Beloved Ruins, Book 1

by Marti Talbott

  As she hoped, Owen followed.

  KESTER OFTEN WENT INTO the forest to say her morning, afternoon, or evening prayers. She had a particular tree stump she preferred, the birds always greeted her with their agreeable chirping, and sometimes a rabbit was bold enough to make an appearance. The rabbit was in no danger, for Birdie was well fed and too old to chase it.

  Nevertheless, when Birdie softly growled, Kester knew someone was coming – someone her dog did not particularly like. When she heard rustling in the bushes and a woman giggle, she opened her eyes just in time to see the top of Owen’s head. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was happening, and she thought to say something, but it was not hers to interfere. As quietly as she could, she headed home.

  WHEN THEY FIRST ARRIVED in the glen, both of Elena’s children were fascinated when Lindsey showed them how to make pottery, but they soon lost interest, as it seemed, had everyone else in the clan. Not but a few minutes after she arrived, Elena spotted Kester coming down the path, got up and waited to see if she would choose to sit in the chair or on the tree stump.

  “Dinna mind if I do,” said Kester. She walked to the chair and turned her back to it. Not sure she was close enough, she looked back, decided she would not fall and sat down. As usual, Birdie curled up at her feet. “Learnin’ pottery, are you?” she asked Elena.

  “Nay, I shall leave that sort of hard work to the one who does it so very well.”

  Lindsey smiled. “Anyone can learn. It takes a bit of practice, is all.”

  “How is your shin?” Kester asked.

  “It hardly is sore even to the touch today. Murran was late comin’ to light my fire this mornin’. I asked, but he said he was not unwell.”

  “Perhaps he is tired,” Elena suggested. “My brother keeps him too busy building his writing desk.”

  Lindsey shrugged. “That must be it.”

  Said Kester, “I grow fonder of you each day, Elena. I am a widow as well.”

  “Are you? How did your husband pass?” Elena asked.

  “He got old, I suppose. Limon was a good man and the best of husbands, but even the best of them get old and pass.”

  “Indeed they do,” said Elena. “Mine died far too young, and before Samuel was born. ‘Twas an accident.”

  Lindsey bowed her head for a moment. “I am sorry to hear it.”

  “Thank you,” Elena said. “I mourned for him, until my brother said the best way to honor his memory, was to give his children a happy home.”

  “He is right,” Kester agreed. “My babes are all grown. I have six, and four yet live. How nice it is that our lads do not have to go off to war lately.”

  “‘Tis nice for all of Scotland,” said Elena. “I pray daily that the peace in Scotland holds, but...”

  “Aye,” said Kester, “we all fear it shall not. Yet, Michael shall see to us.”

  “Can he?” Elena asked. “If the king demands it, there is little any laird can do.”

  “Michael is not just any laird,” said Lindsey. “He is my laird, and he shall do what is best for us all.”

  Tired of standing, Elena decided to sit down on the tree stump. “He seems to be a very good lad.”

  Lindsey vigorously nodded. “Oh, he is.”

  “Yet,” Kester started, “he is a man and many a lad has been misled by the likes of...” she caught herself before she said it.

  “The likes of what?” Lindsey wanted to know.

  “A wanton lass,” Kester answered.

  Lindsey wrinkled her brow. “What does that mean?”

  Kester was about to tell her the truth, and then thought better of it. “‘Tis a lass who wants more than she can have.”

  “Oh.”

  GRIZEL HAD NOT MEANT to walk down the path Lindsey lived on and was annoyed to find Kester and Elena there. She hid her disdain well enough, and pleasantly said, “Good afternoon.”

  “Have you come to work on your mosaic today?” a hopeful Lindsey asked.

  “Not today. I dinna sleep well last night and I am tired.”

  “I see,” said Lindsey. “Kester says you are of Clan Allardice.”

  “I am,” Grizel said.

  Lindsey stopped her work. “How disheartened you must be, for what happened to Laird Allardice is sad indeed.”

