She suspected he wanted to be one of those fancy-dressed men who strolled the streets of a big city. He wanted to be a big man of industry or something similar. There was no city near them where he could fulfill such a dream. If he had reached the point where his life displeased him so much, she should expect even uglier confrontations. Belle sighed with the weariness such a thought brought with it.
After starting something for a proper dinner, she got some linen out of the cupboard and went to make up the beds in the infirmary. The sound of a footstep made her look toward the door, and Robbie stood there. She was going to be nosy soon and find out more about his injuries, she decided, as she sent him a questioning smile.
“I came to give ye a hand,” he said as he walked toward her.
“That is not necessary. You are the guest. Nearer to summer, these beds would be made up all the time for the guests. It is just a bit early for any beach hunters.”
“It is all right. I do this kind of thing at home. Cannae expect Mrs. O’Neal to do everything when there are seven of us ‘boys,’ which is what she always calls us.”
“Seven? You have six brothers?” she asked in shock as he helped her spread out the bottom sheet nicely.
“Aye. We lost our home in Scotland because the laird decided sheep or cattle would bring him more profit than tenants, and so he threw us out. ’Tis a long story that many Scots are all too familiar with, and so we came here after a bit of trying to make a living at home. Sadly, my parents died when we went west, as so many others did, but all of the rest of us made it to the Ozarks, and my brother Iain thought it a good spot. We raise sheep.”
“I thought sheep were not much liked out west of here.”
“Nay, they are hated, but up in the hills, we arenae near people who are that rabid about them. We stumbled across a couple of Welsh shepherds and they watch the flock. Good fellows,” he said as he helped her put the spread on the bed. “They were finding it hard to make a living as shepherds, so were happy to take over our flock. Built them some cabins and they went and found themselves wives and are growing families.”
Plumping the pillow and moving to the next bed, she asked, “Who is Mrs. O’Neal then?”
“Our housekeeper. I gather that is what folk call them. Her husband got killed in the town near us back home in the Ozarks when some men wanted to take the money he had just received for the apples he grew. So she grabbed her kids and walked out of there. Saw our place, which has a stockade like a fort, and decided that was a safe place for her kids. She convinced Iain he needed to hire her. She became the one who cleans the place, cooks us meals, and nurses us. We built her a place, too, inside the stockade since she loved it so much.”
“It is like you have built yourself a small village.”
Robbie laughed. “Never thought of it that way, but it does, doesnae it.” He smoothed down his side of the cover, then moved to the third bed.
“What are ye doing?”
Belle squeaked in surprise at the voice from the door, but Robbie just grinned and turned to look at Geordie. “Making the beds. Just figures ye would wander in when we are almost done.”
Geordie walked over and lightly slapped the back of Robbie’s head before turning toward Mehitabel. “Miss Ampleford, we were wondering where ye would like us to put the horses.”
“Any empty stall. You might want to avoid the ones next to the donkey’s stall. He can get stroppy around an animal he does not know. The black horse doesn’t care, just so long as your horse doesn’t try to eat his feed.”
“Thank ye.” He turned to start out of the room.
“We can discuss what you pay and what you get and the few tiny rules I have when you get back.”
“Ye have rules?” asked Robbie after Geordie nodded his agreement and left.
“Just a couple. Ye already followed one—took your boots off when ye came in and set them on the boot rack.”
“What is this room?”
“The infirmary. My grandfather and my father were doctors. I learned a lot but not at a school, so that is why I put ‘nurse’ on my sign. I still get a lot of the folk in town coming to see me as if I am a doctor. No doctor has come to the town. Too small, I guess.”
“I dinnae think we have one either.”
“Maybe they will come now that the war is over.”
Robbie murmured a matching hope, then Belle went into the kitchen to put dinner on. As soon as she had the meal started she put a bit more food and fresh drinks on a tray and took it in to the men; the two others were already back from tending to their horses. They were a handsome collection of young men, she thought, and smiled as she poured herself some coffee from the pot she had brought in.
“This is verra nice. Thank ye,” Geordie said.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour and a half,” she said. “We’ll eat at the big table over in front of the fireplace. If you wish to do something, there are books in the room where you will sleep or in what I like to call the social room. It is the room with the carved wooden double doors. The social room also has cards, a chess set, and checkers.”
He watched her walk away and then looked at Robbie. “She reminds me a bit of David’s wife.” Geordie looked at James. “He’s one of the Powell brothers, shepherds we hired for the flock we have. Small, with a mile of hair, can do a lot of things, and will do every one to make a good living.”
“I wonder where the growling Thor went? I want to see what he looks like,” James said as he sat up straight.
Robbie replied, “Big, brown, and shaggy. Miss Ampleford says he is a mix of a lot of breeds. I saw him when she stepped aside and turned to go into the house, but he disappeared into the kitchen.”
“So there is a little white dog called Odin and a big brown dog called Thor.”
Geordie pointed to something curled up on the seat Belle had been in. “What is that?”
“I thought it was a pillow she was sitting on,” said James as he studied the lump of gray and white.
