Highland Island (Book 6)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Carrick?" With each word Com got quieter, his words more hissed than spoken.

"Carrick? Are you hearing me?" The frustration was clear in his tone, even as he spat the words in a whisper.

"Carrick, will you look at me? Talk to me?" Com picked up the knife again, going back to skinning the rabbit. "I'm a bull-headed stubborn fool at times, Carrick. But you, you're the sensible one. The one Ma always looked to, to do the right thing. The one who had always looked out for me. This time, I see the danger and I am telling you. Brother, stay away from the girl."

Carrick didn't look at his brother, but he knew his brother did actually have a point. Not that he was ever going to admit that aloud. Com really would let his being right go to his head. And Carrick could not take the crowing that would come because of it.

His brother's words were barely a whisper now, making sure that he could not be over heard. "I saw you with her, you know. I was heading back to camp, when I saw you near the stepping stones. Whilst you were only watching, I thought, what's the harm? I've taken a lot from us, and I know that, but by meeting her you put us in danger." Com let out a sharp laugh. "Actually now I really think on it, you will not have given anything away, as you probably did not say a word to her, even if she did shout after you. Isla...pretty name."

Carrick clenched his fists in the small trickle of water. Com was looking for a rise from him. It was why he was mentioning her name. It was the emotions which were awakening within him, the anger and possessiveness, which made him itch to rid himself of his brother or the woman who haunted his thoughts. Or both. But he knew the truth would be he could rid himself of neither.

"Isla. Maybe I should introduce myself to her? Let her know the name of her saviour? Let her know it is useless to scream and shout at you as you will not answer. But it isn't my brother being rude, he was just made that way." His laugh was louder this time, but his words were just as quiet as before. "What do you say brother? The next time Isla makes..."

Carrick hadn't thought about his actions, did not even know what he was doing before he found his fist colliding with his brother's jaw. As Com was thrown backwards, Carrick straddled him, aiming to strike Com again, when his mind finally caught up with his actions. Shaking his head, he stared down at his startled brother, and pushed himself back to his original position. The whole action taking only a few moments, but in those moments it was clear that Com had hit a nerve. A nerve even Carrick was not fully aware he had in the first place. He had never struck his brother before. And now, just the name of an unknown woman upon his lips had caused violence that nothing else ever had before.

"Apologies." It was not enough. It would never be enough. He had gone back on the word to his mother. He should never have struck out at Com. He should never have found himself in a position where someone else, someone he did not know, had this much influence over him. Handing his head in his hands, he could hear Com as he sat up, a groan as Carrick imagined him rubbing at his jaw. "Apologies."

Com huffed a laughed and slapped his shoulder. "You must mean it if you said it twice. Trust me Carrick, I have been expecting something like that from you since we were children." Carrick glanced over to see Com holding his jaw as he flexed it back and forth. "What I never expected was to be hit over girl that you don't know, and have never even spoken too." The shock in his tone was such that Carrick felt the guilt settle on his soul.

"I spoke to her."

The silence which followed his statement was so profound that Carrick almost felt the need to speak to end it. Which had never been anything Carrick had thought before.