by Lynsay Sands
"Ye mean the clap?" Moibeal gasped as Sholto paled and jumped to the side.
"Hmm," Edith muttered, leading the way into the kitchens now that her path was clear. She did hate that name for the ailment. It just reminded her of what often had to be done for it. Quite frequently, the patient's fiddle got clogged up with the discharge dripping out of it. When that happened, her mother had said one must clap it hard with your hands from both sides to try to unclog it. She'd also said, though, that a hand and a book might be used instead.
Sholto was such an annoying character, however, that Edith had used two books. The man had howled endlessly afterward. She doubted very much if he'd be visiting the ale wench again anytime soon. Come to think of it, he probably wouldn't come back to Edith with any healing needs either, she acknowledged with a grin as she glanced around the kitchen for the cook.
"He's no' here," Moibeal said with surprise as they surveyed the almost empty kitchen. Honestly, four people were like a drop of water in a bucket in this huge room.
"I'll ask one o' the maids where he is," Fearghas murmured and hurried off to do so.
Edith watched him go, but then found her gaze sliding to the back of the room as a memory of Cawley lying bleeding on the floor flashed through her mind. Her gaze slid over the large rush mat now lying where he had been and it didn't take a lot of hard thinking to work out that it was covering the stain his blood had left behind. Cleaning it out of the cracks and crevices of the stone would have been impossible.
"M'lady?"
Edith blinked and looked around at Moibeal's voice, startled to find that in her distracted state she'd crossed the room and now stood staring down at the mat where Cawley's body had been. "Aye?"
"Fearghas says Jaimie is out in the gardens picking some herbs," the maid told her gently.
Nodding, Edith peered back at the rush mat, and then at the barrel behind it. That would have been where Cawley had been sitting when he was stabbed, she thought, and then shifted her attention to the door next to it. The pantry. Tormod had told them that there was another hidden entrance in there, she recalled. If the killer had used it, they might not even have had to come out of the room to stab him. Just crack the door open and--
"M'lady?" Moibeal said gently.
"Aye," Edith sighed, turning away. She would check the pantry later and see if she could find the hidden entrance. Or perhaps she'd just let Tormod show both her and Niels where it was later.
Heading for the back door out of the kitchens, she asked, "Out in the gardens, ye said?"
"Tormod said ye were no' to leave the keep," Cameron reminded her as he and Fearghas caught up to them.
"It is only the gardens, Cameron," she said on a sigh. "There are no windows on this side of the building for anyone to shoot arrows at me from. 'Twill be fine."
"But--"
"I'll just step outside the back door," she said soothingly. "Ye can bring Jaimie to me. 'Tis far too hot in here to stand about waiting fer ye to find him. At least by the back door it will be cooler."
Whether he would have argued the point or not, she didn't know. They'd reached the back door and she was already pushing her way out.
"I'll go fetch Jaimie," Fearghas said, sounding annoyed as he hurried ahead of her.
"There," Edith said cheerfully, ignoring the way Cameron was glaring at her. "Is this no' nice?"
"Nicer than the flogging we'll take fer letting ye out o' the keep," Cameron groused.
"We'll only be a minute. Tormod will never ken," she assured him. When he merely eyed her with disbelief, she raised one hand to her chest, the other to the air and said with amusement, "May God strike me down if I'm wrong in this."
Cameron glanced upward as if expecting to see lightning hurtling down toward them, and then horror crossed his face and he threw himself at Edith and Moibeal.
Edith gasped in surprise as she was caught about the waist and propelled forward, and then grunted in pain as she crashed to the ground just as a loud thump sounded behind them. For one moment, she lay there on her stomach, almost certain lightning had struck, but then reason returned and Edith realized that what she'd heard behind her was the thud of something heavy hitting the ground, and not the crack of lightning.
"Are ye all right, m'lady?" Cameron asked anxiously, getting to his feet beside her.
"Aye," Edith said, and peered past him to her maid. "Moibeal? Are ye all right?"
The maid rolled to her side and looked back at where they'd been, muttering, "Better than her."
Frowning, Edith started to get up, but had only managed to get to her hands and knees before Cameron caught her under the arms and lifted her to her feet.
