by Jane Stain
“Deirdre, will ye please help by supervising the bairns in setting the table for supper?”
Deirdre just about curtsied in front of her before rushing off to do just that.
Sasha was smiling when she turned to Tavish, but his face was so concerned that she rushed into her explanation of what just happened.
“I had anoother vision, just now. Ye and Kelsey were in a different castle, and Kelsey was holding a sword.”
Tavish was about to answer when the door opened and Kelsey and Eileen came in with their shopping baskets, followed closely by Seumas.
Sasha didn’t mean to stare, but she couldn’t help it. Her gaze landed on him and she just couldn’t tear her eyes away. Fortunately, he seemed to be having the same trouble. They smiled at each other in mutual amusement. She was vaguely aware of her surroundings, but mostly she smiled at Seumas and reveled in the fact that he smiled back — and not a tentative ‘maybe we’re attracted to each other’ smile this time. Nope. This was a full blown ‘Okay, we’re both attracted. Now what?’
Kelsey followed Eileen into the kitchen and plunked her basket down on the counter. Tavish followed her in there and took her in his arms, dancing with her while holding her in front of him, still looking toward the counter. And doubtless whispering in her ear about the lead he had on the sword they were looking for.
Sasha froze.
He would also tell Kelsey his plan to take her home before they went looking for the sword. And she wasn’t ready to go home yet.
Still smiling at Seumas, she spoke aloud to Kelsey in the kitchen from out in the front room.
“I did hae another vision, Kelsey, aboot ye and Tavish at Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, holding a sword. I didna get a close look at the sword, sae I dinna ken if ’tis the one. Howsoever, it seems like some aught tae go on, aye?”
Seumas raised his eyebrows at her and deepened his smile while also raising his voice so loud that it summoned the children over.
“Aye? All the talk in the lists today was aboot Robert the Bruce as a wee lad, forging a sword right here where we hae the honor o being his foster place…” He went on in detail.
The wee lads in the room were enraptured by the story. They had apparently heard it many times before — which wasn’t really surprising, seeing how it had happened right here in their home town. The two of them pantomimed to match the words they spoke along with Seumas in a singsong voice, completing each other’s sentences while their sisters looked on and nodded.
Niall made a big circle with his tiny arms.
“A sword all encircled.”
Aodh made an imaginary crown on his head with his hands.
“Made by a king.”
Niall pretended to have a Claymore in his hands as he swung it with wroth force in an arc that would’ve removed his brother’s head.
“Wielded by a child.”
Aodh ducked, and then the two of them were running around the room pretend sword-fighting again.
Seumas raised his eyebrows at Sasha. His eyes were still warm, but puzzled.
“And Robert the Bruce was born at Turnberry Castle. How dae ye ken that was the castle ye saw? Ye canna hae been there, can ye?”
Darn. She had slipped up and shown too much knowledge. How ironic that it was a structure of this time she’d said too much about, rather than an anachronism such as one of the bridges that now joined Scotland’s smaller islands to the mainland. She needed to guard her tongue better, to think carefully before each time she spoke.
Tavish and Kelsey came into the room. Tavish did not look happy with Sasha for bringing up her vision in front of everyone. Kelsey looked amused. Even Eileen came in, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.
Sasha put her hands on her hips in a fair imitation of Deirdre and addressed Seumas. She vaguely sensed herself twisting from right to left and back again, making her long skirts sway around her legs. Was this how women flirted back in this day? It frightened her a bit, how easily it came to her. Women’s intuition, she guessed.
“Nay, o course I havena been there. The name was part o the vision. ‘Tis a remarkable place, Turnberry Castle, aye? Hae ye been there?”
Her flirting worked. The puzzlement left his eyes, and he was back to twinkling them at her, darn him. He was spoiling her for other men. She was going to miss his attention when she went home. None of the men there knew how to be so attentive.
Seumas nodded and pursed his lips, visibly trying to look smug that he was so important, but Sasha could tell that really he just didn’t want her to leave just yet, because he assisted her in turning this into a big deal.
