"'Tis. I made tha entries from tha last buyer before I brought tha ledger an coin back tae ye."
"An all tha coin has been given over tae Edan." Rhona turned to him. "What say ye? Have we made ah profit or nae?"
The little girl, the lass who used to be a little girl was looking at him intently. Edan made a decision. Lara was beyond her age in many things, he would let her grow. "Here. Take tha master ledger, add in yesterday's monies."
Jamie moved to the side as Edan settled next to Lara. Opening the large ledger, Edan braced himself on the bench. "Do ye need ah scrap tae work it out on before entering?"
"Please. I dinnae like tae botch tha entries. Tha book needs tae be neat." Her dark eyes smiled up at Edan. From a drawer under the top of the bench, Edan drew out paper, the quill and ink. He placed them at Lara's right hand.
"Take ah look. What I've been doing is all here. This column is what we paid for tha yard an tha house. Tha rents are here, tha garden here an so on. Each enterprise has ah column. 'Tis much like keeping tha inventory in tha yard. Ye deduct expenses, add in earnings an when done, ye have ah negative or positive balance. Then ye add all here an, God willing, we have ah profit."
Lara looked up at him. One eyebrow was up her forehead. "How can ye have ah negative balance? If ye dinnae have it, 'tis nae there. Ye cannae eat an egg ye nae have."
"Ah, good question, lass. If ye have ah negative balance, ye're either in debt tae tha money lenders, on tha street 1with nae home an food, or all three. Negative is tha worst possible state. If there is ah naught, then ye're nae in debt, but ye might be without shelter or food."
Without looking up at Edan, Lara nodded as she surveyed the figures in the book. "Aye. Then tha only possibility tae be allowed is ah positive balance."
"Ye have it, lass, but variables always exist. And try tae never invest all yur eggs intae one thing. Tha garden is separate from tha making of furniture. If one fails, tha other may carry us through. Now tha lumber yard is something I use for the furniture business. But, I pay for what I use. Dinnae forget that, ye cannae just take. If I wasnae able tae pay for what I use, 'cause there was nae profit, then I need tae find another line of business. Ye ken this?"
"These are all positives. Tha weaving nae by much, but positive. Why is tha weaving lower do ye think?" Lara tapped her finger at the bottom of the column.
"I'm nae sure, lass. We could talk with Cadha an Daracha. Cadha does tha selling for tha both of them at market. She may be able tae explain tha matter."
"Ye're tha garden. But tha garden is nae going tae be doing aught for a while. That means we will have ah negative for ah wee bit." She looked inquiringly at Jamie. "How long are ye out of balance here?"
Out of balance. Edan thought about her question. It was as good a way of describing it as any. Lara grasped the basic concepts. Her only problem in this city, in the world they now found themselves in, was being female. Reaching out a hand, Edan smoothed down her braid.
A mind as sharp as Lara's would be wasted as only a wife and mother. She had more to offer a man. A man with the sense to see beyond the beauty Edan could see waiting to be released when she was a woman. He hoped the intellect she was displaying now, would help her find a good man when the time came.
What of Isa and Lilas? Where would their talents lie? The truth was, he was already a father. Each of these children were his to raise, as surely as if he had sired them. His responsibility extended far beyond simply clothing and feeding them and their mothers.
"Laird?" Her little girl voice broke into his thoughts. "Laird?"
"Och! Sorry, lass. What?"
"Tha yard is showing a profit. Nae big, mind? But, if ye take tha balance from the rent and add it tae tha yard money, ‘tis a better one."
"'Tis good. But, as ye said, tha garden and tha weaving need tae be carried for now. I dinnae think we should put all of tha profit intae stock. Now, if we find ah bargain, mind, we might do better. And we need tae have some put by."
"Aye, like smoked meat or dried fish?" she asked as she looked up at him.
Edan agreed with a nod.
"Do we have money put by?" she asked him as she looked back down at the ledger.
"Here." Edan tapped the far right hand column. "This is what we have put by. An nae all of it is in ah bank. I nae trust banks so much. 'Tis far tae easy tae book passage for the colonies an vanish with another's money."
