Marti Talbotts Highlander Series 1 - Anna Rachel u Charlet

by one of the other clans. At length, he stood up and with his foot ; shoved her off the top of the rock and watched her bod y roll until it hit the bottom.
    Then he sat down again to think. What he really wanted to do was go home. There would be a war and he didn’t want to miss it. Still, if he went back too soon, his laird might think he didn’t take the woman far enough away.

    Rachel was l ying flat on her back with her head turned to one side. She hurt nearly everywhere , but dared not move. Someone was watching her; she could feel it. The sun was almost down, her head hurt and her eyes wouldn’t focus. She could see green and gray splotches, but nothing was clear. Then everything went black again.

    In the evening, Connor slept for a few hours and when night finally came, he went outside the wall to wait.
    Rachel did not come back.

    The next morning, Kevin and Anna were in Justin and Catherin’s cottage preparing to eat their morning meal. Kevin and Justin learned a long time ago that when Anna and her mother were together, the best thing to do was keep quiet and with Rachel missing, they didn’t know what to say anyway. Catherin had not finished cutting an apple in half before she put her knife down on the table. “If she is dead, it is our fault, Anna. We could have stopped her and we did not. Why did we let her out?”
    “We promised ourselves she would never feel trapped again. And she is not dead,” Anna answered.
    “You do not know that. We came here because we thought she would be safe. Now look what we have done.”
    Anna stopped slicing the cheese and stared at her mother. “Where else would we have gone?”
    “We could have lived with Harold; he said we could.”
    Justin never heard this part before and he wondered if Kevin knew.
    Anna went on, “Harold was an old man and he died only four years later. Where would we have gone then?”
    Catherin got up and walked to the window. “Somewhere…anywhere but here.”
    “Mother, we cannot keep Rachel alive no matter where we live. Only God can do that.”
    “God is not listening.”
    Anna’s voice started to rise. “How can you say that? We have been saved from a fate worse than death. We have lived in peace for thirteen years and you accuse God of not listening?” Anna stood up and walked to her mother. Her words were getting louder and louder. “Was it not God who put it in Kevin’s heart to accept a wife he had never seen and did not want? Did God not send you a man who has loved and cherished you the way only a good man could? Do you accuse God of not sending Justin?”
    Kevin had never seen his wife stand up to her mother. In fact, he had never seen Anna get really angry. When he glanced at him , Justin looked horrified.
    Anna waited, but her mother did not answer and that made her even more furious. “Answer me!”
    Catherin turned her glare on her daughter. “H ow dare you talk to me that way, I am your mother!”
    “Are you? How can you be my mother when I am the one who comforts you, and holds you and tries to make your life easy? I did something horrible all those years ago and I have been trying to make up for it ever since. Look at me!”
    Catherin walked away and started to sit down, but Anna grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back up. “You are going to hear this whether you want to or not. I am tired of paying for my sin against you; I am tired of wondering each day if you will insist we leave and I am tired of being your mother.”
    Catherin tried to twist out of her daughter’s grasp , but Anna was not finished. “Are you listening to me? I was the child, not you! Where was my comfort?”
    Her mother started to cry, “I want Rachel back.”
    “So do I, but your tears will not hurt my heart this time. I won ’ t let it happen . We have behaved like children far too long. If you go out before Kevin says it is safe, I swear I will not let you back in.”
    Anna stormed out the door and headed up the path so fast Kevin had to take long strides to catch up with her. She was oblivious to all the people standing outside their cottages with their eyes wide.
    “Do not touch me, Kevin.” Her tone was only just a little softer.
    “And risk a broken arm? I would not dream of it.”
    “That is not funny.”
    “You are right.” He put his hands behind his back and wondered how far she would go before she slowed down.
    “I am so upset, I could rip someone’s head off.”
    He wrinkled his brow and decided he should