Belle walked out of the kitchen and saw the three men studying her cat. “That is my cat, Loki.”
“Those are all Norse gods, aren’t they?”
“Yup. Read a book about them that they had in the lending library. Thought they were interesting.” With a soft little grunt she picked up the cat, sat down, and the cat curled up on her lap.
“That is a big cat.”
“I know. Thor is scared of him.”
“Nay surprised. The size of those paws must give him a good smacking swing.”
“Knocks Odin right off his little paws.” She looked at Geordie and asked, “So why are you all up here?”
“I wanted to see the ocean. We were here for a while when we first came over from Scotland, and I liked it, but my mother wanted a place with a wee bit of land and Da had heard about all the land west of here, so they headed out there. It was this year as the weather warmed that I started to get a real urge to see the ocean again.”
“Yet you came east. There is an ocean on the West Coast, too.”
“East has better train connections, and the West is also a lot more dangerous than people realize.”
“And I am heading to Maine because my mother asked me to come home,” said James.
“Ah, not a request one can ignore. She probably wants to see that you are fine,” Belle said. “During the war, the list of our dead posted in the square from time to time must have frightened her half to death.”
“Well, yes, that might be some of it, but my father hurt himself and can’t finish some work he needs to get done.”
Belle nodded. “Yes, this time of the year is a bad time to leave things undone.” She carefully moved the cat and stood up. “Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you want and the ocean is right out there. Now I need to go and finish putting together the dinner.”
. “Need any help?” asked Geordie.
“No. Thank you. Things are just cooking and I only have to check. I’ll call if something comes up.
Over the years I have actually come up with a lot of things to help me.” She picked up the tray they had put their empty dishes on and disappeared into the kitchen.
James stretched out his legs and sipped his coffee. “I think we were lucky to find this place. I will probably stay here for a day or two, then head home.”
“Do ye want us to come with ye?” asked Geordie.
“No, wait until I have a better idea of what needs doing. I will contact you if I have a desperate need of a few extra hands.” He looked at Geordie. “I think this is a perfect place to satisfy that craving you have to look at the ocean.”
“Certainly is convenient. Right out the door and down the steps. Hell, can probably sit on the edge of the hill and just look at it whenever I get in the mood.”
“Maybe that is one reason that man wants this property so bad,” said Robbie.
“Possibly. It is not only high up but far back, so should be safe from the water rising. Very tempting property, depending on what he has in mind,” said James.
“Cannae see him running a place like this.”
“No, but the number of people coming to the ocean when the weather warms might warrant something fancier, and I can see him liking some fancy hotel with his name on it. It would be a shame to build something like that here.”
“There is money to be had in entertaining visitors to the ocean?”
“It begins to look like there might be, and, if interest is building, it is always best to be one of the first to respond. Especially if the visitors tend to be wealthy. And most are. After all, who else can leave work for a few days to wriggle their toes in the water? And more trains run to the coast now.”
“Then I had best get my fill of ocean-watching while I can,” said Geordie.
“Good idea. I have been trying to think of how to warn my folks about what I think is coming. We are not right on the water, but we are very close and have a nice piece of land. I want to be sure they have all they need to prove the place is theirs, all theirs, with no debt owed anyone. Buying up your debt is only one way rich men manage to take your land.”
“You’ve already looked into it all, haven’t you?”
“Oh, yes. The ones who do underhanded things to grab land can be found everywhere. The war was treated like a gold mine by some of them. Lots of land, papers proving ownership gone, and so on. I need to make certain my folks have good, solid proof.”
They all looked toward the kitchen door when a soft thud sounded, and saw Belle rolling out a cart. They all moved quickly to give her a hand. Very soon they were seated around the table, trying to ignore her pets, which lurked around, attempting to convince someone to feed them or drop something.
It was a good meal, simple but filling, just as Geordie liked it. He smiled faintly when she offered them a fruit tart with heavy cream to pour on it. It all reminded him of home. Geordie decided James was right. They had been lucky to find this place. He was going to enjoy staying here to get his fill of the ocean.
Chapter Seven
“Och! I cannae breathe!”
Geordie sat up and rubbed his eyes, then noticed James trying to do the same. Then they both looked at Robbie, and Geordie had to choke back a laugh. Thor was sprawled on top of his brother. Robbie was trying to wriggle out from beneath the dog, interspersed with attempts to push the dog off the bed.
“Thor, I really cannae breathe,” Robbie said. The dog just stared at him, tail wagging and his mouth open a bit.
Robbie stared up at the dog and decided he would try to speak calmly, but then he noticed the drool slipping from the animal’s mouth. “Nay! Dinnae ye dare spit on me.” It fell, hitting Robbie right on the nose.
Cursing, Robbie yanked on the sheet until he got enough of it free to wipe his face. Geordie started to turn onto his side, only to realize he could not. Looking down to see how tangled in the bedcovers he was, he found himself staring into Loki’s eyes. The cat was sprawled comfortably between his legs. As he watched, the cat stretched out one front leg, spread apart the toes, and unleashed some very impressive claws. When the cat began to clean that paw, Geordie decided he did not have to move. He looked at James, who did not appear to be entrapped by any animal.
