Prescribed for Love (22 page)

“And what will that cost me?” asked Catriona.

“Just one wee kiss should be enough.”

“
Alasdair
, you know that’s a bad idea. I don’t want to give y
our people the wrong impression,
”
she cautioned.

“Wh
at is the harm this one time? Nay
one w
ill see,
”
he justified.

“Fine, pretty-boy, you win. Close your eyes and pucker up.”
Surprised he had convinced her so quickly, but unwilling to waste the opportunity,
Alasdair
followed her instructions.

However
, instead of feeling Catriona’s
soft lips, he felt a small, hard object being pushed through his
. Not expecting the sensation, he almost spit it out
of his mouth
. But before he could, the object touched his tongue. Th
e taste! He could not believe the taste. H
e had never
sampl
ed anything even close to this in his entire life. “What is this?”

“It’s chocolate,” responded Catriona. “And I have very little left until I get back home
—so don’t ask for any more
.”

“This is wondrous.
Are ye sure ye cannae spare another piece
?” he asked.

“
Sorry Mac, that’s all you’re getting—especially considering th
at stunt you just tried to pull,” she said.
“I hope you
enjoyed that chocolate kiss—it is th
e last kiss of any kind
you will be getting from me. But I fulfilled my end
of the bargain,
I expect you to give m
y brother all the help he needs; your help came at a very steep price.
”

Alasdair
could not deny the value of her payment. “Fine, ye convinced me to change my mind.
I will provide the men as I had originally intended. Shall we go see how Keith’s planning is progressing?”

Catriona
nodded and then followed as Alasdair walked to the door
. He opened the door to leave, but before Catriona knew what he
had planned
, he collected the
type of
kiss he ha
d meant. It was short and sweet, but that did not stop her face from filling with fury.
He laughed as he
fled from her fists.

The next morning, Catriona was glad to see that
Alasdair
had been true to his word.
She probably would have kicked him where the sun don’t shine if he had not.
I really hate being outsmarted like that.
There was a small workforce assembled to help Keith.
As she approached the gathering of men,
Alasdair
greeted,
“I hope this is enough men worthy of the piece of chocolate ye gave me.”

“This may have been enough,” she began, but then narrowed her eyebrows,
“B
ut after the other kiss you stole, I’m afraid you’re still not even close.”

“Mornin’ sis!” greeted Keith as he joined the pair. “What did you say to make
Alasdair
look so guilty?”

“She is just upset she willingly gave me a kiss,”
re
plied
Alasdair
.

“A chocolate one!”
justified
Catriona. She did not want
to give
her brother the wrong impression.

“
Whoa
,
whoa
,
whoa
, let me see if I’ve got this straight. I have not seen you in months, feared you were dead, and travelled unfathomable lengths to find you, yet you deny me chocolate while giving
one to
this
guy
?” asked Keith.

I should have just let him think I actually kissed the oaf!
“Fine, you can have a piece,
” she relented,
“B
ut only one!”
Cat
dug into her bag to pull out the
piece of
candy for her brother. Seeing
Alasdair
’s
jealous look she said, “Oh no, you’re not getting another piece…ever! Not after that lit
tle stunt you pulled last night!
”

“I cannae say I regret it,” said
Alasdair
.

“What stunt?” asked Keith.

“Ugh,
never mind
,” dismissed Cat.
“
Let’
s just get busy on tho
se huts!”

Catriona helped her brother whe
re she could throughout the day;
she did not take
as active of a role as she had o
n the first hut. With all the men around, she could not change out of her dress. She had tried breaking away from Keith to help give direction, but the men just seemed uncomfortable taking orders from a woman. So
instead
, she had collected as many sticks as she could
for when they began
to fill in the walls.
Although, it really grated on her nerves that she could not do more.

Keith must have seen
her irritation. O
nce the main supports
of the first domicile were in place, he instructed the men to begin on the second—he could finish what needed to be done on the fir
st on his
own. As soon as the men
were out of sight
Cat stripped down to her working clothes.
Eager to begin the real work she said,
“I’ve already started with the sticks. You’ll take the mud again?”

“You read my mind,” answered Keith
with a knowing smile
. This time the work went much faster. Cat had been able to
gather the most ideal branches
and she was now more familiar with the process. She was even able to help her brother pack in the mud once she had finished the weaving.

“Hey Keith,
after we’re done,
would you want to go with me to this pond nearby to clean up?
It’s a lot easier than trying to use what passes for a tub in this century.
” Cat stayed true to her promise to
Alasdair
to not
go alone.

