‘There you go then. Mistress Mackenzie has so spoken and we cannot argue with her. Well, you could, but I suspect that her promise to release you from this doorway depends on you obeying now.’

      Colm grumbled as he stood, waved farewell to his friends and walked in slow, delaying steps inside. Davidh fought the smile that threatened to break out on his face since it would ruin the serious attitude he was forcing himself to show. He found he needed to turn away rather than watch as Colm sighed over and over as he lay down on the pallet. It was the short time it took for his son to fall asleep that reminded Davidh of his true condition and need for rest.

      ‘I...’ There was so much to thank her for doing, yet the words would not come.

      ‘I have given Suisan something new to try over the next few days,’ she said. She blocked his view of his son then, standing closer so her words did not carry inside. ‘The vapours seem to be helping.’

      ‘Aye, they have. He barely coughs.’ Again, words of gratitude swirled around, but none seemed good enough for what she’d accomplished. ‘Anna...’

      ‘The thing is, Davidh, this is only the beginning. The weakness in his lungs will not stop because of a few concoctions or using the vapours for a couple of nights.’ Why was she trying to dissemble with her words? To what purpose was it to undermine what she’d accomplished here?

      ‘He has been ill for some time,’ he said. ‘I understand that it could take time.’

      ‘Or not.’

      He heard her words, but he did not want to accept them. That tiny bit of hope that he always carried in his soul for his son had burst into a stronger one just over the last two days. Could he contain and dampen it now? Must he? She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.

      ‘Sometimes it does not proceed as I expect it to and if, if, this does not work...’ She paused then and stared out towards the village. ‘I do not wish to raise your hopes without making certain you understand the true situation here, Davidh.’

      ‘I am afraid ’tis too late for that, Anna.’

      She blinked several times and looked at him. He shrugged.

      ‘I understand the situation, Colm’s situation, for I have watched other bairns and wee ones die of things like this.’ A single tear trickled from the corner of her left eye and he wanted to reach out and wipe it away. He stepped back instead. ‘I will take whatever days your treatments give him. The rest is in the Almighty’s hands.’

      She walked past him then and he heard the soft groan as she did so. Watching her, he noticed the signs of discomfort or pain in the way she walked now.

      ‘Mistress Mackenzie, are you yourself in need of a healer?’

      She laughed then and the sound of it made his heart beat faster.

      ‘Aye, I think I might. Do you know one?’

      ‘Old Ranald is good if you need anything hacked away.’ The jesting relieved the tension in him.

      ‘Nay, not that. I just need to walk a bit after crouching and bending for so long. I will not keep you from your duties, Commander.’

      ‘Come,’ he said, motioning with his hand ahead of him. ‘I am not expected back for some time yet and I can show you the rest of the village if you have not walked it yourself.’

      ‘I would like that,’ she said,