by Tefft, Cyndi
Jen, Steph, Janette and Moira were there with my mom, pinning ribbons to the chairs that framed an aisle down the middle of the great room. Tears welled up in my eyes. Mom gave me a hug, then set me to work draping fabric over the pulpit where the ceremony would take place.
Aiden came in after a while, his cheeks flushed pink with the cold. Excitement transformed his face into a little boy’s as he pulled me outside to show me something. He pointed to a carving above the main door.
“Look here! It says ‘As long as a MacRae is in, a Fraser will not be out.’ In the lands of the Frasers of Lovat, there used to be an inscription above the door of Beaufort Castle that read, ‘As long as a Fraser is within, a MacRae will not be out.’ Ye remember my Uncle Alex? He was a Fraser of Lovat,” he told me, his face lit up like it was Christmas morning.
“There’s more,” he said, and I followed him through the snow around the castle walls to the courtyard. A great grey cannon stood outside a war memorial listing the names of several hundred MacRaes who’d died in World War I. The memorial was set into an impressive rock archway with a plaque underneath that read:
We are the dead. Short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow, loved and were loved. And now we lie in Flanders Fields.
Aiden was nearly vibrating with intensity as he gestured to the stone tablet. “Don’t you see? My kin—these MacRaes—they fought and died, defending and protecting freedoms, just as we did then.” He ran his hand over the names in reverence and respect, and prayed aloud for the souls of those who’d given their lives in service. Then he turned and took my hand, his back stiff and proud. His initial emotion at seeing the castle seemed to settle into something deeper, a connection of the past with the present, like he’d finally found rest in knowing that his kin had upheld those same principles that he and his family had fought for all those years ago. When he smiled at me again, his eyes were peaceful and serene. And I said a prayer as well for the MacRaes who gave so much for the love of this land.
Chapter 38
In the middle of the night, I was awakened by the sound of girls giggling. Someone threw back my bedspread. Cold air rushed over my body.
“What the—?” I began. Janette and Moira had twin looks of mischief on their faces, and Jen and Steph stood by as their willing accomplices. “What are you doing?” I asked, which elicited another round of guilty giggles from the girls.
“Come on, Lindsey! We’re taking ye to your hen party, just like the men have taken Aiden to his stag party. Time to get moving, lassie!” Moira chimed as she grabbed my arm and hauled me out of bed. Jen and Steph stripped me of my pajamas and the twins threw a God-awful prom dress of peach satin over my head.
As if the enormous puffy sleeves were not enough, the hideous thing had a big, wide bow on the back. All the girls laughed uproariously to see me in the ugly dress. They stuck a wedding veil on my head and Janette wiped soot under my eyes so I looked like a football player. Steph thrust a round pot in my hands as I slipped on some shoes, then they dragged me down the hall into the night.
“Is this a chamber pot?” I squeaked, horrified to be carrying around something people used to pee in. Apparently, that was funny because Janette laughed so hard, she snorted.
They had a car ready to go, and while we drove into town to the nearest nightclub, the girls hung out the windows, yelling and clanging pots and pans to make as much noise as possible. It was freezing, but no one seemed to care, all caught up in this crazy wedding tradition. Grinning, I shook my head and gave Steph a hairy eyebrow as if to say she should have warned me. She just shrugged and shouted out the window in turn.
The club was hopping, I was surprised to find, and the men were more than willing to do their part to wish me well as a future bride. A large red-haired man snaked an arm around my waist and planted a kiss on my lips before dropping a handful of coins into my pot. I stood there a moment, stunned.
Moira erupted in a fit of giggles. “She didn’t know what the pot was for!” she said to her sister, who laughed just as hard at my innocence. Before I could protest, another man kissed me and deposited his well wishes in the metal bowl. Soon, there was a line up. Jen pressed a shot of whisky into my hand, which I downed in one gulp. Tears came to my eyes as the alcohol singed my throat, but I didn’t hesitate to swallow another as Janette replaced my empty glass. The liquor worked its magic and after a few minutes, I decided being the center of attention of every man in the bar wasn’t so bad. Some of the women even took a turn, which in my altered state, I hardly even noticed.