  Grizel did not bother to hide her surprise. “Of what do you speak?”

  Lindsey wrinkled her brow. “He has gone blind.”

  “Blind?” Grizel innocently asked.

  “How is it you dinna know? ‘Twas told to me at market. His blindness took hold these three months,” said Lindsey.

  “Oh that,” Grizel scoffed. “I thought somethin’ more had happened. ‘Tis very sad indeed, and now he must have help whatever he does and wherever he goes.” She glanced toward the river as though she had an urgent need, and then started off again.

  “Grizel,” Kester shouted after her.

  Grizel stopped, and then slowly turned around. “What?”

  “There are leaves in the back of your hair.”

  Grizel flashed the old woman an angry look, pulled her long, unbraided red hair to the front, and began pulling the leaves out as she continued on her way.

  “Why does she have leaves in her hair?” Lindsey asked.

  Kester glanced at Elena, and then answered, “Perhaps she fell down and ‘twas Owen what helped her up.”

  Lindsey wasn’t watching when Elena mouthed the word, “Owen?” to Kester.

  Kester nodded.

  “Oh,” said Lindsey. “That must be it.” As soon as she spotted Murran coming down the path, her smile widened. “You have come to start my fire?”

  As if he just remembered, Murran stopped and stared at her. “Aye.”

  “Yet half the day is gone and the fire must have all day to grow hot enough,” Lindsey said. “Will you come tomorrow?”

  Murran glanced toward the river just as Grizel had, nodded, and then went on his way. When he got to the river, he turned down the same path beside the river that Grizel had taken.

  “He never says much,” Lindsey explained after he was gone.

  “Is he the one?” Kester asked.

  Lindsey kept a straight face, “Aye, he is the one that lights my fire.”

  Kester did her best not to giggle but she couldn’t help but smile. “I can see why. He is most handsome.”

  “Is he?” Lindsey asked. “I dinna notice.”

  Elena laughed, “Then you are the only one who has not.” She exchanged another look of understanding with Kester, and then said, “I best see what my children are up to.”

  “And I am in need of a good rest,” said Kester.

  After they were gone, Lindsey sighed. “I cannae wait to have children. Someday...someday soon, I hope.” Lindsey closed her eyes – and remembered what it felt like to be in Murran’s arms.

  AT LAST, MICHAEL AND Rory came back from building the shop across the road, and not long after, her brother returned from town. “Nothing delights my brother more than parchment,” Elena teased after they gathered in the dining room for supper.

  “I am surprised you found that much of it,” said Michael, looking at the pile Balric had set on the other end of the table.

  “You simply must know the right people,” Balric said with a gleam of pride in his eyes. “There is word the French have found a way to make an abundance of paper sheets readily available, just as they do in Spain and other parts of the world.”

  “What is paper made of?” Michael asked.

  “Hemp, they tell me, with the addition of linen rags.”

  “And just now, I am reminded,” Michael started. “Can you not...”

  “Good evenin’,” Grizel said, making her usual grand entrance into the dining room. The men got up until she was seated and both pleasantly smiled at Grizel, but there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm on Elena’s part. Grizel ignored her and once more had to choose a chair that was not next to Michael. She sat beside Samuel instead and did not voice her compl
aint.

  “I trust you had a nice walk this afternoon,” Elena said to Grizel.

  With the sweetest smile she could muster for a woman she was learning to hate, Grizel said, “I did, thank you, although it would have been much more pleasurable if Michael had been with me.” She looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Perhaps tonight might do.”

  “Yet, after a hard day’s work, Michael might be tired,” Elena said.

  Grizel practically batted her eyes at him. “Are you too tired to walk with me, Michael?”

  “Perhaps another time,” he answered.

  “Very well.” She filled her bowl with food and then sighed. “The moon is out tonight and the sky promises to be clear. Perhaps you shall change your mind.”

  Elena rolled her eyes, but she decided to stay out of it this time and concentrated on her meal instead.

  “How very odd,” Master Balric muttered. “I had always heard ‘twas the lads that did the asking.”

