‘Yes indeed,’ Elspeth looked mollified by Tina’s concern. ‘But knowing how busy she is I thought it better no’ to bother her. I just followed the advice Doctor Lachlan used to give me when I had the cold, and that was to stay in bed, keep warm, and drink plenty o’ liquids. His methods were simple but they aye worked and there’s many a body alive today to tell that tale.’
Mark James could cheerfully have strangled her at that point and he thanked providence that Megan wasn’t here or she might have done the job for him!
‘Och, ay, Lachlan, the good soul that he is,’ Tina responded thoughtfully. ‘And we all loved him when he was the doctor. But Doctor Megan is here now and she is equally as good as Lachlan used to be. Speaking for myself, when it comes to all the wee problems o’ womanhood, I find it a rare treat to have a lady doctor tending me. There is no need to feel embarrassed when you have to talk about all the wee personal bits she herself has been used to all her life, and you can say things about them that you might no’ say to a man. Is that no’ right, Elspeth?’
Mark James could have hugged Tina there and then and was most gratified to see a faint flush creeping over Elspeth’s face.
‘Never mind,’ Tina went on, as if she hadn’t noticed anything amiss. ‘You’ll soon be feeling as right as rain, even though it was a really bad flu. It must be going the rounds, wi’ first one, then another, dropping on their feets like flies. Our own Donald was laid up wi’ it and is only now getting out and about.’
At some juncture in the conversation Elspeth had been regretting her uncharitable thoughts about Tina, but at mention of Donald she froze. For all she knew Tina could have carried the virus from him; she was as strong as a horse herself but could easily be a carrier.
Elspeth clamped her lips tightly together. There was a lot she could have said to Tina, but not here, in the minister’s study, and certainly not in front of him. In many ways she respected him, even though she hadn’t always agreed with some of his modern methods of religious teaching. In an effort to control her chagrin she took out her hanky and enclosed her nose in its folds, a loud honking sound rent the air, and both the minister and Tina looked surprised that any human appendage could produce such noisy emissions.
‘There, that’s better.’ Elspeth treated her nose to a last satisfying pummel and placing her hanky carefully back in the pocket of her brown tweed coat she went on in nasal tones, ‘It has indeed gone the rounds, Tina. I myself am a healthy body as a rule, but there are those selfish craturs who rise out their beds, still crawling wi’ germs, and those who carry other folks’ illnesses around wi’ them, contaminating innocent people. I blame my cold on them and have often thought there should be a law against it.’
‘Try a muffin, Elspeth,’ Mark James offered quickly, afraid that she might start listing all the ‘selfish craturs’ she believed had infected her.
Tina’s muffins were good, even Elspeth had to admit that; they were steamily warm and delicious, and as she bit into one she got her hanky ready to mop up the melted butter on her chin.
Pleased at the praise from this most critical of sources Tina departed to resume her duties, leaving Elspeth to get down to the reasons for her visit.
Mark James listened patiently to the long monologue that followed and which ended with, ‘I will feel better wi’ my own minister to perform the ceremony, and wi’ Isaac being a man o’ the sea all his life, it seems fitting that he should tie the knot on board a boat he once skippered.’
Mark James looked at her. On occasion he had been on the receiving end of her spicy tongue and many’s the time he could have brained her with his own bare hands. Despite that he had often felt sorry for a woman who was obviously as lonely as she had been before the advent of Captain Mac into her life.
‘I will of course be glad to officiate at your wedding, Elspeth,’ Mark James said with all sincerity, ‘and I think it’s a wonderful idea to have it aboard The Arian. You’ll be the envy o’ every eligible woman in the district and you shouldn’t be surprised if they all want to follow your example.’
‘Och well, it was Isaac’s idea.’ Elspeth was honest enough to give Mac his place. ‘He has imagination and wanted the day to be that wee bittie special for both o’ us.’
A date was arranged for the middle of June because, ‘Phebie would surely be home by then.’ When Elspeth finally took her departure from the Manse she was walking on air and, on meeting Doctor Megan on the steps, she hailed her with great levity and told her she was ‘doing a great job as the island medic’ and to ‘keep up the good work’.