We danced and laughed and drank until I could no longer stand up and the room was spinning before my eyes. We bid farewell to our new friends, who waved us cheerfully on our way, and the girls deposited me and my jingling chamber pot in the back seat of the car. I started to slump over but a thought suddenly occurred to me and I forced myself upright.
“Wait! What are they doing to Aiden?” I shrieked, unable to control the volume of my voice.
Moira shrugged like it was no big deal. “Och, they’ll have scrubbed him down with grease and soot and taken him out drinking with the lads.” She shook her head with a disappointed frown and continued. “They’ll be fair sore, I’ll bet, that they can’t strip him down and leave him tied to a pole outside, for the weather’s right nasty for it tonight. Oh well.”
My eyes flew open wide, which was a mistake, as my head was about to fall off my shoulders. I raced to roll down the window, sure I was going to vomit, but the blast of cold air helped settle my stomach a bit. Big flakes of snow were drifting down peacefully all around us and I stared at them, unseeing, my head swaying to and fro. My eyes rolled back in my head and the jingle of coins hitting the floor was the last thing I heard.
I woke late the next morning in my bed at the MacKinnons’ with no recollection of how I’d gotten there. My head ached and I smacked my lips together with distaste. I felt like something had crawled up and died inside my mouth. My mother looked down at me with a frown and rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. She handed me a couple of ibuprofen and a glass of water, which I gratefully accepted. After a hot shower and a chance to brush my teeth, I felt halfway human again.
When I got back to the room, Jen, Steph, Moira and Janette had joined my mom. They’d brought me breakfast but I wasn’t very hungry, so I nibbled at the food on the tray just to appease them. All my things had been packed over to Eilean Donan the day before for the wedding, so I pulled on my jeans and a sweatshirt and we crammed into the car for the drive over. My heart pounded with nerves and excitement as it dawned on me that the day I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
When we got to the castle, we headed upstairs into the bedroom we’d be using to get ready. The girls fussed over me as they helped me into my wedding gown and my mom zipped it up the back. The twins stared in awe, getting their first glimpse of my 18th century styled dress, and nodded their approval in unison.
I wanted to see myself as well, but they’d taken away all the mirrors, claiming it was bad luck. I sighed, but instructed them to pull my hair up in ringlets just like I’d remembered from before, wishing I could see how it looked. I’d decided against having a veil because I wanted Aiden to be able to see my hair, that I’d worn it the same as he’d cast it before the ball in France.
Jen applied my make-up while Steph affixed the golden necklace Sarah had gotten me for my birthday. I donned the matching earrings and looked up in surprise as Sarah came into the room.
She stopped in the doorway, smiling at me tenderly. “Oh, Lindsey…” she breathed, her head tipped to one side and her lips pressed together to keep from tearing up. I wanted to stand and give her a hug, but my bridesmaids pressed me down firmly, not finished with their work. Sarah came over and stood before me with a small package in her hands. She opened the box and peeled back the embroidered linen inside to reveal a diamond tiara with green emeralds.
“I know your mama got you a new blue garter belt so that takes care of something n
ew and something blue. I wanted you to have something old and something borrowed, so I brought my great-grandmama’s tiara for you to wear, if you like.” She held it out to me and I gaped at it in wonder. Light reflected off the jewels in a dazzling display of rainbows. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. A lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t speak.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said with a soft smile, then leaned over to place it on my head. “I have to go. The guests are starting to arrive and the ceremony is going to begin very soon. Good luck, sugar!” She kissed me on the cheek before she hurried out the door.
The sound of bagpipes playing outside floated up to the room. Cars crunched across the gravel as they arrived. This is really happening, I thought. The girls stepped away from me to survey their work and let out a collective sigh of adoration as they gazed at me in my gown. I hugged each one of them and thanked them profusely. My stomach did flip-flops while they all got dressed themselves, and I fidgeted, pacing the room.
