Highland Light (10 page)

Gideon wiped his sword on his plaid then pushed it into the scabbard he wore on his back. He had not escaped damage. There were several deep cuts on his upper arms, which needed attention. From the corner of his eye, he noted Cadell was limping slightly and had suffered a shoulder wound. Otherwise he appeared in good shape. They walked back toward the road.

Eventually they found Banner waiting with their mounts. They were glad to mount up and ride. The MacGrough men fell back to the edge of the now celebrating army of the king. Keeping somewhat to themselves, they found a place to tend to their wounds slightly away from the main force.

The Bruce rode slowly about the area where his men were gathering to build fires and rest. His army was happy to see their king. He occasionally stopped and spoke with one man or another. The sight of The Bruce wandering through the camp cheered Cadell. It was good to see that he did not place himself above those who risked all for him this day.

The man was a good king. Cadell was happy with his choice. Supporting Robert the Bruce was the right thing to do. Silently Cadell thanked God for their good fortune. The battle had been won and none of his men had died.

Gideon sat next to the fire they had started, he silently watched the flames. Adair was blooded and was on his way to being a warrior. God was good. They were intact and all would live to fight another day.

Gideon watched the king as he made his way through the mass of men who had fought for him. The king was a good man. There was concern in the way he checked on his people. Gideon felt something stir inside him as he watched the king. What had been a war for his own future was beginning to take on another dimension. Scotland was beginning to mean more to him than a place of sanctuary.

He looked down at the various wounds he had suffered. Scotland had absorbed his blood. Cadell was as a father to him. MacGroughs had surrounded him as he fought. They had covered for each other and bled for each other. Gideon felt a bond forming with these men that had not been there before.

The feeling was new to him. He had been grateful to Sir David for giving him a place to be and training that was essential for a knight. But he had not felt a bond with the Templars. What he was beginning to feel for these men who now sat with him was different. When he curled up in his plaid, the plaid, the colors that marked him as a part of this family, Gideon smiled. He fell asleep smiling.

Chapter 9

Ailene stared at the rock drill in her hand. There was not an extensive amount of rock needing removal, but nevertheless rock must be excavated. She laid the tool down then went to find Parlan. As he was the oldest member of the clan there was a chance he would remember how to use the drill. For although he was elderly, Parlan was hale and his mind sharp. He was husband to Edeen and it was to their cottage that she made her way. He was in the garden working with a hoe to remove weeds from the rows of turnips and kale.

He saw her approaching then stopped to lean on the shaft of the hoe. The old man smiled at her as he watched her enter the gate.

"Good morn Ailene. How fare ye?"

"Well enough Parlan. But I have a puzzle ye might have the answer to."

The old man glanced down at the trews she had donned for the excavating. Well I can tell ye ha donned the wrong garment this morn."

The old man laughed at his joke.

Ailene bristled, as he had known she would.

"Tis hard to dig a hole with a skirt on, ye ken."

The old man laughed harder

"I ha caught me a fine fish this morn. Dinna fash ye self, Ailene. What is yer puzzle an I will try to aid ye."

Ailene felt her cheeks go hot. Parlan had always been able to bait her into losing her temper. The old man enjoyed teasing her.

"Parlan, ye old goat! Ye are always poking at me!"

"Ay lass! And ye always turn such a lovely color when ye bite on tha hook. Now, what can I help ye with?"

Ailene told him she was not sure how to use the rock drill. Parlan explained it needed to be turned with each hit of the hammer.

"Now, mind the chips will block tha hole and ye must fish them out. Otherwise, ye will no be able to put tha feather and wedge in."

Ailene nodded in acknowledgment.

"How do ye fish out tha chips?"

"Any way ye can lass. Ye will also need holes spaced two hand widths apart. That is tha only way that it can be done unless the rock ye are trying ta split is verra small."

She thought for a moment.

"I ken the way of it now. Thank ye Parlan."

The old man smiled at her.

"Ye are a good lass. No take my teasing to heart, mind."

