Taken Away (A Swept Away Saga Origins Story)

Eight

The work made time pass quickly. Every day, Will would wake up to discover that Isobel had already risen, her pallet empty and tidied, with a bowl of oats waiting for him on the tiny table. A brief morning of fishing and gathering reeds followed, and then the rest of the day was filled with house work. On the fifth day since his arrival, the branches had been trimmed away, the stores of new thatch moved and stored outside under a couple hides, the inside of the hut cleaned, and the wall stacked back together.

Kicking some of the boulders lightly, Will tested the strength of the wall, making sure it wouldn't fall over due to bad craftsmanship. It stood strong, though, the rocks leveled and placed perfectly. Even the cap stones on the very top of the wall held strong. All that remained now was the entirely new roof to be created.

Feeling confident and pleased with the work he'd done so far, Will walked around to the front of the house, examining everything with a smile. Pausing, he caught sight of Isobel in the garden, his breath catching while he watched her work. There was something about her that felt so innately beautiful to him, besides the obvious stunning quality of her looks. The longer he was around her, the more apparent it became. Her personality blossomed the more he got to know her and he loved learning little pieces of her life and seeing the way she interacted with the world around her.

Kneeling in the dirt, the skirt of her dress pooled out around her, the thick, brown fabric seeming to meld into the earth, they matched so closely in color. Her hair was bundled at the base of her head, which he'd come to recognize as her regular style, the red tendrils curling every which way, some sticking to her neck and the side of her face. Despite the amount of time she spent outside, her skin was somewhat pale, giving her the appearance of a lady who didn't work much. Still, he knew she was almost never inside. Isobel had a heart that beat for nature and a respect for all things living. When she worked, she did so reverently, with thanks on her lips. At this moment, he could see the tiny smile she wore, her hands spotted with mud, working through the earth with a small spade, a woven basket of trimmings from her young plants resting at her side. Halting for a moment, she sat up, stretching her back as she dragged her forearm across her forehead, wiping away the sweat on her brow.

Will knew well enough what her chores were now, after watching her for the past couple days. The garden was the last thing she tackled every day, and she took very good care of it. Each morning, she started by gathered supplies for the hut, then washed clothes, and even had a few small game traps that were checked daily. The only thing he hadn't figured out was what she did at dawn. There was never enough heather to suggest she'd been doing just the gathering, but he didn't want to pry and ask her about it.

Glancing over, she saw Will staring and grinned, waving lightly.

Embarrassed to have been caught, he held his hand up in greeting, clearing his throat. "The wall is finished, if ye wanted to see it."

"I would love to," she replied enthusiastically. "I'm almost finished here. Give me a couple minutes and I'll be right over, aye?"

Nodding, he turned away, face flaming. She hadn't appeared to be bothered he'd been watching her, but he felt like he'd invaded her privacy somehow. Rubbing his hands on his kilt, he went back over to the other side of the house. Being around Isobel sometimes made him feel a strange nervousness. He realized he cared what she thought of him; her opinion mattered very much in the grand scheme of things, to him at least. When he woke each day, he felt the desire to make her proud and do something good for her. The fact that she didn't need his help made him all the more determined to offer it, to show that he was capable of doing what she so obviously could accomplish on her own. It wasn't that he thought himself better or didn't want her to do the work—he didn't think she should have to. In his mind, Isobel deserved to be treated like the wonderful woman she was, and that didn't include doing back breaking work like constructing houses.