“You mean there’s somewhere
we can go
to completely clean off?”
he asked.

“
Uh yeah.
Isn’t that what I just said?” she asked
in
frustration.
“Seriously, don’t you ever pay attention to,” s
he was going to berate him further, b
ut the
n
saw the look in her brother’s eye and the mud in his hand. She started to run. “No! Please, no! Aaaaah!”

***

Alasdair
was impressed with the first day’s work. Looking
to compliment
Keith
on his success
,
Alasdair asked after his whereabouts. O
ne of the workers directed him to the first hut
on which they had
begun
this morning. Supposedly
,
Keith was completing
the
walls
while the other men began
the supports of
the next.

Anxious to see how far he had gotten,
Alasdair
walked in the direction given. He also had not seen Catriona recently, so he wanted to ensure she was still with her brother. No sooner had he had this thought
slipped through his mind tha
n he heard her screams rip through the air, “No! Please, no! Aaaaah!”

Fearing for her safety
,
Alasdair
raced toward her screams. In his fear, he began to envision horrendous scenes of Camerons slicing her throat, or stabbing her through the heart. Instead, he
arrived just as Keith th
rew mud into his sister’s face.

While Alasdair calmed his racing heart, he watched as Catriona retaliated by taking
a bucket
filled with the substance and hurling the contents
in Keith’s direction. The man ducked, but was n
ot able to miss the majority;
his head and chest were
now
almost completely covered
in the muck
. Keith picked up a
different
bucket,
causing
Catriona to flee. She ran directly toward
Alasdair
.

Catriona
must not have known he was there, because she barely stopped before barreling into Alasdair’s chest. Surprise shone in her
eye
s
, but then she heard her brother’s steps behind her
and
she ducked
.
Alasdair
began to yell a warning to Keith to stop, but instead, he got a face full of mud
.

“Uh oh,” said Catriona and Keith in unison.

“It’s not my fault, he started it,” said Catriona as she pointed
her finger toward
her brother.

“Well, you told me we could go wash off!” defended Keith.

“I meant from today’s work, not from a bunch of mud!”
she snapped back.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about Cat. Some women pay an exorbitant amount of money for mud masks. This will probably only help your complexion,” said Keith.

“Don’t try and justify your actions wit
h an appeal to my feminine side. Y
ou know that never works.
Aaaaand,” drawled Catriona, “My complexion is just fine…thank you very much.
”

“Enough!” yelled
Alasdair
. “
It doesnae matter at this point, for all three of us are now in need of a good cleaning.”

Alasdair
grew nervous as he watched Catriona strip down to the small pieces of cloth she had worn the first time she had come to this body of water. He was afraid how her brother might react to her lack of modesty with him so near. But, seeing Keith dispense with almost as much clothing as Catriona, Alasdair realized she had not been telling him a falsehood—near-nakedness truly was acceptable in her land.

Alasdair thought Catriona was just going to walk into the pond, but instead she climbed to the top of the rock. Bending her knees she yelled, “Cannonball!” While Alasdair did not know what the word meant, he soon learned as she jumped off the rock, forming her body into a tight ball. She landed in the water with a great splash.

“Seriously Cat, not cool!” said Keith. “That’s freakin’ cold!” Alasdair did not understand why it was so important to distinguish between cool and cold.

“Oh don’t be such a sissy! Just dive in,”
prompted
Catriona.

Keith slowly waded in to the depth of his calves.
“Leave me alone, I’ll do this my own way,” he replied.

“You’re only prolonging the misery,” she
drawled
.
Alasdair
watched as
Catriona moved
closer to her brother.
He considered giving Keith a warning when he saw her intent, but it was too late.
He could
only laugh
as she
yank
ed her brother’s ankle out from under his body
. Keith fell
on
his
arse
before
Catriona pulled him completely under the water’s surface
. In retaliation, Keith rose out of the water and dunk
ed
his sister face-first under the surface.
Alasdair
was briefly worried
Keith intended to drown her as he continued to hold her under, but relaxed when she once again appeared about the water
laughing. Shaking his head,
Alasdair
began washing in a much more sedate manner
than the pair he was with
.

***

Cat resumed some of her old activities over the next few weeks. She still frequently went with her brother to the builds, but
she
also often helped with
preparing stores of
food. She had felt guilty when Lainie
told her she had jarred the bla
eberries
Catriona had abandoned.
As she refocused her efforts, Cat joined her brother less and less often. Realistically, she was more useful in this manner now Keith had additional men to help him.