Page 14 of The Shadow of a Laird
She stood up and went to fetch a pitcher of ale, then poured it into two cups for them. As Gavin looked into the clay vessels, he thought about the days when he used to drink out of crystal glasses and silver tankards, and doubted if those days would ever come again.
“My family used tae live on Forsyth land,” Maura went on, “and get their water fae the wee loch next tae the castle. It had been daein’ so for as long as anybody could remember without any trouble. But at some point people started noticin’ the loch water smelled funny an’ people started tae get sick, especially the old people an’ the bairns. My Mammy an’ Da werenae old, but mammy died anyway, an’ when she went, my Da didnae want tae live anymore. He caught the fever, an’ just gave up, but before hepassed he told me tae go tae stay wi’ my uncle. That is why I am here.”
“You have no other family?” he asked.
Maura shook her head, seemingly unable to go on. Gavin felt his heart breaking for her.
“Dae ye think I would be stayin’ wi’ that eejit if I had?” she asked bitterly.
“What do you think of Laird Forsyth?” Gavin asked. He felt as though he was walking on eggshells.
“The old Laird or his son?” she asked.
Gavin was startled. Of course, he himself was the new Laird—he had forgotten for a moment.
“The old one, I think,” he replied, trying to inject a note of doubt into his voice so that he would sound believable. “His son was not Laird back then.”
“I think he was a monster,” Maura growled. “A monster wi’ no heart. He had a’ the healers locked up in the castle so that they couldnae bring back anybody that would make his family sick. I understand about carin’ for your family, but what about everybody else’s family? The man was evil. Do ye know what I did the day he died?”
Gavin shook his head. “Tell me,” he said.
“I poured myself a whisky an’ said thank ye tae the devil that took him.” Her voice was bitter and full of hatred. Then something occurred to her. “Wait—if your father was Captain o’ the Guard, did you not stay at Duncairn?”
“Yes, I did,” Gavin replied. “But I had gone away for the month, and by the time I came back it was all over.” He was beginning to find that lying was not an easy skill to master, since lies begot more lies, and it was difficult to remember them all. He had been fortunate so far, however.
How could he tell her the truth? He had been in the castle the whole time because his father and mother had forbidden him toleave. He had tried to be angry with them, but in truth he had been relieved to be safe from harm. The castle was completely isolated from the village and had its own water supply.
Gavin felt wretched. No wonder, Maura was bitter; not only had she lost her parents, but she had been forced into living with a person she actively disliked—perhaps even hated. Moreover, his own father was the cause.
“I am going to ask you a strange question,” he told her. “If you were a Laird’s heir, and you had plenty of coin and power, what would you do? What are your dreams?”
“That is a funny question,” she remarked, then she became silent, thinking. She smiled dreamily for a moment and sipped her ale, staring into space, then she said, “I want tae take over this tavern. I want tae make enough money tae feed the poor around here an’ open an orphanage because I am an orphan. Though I am grown up now, I still feel the loss o’ my parents. Sometimes I wake up in the night an’ imagine they are in my room, Da sittin’ by the fire an’ Mammy bendin’ over me. So I want tae make sure nae other bairns are sae poor, they have tae go hungry.
I know you will probably think it isnae possible, an’ maybe it isnae, but it is what I want tae dae.” She looked at him and smiled. “We can a’ dream, eh, Gavin?”
“Yes, we can,” he looked down at his hands on the table, feeling desperately ashamed. He had no idea what was going to happen to him when he left, but he knew that he would help her in any way that he could to make her plans work.
For the first time in his life, he thought he would love to become a better man. He wanted to be worthy—of Maura. She was everything he could possibly wish for in a woman; she was beautiful, funny, and best of all, intelligent. He could not imagine tying himself to a woman who could not put her thoughts in order. He wondered why he was even thinking thisway, however. He was not in a position to attach himself to anyone, so he pushed the thought out of his mind; he could make no plans yet.
He was barely able to get through one day at a time, and the future was impossible to fathom. He was completely lost.
“What were ye thinkin’ about that?” Maura asked him. “When ye were miles away.”
“I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help them,” he said. “Living in the castle I was isolated from all the happenings in the village of Duncairn, and I never saw what went on here in Carmalcolm either.”
“Be glad ye didnae.” Again, Maura’s tone was cynical as she dropped her gaze to the table. “There were people droppin’ in the streets an’ bairns cryin’ because they were that hungry. I had eaten a’ the food that was in our house, an’ I thought I might die o’ starvation.
Luckily, one o’ my uncle’s people came tae collect me in the middle o’ the night, brought me some food, an’ he helped me bury my Mammy an’ Da. They are still behind the cottage in Duncairn. So you see, although he is a bad man now, he was not always as ye see him now.” She looked up at him again, tears coursing down her cheeks, and this time Gavin could not hold his pity in check.
He moved his arm across the table and cupped hers. His thumb caressed her soft skin smoothly, and she leaned into his touch. Their bodies moved unconsciously closer, and if the table was not between them, Gavin would want to kiss her and take away her pain. She smelled like the fabric of the cushion, warm, earthy, with a hint of something floral. It was a scent unique to her, and he knew he would always remember it and associate it with this moment in time.
Maura pulled her hand away and smiled into his eyes. “We told each other we would be friends,” she reminded him. “Youhave been a really good one, Gavin, an’ I thank ye from the bottom o’ my heart. Ye are still a bit o’ a mystery tae me, but we will get tae know each other better in time, I suppose.” She looked up at him, hopefully.
“I know we will,” he replied. “I hope to be around to fight many more battles on your behalf. Let me protect you, Maura. Let me help you as you have helped me. You have shared many of your worst experiences and your tenderest feelings with me, and I appreciate your honesty. I promise that nothing you have told me will go any further.” He heard his voice trembling a little as he looked down at her full, soft lips and wondered what would happen if he dared peck them.
“I feel as though a weight has been lifted fae my shoulders,” Maura told him. “A weight I didnae even know was there.” She stood and went around the table, planting a soft kiss on his cheek.
“Goodnight, my friend,” she said softly, before turning and walking away into the shadows.