Ailene smiled as she left to go back to her rock breaking chore. She had to crawl into the space. There was no place to sit comfortably. Ailene measured the line of rock that dipped down into the ground. She would need at least three holes.

With a sigh, she took the drill and began to hit it with the heavy hammer. With each hit of the hammer she gave the drill a quarter turn. It would be a long difficult job. Sweat poured from her as she finished the first hole, Ailene had to stop to rest her arm.

Caelan came barreling into the storeroom from the kitchen, he dropped to his knees next to her. Ailene was sitting cross legged on the portion of the wood floor they had left in place. She was staring at the one hole she had completed.

"Ailene! Parlan said ye might need help with this."

Rubbing her upper arm, Ailene smiled.

"Well, he was right. I think one hole is deep enough but I canna do another."

Shifting her arm back and forth, Ailene tried to relieve the ache.

"Show me what ye want done an I will do my best."

Ailene ruffled the lad's hair then smiled down at him.

"If ye can finish one hole, I will get Ainsley to finish tha other. Then on the morrow we can try to break tha rock."

Ailene demonstrated the method and left to the sound of the hammer hitting the rock drill. She went to find Ainsley. The sledge and her horse were both gone. Ailene thought Ainsley was already out gathering rocks for the wall. '

They are good lads.' Ailene thought as she put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun while she searched the foothills for sign of Ainsley. She caught a flash of movement and decided it must be Ainsley near the bottom of a scree slope gathering material. There appeared to be two figures on the slope. Ailene thought Boyd was helping Ainsley as she had not seen Boyd this morning.

She went around to the other side of the keep to inspect the ditch whic was being dug. She and the lads had laid out the line the wall would take. The shallow depression being scraped out of the packed dirt marked the location of the wall itself. The deeper ditch would be on the outside of the wall. That would be finished when the wall was completed. Ailene went to the stable and brought out the shovel to continue scraping the trench in the dirt for the base of the wall.

She heard the lads before she saw them. They were singing as they led the horse and the laden sledge down the path. Ailene helped them to off load the chunks of rock they had gathered.

Once the sledge was empty, Ailene sent Ainsley in to check on Caelan's progress with the rock drill. When the lad reported they would have sufficient time to bring back another load of rock, she sent them off. Ailene began to pick through the material they had been placed in a pile between the proposed location of the wall and the house.

The wall was to be made of dry stacked rocks. She began to lay the larger pieces of rock in the shallow depression. Building the wall required her to try to lock the pieces of rock together. This was done by fitting one on top of another in such a way that one held its neighbor down while providing a base for the one to be placed on top. Smaller pieces were used to fill in around the main rocks.

Ailene also needed to have a slight slant inward on both walls. She worked on the right hand wall then brought the left hand side up to match the right. The smaller pieces of rock, the scree, that the lads had loaded into baskets, was poured into the middle of the wall.

It was slow work and she was glad it was a cool day. What she did wish for was more hands. The lads worked hard but they were but lads.

The warriors were out keeping watch to make sure that neither the MacNabs nor the MacNaughtons would be able to suddenly descend on them again. The MacNabs were their main concern at the moment. The last unannounced visit from the MacNabs had made the setting of a watch necessary. That left Ailene with only the lads for a work force. The clanswomen were busy with gardening, spinning and weaving. Had the men been available Ailene would have been tending to housekeeping chores as well. In their absence, she built the wall.

Caelan came out of the keep rubbing his upper arm as she had.

"Ailene, tis no easy job ye ken?"

"Aye. Caelan, I ken. When ye are finished you will have a new skill. Are ye finished with tha second hole?"

She continued to select rocks and build up the wall. Caelan rubbed his arm while he watched her work.

"Aye, Ailene."

The lad watched her for a while before he began to choose rocks for the left hand wall. Ailene offered a suggestion time and again. Caelan did as she suggested and the wall began to take shape. They ran out of rocks before Ainsley and Boyd returned with the sledge. She and Caelan took a short break for water.