“How did ye end up all alone?” he asked James.
“I only have one pet left, and he always stays with me.”
Geordie looked toward the door and fought the urge to grab the sheet and hold it up over his chest like some outraged maiden. Belle was dressed in another somewhat plain but well-fitted gown. This one was a soft blue. She had not taken the time to do her hair and he had to struggle to keep from staring at the long waves of black hair that fell to her knees. He thought of how he would love to feel it wrapped around him.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you to shut the door tightly.” She walked in, grabbed Loki by the scruff of his neck, and hefted him off the bed and put him on the floor.
Watching the cat march off, Geordie noticed the cat’s huge plume of a tail twitching, and how his ears were a bit flattened. “I dinnae think he appreciated that.”
“Never does. Like all cats, he dislikes being told no, silently or verbally.” She turned to Robbie. “Sorry about him. He has no idea how heavy he is. Waving your arms about and gasping for air sometimes helps.”
“He is holding the covers down too tightly.”
“Well, that doesn’t bode well for me.” She poked the dog on the neck. “Thor, move. Get down. Now.”
The dog stared at her and growled, but then slowly got down off the bed. He took little care about where he put his feet and Geordie could tell Robbie was struggling not to curse. When the dog trotted away, Belle looked at Robbie.
“Did the cream help?”
“Oh, aye, though I have begun to think it is the rubbing it in that helps as much.” He frowned at his hand. “And just now I actually got a good hold on the sheet when I was grabbing it to wipe the dog spit off my face.”
“That is very good. And, sorry, Thor can be a bit of a drooler. You should keep up with the cream and the massage.”
“Oh, I will.”
“When I was applying it to your leg, I noticed the bones had not healed right. The bones touched other bone, so some healing happened but it happened wrongly. That is what causes the pain, I fear.”
“I have heard that, too,” Robbie said.
“From a doctor?” When Robbie nodded, she sighed. “Did he tell you how he might fix it?”
“Aye, he said he would have to cut my leg open and break the bones again. Then he would set them correctly. He also said he didnae feel he had the skill to do it right.”
“A shame. For a moment I was going to tell you to find him again and get it done. Sounds a good, honest man. I can’t do it, although my da did it once. It didn’t make it as good as new, for the man still limped, but most of the pain was gone, which suited the man well. He was pleased with that alone. So, if you can, you might want to hunt the man down again to see if he has gained some confidence.”
She turned and started out the door. “Unless you require many hours to beautify yourselves, breakfast will be on the table by the time you are ready.”
“A bit saucy this morning,” James murmured as he got up, yanked on his trousers and headed for the washroom.
“I didnae ken ye had gone to some doctor and he’d told ye that,” said Geordie, frowning at Robbie.
“Weel, it wasnae something I wished to talk about, disappointing as it was.” Robbie sat up and rubbed his hands through his hair. “I actually considered for a moment to let him try, but the thought of my leg being broken again and that I still might have pain and a limp was more than I had the stomach to face.”
“Did ye have him check your hand?”
“Aye, and he really had little to say about that except to call the men who did it a lot of names I was surprised a doctor kenned. Them being so learned and all. He did say he thought they had smashed it so badly they had damaged the muscles and nerves, and that was what was
causing the pain.”
“Being learned just makes them more creative when they want to insult someone. At least he gave ye the reasons it all stays a bit of a mess. Someday someone will have an answer. We will just keep hoping it will be in time to help you.” He grinned when Robbie laughed, then got up and pulled his pants on. “Her cream works better than Emily’s?”
“A bit, but I think it was the way she rubbed it in that really eased the pain. Haven’t slept that well for a long time.”
“Maybe that is some of the answer. Ye need to work it, massage it more.”
“Hurts like hell to do that, but I do think it is better than it was. I actually try to use the cream at home before we make the cider.”
“Well, I need to get into the privy. Hoping James will be out of the washroom soon.”
As Geordie walked away, Robbie eased himself out of bed and tugged on his shirt but did not bother buttoning it. James came out of the washroom just as Geordie came out of the privy, and Robbie sighed as the two men switched rooms. He would have to wait a bit longer because he also needed to visit both rooms. Hopefully he would not have to wait too long, as he was hungry.
* * *
Breakfast was a hearty, satisfying meal. Geordie had to wonder just when Mehitabel had gotten up in order to cook so much food. He was also surprised the smell of it cooking had not dragged him from sleep.
He watched her as she asked questions about Robbie’s wounds. Robbie spoke easily about it all, and Geordie supposed it was easier to talk to a woman who spoke knowledgeably about pain, broken bones, and all the things that troubled him. It was much like a visit to a doctor.
Once done with his meal and having his offer to help with cleanup kindly refused, he decided it was time to go and see the ocean. He had his coat on and was just reaching for the door when it opened and a small boy ran in. The boy halted so quickly he stumbled a little and then stared at him.
The Scotsman Who Swept Me Away Page 7