Gazing around at the whole crowd as if they had gathered just to hear his story, he put his foot up on the mantle, posing like an orator.
“Aye, I hae been there, tae Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire. ‘Tis much closer tae the water than Laird Malcomb’s castle here. Ye can sail yer boat right intae it. There are na caves like we hae here. Nay, instead, the built-up part o the castle comes oot o the water and encircles the docks. They must hae built it all during low tide ower several years.”
He bent over to the children’s height and looked in each of their faces by turn.
“Either that, or they usit the mermaids.”
Aodh and Niall and Sìle all giggled at this.
But Deirdre put her hands on her hips again and shook her little finger in Seumas’s face.
“There isna such thing as mermaids. Ye should na tell these children fibs like that. They’ll grow up nay knowing lies from what is real.”
Tavish and Kelsey laughed at that, but Deirdre didn’t seem to realize they were laughing at her precociousness. She bent over at the middle and scrunched her eyebrows at them in a lecturing pose.
“I’m serious, ye ken. This is serious business. Raising children is an important task. Ye need to take it seriously.”
Each time she said the word ‘serious’, she jerked her head and stomped her little foot in a manner that was so funny that Tavish and Kelsey burst out laughing again. Eileen was biting her knuckle to keep from laughing, and to her credit, she looked away to hopefully avoid her daughter seeing how amused she was.
Sasha felt bad for Deirdre. The poor little six-year-old had a lot of responsibility, watching her younger brothers and sister while her mother worked. Sasha looked at Seumas to see his reaction, and he looked sad for Deirdre too. This warmed her heart.
She turned to Deirdre to try and offer her some comfort.
But the little girl was already huffing off into the bedroom. She slammed the door.
Sasha started to go after Deirdre, but Eileen shook her head no. Sasha honored the mother’s wishes, though it made her sad. She silently vowed never again to feel sorry for herself for having a boring childhood. Boring was much better than no childhood. She didn’t blame Eileen, though. These were tough times, and Eileen was just raising her children as best she knew how.
Now that Sasha was thinking about it, she noticed there weren’t any toys in the house. The children played with stones or with the table settings or with their mother’s clothes. Ordinary things and imagination gave them all the fun they were going to have. Oddly, they didn’t seem deprived.
Eileen moved back into the kitchen and resumed preparing dinner.
“Aodh, Niall, and Sìle — go intae the bedroom and keep yer sister company while we grown-ups hae a talk oot here, please.”
Sasha was again amazed when the children obeyed immediately and without arguing.
Once the adults were alone, Eileen turned to call the rest of them into the kitchen with her, but they’d already come. Kelsey started helping cut vegetables.
Sasha went up to Eileen’s other side.
“What manner o help dae ye need?”
Eileen filled a pot up with water from her cistern and set it on the kitchen side of the mantle.
“Ye can gather all the scraps o meat from the larder there and put them in this pot along with the vegetables we cut up, then put the pot on t
he fire and stir it.” She went and got a wooden spoon and handed it to Sasha.
Alfred had arrived in the middle of this and let himself in, and on their own, the men had already started adding wood to the fire and banking the coals so that Sasha could put the pot on them.
Seumas sought Sasha’s eyes from across the room and spoke out loud, including Tavish and Kelsey when he did.
“Sae why all the interest in Robert the Bruce and his wee childhood sword?”
With much amusement, Sasha looked to Kelsey to explain this, however she would.
Kelsey put a fake smile on her face and shook with fake excitement, looking askance at Sasha every now and then and probably unaware she was wringing her hands.
“’Tis a favorite story in Sasha’s family, and her aged grandmother askit us tae follow up on it tae see which parts are true while she was oot this way, ye ken. And now she’s having visions o it. ’Tis quite exciting, aye? I take this as a sign that we need tae go and see.” She looked at Sasha to verify her story.
Sasha smiled and nodded, playing along by trying to look a little embarrassed at how much fuss was being made on her behalf.
