Page 20 of One Bed for the Bluestocking
Iain lifted his chin.“I demand satisfaction!”
Roderick laughed.“Are ye certain?Ye want to meet me with swords at dawn?”
Iain blanched.Kate didn’t blame him.He was as tall as Roderick, but based on his slim frame, he’d probably never wielded anything but a paintbrush.Meanwhile, Roderick had brought a claymore with him to Edinburgh.He often brought it along when they spent an afternoon lounging on the green beneath the castle.Kate had even made some sketches of him drilling with it in his kilt.She was planning on adding some watercolors to one and presenting it to Roderick for his birthday.
Iain’s eyes darted about.Kate suspected he was trying to think of a way to walk back his hasty threat.“You misunderstand me.”He pointed an accusatory finger at her.“My quarrel is withhim.”
“What?”Kate cried.“I have no quarrel with you.Name one thing I’ve done!”
“Paint better than him,” Arthur muttered.
Iain lifted his chin.“You know preciselywhat you’ve done!You stole my post as Mr.Sterling’s illustrator.Ishould be the one going on that expedition to Lewis.Me!”
Kate felt a pang of sympathy because she could imagine how disappointing losing the position must have been for Iain.Still… “I had nothing to do with that decision,” she said gently.“I understand your disappointment.But it is misdirected.”
Iain’s expression remained flinty.“I disagree.”
“I tell ye what.”Roderick stood, stepping mere inches from Iain’s face.“We’re here at the Sheep Heid Inn, after all.What do ye say we settle this with a game of skittles?”
Skittles was a popular game often played at inns and pubs in which the participants tried to knock over a group of pins balanced on their ends using either a ball or an oblong disc.The Sheep Heid Inn had a very old skittles alley in its courtyard.It was said that James, the Scottish King who also ascended to the English throne, creating Great Britain, had once played a game there.
Skittles was certainly preferable to swords at dawn.But there was still an issue Kate wished to clarify.
“Who, exactly, iswe?”Kate asked.
Ignoring her, Iain nodded crisply.“Very well.Meet me in the courtyard.We’ll start in ten minutes.”He turned on his heel and made his way toward the door.
Kate turned to Roderick.“Please tell me that you’re the one who will be taking on Iain in this game of skittles.”
Roderick pulled her to her feet.“Of course not, ye numpty.It’s not my honor he just impugned.”
Kate blanched.“But I’ve never played skittles before!”
Colin was busy gathering her sketches and putting them back into her portfolio.“Really?Did they not have a skittles alley at your local pub?”
Oh, err…” It probably seemed odd for a young man to have never played such a popular pub game.“I didn’t spend much time at the local inn.We didn’t have money for such things.”
Roderick did not look particularly bothered.“Eh.Dinnae fash yerself.It isn’t so very hard.”He grabbed Kate’s arm, towing her toward the door.“Come on!”
As they entered the courtyard, Roderick said, “As I was explaining, skittles is a simple game.There are nine pins.Ye roll the ball and knock them down.”He waved a hand.“I could do it left-handed.”
“Good for you,” Kate muttered.
Arthur came up beside her.“One rule to note is that you have to knock the frontmost pin down first.”
Roderick rounded on him.“What nonsense is this?Ye can knock the pins down in any order.”
Arthur crossed his arms.“I suppose you could, but any pins you knock down before the first one won’t earn you any points.”
Colin placed a hand on his arm.“I can’t believe I’m about to utter these words.But Roderick is right.”
Arthur bristled.“The hell he is!”
An argument ensued with the three of them debating the finer points of the skittles rulebook.Kate decided the scant minutes she had before her clash with Iain would be better spent observing the game itself.She headed toward the skittles alley.The current bowler had his back to her.He was bent forward and frozen in concentration.
That was when Kate noticed that a crowd had gathered and was waiting for him to make his shot with hushed anticipation.Kate glanced toward the pins.It mustn’t have been his first shot, because only three pins remained standing.Two of them were on the left side of the pin area, and one was on the far right.Kate frowned.The shot looked impossible, yet the crowd was waiting with bated breath.
Just then, the bowler drew back his arm and sent the ball spinning down the grassy alley.To Kate’s astonishment, it clipped the rightmost pin at such a sharp angle that the pin flew to the left, knocking over both remaining pins.A cheer went up from the crowd and Kate joined in.Meanwhile, the bowler raised his fists overhead and spun around in celebration.