‘To what do we owe the honour and what was all that about?’ Megan laughingly asked her husband as soon as she got in.
‘A wedding.’
‘Oh, yes, the wedding. I thought she was to be married in Oban.’
‘She’s changed her mind, as women do, dear little wife o’ mine. Seemingly she feels uncomfortable about a registry office so she and Mac between them cooked up the idea of having the marriage aboard The Arian with yours truly at the helm.’
‘Well! Wonders will never cease!’ gasped Megan. ‘The Arian, no less. At least it will be different from the usual and should cause quite a sensation. No doubt Kate McKinnon will be delighted to get seeing the wedding outfit and Behag will likely turn up with her spyglasses smuggled aboard under her fur coat! As for myself, I’d better start thinking about what to wear. I might just be a poor second to Lachlan but I am also the minister’s wife and as such I have to set a good example.’
He laughed and kissed her and arm in arm they went into the kitchen where Tina was agog to know why Slochmhor’s housekeeper had taken so long with the minister and just what had they been up to, other than eating hot muffins and picking dog hairs off their clothes.
Elspeth’s next port of call was Mairi’s Hairdressing Salon, which place of business was interred within the crofthouse occupied by Mairi and Willie McKinnon, the last named being a direct offspring of Kate and Tam McKinnon.
Elspeth had some misgivings about her visit to the kind-hearted but artless Mairi, remembering the time when a goodly number of Rhanna women had turned up in kirk sporting bright blue rinses that had verged on the vulgar. Nevertheless, there was no other choice, it was Mairi or nothing, since she was the only hairdresser on the island, and surely she must have learned her lessons by now and improved with time.
Resolutely Elspeth entered the tiny room in the house that had been converted into a beauty parlour some years ago. It was a simple arrangement, no more than a washbasin, a few kitchen chairs, two ancient hairdryers, one mirror needing to be re-silvered, a small table piled high with magazines dating back four years, and a trolley containing an array of bottles, manicure equipment, and heaps of hairy-looking rollers spilling out of their trays. Scott Balfour, the laird of Burnbreddie, had officially opened the place in 1964, with a little plaque fixed above the powder-blue washbasin to prove it.
Mairi had recently expanded her venture to include the sale of cosmetics and hair beautifying aids. On a clothes rail, crushed into a corner, hung an assortment of hand knitted woollens, together with different coloured T-shirts bearing a map of the island and the logo, Rhanna, Tir nan Og, which meant Land of the Ever Young.
‘We sold a lot o’ these last summer,’ Mairi entered the room and gave this information to Elspeth who was over at the rack fingering the garments. ‘Especially the T-shirts, wi’ them being cheaper than the woollies.’
‘I have no doubt,’ Elspeth snorted. ‘Some folk will wear anything if they think they’re getting a bargain. I myself would never put the likes on my back wi’ all that writing on them.’
‘The young folks like them,’ Mairi said in her gentle way. ‘And it’s nice for them to go back to the mainland wearing their wee map so that people will know where in the world we are placed.’
Elspeth wasted no more time on small talk and got down to business with a vengeance, impressing on Mairi her need to have a very special hair-do for her wedding day an
d wondering if she ought to have some sort of rinse to complete the job.
‘Should it be blue or lilac?’ she muttered worriedly. ‘Or would it be best to just leave it alone and be content wi’ the colour God gave me?’
In the end Mairi made up her mind for her. ‘I have the very thing! It’s called Silver Cloud and it is the latest colour from the manufacturers. I got in a batch o’ half a dozen bottles the other day and I just know my customers will be queuing up for it when they see the results.’
‘Silver Cloud?’ doubtfully Elspeth repeated the words.
‘Ay, and just think, Elspeth, no one else on the whole o’ the island has used it yet. You would be the first to pioneer it on your wedding day and no’ a soul to touch you for glamour.’
‘Silver Cloud.’ This time Elspeth savoured the name. It sounded wonderful, and she was intently studying the colour chart that Mairi had produced for her inspection when Fern Lee walked into the room.