"Thank ye," she murmured, brushing at her dress as she turned to see what had fallen. Who had fallen, Edith corrected herself as she stared at Effie's twisted body on the ground at their feet. The woman had landed exactly where they'd been standing before Cameron had half thrust and half dragged them out of the way. She couldn't have missed them by more than a hair, Edith thought with dismay, staring at her body.
"Oh, God's breath, m'lady!"
Edith glanced around at that voice, and just managed to brace herself before Jaimie threw his thin body at her and hugged her tightly. Unfortunately, short as she was, he was shorter, and his head landed between her breasts. Fortunately, however, she didn't have to say anything. As quickly as he did it the thin little man released her and jumped back, flushing brightly.
"I'm so sorry, m'lady. I was just so overset. Ye were nearly killed. Again! Ye should have waited fer me inside," he added, catching her arm and urging her around the body and back toward the door. "'Tis no' safe fer ye to be out o' the keep. Ye could have been killed. Again."
"Aye, 'tis almost as if God Himself were trying to strike ye down," Moibeal said under her breath.
Judging by the way Cameron's lips twitched, he heard the maid say that, but merely turned to Fearghas and said with resignation, "Ye'd best go fetch Tormod and the new laird. They'll need to hear about this."
Nodding, the soldier opened the door, held it for them to enter and then followed them inside and hurried quickly past them to rush out of the kitchens.
"Fearghas said ye were wanting a word with me," Jaimie was saying now. "Did ye want to break yer fast? Ye have no' done that yet. I can make ye a fine--"
"Nay," Edith interrupted. "Thank ye, but I wouldn't want ye to take time out o' yer day to cook fer me. I just wanted to be sure that Duer and Iain delivered the cheese and capons I bought."
"Oh, aye, aye," he assured her, grinning. "'Tis all here. The cheese is in the larder and the capons look mighty fine and plump. I'm roasting 'em up for tonight's sup as soon as I finish gathering the herbs I need fer it."
"Oh, lovely, that will be nice," Edith murmured, patting his arm. "I should let ye get back to it then. That's all I wanted."
"Very well, m'lady. Now ye go sit down and try to settle yerself. Ye had a terrible scare there. I'll bring ye something light to settle yer stomach. Ye just go sit down. And you," Jaimie added sharply to Cameron, "keep an eye on her. We can no' lose our Lady Edith now we have her as lady fer good."
"I'm trying," Cameron assured him, catching Edith's arm and urging her along more swiftly. "But the lady can be stubborn."
"Nonsense. Lady Edith is an angel," Jaimie snapped as they reached the door. "And if ye let anything happen to her, it'll be naught but turnips and gruel fer ye til the day ye die, Cameron Drummond, so watch her well."
The soldier let the door close behind the three of them with a grimace, and pretty much marched Edith to the trestle tables.
"Sit," he ordered, and then grimaced and added, "Please."
Biting her lip to hold back her amusement, Edith sat, but she caught Moibeal's arm and dragged her down with her.
"Yer going to give Cameron fits," the maid said, glancing over her shoulder to eye the man as he began to pace back and forth behind them.
"Probably," Edith acknowledged.
"He is ever so manly though when he gets bossy, is he no'?" Moibeal said next, and then added, "He reminds me o' yer laird husband."
"Really?" Edith asked with surprise.
"Aye. He's so . . . commanding. I never really noticed how handsome he is before this," the girl said on a sigh.
Edith raised her eyebrows. "Does Kenny have some competition?"
"Oh, Kenny!" The maid waved her hand with irritation.
"What?" Edith asked curiously.
"Well, after seeing how good and kind and considerate the laird is with ye, and hearing how he pleases ye in bed . . ." She grimaced and shrugged. "I'm thinking Kenny is no' trying very hard. Mayhap he's no' the one fer me."
"Ah," Edith murmured, not wanting to say it, but glad the girl was thinking that way. She hadn't thought much of Kenny and the way he treated Moibeal from the start. Turning, she glanced at Cameron consideringly and then nodded and turned back to say, "Well, I like Cameron. So ye have me blessing if yer interested in him."
"I am," Moibeal assured her on a little sigh. "Now if only he'd notice me."
