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  After breakfast Stephen proposed that he and Donald do some hunting.

  Bronwyn immediately stood, brushed the crumbs off her skirt, and obviously meant to go with them.

  Stephen turned to her. “Perhaps you should stay with Kirsty,” he said quietly, with meaning. “A woman’s place is by the fire.”

  Bronwyn felt anger flush through her. What did she know of cooking? She could help on the hunt. It was when she saw approval in Donald’s face that she understood Stephen. Donald might begin to be suspicious of a woman who could hunt but couldn’t cook. She sighed in resignation. “At least we’ll have Rab for protection.”

  “No,” Stephen said. “I think we’ll need him on the hunt.”

  “Rab!” she commanded. “Stay with me.”

  “Come, Rab,” Stephen said patiently. “Let’s go hunting.”

  The big dog didn’t even seem to consider moving from Bronwyn’s side.

  Donald chuckled. “That’s a well-trained dog you have there.”

  “My father gave him to me,” she said proudly.

  “Your father?” Donald began.

  “We’d better go,” Stephen said quickly as he gave Bronwyn a look of warning.

  She turned away from them and went to sit by the fire, close to Kirsty—her enemy.

  Chapter Ten

  BRONWYN TWISTED A PIECE OF GRASS ABOUT IN HER hands. Stephen’s warning had made her realize how easily she could give herself away. She knew very little about being a wife and how the ordinary wife acted. All her life had been spent with men. She could ride and shoot, but cooking was a mystery to her. The everyday talk between women was also unknown to her.

  “Have you been married long?” Kirsty asked.

  “No,” Bronwyn answered. “And you?”

  “About nine months,” Kirsty smiled as she rubbed her big stomach.

  Bronwyn suddenly realized that someday her stomach could look like that. It had never occurred to her that she’d have to bear pregnancy. “Does the child hurt very much?” she asked quietly.

  “Only now and then.” Suddenly a look of pain crossed her face. “Tonight seems to be worse than usual,” she said breathlessly.

  “Could I get you something? Water? A pillow? Anything?”

  Kirsty stared at her, her eyes blinking rapidly. “No, just talk to me. I haven’t had a woman to talk to in a long time. Tell me, what’s your husband like?”

  “Stephen?” Bronwyn asked blankly.

  Kirsty laughed. “Don’t mind me. I’m just curious. You never seem to know a man until you live with him.”

  Bronwyn was cautious. “Were you disappointed in Donald?”

  “Not at all. He was quite shy before we married, and now he’s very kind, considerate. Your Stephen seems like a good man.”

  Bronwyn realized she’d never thought of Stephen as anything except an Englishman before. “He…he makes me laugh,” she said after a while. “He makes me laugh at myself when I tend to be too serious.”

  Kirsty smiled, then she put her hand to her stomach and bent forward.

  “What is it?” Bronwyn cried and went to her.

  Kirsty sat up slowly, her breathing deep and difficult.

  “Please let me help you,” Bronwyn pleaded, her hands on Kirsty’s arm.

  Kirsty looked into Bronwyn’s eyes. “You’re very kind, aren’t you?”

  Bronwyn smiled. “I’m not a kind person in the least. I’m—” She broke off as she started to say she was the MacArran. But what was she away from her clan?

  Kirsty put her hand over Bronwyn’s. “I think you try to hide it. Tell me more about yourself. It keeps my mind off my own problems.”

  “I think I should call someone. I think you’re about to have the baby.”

  “Please,” Kirsty said desperately. “Don’t frighten Donald. My baby isn’t due yet. I can’t have it now. Donald and I are going home to my parents’. My mother will deliver my child. It’s just something I ate. I’ve had these pains before.”

  Bronwyn frowned as she sat back down on the ground.

  “Tell me about yourself,” Kirsty urged again. Her eyes were glazed. “What’s it like to be married to an—”

  Bronwyn’s head came up sharply, but Kirsty didn’t finish the sentence. She doubled over in pain, and the next minute Bronwyn caught the little woman in her arms.

  “It’s the baby,” Kirsty whispered. “The baby is coming. You’re the only one who can help me.”

  Bronwyn could only stare in horror. They were in the middle of nowhere, so who was going to be the midwife? She hugged Kirsty as another pain swept her. “Rab,” she called quietly. “Go get Stephen. Get Stephen and bring him back here immediately.”

  Rab was away before Bronwyn finished speaking.

  “Come inside the wagon, Kirsty,” she said gently. Bronwyn was strong, and it was easy for her to get the small woman into the wagon. Kirsty lay down, and another pain made her double over.

  Bronwyn looked out into the woods. No sign of the men. She went back to Kirsty, gave her a drink of water. Stephen would know what to do, she kept thinking. She didn’t realize that for the first time she was depending on him.

  She smiled when she heard Stephen’s angry bellow.

  “Bronwyn!”

  She stepped down from the wagon.

  “What the hell is this Satan-spawned dog of yours trying to do?” he demanded. “He jumped on me just as I was aiming at a deer. Then he nearly tore my leg off dragging me here.”

  She just smiled at him. “Kirsty is going to have her baby.”

  “Oh my God!” Donald breathed, then ran to the wagon.

  “How soon?” Stephen asked.

  “I think right away.”

  “Think!” Stephen said angrily. “Don’t you know?”

  “How would I know?”

  He sputtered. “Women are supposed to know these things.”

  “And are they told them during reading lessons or sword play?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Damned inadequate education for a girl if you ask me. There must have been some time when your family wasn’t leading cattle raids.”

  “Damn you!” she began, then stopped when Donald stepped down from the wagon.

  He was obviously worried. “She wants you,” he said, his brow creased into a frown. There was a white line on each side of his lips. He reached for a piece of wood for the fire, but his hand shook so badly he dropped it.

  “Me?” Bronwyn began, but Stephen gave her a sharp push forward.

  “There’s no one else,” he said.

  Her face lost all its color. “Stephen, I don’t know the first thing about birthing a baby.”

  He put his hand to her cheek. “You’re frightened, aren’t you?”

  She looked down at her hands.

  “It couldn’t be much different from a mare or a cow,” he said helpfully.

  “A cow!” Her eyes flashed at nim, then she relaxed. “Stay with me,” she said quietly. “Help me.”

  Stephen had never seen her look so soft, so in need of help. “How can I? A man can’t attend a birth. Maybe if she were a relative of mine…”

  “Look at him!” Bronwyn said, nodding toward Donald. “He only cares that his wife gets well. He doesn’t care about anything else.”

  “Bronwyn!” Kirsty suddenly screamed from inside the wagon.

  “Please,” she said, her hand on Stephen’s chest. “I’ve never asked you for anything before.”

  “Except to change my name, my nationality, my—”

  She turned away from him, but he caught her arm. “Together,” he whispered. “For once, let’s do something together.”

  It wasn’t an easy birth. Kirsty was very small, and the baby was large. None of the three of them knew much about having a baby, and they all agreed it was a wonderful experience. Bronwyn and Stephen sweated as much as Kirsty. When the head appeared, they looked at each other with pride. Stephen held Kirsty up so she could see while Bronwyn held the little hea