Page 91 of Taming the Highland Misfits
As he rode into the courtyard, he was met by his cousin Scott, who beamed at him and gave him a mighty bear-hug when he dismounted. He was fair and tall, not dissimilar in looks to Alex himself, but neither he nor his twin was as well built or handsome. What they lacked in looks they made up for in sheer charm, however. He, his brother Jamie and Alex had often been enamoured of the same young women, and there had long been a light-hearted competition between them.
“Where have you been, you skellum?” Scott asked, laughing. “We have not seen you for a month of Sundays!”
“I am a very busy man these days,” Alex protested, laughing, just as his cousin Jamie, then his brothers Callum and Duncan came out to meet him. There was a great deal of back-slapping, playful punching and ribald teasing before Laird MacNeill came out to embrace his nephew, beaming.
Alex loved his kindly, affectionate uncle as much as he had loved his own father. His affection and tolerance knew no bounds, and even when Alex had told him that he was going to pledge fealty to the Murdaugh clan, he had understood his reasons and given his nephew his blessing. Alex hoped that in a few years he could be the kind of man his uncle was.
“It has been a while, Alex!” the Laird observed. “I fear you have been neglecting us.” His tone was light-hearted, but Alex detected a slight note of censure behind it.
He knew that there were valid reasons why his uncle did not come to see him, since his workload as a Laird was extremely heavy, so the onus had always been on him to make the visits to Cairnheugh.
“I am sorry, Uncle Lachlan,” he said regretfully, “but I have had a lot on my mind lately. I have much to tell you— ” he got no further, because his brother Callum, younger of the twins by ten minutes, jumped onto his back and almost overbalanced him.
Alex stumbled forward, laughing, then he knelt on the ground and rolled sideways, tipping Callum off his back before flipping him onto the ground on his back. Thereafter, he straddled his brother and pinned his arms to the ground, and no matter how much Callum struggled and cursed, Alex was too strong for him, and at last he gave up trying to free himself.
“Surrender?” Alex asked, grinning.
Callum laughed. “I surrender this time–but just you wait–I will get my revenge!”
Alex pulled his brother to his feet and hugged him. “We’ll see,” he said mischievously.
“I have a meeting to go to,” Laird MacNeill announced. “But I will see you all at dinner. Alex, I will have your favourite wine sent up, and I also have a new single malt for all of us to try.” He raised his eyebrows as if to ask for Alex’s approval, but his nephew only had time to nod before he was dragged away by his cousin Jamie.
He did not, therefore, see Laird MacNeill standing looking at him thoughtfully for a few moments, and even if he had, he would not have known what was going through his mind. He had no idea that the Laird was dreading their conversation over dinner. Laird MacNeill had business with his estate manager, but resolved to make the meeting as short as possible. He had a lot to discuss with his nephew.
“Right, big man!” Jamie, unlike the rest of the family, had dark hair and eyes and normally wore a wicked, mischievous expression, as he did now. He was the shortest of all of them, but also the strongest; Alex knew this to his cost, having wrestled with him many times before. Now, however, there was a score to settle, since Jamie had won the last bout and had completely vanquished his cousin. “Time to see what the Captain of the Murdaughs is made of. I beat you last time and I am going to beat you again!”
“Let’s make it more interesting,” Callum suggested, grinning. “The winner gets ten shillings from the loser, and the loser has to kiss the cook.”
Both combatants groaned. The cook was a woman in her late middle years called Mary Malone, who was one of the ugliest women any of them had ever seen. She was extremely skinny, with sparse grey hair, hardly any teeth and extremely malodorous breath. Although she was an extremely pleasant person with a wonderful sense of humour, she could never in a thousand years be seen as the object of a young man’s desire. Quite the opposite was true.
“On the cheek!” Jamie said desperately, but the rest of the young men shook their heads.
“No.” Duncan, the older of Alex’s twin brothers, spoke up for the first time. “On the lips. Those are the rules.” His voice was firm.
“And if either of you cheats, it’s six hours in the dungeon,” Scott added for good measure. This game had been played before, and although it was light-hearted, there was a good measure of manly pride at stake.
The two combatants agreed to abide by the rules, and the bout began. At first, it seemed that Jamie had the upper hand; he had obviously been practising, encouraged by his last victory. However, this only strengthened Alex’s determination to win, and he fought all the harder. His hands were much bigger than Jamie’s, and his reach was longer, although Jamie had the edge in speed and agility, so although Alex was bigger and stronger, it was by no means a one-sided match.
The guards at Cairnheugh all stood around, clapping and cheering, egging on their favourite, who was of course Jamie. Gradually, though, it became obvious that his strength was failing, and after a few more hard blows to the ribs, Jamie staggered backwards and fell on his backside onto the hard flagstones.
“Oof!” he cried as he came in contact with the hard ground. He glared at Alex as he reached down to haul him to his feet, but the glare turned to a grin. “Well done–fair fight, big man!” He reached into his pocket to pull out some coins, but Alex stopped him, shaking his head.
“I have enough money,” he told Jamie. “Give it to the young widow in the village who has two bairns to feed. She needs it more than I do.”
Jamie patted Alex’s shoulder. “You are a kind man, Cousin. My mother has been helping that woman too, and says that she is in need of a great deal of aid. Thank you.”
“And the second part of the forfeit?” Alex raised his eyebrows and Jamie groaned.
“Please, I beg of you–do not make me do this!” he begged desperately.
Alex shook his head firmly, then turned Jamie around and pushed him into the castle while the rest of his family, the guards and some mystified maidservants looked on. They went down to the kitchen, where the cook was standing rolling pastry for a pie, singing a local folk song and looking very content.
She looked up as they entered, and as soon as she saw them she threw her head back and roared with laughter. She knew what was coming, since it had happened many times before, and she held her arms out. “Which one o’ ye has lost the bet this time?” she asked, still laughing. “Send the poor wee lad over here so he can get it over with, an’ I promise no’ tae bite–no’ that I have anythin’ tae bite wi’!” She bared her gums to show the gap where her teeth had once been.
Jamie reluctantly crossed the kitchen towards the cook and aimed his lips at her cheek, but she grabbed his face and pulled his head around so that his lips met hers in a firm hard kiss. Her breath stank of rotten breath and onions, and he could not hide his disgust as she finally let him go. He turned away quickly to hide the expression of revulsion on his face, but could not help retching.
“Thank you, Mary.” Scott winked at her and slipped a coin into her hand. She grinned and slipped it into her pocket, then went back to her work. Seeing this, Alex realised it was a game the young men often played, and he felt a twinge of regret that he had not stayed here and participated in the mischief with the rest of his family.