After what seemed like an eternity, a knock sounded at the door and my dad called from the outside, “Can I come in?”
Mom went over and opened the door for him. Her face changed when she saw him in his tuxedo. She froze for a minute, looking up at him.
“You look beautiful, Elizabeth,” he said. Her cheeks reddened and she returned the compliment, her eyes sweeping over him. Then she seemed to come to herself and realize we were all watching them, and she moved aside to let him in. He drew in his breath when he saw me.
I swept over to him. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Pumpkin, you’re… I mean… oh, sweetheart.” He struggled to find the words but gave up and drew me in close for a hug. When he pulled away, his eyes were wet with tears. “Aiden is one lucky man,” he said. The look on his face made me feel like a princess. He shook himself and gestured to the rest of the women, dressed in their finest.
“Are you ready, ladies?” he asked. Everyone lined up to head downstairs to the great room where I knew Aiden would be waiting.
“Wait!” Moira cried, and then plucked a silver coin off the dresser and slid it into my shoe. “For luck,” she explained.
I didn’t need it. I was already the luckiest girl in the world.
A chorus of bagpipes enveloped the castle as the wedding party made their way down the aisle and took their places. I waited at the back of the line with my arm hooked through my dad’s, glad of his support. A precious little girl in a white, lacy dress stood in front of me and when it was her turn, she walked very stiffly and formally down the aisle, obviously trying to remember to take a step and then put her feet together. She scattered white rose petals on the floor and looked relieved when she got to the end and stood next to Jen, waiting for me.
The bagpipes changed to a different tune and all the guests stood up at once in anticipation. Dad winked at me and we started forward. The MacKinnons and their friends were crammed shoulder to shoulder into the great room, which was filled to bursting. Steph, Jen and the flower girl stood at the far end of the aisle off to the right, while Aiden, Paul, Ian, and the ring bearer—a little boy about three years old—waited for me on the left.
I locked eyes with Aiden and felt like my heart was going to explode in my chest. He was wearing a black suit jacket with silver buttons over his dress kilt, which was dark green with stripes of blue and black. White socks came up to his knees with green decorative flashes where they folded over at the top. Black laces from his shoes wound up his shins. A large, round sporran with three tassels hung from his waist, and on his belt, he wore not only his dirk but also an elaborate broadsword with a golden basket around the hilt.
His hair was pulled back into a braid, emphasizing the sharp angles of his jaw and cheeks, but it was his eyes that mesmerized me as I stepped forward to take his hand. He looked spellbound, like he’d seen a magical fairy come to life in front of him. When he reached out to take my hand, I could scarcely breathe. The guests all sat as the minister began to speak, but I didn’t hear a word he said.
You look just as ye did that night at the ball, only in white, like an angel. Have I died and gone to heaven, then?
His voice flowed over me like warm honey and I grinned at him, thrilled at the effect of the dress.
Not yet. That comes later tonight. I replied in my mind and he coughed a little in surprise.
The minister paused in his speaking and raised an inquiring brow, but then continued on. Aiden gave me a wicked grin and I had to look away before I embarrassed myself.
When I turned away, I almost squeaked out loud.
Father O’Malley, in his finest dress robes, stood off to the side behind the minister. He caught my eye and inclined his head slightly in greeting. I had no idea he’d be there and I risked a quick glance at Aiden.
I told him about the wedding at the hospital when ye went to go get us some food. He said he wouldn’t miss it for the world. I thought you’d like the surprise.
I assured him I did and I smiled brightly at the priest, wishing I could run over and give him a hug.
The minister asked the ring bearer to come forward. He looked adorable in his little suit jacket and kilt, but his face was gravely serious as he held out the white pillow that was embroidered with a Celtic circle pattern—a MacKinnon family heirloom, I guessed. The minister untied the rings from the ribbons on the pillow and addressed the audience.