Turning her radiant smile on the island hairdresser she said she wanted to buy a hairbrush. In spite of all the talk Mairi had heard about ‘the goings on at Laigmhor’, she immediately melted in the warmth of that smile and went to fetch a selection of brushes while Elspeth, ensconced in a chair with her colour chart, made no response whatsoever.
When Mairi came back she and Fern went into a huddle as they mulled over the various merits of the brushes, Fern eventually deciding that one with stiff bristles would be the most suitable for her particular requirements.
‘I don’t suppose it will need much attention, other than washing and brushing it,’ Mairi commented admiringly as she touched one of the blue-black, naturally curly ringlets cascading round the girl’s shoulders.
‘Sure, and you’re right enough there, I just wash it and allow it to dry any old how. It has a mind of its own and won’t do anything I want so I’ve learned to let it have its own way.’
‘And the colour is just lovely too,’ Mairi said this with a glance at Elspeth’s back, before rushing on to inform Fern about the forthcoming marriage and Elspeth’s momentous decision to have the Silver Cloud hair rinse.
Elspeth bristled. She fumed. That Mairi! She never could keep her mouth shut! It was not business etiquette to reveal personal matters to outsiders, particularly one who had the label of ‘McKenzie’s woman’ on her!
‘You’ve got really good hair,’ Fern was at Elspeth’s back, running a finger over her short, crisp, iron grey locks. ‘It’s got a nice natural wave to it and will look a treat with that rinse Mairi was after describing. If it would be pleasing you, I could do your make-up on the morning of your wedding.’
‘Make-up!’ Elspeth half screamed the words. ‘I have never used any o’ that rubbish on my face in the whole o’ my life. It would make me look like a hussy!’
‘Not at all, mavourneen, it would be that subtle you would never notice it was there at all – a touch of pink lipstick, a hint of lilac eyeshadow to set off those nice greeny-grey eyes and fine brows of yours. A lot of women don’t know they’ve got what they’ve got, and no matter how old or how young she is, a woman should always try to look her best for her man.’
Fern had a very persuasive way of talking and Elspeth found herself softening. ‘Well, maybe just a wee smear here and there. But if that besom Behag ever finds out about this I will personally take and skelp your backside, and that is a promise!’
Mairi, quite carried away with excitement, clasped her hands together and enthused, ‘Och, my, I can see it all now, Elspeth, your bonny head floating down the aisle in a cloud o’ silver and your face all sparkly and flushed wi’ happiness.’
‘I will not be going down the aisle, floating or otherwise,’ Elspeth said dryly, even as a small tingle of anticipation seized her and she wondered if she should mention that she was taking the plunge, as it were, aboard The Arian.
The temptation was too much for her; the whole place would know soon enough anyway. The minister was bound to tell Tina, who would undoubtedly spread it round the island like wildfire. Mairi and Fern were in raptures at the news and for the next half hour all three women had a marvellous time, discussing clothes, make-up, and weddings, till Fern glanced at the clock and regretfully announced she must be going.
‘I’ve really enjoyed talking to you both,’ she told the older women. ‘There’s nothing like a good chin wag to cheer up the day and myself is honoured to be part of all your lovely wedding plans, Elspeth. I’m really looking forward to doing your make-up and I promise with all my heart not to be letting anyone else in on all the wee secrets we’ve been sharing.’
‘Charmed, I’m sure,’ returned Elspeth in rather a flustered fashion, mad at herself because it was all she could think of to say.
Fern beamed at them both and made to depart, but on the way out her attention was arrested by a display of children’s hair ornaments. ‘Would you look at these now, they are just what I’ve been looking for. Fergus was kind enough to give me a shilling or two for doing some odd jobs for him and I think I’ll buy a set each of these clasps for Lorna and Ellie Dawn. I have come to love those wee ones, they’re so pretty and clever for their age, and really funny in the things they say.’ She paid for her purchases and departed, leaving Mairi and Elspeth to look at one another.