As they sat next to the burn they heard the two lads coming down the path with the sledge. All four of them off loaded the rocks. Ailene sent Boyd and Caelan off with the sledge. Taking Ainsley with her, Ailene went into the storeroom to demonstrate to Ainsley how to use the drill. By the end of the day the wall was beginning to take shape and the rock barrier was ready to be broken.

Ailene fell into bed, her arms ached from the unaccustomed hammering of the rock drill. The next day they would attempt to split the rock. Ailene hoped it would split along the line that was laid out by the holes they had drilled. Having never worked with rock before she was a bit anxious. Ailene hoped she had done it correctly. If not, they would need to drill more holes. If all went well digging out the tunnel would commence.

Hopefully there would be no further ledges of rock in the way. Lacking additional rock to remove, they could begin the tunnel. How to keep the tunnel from caving in was a matter she must give thought to.

She threw one arm over her head but lowered it again when a twinge of pain ran through a muscle. It was hard heavy work and it had only begun. Hopefully she would be able to get both the wall and the tunnel done before fall. If necessary she would pull the two youngest warriors off of sentry duty to help with the tunnel. That prospect did not set well but she might have no choice if she needed muscle. The lads would need to take over sentry duty if she was forced into that course of action.

Ailene tried to find a comfortable place in the bed. She had so many bruises and sore spots it was difficult to find a position that did not hurt. She wished Gideon were next to her. Ailene grabbed a pillow then hugged it to her. Her body yearned for his touch. The hard work had not proven sufficient to dull the ache she felt.

Tired, she still could not turn off thoughts of the man. The earthy man smell of him was faint on his pillow, the pillow she was now hugging. Ailene closed her eyes and pictured Gideon sitting on the edge of the bed. His dark hair falling forward, black eyes smiling. She groaned as picturing him only made it more difficult to sleep.

The next day found Ailene and Ainsley in the storeroom. Boyd and Caelan were off with the sledge collecting more rocks for the wall. Ainsley being the largest of the three lads, Ailene felt he would be more likely to have the strength needed to split the rock. They had placed the feathers, two grooved pieces of iron, crescent shaped, into each hole. Then the tapered wedges were inserted. She and Ainsley began to hammer the end wedges in. The middle one they each took turns hitting. As the wedges got half way into the rock a series of snaps alerted them that the rock was indeed going to split. They stopped and smiled at each other.

"Ainsley! ye ken tha sound?"

"Aye! Hit it again!"

With a crack the rock split. The feathers and wedges fell into the split of the rock. They tried to twist the piece of broken rock out but it would not move. Ainsley went out to find a long section of log. Ailene found a short fat log, which she took to the storeroom. While Ainsley held the short log in place, Ailene used the longer piece of wood to pry lose the broken section of rock. It popped out with a grating sound then they lifted it out of the floor. Together, they carried it outside to the yard. She set Ainsley to digging out the loosened soil while she went back to working on the wall.

Near mid day Ainsley called Ailene in to see the hole he had dug. He had reached the point where he would need a helper to haul the filled bucket out of the hole. The hole was as deep as his shoulder. Ailene lowered herself into the hole then stooped down. With her arms out and hands on her hips, her elbows just barely touched the sides of the hole. It was wide enough for an adult. The next matter would be how to make the turn under the foundation of the house without having the house settle.

Ailene wondered if either her father or Gideon realized how difficult this entire matter was. She felt she was going from one major worry to another. It had not occurred to her that the digging could compromise the foundation of the house until she looked at the hole. It was very close to the foundation. Ailene went back out to work on the wall taking Ainsley with her. She would need to think about the matter before they went any further. This was not a decision to be made lightly.

Although stymied on the tunnel, Ailene felt they had made good progress on the wall by the end of the day. Once the first section of the wall was finished then they would begin the second course, which would sit atop the first one. That would bring the entire wall to a greater than man height on the outside of the wall. A wall of that height would at least make it more difficult to lay siege to the house. Not that it would stop a determined enemy, but it would delay them.