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Kieran’s shoulders screamed with burning pain. They were wrenched behind his back wrapped tightly around a support beam. The coarse ropes around his wrists bit into his skin, making his fingers feel numb and rubbing his flesh raw. One of his eyes began to swell with a lovely shiner and each breath caused a sharp pain in his side from where he had been kicked. The O’Driscol’s already kept him on a barely sustainable diet and his stomach burned like it was eating himself. He flicked his dry tongue over his chapped lips. They wouldn’t even give him water. Snow fell in a pile on the far side of the barn through a hole in the roof, taunting him.
He’d been here two days. That much was clear. Being tied up in the barn at least gave him the advantage of being able to use the sun to keep track of the time. The sun’s rays did very little to warm his skin. A cold draft rattled the old wooden barn and blew straight through his bones. The bandits’ horses snuffled and chuffed, shifting their weight uneasily as the wind chilled them too. They bothered to put blankets over the horses, but not himself.
Well, at least the horses were somewhat comfortable.
Even in his weakened state his head snapped up when the barn door creaked open. Oh no. Not again. He had been expecting to see the grizzled faces of the men that captured him, but instead a woman stood in the doorway. Snow covered her shoulders and she bustled in, quickly shutting the door behind herself. The winds outside howled, and he briefly saw just how hard the snow was falling. She wore several layers to ward off the chill and a bonnet, but her slender frame trembled violently. She held a bundle in her arms.
“Um.. H-Hello? Miss?” Kieran asked. His voice was raw and rattled in his throat.
She turned around to stare at him with wide blue eyes. She held a knit bundle in her arms and remained on the opposite side of the room and stared at him like a spooked doe. Her shoulders and the bill of her bonnet were covered in snow. They stood there like that for a moment, eyes locked, Kieran barely able to support his own head.
The woman snapped out of her state and cleared her throat. The snow crunched beneath her boots as she slowly crossed the floor to walk up to him. A healthy distance remained between the pair when she stopped. Another pregnant pause was far too loud in the silent room.
“Hello… What’s your name?” The woman asked. Her freckled cheeks and nose were bright pink from the cold and snowflakes clung to her long eyelashes. Her voice was soft, full rosy lips turned upward in a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Kieran.” He replied.
Her blue eyes flickered over his face and body. His already thin clothes were tattered and one of the sleeves to his coat was nearly ripped off. His cheek was caked in dry blood from a gash and his skin was dull and pale. “My name is Mary Beth.” She told him quietly and stepped closer to him. She unwrapped the bundle, revealing it was a shawl.
He flinched and closed his eyes when she shook the shawl out and draped it over his shoulders. He cracked one eye open, pausing, and then looked at his shoulders. It was a thick yarn, tightly knit too. Mary Beth walked around to the other side of the support beam. Kieran gasped when her gloved fingers touched his cold hands. She slipped a pair of mittens on him and moved back to face him.
“Nice to meet you, Miss.” Kieran croaked, “Well… Under the circumstances.” He tried to wet his lips but didn’t have any saliva to do so.
She gave him another friendly smile and dug around in the bag slung across her body. “I’m sorry about those boys. I love them, but they don’t take any risks when they think the people they care about are in danger.” Mary-Beth pulled a canteen out of the bag and unscrewed the cap, “Would you like some water?”
He was about to ask why she was there when she mentioned water. Kieran stood up a little straighter, leaning a little closer. “Y-Yes ma’am! Yes, I’m real thirsty. Haven’t had a drink in a day.” Maybe this woman was a blessing.
Mary Beth’s pink lips turned down into a frown, “That’s not right.” She shook her head.
After a brief pause, she closed the remaining distance between them. One gloved hand cupped beneath his chin and the other brought the canteen to his lips. “Here you go…” She crooned, though it didn’t seem condescending.
The water was freezing but at this point, he didn’t care what they gave him. He took big greedy sips, spilling a bit too much. Mary Beth pulled the canteen back a bit and he instinctively strained against the ropes to try to get the water back.
“Shhh. I’m not going anywhere fast. Take your time so you don’t spill.”
Kieran nodded enthusiastically, droplets of water clinging to his scraggly brown beard, “Oh, yes miss! I’m sorry, miss.”
She shook her head in disapproval, “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay.”
She brought the canteen back up to his lips. He drank more carefully this time. His prominent adam’s apple bobbed with each enthusiastic sip. Mary Beth tilted the canteen further and further until he finally drained the receptacle.
“Thank you…” His voice wasn’t as raspy this time. His body trembled but in that moment he felt better. There was no looming threat of being beaten by men twice as size for information he didn’t have. “Why are you doing this?”
Mary Beth paused putting the canteen back into her bag. She shrugged, digging around in the bag again. “Well… I know you might be dangerous. You might be a threat. You are one just from being an O’Driscol. But right now you’re defenseless and can’t take care of yourself. You’re a person, not an animal. Of all people you’d think that they would understand the importance of ‘innocent until proven guilty’.” This time she withdrew a silver flask and twisted the cap.
He watched her curiously, “I ain’t an O’Driscol. Or, haven’t been for long. Just started running with them a few weeks ago. I take care of the horses, that’s all.”
She shook her head, “That isn’t up for me to decide, I’m afraid.”
Again she cupped her hand under his chin. He looked up at her and they unintentionally locked eyes. Hers were such a pretty shade of blue, he noticed flecks of green in her irises. And those freckles, she’d probably have a really pretty smile he thought.
“It’s rum. It’ll help warm you up.” She tilted the canister carefully.
He took a big mouthful just like he had for the water and sputtered a bit, some of it running down his chin, and forced himself to swallow.
Mary Beth laughed and this time her smile reached her eyes. Her button nose crinkled with her smile, “Sorry. I should have told you it was strong. I don’t really like it either.”
Already Kieran could feel warmth seeping through his aching muscles. “No, it’s okay. May I have another sip, miss?”
She allowed him a few more drinks, enough to warm him up but not enough to make him drunk. She took the flask back and flipped the cap up, twisting it back into place before returning it to her bag. Mary Beth reached out to tug the shawl up on him and noticed that he flinched when she moved.
“If any of the boys give you a hard time about this, tell them they have to talk to Mary Beth about it.”
He nodded and smiled at her, “Thank you, miss.” The shawl was warm around his shoulders and smelled nice. In the back of his mind he wondered if she had just been wearing it before lending it to him.
Mary Beth gave him one more smile and turned to leave, walking to the barn door to brave the winds again.
“Wait, ma’am?” Kieran called out to her.
She stopped and turned to look back at me, eyebrows raised, “Yes?”
He faltered for a moment, “I-I-I mean it. Thank you. I hope I see you again. A-And… Take care of yourself, okay? Don’t… Don’t get too cold.”
Her smile reached her eyes again and her freckled nose wrinkled. He felt his stomach flip.
“Thank you, Kieran.”