‘Hmph! Paid her indeed!’ was Elspeth’s comment as soon as she heard the outer door closing. ‘I wonder what else she did for him other than a few bit chores. And it’s Fergus mark you, no’ Mr McKenzie or anything as respectful as that – nor Mrs Morrison either, come to think o’ it. She’s a flatterer if ever there was one and just says what she thinks folks might like to hear. But she’s no’ a judge o’ human nature or she wouldny come her smarm wi’ me and I for one am no’ taken in by her.’
‘Well, I think she is beautiful just!’ cried Mairi in a gluttony of admiration. ‘Her nature is as sunny as a summer’s day and because she has no envy in her she is able to praise the nice things she sees in other people.’
‘I have to admit, she is quite a presentable young woman,’ Elspeth conceded unwillingly, peering at herself in the mirror as she spoke and patting her hair.
‘Ach, Elspeth, why can you no’ just come right out and say you like her? It’s the first time I’ve ever spoken to her and I hope it will no’ be the last. She has the men eating out her hand and the women like her too – even though some o’ them hated her at first.’
‘Ay, that is quite an achievement,’ Elspeth said slowly. ‘She has certainly got a lot o’ charm – cheek too when she puts her mind to it. But she isn’t the wicked woman I took her for in the beginning, I have to say that, and she does have an eye for a body’s good points.’
Elspeth gazed at herself in the mirror. Fern was right, her eyes were a nice colour, and she did have well shaped eyebrows – funny she had never noticed these things in herself before now. It was as if she was viewing herself from a different angle altogether – seeing herself through the eyes of a bonny young girl whose face somehow haunted her and whose enchantment had bowled her over – and for Elspeth that was such a new and strange sensation she wasn’t completely sure if she liked it or not. It was far safer to remain aloof from people; in that way there was less risk of being disappointed by them in the long run.
Chapter Sixteen
Fern was feeling exhilarated when she left Main’s house to make her way through the outskirts of the village. She had just made friends with Elspeth Morrison of all people, a tartar according to Kate, one who was renowned for making people cringe with her snide remarks and her condemnation of the supposedly corrupt and sinful ways of others.
It was she who had come to Laigmhor with the sole purpose of poking her nose in where it wasn’t wanted. But Fergus had soon sorted her out. Fern had heard all about that from Tina, who was a good and reliable source of information. In her candid way, Tina let slip lots of little interesting snippets, and Fern found herself mopping it all up so that she was soon quite up to date with the activities of the island. She had be
en most appreciative of Fergus’s handling of nosy old Elspeth and had thought it would be fun to try and cultivate such a being, even if only to try and discover if she was as hard as she was made out to be.
Meeting her in Mairi’s had been purely chance, but it had been now or never to take the bull by the horns, and she had won! She had succeeded in piercing through the hard shell that Elspeth presented to the world and Fern smiled triumphantly to herself as she walked through Glen Fallan with a spring in her step . . .
‘Tha Breeah!’
Fern swung round to see Dodie bearing down upon her in a very determined manner, his long loping gait carrying him swiftly towards her. Fern had encountered the old eccentric quite a few times in the course of her own travels around the district and as she waited for him to catch up with her she prayed that he had bathed since their last meeting. The various smells that had emanated from him had been overpowering to say the least and she had quickly learned to keep her distance from him during their conversations. She had also discovered his speech impediments and the fact that he spoke in a mixture of Gaelic and English which made him even more difficult to understand. But, being Irish, she knew something of the Gaelic language, and despite his drawbacks she had come to like him and to feel a sympathy for a being who had endured, and in many ways overcome, the rigours that life had obviously doled out to him.
With all that in mind she was able to greet him with genuine warmth and to patiently wait for what he had to say to her, as, for quite a few minutes, all he did was to stand and stare at her with an undefined expression in his dreamy grey-green eyes.
The plain truth of the matter was that Dodie had fallen under the spell of this vibrant newcomer to the Rhanna scene. To him she was like one of the beautiful mermaids in Canty Tam’s marine tales and he could just picture her, sitting on a rock on the seashore, combing out her long dark tresses while she chanted out a haunting sea shanty.
A Rhanna Mystery Page 16
