A Runaway

{To read all about Connor and their family visit: https://winteringincaledonia.blogspot.ca}

           Laying as still as she could, she awaited underneath her blankets on her bed desperately trying to not hold her breath in anticipation. Her goal was to be assumed to be still sleeping through the dawn as her mother would come and check on her as scheduled, the exclamations of both of her sisters yelling ‘Mother!’ in the mornings as they were now old enough to be in serious relationships, yet their mother would still would check on them. It was a habit that she would never break out of with the children that lived at home. Connor was the lucky one and didn’t have to deal with their mother’s habits anymore.
As the footsteps reseeded down the hallway after the door to her bedroom had been closed, Maisie waited for a little bit longer, waiting for the next signal.
She could hear her mother talking in a hushed voice with her father, their words hard to make out, but Maisie could understand the jest of it. Their mother was worried about Connor leaving again, and their father, bless his soul, was trying to reassure her that he will be fine. The pair contracted each other so much but somehow made it work.
The familiar creak of the old wooden front door closing was the signal she had been waiting for.
Jumping into action, the suppressed anticipation now pumping through her veins as she flipped open the blankets to reveal that she laid awaiting in improvised disguise, an old pair of Connor’s pants altered to fit her, a square-like tunic that hid her curves that she had made in secrecy during the night, an old pair of their father’s boots that came to her knees, and a winter button jacket she had bartered for at the small market for a couple of pairs of woven wool socks. A packed small saddlebag was hidden as well, and her sgian-dubh that was given to her upon her return from Arrakis on her belt. 
Standing up from the bed, she quickly swung the small saddlebag over her shoulder and reached underneath her pillow to produce a woolen hat commonly worn by stable boys. With her hair braided high on her head, she tugged the hat over her head, and her hair was suddenly hidden. Making her way to her bedroom door, she stopped in front of the mirror and assessed her disguise. She lacked the muscle mass of a common stable boy or any boy that worked on a farm for that matter, but with a few dirt streaks across the face and scratches upon her cheeks, she could easily pass for a teenage boy with her height. Nodding in satisfaction at her reflection, she exited her room, only leaving a scribbled note on her bedside table to her whereabouts. 

With the age of the house, the floorboards groaned and creaked underfoot, but with her parents temporarily out of the house, and her sisters still sleeping, Maisie didn’t need to take care, and she sprinted down the stairs into the main front room, and making a sliding turn away from the front door, she made her way towards the back of the house. The kitchens lay that way, and the cooks and their helpers would be already in there preparing for the household’s morning meal, and upon Maisie’s appearance, they all stopped what they were doing. Ignoring them, Maisie went through the kitchen with a destination in mind. The cellars. 
Accumulated over the past couple of days, Maisie had been saving little bits of food from each meal, wrapping them up in waxed parchment and hiding them in an empty jar that hasn’t been touched in years in the cold atmosphere of the cellars. At this time of the year, they were cold enough to freeze certain foods, sometimes even colder than the outside temperature. Rushing in there now, she quickly stepped over other jars and boxes until she spotted her jar on the back corner peeking out from behind a box of milk jugs. Popping off the lid of the jar, she grabbed a bundle and left as quickly as she came. If her timing was right, her parents would be just at Connor’s cabin now, sending him off, and when their mother was involved, she would send him away reminding him of the dangers and a hug that squeezed away his breath. Having slipped past the cooks once again, she finally got herself out of the house without any issues.

Running low in the field between the house and the stables, she kept an eye on the figures of her parents, she watched them give their farewells to Connor, little to their knowledge that one of their other children was leaving too. It pained Maisie that should couldn’t give them a proper goodbye, but she knew that they wouldn’t of let her go if they knew that she planned on following Connor to the capital. She had made a promise too, and the MacPhersons didn’t break their promises. Undetected she made it into the stables safe, the warm and quietness inside the walls forcing her to take a deep breath and slow down. The horses looked up at her entrance, her own mare letting out a whine as she approached her.
“Ciùin Ogma, bidh sinn a 'dol a dh'aithghearr. Chan fheum a bhith draghail.”- “Quiet Ogma, we will be going soon. Do not have to worry.”