“The wedding rings are a symbol of eternity, with no beginning and no end, like time itself, and the love of these two people. The hole in the center of the ring symbolizes the gateway to things unknown, which Aiden and Lindsey will embark upon, united in their new life together.” He gave Aiden the ring to put on my finger and I nearly fainted.
I immediately recognized the golden band with the large emerald in the center flanked by diamonds on either side: Nanny Fraser’s ring.
My hand shook as he slipped it on my finger after saying his vows. I stared at the ring in disbelief. The minister handed me Aiden’s ring and my voice wavered as I repeated the vows myself. Aiden’s eyes opened wide in astonishment as I pushed the ring onto his finger.
I’d saved all the money I’d gotten from tutoring and my work-study job to have a gold replica of my wooden ring made for him, complete with the etched Celtic circles he’d carved with his sgian dubh at the cabin. I could tell by the look on his face that he was absolutely floored. His jaw clenched tightly and his lip quivered almost imperceptibly as he struggled to keep control of his emotions.
Father O’Malley came forward and wrapped a strip of tartan around our clasped hands, and said a blessing over us. I could hear Sarah sniffling in the front row, which almost did me in. Mercifully, the minister declared us husband and wife, and Aiden leaned forward to kiss me. A great cheer erupted from the onlookers when his lips met mine, so he pulled me close to make a better job of it for the crowd. I giggled and smiled against his mouth, and he grinned down at me, resting his forehead against mine for a moment.
“Congratulations, Mrs. MacRae,” he whispered.
We filed down the aisle and moved into another room that had been set up for a receiving line and some dancing. The band struck up a happy tune as people streamed through, showering us with hugs and kisses before they moved to grab a glass of champagne or a dram of whisky. When the last guest had wished us well, we drank from a two handled cup Aiden called a quaich, then cut the cake and very politely fed each other from the first slice, drawing disappointed but good-natured jeers from the assembly.
Aiden held out his hand as the violinists and flutist began a slow, romantic song and the crowd parted for us to begin the first dance. Wrapped in his embrace, I let out my breath and relaxed. He asked me about the ring I’d given him and when I told him how I’d had it made, he leaned forward to kiss me. I asked him about Nanny Fraser’s ring, and held up my hand to admire it. He answered in my head so that only I could hear.
I told the pawnbroker that I’d return within three months to buy it back from him, a
nd that I’d give him four times the price if he’d hold it. He did, thanks be to God, and when I went to the casino that weekend with Ian, well, the cards were on my side. He winked at me but I was still so awed at seeing the ring again that I didn’t know what to say. I held him close and laid my head on his chest as we swayed to the music.
I saw my dad go over to my mom and offer a nervous hand. “You always were my favorite dancer. Will you do me the honor?” he asked, and a smile lit my mother’s face. She fit easily into his arms and they moved with grace around the floor. The rest of the guests filled in then, swirling around us to the music.
When we passed my parents, I heard my dad say to her, “We should have done this a long time ago. I was going to head to Edinburgh tomorrow to do some sightseeing. Would you like to come with me?”
She glanced up at him in surprise and got a thoughtful look on her face. Then she smiled and said, “I’d love that. Thank you, Gary.” He pulled her in a little closer and they danced away so that I couldn’t hear them anymore.
The music changed to a lively, upbeat jig and the dancing followed suit, the crowd pressing in. I grabbed Aiden’s hand and we slipped away, out the door and up the stairs to the little balcony that overlooked the room. As I peered out over the crowd, my heart swelled with joy.
“You look very happy,” Aiden said and I beamed at him.
“Actually, I’d like to see what I look like, to be honest with you. They hid all the mirrors, saying it was bad luck to see myself,” I said.
Aiden took my hands and his face grew serious. “You look like the sun itself, Lindsey MacRae. I can hardly breathe, you are so radiant.” He sent me a mental image of myself in my wedding gown. He was right; I did look beautiful, and I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears at bay so I didn’t ruin my make-up.