Tavish gave a huge dramatic nod as if he had just decided they really needed to follow up on this after all. He looked to Alfred with a question in his eyes.
“We dinna hae anything planned ower the next few weeks. Can ye spare me tae go with my clanswomen on this errand, tae keep them safe? I’m thinking Donall can take us there on his way tae Norway, and we can find someone coming back this way once we arrive, so we wull only be gone two weeks at the most.”
Before Alfred could answer, Seumas butted in, speaking directly to his brother.
“If Sasha and Kelsey go on this errand, then I insist on going along. I hae been tae Turnberry afore and can act as a guide.”
Visibly amused, Alfred looked from one man to the other and then over at Kelsey and Sasha before he shared a wink with Eileen.
“Hoo aboot it, Eileen? Kelsey and Sasha are yer apprentices. Can ye spare them from the weaver shop for as much as two weeks?”
Eileen scrunched her nose and shrugged as she dumped the rest of the vegetables into the pot and helped Sasha put it on the coals of the fire.
“I dinna ken.”
Seumas knew Eileen was teasing and meant to wait her out. Sasha could tell because of the way his eyes twinkled and his lips pursed together. Tavish on the other hand looked like he was about to lay down the law and reclaim his clanswomen from their apprenticeship.
Fortunately, Kelsey jumped in.
“How about if we bring you presents from Ayrshire, Eileen?”
Eileen smiled really big and looked around at her house.
“Ooh! What manner o presents dae ye propose tae bring?”
Kelsey shrugged.
“I dinna ken, now having been to the place. Howsoever, we wull bring ye some ought that ye wull treasure. Ye hae my word upon it.”
Eileen came over and gave Kelsey a hug, and then pulled Sasha over and hugged her as well.
“Ye are women after my own heart, sae I suppose ye can go.”
They laughed and talked the rest of the evening about the legend of Robert the Bruce’s childhood sword and the voyage to the castle and what manner of presents Eileen would get. Captain Donnell was scheduled to leave the next day, so they resolved to be up at dawn and head down there to ask him for passage. Eileen brought out some wine she’d been saving for a special occasion, and they all merrily toasted to a bon voyage.
Sasha and Kelsey were in good spirits as they got into bed for the night. Just as they blew out the candle, she caught sight of Deirdre looking at her intently. But when Sasha opened her mouth to say something, the little girl looked away and quickly went into the bedroom and closed the door.
Ochd (8)
Seumas knew that he and Tavish were getting a special favor from Alfred because he was his brother. No one else would be allowed to go on a trip just because someone’s grandmother had heard a story. Normally, he would feel guilty for getting special treatment that none of the other guards got to have, but today he had a huge smile on his face as he and Tavish walked down to Eileen’s from the barracks.
Tavish knocked on Eileen’s door, and Kelsey let them in.
“We’re ready tae go,” she whispered. “Eileen and the children are still asleep. We didna hae much tae pack, but she insistit we take these provisions for the trip.” She held up a knapsack.
Sasha came to the door then. She was wearing the clothes Eileen had loaned her — proper long skirts that didn’t show her boots — and she clutched Tavish’s plaid cloak around her tightly against the morning cold. She had braided her hair against the sea breeze, the same as he.
He got out the knife and held it out to her.
“Here. My da gave this tae me when I was a child. ‘Tis now longer large enough, ye ken. But ‘tis the proper size for ye. Put it in yer belt. Ye at least need tae hae a knife.”
She took it from him as she and Kelsey came out the door, then intently stared at it for a few moments before giving him a huge smile that lit up her whole face and made her beauty shine like the rays of the sun rising over the distant mountains. She fell into step beside him as they walked along the cliff path to Port Patrick with the sea on their left, fiddling with the knife and her belt as if she’d never belted a knife before.
“Thank ye. ‘Tis such a fine gift. I wull treasure it always.”
Hm. It was fun having this effect on a woman. It had been a long time, and nothing much had come of it before. Here was hoping for this time.