Edith shrugged. "Stay with me and he'll have to take notice."
"Dead."
Niels grimaced at that announcement from Rory as he straightened from examining Effie where she'd fallen. He'd been able to tell that himself without even touching the woman. "Are all o' her injuries from the fall, do ye think?"
"Aye," Rory said. "I do no' see any bruising or scratches to suggest she was injured ere falling from the wall."
"Do ye think she heard us in the stairs, thought we were coming up, and jumped?" Geordie asked.
"That'd be my guess," Tormod said grimly. "She must have kenned we'd have found her poisons and bow in the bedchamber and were on to her."
"Her jumping was probably a last desperate effort to kill our lady and end herself as well."
Niels turned at that sour comment to see the cook approaching with a large basket full of freshly picked herbs.
Nodding at him, Jaimie informed them, "She nearly landed on Lady Edith's head, and surely would have killed her had Cameron no' pushed her and Moibeal out o' the way." Heaving out a sigh, he shook his head and peered down at Effie's broken body. "She must have been mad. All these killings . . . and fer what? No doubt she started out hoping to see her lady running Drummond as the lass wished, but instead she killed her too with her silly actions. She was probably just trying to kill Lady Edith out o' spite once she learned she'd unintentionally killed her Victoria."
"Aye," Geordie and Tormod said, nodding solemnly.
Niels noticed that Rory wasn't commenting, but was staring down at Effie, his expression troubled. "What are ye thinking, Rory?"
His brother hesitated, but then shook his head helplessly. "I do no' ken what to think. Certainly what Jaimie says makes sense. Everything seems to suggest Effie was our culprit and killed herself rather than be caught. 'Tis sad really."
Niels peered down at the woman again, and then up at the top of the wall. He frowned, but then simply turned and strode back into the kitchens and through. He needed to talk to Edith.
Pushing out into the great hall, Niels saw that his wife was still sitting whispering away with her maid at the table. Movement made him glance toward the fireplace where Ronson's grandmother was warming her hands by the fire, and looked to be lecturing her grandson. Probably about how filthy he was, Niels thought with a small smile. It looked as if the boy had been rolling in dirt. Laddie was not much better, he noted as his gaze fell to the dog. The two needed another visit to the loch. And that seemed as good a place as any to have that talk with Edith.
Niels headed for the table and his wife.
"M'laird."
Edith turned at that low murmur from Cameron, and smiled uncertainly at her husband as she saw him approaching. She couldn't tell from his face whether he was angry with her for going out into the gardens or not. She couldn't read his expression at all. His eyes were troubled, his mouth smiling, but his jaw tight with tension. It was most confusing.
"I think I'll go clean up the bedchamber now that the men appear to be done up there," Moibeal said, hopping up from the bench to make her escape.
Edith nodded, but the word coward floated through her head as the maid slipped away and she had to force her smile to widen for her husband's benefit.
"Ronson and Laddie need another bath," Niels announced abruptly once he reached her.
Edith stared at him blankly. Those were the very last words she'd expected to hear come out of his mouth as she'd watched him approach.
"Ronson!" Niels called, and Edith followed his gaze to the boy who was following his grandmother to her chair. The lad cast a hopeful glance their way at the call.
"Aye, m'laird?" he asked, hurrying toward them with Laddie on his heels.
"You and Laddie need another bath. How the devil did ye get so dirty?" he added with exasperation. "Ye've mud from yer shins to yer withers."
"We were playing," Ronson said as if that should explain everything.
"Well, go tell yer grandmother we're going to the loch to clean the two o' ye up," Niels said, and then told Edith, "I'll ready me horse. Ye may want to gather some linens and fresh clothes while I do."
He was off heading for the keep doors before she could respond. Edith pursed her lips as she watched him go, and then stood and hurried above stairs, aware that Cameron and Fearghas were following.
Edith collected fresh clothes for herself and Niels, and linens for all three of them to dry off with, but she also grabbed soap and some furs as well. She rolled the furs and tied them with string while Moibeal stuffed everything else in a sack for her. She was hurrying back downstairs in no time.
