"Where she always be this time o' day. Atop the hill watching the ocean."
Stefan grinned, handed his horse's reins to William and started up the hill.
*
William watched Stefan go and then turned to Macoran. "What will ye do now?"
"I will marry the lass I have loved for years."
"Aye, but afore that?"
"Afore that, I must set aside my wife and get her out of my clan."
"Tis not easily done," said William. He offered his hand and helped his laird stand up.
"Nay, or I would have done it afore now." He shook his head in disbelief again. "Never had I guessed Agnes might attempt to have us all killed. A war would have…"
"Aye, but ye have no proof o' that."
"I have Stefan."
"He only heard it from a man who be now dead and no one saw yer wife…or her sons start the fire. I doubt the priest will believe any o' it."
"Twas the twins who most likely set the fire."
"Aye."
"There must be a way to rid us o' all three."
William mounted his horse and waited for Macoran to do the same. "What does a priest always believe be just cause for setting a wife aside?"
"Adultery? But who would believe it? I had to get so drunk, I do not even recall doing it and I assure ye, it was only once."
"Perhaps it was not ye?"
Macoran guided his horse out of the trees and turned up the path toward the village. "Aye, but the laddies look just like me."
"Are ye blind? They look just like her. They are skinny malinky longlegs and their father could be any man with red hair. Besides, they are hateful, spiteful laddies just like their mother. The Macorans would be well rid of the three of them."
"I dinna deny that. I tried to…do ye really think the priest would believe it?"
"Are ye willing to swear ye never bedded her?"
*
Kannak had her arms folded and was looking out across the ocean watching for Viking ships or sea monsters. She had not seen either since Stefan was taken, but she watched for them daily just the same. Her waist length auburn hair was unbound, not because she preferred it, but because she neglected to braid it before she left the cottage. Jirvel often commented that the color of her frock was nearly the same as her hair, and they both found it amusing.
She sometimes dreamed Stefan had found the Vikings and their longships would bring him home, but other times she thought it a silly dream. This day there were storm clouds to the north and a beautiful rainbow arching across the sky. She loved rainbows and it eased her heart a little.