"Turn tha page, Lara. See these columns? At tha top are tha names of places where tha money is at present. This ship, tha captain wished tae buy it. I learned it from him when we arranged tha first shipment of wood from tha colonies. We loaned him tha money tae buy ah partnership in that voyage. He repaid us with interest." Edan went across the page pointing out small loans to other tradesmen.
No one, other than Daracha knew the full extent of their savings. Nor was he going to enlighten the three people in the room with him. They could see what was in the ledger. Edan had no quarrel with that.
Where the actual money was concealed was another matter entirely. In the room where he worked daily, a small hoard of gold coins was stored. Most of the profit, which was not invested, was hidden behind a stone in the fireplace of the cottage. Slowly, he tucked away small sums in three different banks in the city. If one failed, the others might remain viable.
Losing the glen had taught him a valuable lesson. Never keep all you have tied up in one enterprise. Toward that end, Edan was thinking of buying more land when he was positive they were as secure as he could get them. All in good time.
With a quick pat on Lara's shoulder, he got her attention. "Tell me, lass, why am I going tae all this trouble? What is all this for?"
It was the first time he saw doubt in her eyes. Now to drive the lesson home.
"Ye have nae idea?" Edan tipped up her chin. "It's for ye, for Isa, for Rhona's bairn, for Adie, Blane and Sim. I want ye tae be able tae have shelter, food in yur belly, an clothing on yur back. An, ye need an education. Without the teaching Rhona gave ye on tha figures, would ye be able tae ken this?"
The idea took hold behind her eyes as Edan watched. "Ye see, in truth, this has always been tha laird's job. There are some now, who think they are better than their families who gave them the job in tha first place. MacGrough has never 1believed that. Tha only reason we are sitting here in tha shop is because Hamish understood I needed ah way tae do something with my hands. Something which was of service tae tha family."
Releasing her, Edan smiled at Lara. "How much can we devote tae stocking tha yard? What do ye think?"
As he watched, the girl wrote some figures on the piece of paper he had supplied. She was silent for a moment as she added the column, then subtracted another amount.
Lara held the paper up to him. "This amount, mayhap? What say ye, Laird?"
"What say ye?" Edan grinned at his two advisors. "Shall we invest this amount?"
Jamie and Rhona moved closer and glanced at the book and the figure Lara had proposed. Then the discussion began. Edan heaved a sigh of relief. It was good to have others to discuss it all with. Yet, in the end, he knew who would make the final decision, the laird.
Chapter Twenty - Nine
Lara was busily entering figures in the ledger while sitting at the smaller work bench beneath the window. Rhona was sitting on Edan's tall stool just behind her. Jamie brought them the figures and money each day. For the next few weeks, Rhona would be overseeing Lara's work as his new clerk.
Edan declined to call Lara his steward, as he understood the child could easily get far too ahead of herself. She was a bit more stubborn than was good for her. Fairly sure he could curb her, Edan wanted Lara held under tight rein for the time being.
In just a few weeks the Christ child's birth celebration would be on them. They were attending church up until a few weeks ago. It was far too cold and muddy to drag his womenfolk out. The parson had seemed to understand his reasoning, but Edan was not sure. Dealing with the churchman was one duty he heartily dislike
d. The man was too judgmental by half.
A commission for a dining set came in. There were to be eight chairs and all were to have the initials of the lucky couple entwined in a lover's knot on the head rests. The entire set was to be of mahogany. It was a very hard wood and quite difficult to work.
With the first of the head rests pinned on the large bench, Edan was preparing to scribe over the design he had placed on the wood. After constructing a pattern of heavy paper, he pricked tiny holes into the paper along the entire design. That was the easy part.
Clamping the paper onto the wood, he carefully filled each hole with white lead. On lifting the paper, he began to connect the dots with a very fine brush dipped in white lead. There might be other ways of doing the job of transferring the design, he did not care. This was the method he had devised and Edan was happy with it.
