A Minx for the MacKenzie [Highlanders Love #2]

Chapter 22

He had only been there once, so it was really no surprise to him that as sunlight slowly dwindled into nothing, and he eventually had to rely on the light of the lamp he had brought along with him, Hammond was finding it more and more difficult to locate the site at which Tamhas and Amhuinn had previously claimed as their own. Tamhas had refused to come along with him, stating that Hammond deserved whatever perilous journey he had to go through in the dark Highland hills. 

"If ye love her enough, ye will do it fer her. I willna stand by and see my sister hurt again. If ye dinna... well, then she deserves better then ye." Tamhas had scoffed.

Hammond had growled, almost wanting to pounce on the blond male for even suggesting that Amhuinn would find someone other then he, but Connor's arm on his shoulder held him back. "If ye want ter, I will come with ye, brother." 

But like it or not, Hammond recognized the wisdom in Tamhas's words. If he were to find his wife, he needed to find her alone, with no one else by him. 

As such, the moon's appearance would find Hammond wandering astride his steed towards the looming forests that served as border for the MacKenzie lands. With only his memory to rely on, Hammond roughly recalled the place they had stumbled across the two siblings had been close to a river, but had it been upstream or downstream? He cursed as a particularly strong gust of wind blew out his light. The Highland winds were unforgiving, and Hammond's plaid was providing little protection as the night got chillier. How long had he been out here already? Two hours? Three? Last he remembered, it took his men, Connor and himself half a day to deliver Evie back to the MacKenzie Keep after they had met Amhuinn and Tamhas. Had he went the wrong way?

His horse shook his head, the black mane shining under the moonlight, as the sound of water reached Hammond's ears. Tis nearby! He thought, hope suffusing him again as he clicked his tongue and shook the reins, spurring his steed into a light canter. Taking a guess, he guided the beast upstream, eyes straining through the moonlit darkness to catch a glimpse of the hut that lingered in his faint memory. A part of him was terrified that his wife would have found herself in trouble, but Hammond liked to believe that Amhuinn was made of tougher stuff that whatever lingered on Highland grounds. As long as she stayed on MacKenzie land, he reasoned to himself to prevent the escalating worry within him, she will be safe.

Plodding along in the darkness, Hammond noticed for the first time, how cold it was when he wasn't behind the walls of the Keep. Mrs. O'Leary and Griselda kept the castle walls well heated. But were his people outside the walls cold? Did they have enough heat? He made a mental note to get Tristan and Connor to check on his people upon his return, just as he followed a bend in the river, and a smile finally broke across his face when he saw a hut, whose single window displayed a flickering candle.

His memory was immediately evoked, of the first day he had saw her there, yet not knowing how important she would be in his future. Despite being dressed in her serviceable garb, bent over a vegetable patch with her platinum blonde hair tied up and dirt across her cheek, Hammond had never seen anyone who looked as gloriously brave as Amhuinn did when she had straightened up and looked at him straight in the eye. Even with her uneven gait, there was never a day when he would doubt he capability.

The fact that he had managed to push enough to push her away from him... well, Gillian did a good job of reminding him what he should appreciate in life, just before he had left the Keep.

"Have a care of yer words when ye find her, big brother." Gillian had murmured as she handed him his winter plaid, to wrap around his shoulders. "Yer a loving man, Hammond. Dinna fear it. Even as kids, I would be the one stuck in my dungeon workshop, while ye are oot there helping whatever poor woodland creature ye find. I... I dinna embrace emotion as ye do. But yer trying ter deny it. Do yerself a favor and stop doing that. I dinna see why ye canna be a good husband, father and a laird all at the same time."