He gently took the knife from her hand and secured it through her belt, conscious of the smoothness of her hand when it released the knife and the warmth of her middle when his fingers brushed against her dress in order to belt it.
He turned around and walked backward in front of her, admiring his handiwork.
“Now ye are ready for a journey.”
She laughed, humoring him. When they got to the cliff side with the view down to the right into Port Patrick, she froze and stared down there in apparent awe. He followed her gaze and looked down with a mind to see it as a newcomer would. Someone who had never left their home… Oh.
She started walking again, but she was still looking down into the port.
“The ships are sae beautiful. I had heard aboot them and seen… drawings, but tae see them in front o me? It is stunning.”
He took her right hand and placed it firmly on his raised left arm, putting his right hand over hers so that she couldn’t withdraw it.
“Go on and gander, lass. Howsoever, the last thing I dae need is for ye tae fall.”
It might’ve been his imagination, but he thought for a moment she squeezed his forearm.
They amicably walked arm in arm without talking to each other for the rest of the way to Captain Donnell’s ship, listening to Kelsey and Tavish speculate on whether they’d actually find Robert the Bruce’s sword or just more stories.
But Captain Donnell’s apologetic face told Seumas right away that he didn’t have room for them.
“Sorry lads. Howsoever, ye can see I’m near the waterline already, with all o the cargo I’m carrying for Norway. Ye might ask Captain Dowd does he hae room for the four o ye.” He gestured over toward another ship that was loading and then lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Mind ye though, he is na verra likable.”
Kelsey laughed inappropriately at this, and Seumas’s breath caught in his throat.
Aye, it was true that Captain Donnell wasn’t very likable himself, but you didn’t laugh at a captain. Fortunately she had impressed the captain and made him a fair bit of extra money a few days ago, and he let it slide.
Seumas looked over at Sasha to see if she was aware of her clanswoman’s faux pas. Good. She was more socially graceful than the other woman, though they both seemed highborn. Far be it from him to entertain snobbery about another’s lack of grace, but he would only be able to kill so many men in def
ense of his woman before even being the nephew of the local Laird wouldn’t secure his position here.
Letting out his breath and relaxing a bit, Seumas looked to Tavish, who nodded a bit grimly that yes, he still wanted to go, even if they couldn’t go with Captain Donnell.
So Seumas addressed the captain.
“Aye, we wull go with Captain Dowd.”
At this, Donnell waved until someone on Dowd’s ship noticed and then gestured that the four of them were coming over.
Captain Dowd’s ship wasn’t as in good a trim as Captain Donnell’s, but she looked seaworthy. Oh, it was this man. Seumas had seen him around Castleton a few times, always arguing with the local tradesmen. Well, it was a short journey to Turnberry Castle, not even half the day by ship. They could abide.
A look at Tavish told him he was thinking the same thing. How could his friend be so easygoing about most things, and yet keep some huge secret from a man whose life he had saved and who had saved his? Well, Seumas wasn’t going to let it get to him.
He was holding Sasha’s arm to help her aboard when the captain approached them with his nose in the air and a sneer on his freckled face.
“Oh we hae Laird Malcomb’s nephew himself, eh? Not enough room for ye on yer preferred ship, sae I take it. Wull ye willna be leisurely passengers, ye ken. Ye wull have tae work.” He looked Sasha and Kelsey over with just enough good manners that Seumas didn’t cut him down on the spot. But it was close. “I suppose yer lasses can sit that oot.” He caught the attention of one of his crewmembers and then pointed at Tavish and Seumas. “Get these two tae work loading the cargo.”
Seumas found Sasha and Kelsey a seat in the bow of the boat, where they would be out of the way. He took Sasha’s hand in his, but included Kelsey in what he had to say.
“I hae noticed that the two o ye feel free tae take a lot o liberty in yer actions. That is good for ye in yer own village and even here when amoong friends. I would na take it away from ye. Howsoever, while yer on Captain Dowd’s ship, ye must dae what he says, ye ken?”
Sasha smiled at him with understanding. Kelsey at least gave a grudging nod.
