“Cooper.”
Jinty nodded at him and pointed at a chair along the back wall.
Understanding, Cooper moved to sit as he grabbed onto the cup she extended in his direction. The smell was enough to make him pull up his nose in disgust. He knew in that instant that he couldn’t drink whatever was inside.
“Drink up, lad. I know that I frightened ye. I dinna mean to. Me quarrel is no with ye. I doona wish to make it harder on ye than it needs to be.”
He shook his head, handing it back to her. “No thank you, ma’am. I’m not real thirsty.”
She pushed it back in his direction. “I dinna ask ye if ye were thirsty.”
Cooper held the cup cautiously, looking down at the thick brown liquid that smelled like the inside of his cousin Harry’s diaper. How dumb did Jinty think he was? Had she never seen Snow White? The thought tickled him, and he accidentally laughed out loud for a brief moment. Of course she hadn’t seen it—there were no movies here.
“I doona know why ye are laughing, lad, but ye best cease this instant. Now, drink.”
Cooper knew he had to think of something fast. If he really drank it, he would die. He just needed to make her think he had, until Morna could get here.
“Do you have any sugar?” He asked hesitantly, worried she would get angry.
“Sugar? No, doona say another word to me until ye drink it, or I shall force it down yer throat.”
Cooper swallowed hard, pushing away his fear. “I only wanted something to make it taste better so it will be easier to drink.”
Jinty’s eyebrows pulled together. “No a thing will make it sweeter, lad.”
A sudden noise rapped against the window, and Cooper saw his opportunity. As Jinty jerked her head in the direction of the sound, Cooper quickly dripped some of the liquid onto the floor. Unfortunately, he didn’t take into account that she would see the spill once she turned back in his direction.
All of Jinty’s restrained anger released itself the instant she saw what he’d done, and he didn’t have the chance to stand and run before she stood before him and gripped his face, forcing his mouth open as she poured the sticky liquid inside.
Cooper screamed and choked, but a flash of movement in the window behind Jinty caught his eyes. Within the next moment, the door to the cabin flew open to reveal Morna.
With the flick of Morna’s wrists, the cup Jinty held against his mouth flew out of her hands and up against her face, crushing her nose as she fell to the ground unconscious.
Cooper sank from the chair as he ran toward Morna, throwing his arms around her legs. “I knew you would come, but I’m afraid you’re too late. She made me drink it.” Cooper sank down on the floor, suddenly feeling sleepy. He’d never expected to die this way—he’d always hoped he’d get to meet his end in a real-life Jurassic Park. “I’m guessing I’ll die soon.”
The laughter that erupted from Morna hurt his feelings. He always thought she liked him.
“Ach, lad. Do ye really think I’d let her kill ye? I saw her lifting the cup to yer lips, and I spelled it into prune juice. Other than a loose stool or two, I think ye shall survive.”
Cooper exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he held. “What? Are you telling me the truth?”
“Of course I am. Now, stand yerself up for we need to secure the beastly witch before she wakes up.”
Cooper looked down at Jinty as he stood, wrinkling up his nose in disgust at the blood that was running down her face.
“What are you going to do with her?”
“Do ye want me to tell ye the truth, Cooper? Or do ye wish me to tell ye what I should tell a child?”
Cooper turned his head at her—of course she already knew his answer. “The truth…always.”
“Aye, fine. I’ll kill her lad. Once she wakes and we’ve had a bit of a discussion, I will put her in the ground. No one harms me family, lad. Does that bother you?”
Cooper didn’t know what to think about that. It was wrong to kill people, but this woman had also meant to kill him. “Has she hurt other people?”
Morna nodded. “Many. She was nearly responsible for Eoghanan’s death, and she would have killed ye too if ye hadna thrown the wee rock.”
“E-o!” Cooper shook his head in disbelief. He liked E-o too much to imagine him dead. “Okay, do it, Morna. I don’t want her to hurt anyone else. But…” he hesitated. He didn’t wish for Morna to think him weak. “Don’t hurt her. I don’t think there’s really any need for that.”
Morna’s face dropped in disappointment, but she nodded as she pointed outside the door of the cottage. “Aye, fine. Once she is awake, I willna cause her much pain, but now that she is asleep, I willna bring her around back carefully.”
Cooper watched with wide eyes as Morna mumbled a spell underneath her breath and turned to leave the cottage. With each step, Jinty’s body dragged along behind Morna on it’s own, the blood from her nose leaving a nasty trail.
Chapter 44