Cameron and Fearghas both offered to carry the items for her as they followed her from their position where they'd waited outside the bedchamber, but Edith just shook her head and kept going. She was glad she had when Tormod called the two men to him as they hurried down the stairs. Cameron and Fearghas slowed and looked to her, but she waved them on.
"Go ahead. I'll just go peek out the doors and see if me husband is ready yet."
Nodding, the men rushed toward Tormod as they hit the bottom of the steps, and Edith turned to hurry to the keep doors. Hefting the sack over her shoulder, she pushed one door open and peered out, her eyebrows rising when she saw Niels coming up the stairs, a shield in hand. His horse was at the foot of the stairs with Laddie lying beside it in the dirt, and Ronson standing in front, holding the reins.
"Where are yer guards?" Niels asked when she pushed out of the keep with her items.
"Tormod called them over to the table. I said I'd just look and see if ye were ready."
Niels nodded, and then took the rolled furs from her, tucked them under his arm and grabbed the sack as well. Raising the shield over her head, he said, "Come on. We'll go without them this time. I want to talk."
He ushered her quickly down the stairs, handed her the shield to hold over her own head and then lifted her up onto the saddle. Edith almost tried to sit sidesaddle, but at the last moment thumbed her nose at propriety and shifted her legs so that she landed astride. Niels then quickly attached the sack and furs to his saddle before lifting Ronson up to sit in her lap. A moment after that he was in the saddle behind her and steering the horse out of the bailey.
"Ye can lower the shield now," Niels said once they were beyond the wall.
Edith lowered it with relief and let it hang beside them so it rested against her leg. It had been awkward holding it up like that. It had kept bumping into Niels's face. She'd tried to prevent it from happening, but bouncing around on the horse made it hard.
They didn't talk on the way out to the loch. Niels had the horse moving at a speed that made that difficult, but Edith didn't mind. She was enjoying the feeling of the cool wind in her hair and the heat of Niels's body behind her. So much so that she was almost sorry when they arrived at the loch and had to dismount.
"I'll set up the furs if ye want to get in the
water," Niels suggested as he set her on the ground.
Edith smiled faintly, but shook her head. She planned to swim with him and Ronson this time, not by herself constantly anxious that she might be seen in her chemise. She'd still wear her chemise since Ronson was with them, but wasn't shy about her husband seeing her in it. She helped him unroll and lay out the furs, and then gathered the linens and fresh clothes and hung them from the branch she'd used last time.
Once done, Edith undid the ties of her gown and slid it off, surprised when Niels groaned behind her.
"Ah, lass," he sighed, moving toward her. "Ye make it hard to think when ye do stuff like that."
"Like what?" she asked on a breathless laugh as he slipped his arms around her from behind and pulled her back against his chest. Edith nestled against him briefly, enjoying the contact, but when his hands began to rise toward her breasts, she caught them and whispered, "Behave. Ronson is here."
"Aye," Niels sighed. Releasing her, he added dryly, "And I was fool enough to invite him too."
Edith chuckled at the comment and started into the water.
It was much more fun swimming with Ronson and Niels than without, she decided as they splashed and played in the water. This time she got to enjoy it with them rather than listen to them have fun. She even enjoyed washing Laddie, despite his jumping on her and dunking her under the water twice. But eventually they had to get out.
"There ye are," Edith said brightly as she followed Ronson out of the water. "Yer clean as a newborn babe now. That should please yer grandmother."
"Thank goodness," Ronson growled with childish annoyance. "I thought she'd fair have a fit when she came out o' the garderobe and saw me."
"The garderobe again?" Edith teased with amusement.
"Aye. I told ye, she's always in there," Ronson complained, accepting the linen Edith handed him and beginning to dry himself off. "She was heading in when she sent me out to play, and was just coming out when I came back in."
Edith paused with the linen half-wrapped around herself and peered at the boy as he dropped the linen and donned the clean, if worn, clothes his grandmother had sent with him. His words replayed in her head as she watched him. But when Niels caught up to them, she started moving again and finished wrapping the linen around herself. Holding it in place with one hand, she left Niels to dry off and dress in his shirt and tartan and followed the boy to the furs, saying lightly, "Tell me about your grandmother, Ronson."