from side to side until Helen shoved her finger in the bairn’s mouth. Within the blink of an eye, Maggie sucked the paste from Helen’s finger. Helen worked quickly to feed her more, then grinned up at Mr. Keith. “Did you have children?”
“Not me.” He grunted with another heavy pull on the oars. “I’m a confirmed bachelor, but I was the eldest of twelve.”
“Twelve? Bless your mother.”
“Aye, she was a saintly woman.”
The bairn continued to eat and suckle from Helen’s finger while the waves tossed the boat. Gazing at her daughter’s cherubic face, Helen counted her blessings. Aye, her life was in a shambles, but she had a brave guard willing to row all the way to Dunollie, and praise the heavens, she cradled her daughter in her arms. Better, somewhere out there Sir Eoin MacGregor worked to help her appeal for an annulment.
Helen looked at her attire and sniffed. With matted hair, her gown caked with filth, Gyllis would hardly recognize her.
Mr. Keith rested the oars on the sides of the skiff. “Are you all right m’lady?”
“Aye, just struck by a moment of reflection.” She glanced at him. “I lost track of time. How long was I in the dungeon?”
“About a fortnight.”
“That long?”
“I regret that I was unable to aid in your escape sooner,” Mr. Keith said, wiping his forehead with his shirtsleeve.
Helen took in a stuttered breath. “I thank the Lord for your generous kindness.”
“I could watch you suffer no longer.”
She knew he referred to far more than the past fortnight. The clansmen and women had watched her take Aleck’s abuse for years, but things had grown worse in the past several months.
Mr. Keith blew on his palms and resumed rowing. “At least we’re sailing with the current.”
“Perhaps you should rest while we coast toward the shore.” She glanced over her shoulder. The eastern sky had taken on a cobalt hue with the promise of a new day. She made out the contour of the mainland, though it seemed ever so far away. “Why not let me row for a while?”
“Nay m’lady.” He chuckled. “I could never allow that.”
Maggie yawned and stretched, and Helen wrapped the bairn in her cloak, her eyelids growing ever so heavy. The crossing of the Firth of Lorn seemed to take an eternity as Mr. Keith labored to row the tiny skiff through the swells, his movement becoming more sluggish by the hour.
Helen must have curled over and dozed for a bit, because she startled at the sound of Mr. Keith’s voice. “We’re nearly there.”
Sitting upright, she yawned and looked over her shoulder. A quick stuttering of her heart lifted her spirits. Indeed, the outline of Dunollie Castle loomed above the verdant trees on the shore. “I’m certain I could row the remaining distance.” She grinned. “I used to row a skiff on Loch Awe with my sisters.”
He smiled with clenched teeth making him looked like he grimaced. “Aye, but Loch Awe is inland. She’s not subject to the currents of the sea.”
“But you must be exhausted.” Helen moved Maggie, cradling the bairn’s head to her shoulder and patted her back, as they rocked with the erratic sway of the boat.
With a nod of his head, Mr. Keith gestured to the shore ahead. “I’ll rest once you’re safely delivered into your sister’s arms.”
“You are truly a saint.” She kissed Maggie’s temple. “See, lassie, we are nearly there.”
Then, Helen situated her cloak’s hood to cover her matted hair.
The strength of the current proved to be far stronger than Loch Awe. They reached the shore far sooner than Helen anticipated. Thank heavens!
A Dunollie guardsman met them at the embankment and offered his hand. “Did you row all the way across the Firth of Lorn?”
She entrusted Maggie into Mr. Keith’s strong hands, and let the guard help her alight, careful to keep her mantle closed to hide her filthy kirtle. “My man-at-arms rowed all the way from—” She stopped herself from saying anything about Mingary. “A very long way. I am Lady Campbell and I’ve come to visit my sister, Lady Gyllis.” With two other sisters, Helen wasn’t the only Lady Campbell—and it would be impertinent of the guard to ask.
The guard examined her sealskin cloak from head to toe. Thank goodness Glenda had thought to bring Helen this one piece of finery. “Well then, let us away to the keep. I’m sure Lady Gyllis will be delighted to see you.” He turned to a guard standing with a poleax at the sea gate. “Run ahead