  Again Grizel sweetly smiled, “‘Tis how ‘tis normally done, but I might not be here long and Michael has been too shy to ask me.”

  “As I was sayin’,” Michael said to Balric, “can you not teach us to count money? I am aware of it, but some struggle still.”

  “Of course I can, and I shall be most happy to,” Balric answered. He looked relieved by how expertly Michael changed the subject. “There was quite a stir at the market today.”

  “Over what?” Michael asked.

  “I dinna catch all the details, but a lass that was missing has been found.”

  “But that is good news, is it not?” Elena asked.

  “Not for many a lad who hoped to collect the reward.” Balric jabbed his fork into a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

  “A reward for a missin’ lass?” Michael asked.

  “Aye,” Balric answered as soon as he finished swallowing. “Two thousand pounds. ‘Twas said she sailed to Ireland, but apparently not, for she has been found.”

  “What happened to her, do you suppose?” Elena asked.

  “She is the daughter of a Frenchman, I heard one say, who was willing to scour the kingdom looking for her.”

  “He must love her very much, just as a father should,” said Michael.

  Grizel never said a word. Instead, she quietly ate her supper and then excused herself. After she was gone, Elena smiled – Grizel still had a leaf stuck in the back of her hair.

  DELIGHTED WITH HIS parchment and with his desk almost finished, Master Balric was hoping Michael might tell him the first story. Meanwhile, he promised to watch the sleeping children while he worked on sharpening his goose feathers and making ink out of soot.

  With her bedchamber just one door down, Elena waited until Grizel slipped out, as she was prone to do each night, and then decided to see if she could find Michael. If what she suspected was true, Grizel was about to cause an uproar in his clan for she doubted Owen was the only lad being enticed. Furthermore, she was convinced Grizel was setting a trap for him and if she were any kind of friend at all, she would warn Michael.

  She softly knocked on the door to the Great hall, and when there was no answer, she knocked louder. Still there was no answer, so she headed to the kitchen. “Forgive me,” she said when she realized she had interrupted Beitris’ meal.”

  “Have you a need?” Beitris asked.

  “Nay, I was trying to find Michael.”

  Beitris pointed toward the back of the castle. “He walked past but a few minutes ago.”

  “Thank you.” Elena went that direction and happened upon a back staircase she had not realized was there. She opened the door, and discovered a lit candle on a small table. She held one of the extra candles to the flame, cupped her hand around it and then started up the stairs. To her surprise, the staircase led to the top of the inner courtyard wall. When she reached the top of the stairs, she was greeted with such an abundance of twinkling stars, it took her breath away.

  For a long moment, she slowly examined the heavens and sighed. The moon was just beginning to rise when Elena finally spotted Michael. “I have found you.”

  “‘Tis my favorite place to be on a night such as this.” He did not get up, and instead sat on a flat stone slab with his long legs extended and crossed at the ankle.

  “I best leave you to your solitude. We can talk later.”

  “Please stay,” he said. “The heavens are...” he tried in English. Michael frowned when he couldn’t find the word.

  “Beautiful?” she offered as she found a nearby stone of her own to sit on.

  “Aye, beautiful.” He took the candle out of her hand, blew out the flame, and set it down beside him. “Where does she go?”

  “Who?”

  “I saw Grizel leave just now.”

  “I know not where she goes, nor do I care usually.”

  “‘Tis the first I saw of her leavin’. Does she go into the darkness every night?”

  “I know not that either, but it explains why she cannae get up of a morn.”

  “Aye, it does.”

  It was the perfect time to tell Michael what was happening, but somehow Elena didn’t feel comfortable spreading Kester’s rumors. After all, she had not witnessed anything, so she decided to wait until she had more proof, and until she knew him better. Besides, he could guess what Grizel was up to as well as anyone else. “I understand now about Lindsey. She is too accepting.”

  “Aye. Kester promised her mother she would keep an eye out for Lindsey, but I cannae think what we are to do when Kester passes.”

