Page 13 of To Wed a Laird
Rose laughed at the sight of her, and when Elspeth began to giggle too, she spat crumbs all over the table.
“I wish I had some wine tae offer ye, Rose,” Nell said regretfully. “I know the Laird would gie me as much as I want, but I dinnae like it, an’ I dinnae have many visitors tae share it wi’.”
“I only drink it with dinner,” Rose consoled her. “Milk is fine.”
She patted Nell’s hand, and a moment later Elspeth patted hers, so that the three of them made a little tower. They all laughed, then Elspeth jumped to her feet and moved towards the fireplace, holding her hands out to the flames.
Rose glanced at Nell, who winked at her and patted her back. “She’s happy,” she murmured.
Rose flushed with pride. “I hope I helped her,” she said.
“I know ye did,” Nell answered, smiling. “I havenae seen her like this for a long time.”
Elspeth came back to the table and began to tuck into her food again, and they all ate happily for a while. When the food was finished, Elspeth sat back in her chair and patted her tummy, then sighed with satisfaction.
Rose knew she should continue with Elspeth’s lessons, but she could not bring herself to spoil the joyful expression on her face. Obviously, days like this did not happen often, and Rose decided to ask the Laird to let them have a free day every so often so that the two of them could do nothing else but have fun.
“By the way,” she said to Elspeth, “did Cormac the Brave manage to rescue Princess Mary from the pirates?”
“Of course!” Elspeth replied. “Cormac the Brave once rescued a flying horse from the jaws of a dragon. He is so brave, he can do anything.”
“What happened to the dragon?” Elspeth asked. “Did he kill it?”
Elspeth nodded, a fierce frown on her face. “He kills all the monsters he finds.”
Rose could not help thinking that Elspeth’s words, although she did not realise it of course, were metaphorical. The flying horse was her mother, although of course he had not managed to save her, and the dragon was the army who had killed her.
“He sounds like a real hero,” Rose remarked, smiling. “Now, I am full up, so perhaps we had better go and do some walking to help all this food go down.”
“And I can show you all my best hiding places,” Elspeth offered, her eyes shining with mischief.
CHAPTER SIX
Rose was exhaustedwhen it was finally time for bed. After a tour of every nook and cranny in what seemed like the entire castle, Elspeth had been persuaded to have a bath. This was, as Rose had expected, quite an eventful experience, since Elspeth and water were quite a volatile mix!
Shortly thereafter, Rose was able to tuck Elspeth into bed, and within a very short time she was asleep, having worn herself out with the energetic activities of the day.
Elspeth was not the only one who was exhausted, and after a perfunctory wash, Rose collapsed into bed and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, well satisfied with the day.
The next morning, she rose from bed totally refreshed and ready for the coming day, having enjoyed a deep and dreamless sleep. She felt ready to take on anything, but knew that she would need all her energy to deal with the day ahead.
You can do this, Rose!she told herself sternly, before marching along to Elspeth’s chamber as though she were going into battle.
“May I come in?” Rose asked, as she cracked open the door of Elspeth’s room. She expected to go through the sameperformance as the day before, when she had practically had to use trickery to get Elspeth to move.
However, to her surprise, Rose heard her cry out, “Come in!”
Rose entered the room, prepared for a doll or a top or a ball to come flying in her direction, but nothing happened as she closed the door behind her. She went to open the curtains and saw Elspeth sitting up in bed, smiling and clutching a doll to her chest.
“Good morning,” Rose greeted her. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I did,” she replied. “And I had no bad dreams at all.” Elspeth looked puzzled.
“Do you usually have bad dreams?” Rose asked. She felt infinitely sorry for the poor child.
Elspeth nodded. “Most of the time,” she replied.
“What did you dream about instead?” Rose asked, and was rewarded with a beaming smile.