Once he had the design on the wood, he looked around the shop. Adie was working on laying out the remainder of the head rests on a board. His head apprentice would rough cut them out once they were all marked out.
Blane had already cleaned up the area where Adie was working. The younger lad was carefully searching through the box of scraps for pieces fit to use as blocks inside the seat frames.
Satisfied everyone had a job to do, Edan spoke. "I'm going tae begin scribing tha design intae tha head piece. Dinnae make any undue noise nor touch me until I give tha all clear. I've nae wish tae make ah mistake and lose this piece of wood. 'Tis horribly expensive an I want tae get all eight from tha one board. Do ye ken?"
A chorus of agreement rang through the room. Fitting the scribe firmly into his hand, Edan started at the far side of the head piece and drew the sharp instrument toward him.
Most scribes were different from his and for good reason, they only worked with straight lines. He had fashioned the tool in the glen just for this purpose. Bending low, so he was nearly at eye level with the head piece, Edan began cutting the design into the hard wood.
Slipping down from her seat on the stool, Rhona arched her back. She felt huge, but all the other women assured her otherwise. The silence in the shop was comfortable. Lara's quill scratched against the paper as she made entries into the master ledger.
Blane was sitting cross legged before the scrap box picking out pieces he would later cut down into the blocks Edan needed. Adie's task was a bit more complicated, as he studied the best way to lay the remaining parts of the chair backs out. She had learned a little of what Edan did here in his shop. The pieces all needed to have the grain of the wood going in the same direction in order to keep the look of the chairs consistent.
Edan demanded perfection in his shop. Nothing left that was not the best he or his apprentices could put out. For some reason she could not fathom, he was far more relaxed in his dealings with people. Hamish had been the more intense of the two, rigid might best describe it.
To her husband there was wrong and right and little between. Edan saw things differently. It seemed to Rhona, the younger man was willing to overlook a fault so long as it did not cause the others in his care a great deal of damage.
She was a prime example of his forbearance. As much as she was trying to be reasonable, there were times when her sharp tongue took control. A bit of snippiness was overlooked so long as she did not take it to excess.
Hamish, as loving toward her as he was, constantly harped on her about her manners. Edan occasionally gave her a sharp look, but otherwise let her be. Rhona was grateful for the absence of lectures, she had heard enough throughout her childhood.
Careful to not scrape the stool across the floor, the woman lifted herself back onto the seat. She watched the man as he etched the design into the wood with the sharp tool. His focus on what he was doing was absolute. Rhona wondered if anything they did would even be noticed.
She was not willing to act on her thought. Edan did have the MacGrough temper. It didn't often rise to the fore, but it was there. Rhona had seen it on one occasion and was not going to provoke the man over nothing.
With a slight grin, she realized that was a turnabout for her. There was a time she would have scraped the stool across the floor deliberately, just to see what he might do. Her own temper had calmed a bit. Not exactly sure why, it was nonetheless, a good thing. She did not need to be badgering Edan.
Their truce benefitted everyone in their small household. And there were too many other things to worry about. Infighting would only weaken them.
A matter which was upcoming was the situation with the kirk. The clan did discuss the matter of the congregation's gossips. There was talk about two men living in the same house with several young widows. Certain people felt it was unseemly and a poor example for the rest of the area. An invitation was issued to the pastor to come and sup with the clan on the upcoming Friday evening.
Rhona was glad they now had a table to eat at. Edan constructed three trestles, which supported three oak planks Adie had joined together. Placed over the trestles, it gave them a good long table in the living area by the hearth. Two benches and four straight back chairs completed their dining furniture.
The other thing he put together was a bed for Daracha. On learning of her pregnancy, the bed was the next thing he made. It was not a box bed. It had six legs which supported the frame. The frame itself had holes bored in the sides for rope.
Rhona recalled Jamie helped carry the pieces of the bed upstairs to the couple's bedroom. One leg went in each corner. Another leg supported the frame on either side. Edan strung the rope through the holes and tightened them with a stick he inserted into the last loop of rope. He twisted the rope and tightened it, drawing the whole into a unit. On plucking the rope, it made a sound much like a stringed instrument.