  “Can you not find Lindsey a husband?”

  “That, I cannae do. There was a time when the MacGreagor lairds were also matchmakers, but they had wives to help them choose. Concernin’ marriage, I cannae be trusted to decide the fate of anyone without sound advice.”

  “I fear you are too late anyway. I believe she has her heart set.”

  “On who?”

  “I believe ‘tis Murran,”

  Michael looked away. “Nay, Murran is not the lad to marry Lindsey.”

  “Why not?”

  “He is a good lad, a fine builder and one of the strongest MacGreagor warriors we have, but he...he has too little patience and Lindsey shall need considerable patience all the days of her life. Nay, ‘twould not be a good match.”

  “I see. Yet, Lindsey’s face lit up when she saw him today.”

  “Does her face not always light up when she sees any of us?”

  “Other lads walked down the path, but ‘twas Murran who caught her fancy,” Elena said.

  “Rory is the right match for Lindsey.”

  “If only we could convince her of that, but we love who we love. It cannae be helped.”

  Michael was quiet for a time. He pointed at a shooting star and looked to see if she saw it.

  She followed it with her eyes and then changed the subject. “How did the shop building go?”

  Michael rolled his eyes. “It went very well, and when the lads finally agree on what they want to do, we might actually begin to build it.”

  She smiled. “Is it not Brandon’s decision?”

  “‘Tis what I thought, but first there was this suggestion, and then that suggestion, and by time to come home, the only decision made was to build a hearth.”

  “Do not all shops have...”

  Michael let his voice betray his frustration. “Aye. We set aside buildin’ a bridge across the river in favor of the shop, but now I suspect we could well have the bridge finished long before the lads agree.” He enjoyed Elena’s giggle for a moment and then turned to look at her. “How is it you are so easy to tell my troubles to?”

  “Balric says the same, and I assure you I am of no help when it comes to parchment and goose feathers. He values my opinion just the same, or so he says. Besides, I am tricking you. I pretend to be a good listener when all this time I am wishing on the stars.”

  “Wishin’ for what?”

  She finally turned to look him in the eye. “I wi
sh to be forgiven for interrupting your solitude, which is not to say I am sorry for discovering this place. ‘Tis the most peaceful place I have ever been. Shall you banish me? I truly deserve it.”

  “Well,” he teased. “I shall need time to consider it. A MacGreagor laird dinna take banishment lightly.”

  “I am glad to hear that.” She looked up just in time to see another shooting star. “I suspect my brother is wishing I would return just now. He hopes to find you so you may tell him one of your stories. Shall I tell him how to find you?”

  “Do you not want to hear the stories?”

  “I do indeed.”

  Michael stood up. “I might have to banish you, but I cannae let you fall down the stairs in the dark. Wait here.” He picked up the candles and then stared down. A moment later, he returned, lit her candle off of his, and handed it to her. “Is he in his writin’ room?”

  “The last I saw of him.”

  SOONER OR LATER, A discussion between eligible women turned to the subject of men and Lindsey favored the subject more than most. She was pleased when both Elena and Grizel came to be with her, for she still saw no evil in either one of them.

  “Why has Michael not yet married?” Grizel asked, as she sat on the tree stump and cleaned her long fingernails with the tip of a knife.

  Elena saw the long fingernails as just another hint that Grizel had not seen a hard day’s work in her life. “Perhaps he has not yet found the lass he loves.”

  “He has not,” said Lindsey. “I dinna know why.”

  “I hear Rory fancies you,” said Grizel.

  Lindsey paused in her work long enough to sigh. “So he says.”

  “I think him a good man and he would make you a fine husband,” Elena said.

  “Rory?” Grizel giggled. “I dinna know him well, but he is...” she stopped to make certain she did not cut herself.

  “Is what?” Lindsey asked.

  “Commonplace,” Grizel answered.

  Hoping to talk Lindsey into the right marriage, Elena frowned. “Not true. I find him quite more than commonplace. I find him unusually wise and entertaining.”