With a grin, Edan turned to an amazed Daracha. "Ye're off tha floor, my luv. Tha mattress is nae my contribution. Have ye an idea how to proceed?"
"I have. By tomorrow eve ye'll be sleeping in this bed." She reached out to pat the rope, testing its springiness.
"Do ye mean we've another night on tha wretched floor?" Edan was trying to sound angry, but Rhona saw the small smirk as well as Daracha did.
"Aye, ye big bairn. Cease yur complaining." She tapped him lightly on the chest before planting a kiss on his lips.
Rhona turned away as they kissed. It stirred too much in her. As it did again, simply thinking on it. They were very much in love. It was apparent to anyone with eyes. If the parson or anyone else thought Edan was fooling around on Daracha, they were very much mistaken.
Squirming a bit on the stool, Rhona wished they were still in the safety of the glen. Although, she had to concede under the circumstances, safety was probably not the correct word. The isolation would be welcome, however.
The matter of the local gossips was disheartening. But there were people with dirty minds everywhere. Hopefully the pastor's visit to their home would quash the rumors. Exactly what Edan had planned for the man was something she meant to ask about. As there were only a few days left before the dinner, Rhona had a great desire to discuss it all with Edan.
So far, he had not really laid out his plans. Wondering if he was going to say anything after the evening meal, she squirmed again as the babe kicked heartily. Unfortunately, this time the legs of the stool made a slight screech as they slid on the floor.
Edan heard the noise and stopped cutting before he made a mistake. Glancing over toward Rhona, he noted she had a hand on her belly. As slight as the noise had been, she was probably only wiggling about trying to get comfortable.
"Do ye need tae leave, Rhona? If so, go along before I start again."
"Och! Sorry! I didnae mean tae make noise." Rising from the stool, she put a hand on Lara's shoulder. "Are ye finished? We need tae leave Edan in peace so he can work."
Lara ran the blotter over the ink, shut the ledger and bounced up from the chair. "Aye."
"We shall leave now. ‘Tis yur nephew, he's moving something fierce." Rhona propelled Lara toward the door.
Once th
e door was shut behind them, Edan went back to his chore. From the manner in which Rhona had hurriedly left, taking Lara with her, it was doubtful she tried to bother him purposefully. He was quite willing to let it be, as no harm had been done.
He was content with Rhona. There had been no great tirades lately and when she did act somewhat nasty, it blew over quickly. She had even 1apologized to others when incidents did occur. If the woman continued down the present path, Edan was willing to let the past lay.
Friendship with her would probably be asking too much of either of them. They could work together for the good of all. The matter with the lumber yard had already proved it. She seemed to be friends with Daracha, which was acceptable as well.
Finishing the scribing, Edan brought out his new gouge. He had purchased the tool as soon as he tried carving the mahogany. The old one did not work well on the hard wood. Made of better material, the new gouge allowed him to work the dense wood far more easily.
The wood yielded to the sharp tip of the gouge and Edan carefully removed the excess material. Very intricate, the design took more time than other things Edan had done in the past. When he was finished, sometime later, the carving was just what he had planned. Hopefully, the client would be as pleased as he was.
It was growing dark. Adie was working on freeing the last of the head rests from the plank with the small frame saw. Stretching the kinks out of his shoulder muscles, Edan called a halt for the day. He was hungry and it was likely the boys were as well.
Blane scooted out of the shop behind Adie. Edan locked the doors and went into the bustle of the interior of the house. A jug of ale waited at the head of the table for him, along with a wooden cup. Tucked under the edge of the table his foot stool waited.
With a smile, Edan seated himself and poured a cup of the ale. Daracha carried a wooden bowl up to the table. Her softly rounded belly was the only indication of the child she carried.
Steam rose from the soup bowl and the plate of bannocks she pushed in his direction smelled inviting. Everyone began to seat themselves. Edan noted Jamie was at the other end of the table with Rut sitting next to him on the end of the bench. Once every one was settled, Edan asked a blessing on the food.
The Twisted Laird Page 20